Foo - So-Cal members...

What's the fire situation?

Definately smokie out here :) I live in OC and basicaly stayed inside. My eyes burned from about mid day saturday on till almost end of the day today. I went and drove down to the get coffee and could still tell I was breathing the smoke and I'm atleast 30 miles from any of the fires. Ash is slowly floating all around, all cars are speckled with it atleast. It's really strange in the morning everything on sat and sun was basicaly yellow out, gives you this really eary feeling and smells like a constant BBQ is going on.

Last I heard still not under control, at one point they had it 20% contained friday I believe it was but then the santa ana winds picked up and it got out of control again. A friend of mine who is a volunteer fireman I know they called up on his group, but they decided to have major cutbacks in the fire dept in LA area. So they took 80% of the trucks away from them the volunteers so they could not even go help. They could not even get their trucks if they decided to give them back since they are in a junkyard in San bernadino.

My sister was evacuated last night from her condo in the Country Estates, where a number of houses have burned. I have had no direct contact with her since. She has called my mom on her cell phone from the Ramona High School Evacuation Center. We don't kow for sure about her condo, but up to 2 hours ago, I could call and get the answering machine, so it wa still standing with electricity. Right now, the lines are totally jammed and I can't get through.

My 90 yr old mom and my 93 yr old step-dad are possibly facing evacuation from their retirement home in Rancho Bernardo. Have not been able to contact them the last hour.

My 88 year old aunt is preparing to evacuate from Escondido. She is very involved with rheumatoid arthritis but fortunately has her grandson to help her and a place to go with his friends.

And here I sit in Colorado absolutely unable to help in any way. However, even if I lived in San Diego, all the roads are closed, so I probably could not help amyway.

Just talked with my mom - she is ok, but it is smoky and my step-dad is on oxygen, so they are using handkerchiefs to filter the air as much as they can.

My mom's theory is that all of these fires starting at the same is not coincidental, and might be the work of terrorists??

They figure the one in camp pendelton was caused by the base itself during practice fire or something along those lines.. one of the others they think might have been set by someone.

Definitely a good day to stay in. Cars are covered in ash if left stationary for any time. Weirdest thing, I woke up and looked out the front door and the sun had a orangeish tint to it. It was kinda like wearing light-orange sun glasses.

I just got a call from my folks my nephew in the SD area (Poway I think) had to evacuate his apartment I have been trying to get through to my brother down there for about an hour but the lines are jammed. This must be a pretty recent development since we were exchanging emails about up coming bike trips until about 4 today.

My wife needed my car tomorrow. Her car is in the shop..She dropped me and my bike off half way to work; before I knew there was a fire near my plant.
Am at the plant. Fire on two sides of us. WOndering about the commute home tomorrow. Close the pass to the south towards San Diego Couty, and it will be difficult riding home. Would have used the car, if I had known this.
IF gets bad, guess could get a hotel in Temecula. Hope my ride home in the morning is not smokin. There is a fire between Temecula and the south-east, which I can see in the distance. My way home is south-west.
All these fires at different locations at one time is very strange.

My wife needed my car tomorrow. Her car is in the shop..She dropped me and my bike off half way to work; before I knew there was a fire near my plant.
Am at the plant. Fire on two sides of us. WOndering about the commute home tomorrow. Close the pass to the south towards San Diego Couty, and it will be difficult riding home. Would have used the car, if I had known this.
IF gets bad, guess could get a hotel in Temecula. Hope my ride home in the morning is not smokin. There is a fire between Temecula and the south-east, which I can see in the distance. My way home is south-west.
All these fires at different locations at one time is very strange.


My car is 24 miles away. No commuter bus.. The air is starting to stink.How does that effect the bike commute home.? Think I am commited to the bike commute home.. Make the best of it.

Fire is basically a community or two away from me---I live in Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) and am crossing my fingers and toes that the wind plays nice and dies down.

It's going to be hard to sleep tonight. My fall back plan is to pack everything in my bike travel case (it's pretty big) and hop over to my parent's house where nothing is going on.

Basically, everybody I know (except for my parents) is a community or two away from the fire.

Cancelled my bike ride early this morning so that I don't breathe in the fumes. It's an eerie feeling seeing the sky orange/red at dusk.

The weird thing is that I spent yesterday off the road bike and did some mountain biking at Daley Ranch and Mission Trails. Both of those areas are scorched today.

Rumor has it that the fire started in Ramona by a "lost" hunter setting up a signal fire so that he could be found. Just how friggin' lost was he? Just keep walkin' west and you'll hit civilization. Damn---no brains---setting up a fire in dry brush.

Hope all of you in So-Cal are fairing well.

Pretty nutz is the best way to say it. The sky is oarnge, and my house is covered in ash. A good friend of mine has been evacuated. Seems like the whole area is in flames around here.

I know you already know this but the news said the fire is 40 miles long. Thats a huge arse fireline. I tried unsucsefully to contact my brother last night (he is safe lives at Mission Beach) phone lines were jammed. I heard my nephew had to evacuate, he has moved since the last time I was there, but I think he lives up in the Poway/Carmel Mountain area. Stay safe everybody the nations prayers are with you.

I know you already know this but the news said the fire is 40 miles long. Thats a huge arse fireline. I tried unsucsefully to contact my brother last night (he is safe lives at Mission Beach) phone lines were jammed. I heard my nephew had to evacuate, he has moved since the last time I was there, but I think he lives up in the Poway/Carmel Mountain area. Stay safe everybody the nations prayers are with you.

I get off work (I'm on duty) around 5pm. If you want me to swing by his place, PM me and I'll pass a message.

I've gotten in contact with just about everyone that I know, and they're ok so far.

Here's a picture of San Diego County.

Tahnks WIlliam I got through and talked to him a few minutes agao and we can email each other. All he said thta it was bad, real bad. My nephew is okay he manged to gab all his important personal stuff and left behind mainly furniture and what not. He doesn't know if his building is still standing.

I don't know how to accurate describe it in a way that would be clear.

The sky is oarnge now. It's raining ash. There are fires in 5 places in San Diego right now. The freeways were empty, with swirling ash clouds.

It's really, like the end of the world.

Taken from my house.

More pictures

more from the hood.

William,

The sidewalk in the last picture looks wet, did you guys
get rain? Or is that just someone watering down the place?

I really don't know what to say to you all except that
you all have been in my thoughts alot lately.
If you need anything please let me know, don't know what I could do (wanna stay in Texas?) but. . .

Marty

William,

The sidewalk in the last picture looks wet, did you guys
get rain? Or is that just someone watering down the place?

I really don't know what to say to you all except that
you all have been in my thoughts alot lately.
If you need anything please let me know, don't know what I could do (wanna stay in Texas?) but. . .

Marty

I had actually been spraying the roof to clean pine needles out of the guttters, and then watered my Jackoranda (SP) tree and lawn.

It's been interesting...

William where is your general wherabouts in So Cal.? My closest fire was at work last night, where we watched it all night long via remote camera. Have an essential job to the public safety, not sure what procedures we are to follow if it were to come to close. Talked to co-workers today. Say the Temecula fire is out, but stinks like hell. Hope can commute to work by Monday. Smelled my panniers after getting home..How do they get deoridized.
Today...Day off. Hoped to ride. Couple hold outs of group ride said lets do a short ride and see how we feel. Called and said lets not. Atmosphere looks like some alien infused the Earth's atmosphere with trace elements from Mars and Venus.
And now by mid-day it is hot too.
I was getting ready to go,when group member called and changed mind.. Sort of feel like I am all dressed up and no where to go.. Guess, there is a road bike on a trainer next to me.

William where is your general wherabouts in So Cal.? My closest fire was at work last night, where we watched it all night long via remote camera. Have an essential job to the public safety, not sure what procedures we are to follow if it were to come to close. Talked to co-workers today. Say the Temecula fire is out, but stinks like hell. Hope can commute to work by Monday. Smelled my panniers after getting home..How do they get deoridized.
Today...Day off. Hoped to ride. Couple hold outs of group ride said lets do a short ride and see how we feel. Called and said lets not. Atmosphere looks like some alien infused the Earth's atmosphere with trace elements from Mars and Venus.
And now by mid-day it is hot too.
I was getting ready to go,when group member called and changed mind.. Sort of feel like I am all dressed up and no where to go.. Guess, there is a road bike on a trainer next to me.

I'm Rancho SD live, work on the water front (Naval Station).

The smoke isn't bad, but the ash is supposed to be pretty horrific on the lungs. Plays hell with my contacts, dumped them and wore glasses.. But air quality is supposed to be bad. Nearest to me is about 6 miles as the crow flys, but not a strong chance that it'll be near me. Many folks I know have been cleared out.

Just really surreal around here lately.

William those are rally eerie pictures, especially of the sunrise. We are praying for you all down there. Whats scarier 4 of them are arson fires and of course the mensa candidate who set off the signal flare.

of course the mensa candidate who set off the signal flare.

I have a great deal of sympathy for that man. He will live with the burden of this for years, and a simple bad decission, and freakishly "good" (or bad) timing.. and..

I just can not imagine carrying such a burden on my shoulders as he must have.

I have a great deal of sympathy for that man. He will live with the burden of this for years, and a simple bad decission, and freakishly "good" (or bad) timing.. and..

I just can not imagine carrying such a burden on my shoulders as he must have.

Oh yes I could not agree I really wasn't trying to be harsh there but it wasn't very clear thinking. But in those cicmstances whi knows how anybody is going to react.

William.. sounds like you live very close to some very good friends..Called them, at the time, they said they had too evacuate the area...They Were going to stay with friends in LaJolla. Been wondering about them. Have not heard from them.. Think there was a fire east of 1-15 & north of Miramar.

I'm up in OC, and other than some stinky air, and about a pound of ash on my porch over the past few days... it is ok here... my club actually cancelled it's Sunday ride because the ash was too thick, and it was making breathing too hard...

my cousin's sister in-law's house in Scripp's Ranch (outside San Diego) burned down over the weekend... it's too bad, they were in the Bay Area on vacation, and didn;t get the chance to save any of their stuff... my cousin and his wife tried to drive to the house, to get what they could, but were turned away by Fire officials... it is terrible....

Jeff

What's the fire situation?

The fire has gone by us now. I live in Rancho Cucamonga, about 40 or so miles east of L.A.

Friday we had watered the front and back yards for hours. All day saturday we watered our wooden ancient shake roof with 2 oscillating sprinklers and got it pretty much soaked.

Earlier Saturday night the fire was all over those mountains above us. Luckily we have many million dollar homes right up in the front lines, with backyards right on chaparal, so the fire fighters are were up there trying to clear a line. There was relatively little wind early on, but the fire was tremendous, like a burning necklace across the hills for miles. We were watching fire come over ridges and fall down steep areas and then burn up again. Later that evening the Santa Ana Wind came up; the fire was directly north of us and the wind blew directly toward us off the mountain. There was a huge wall of BRIGHT red glow just above us and that is when my husband said to pack up. We had mostly packed up when he decided to walk up the hill and talk to someone to find out what was going on. I waited and waited for him to come back. We loaded up the dogs into my stuffed bus and put the cats in pillowcases (tied shut) and stowed them in the car. We waited some more for my husband. Then the wind changed, blowing from east to west, hard. We brought the animals back in and locked the cats in the bathroom for easy pillowcase stuffing. Lealon finally showed up and the wind continued from east to west--all of the sudden (and I mean quick!) the fire was blown across Cucamonga canyon to the west of us and down Cucamonga wash (which is between Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. The fire was around us and we ended up staying at home. We were sooooo lucky.

Houses were lost in both sides (eas and west) of Rancho Cucamonga (Etiwanda and Alta Loma) but as a whole the city got off lightly compared to San Bernardino and Claremont (and Upland of course). And easier than points west and south of us.

Several of these fires are thought to be arson. I hope that the people that lost homes don't get ahold of the arsonist before the police do. . . I know what I'd like to do!

My sister's condo did not burn, but houses all around her did.

All the areas I explored and grew up in in the San Diego mtns are now charred.

I find it difficult to even watch the news.

But, all my family is safe and sound. That is the important thing.

My sister ended up (after being chased out of two other shelters) evacuating about 100 miles away to a resort in Borrego Springs in the desert. Not too much to burn there.

She has a room and a bed, and will stay there. She can't even get back through the mountains to her condo, even though they have opened up the area to returnung residents.

My parents live in Rancho Penasquitos (where I grew up). They were fortunately spared, as they are/were several miles from the closest fire. I plan to be down there "on vacation" all next week (I was notified a couple weeks ago I will be laid off this Friday). I am obviously sad for everyone that was hurt.

I realize that sounds horribly selfish, but I am bummed because I planned to get in a solid week of running and riding while I am done. I guess that will not happen. I am lucky that is all I lost to the fires.

Things still continue to be bad. One fireman died today and three others injured (one critically). Forecasted maybe light drizzle for the weekend. Let keep our fingers crossed.

Our place is now in the clear. I've got a thread in the mtb forum 'cause I forgot we have this foo.

Here is the thread with some pics.

Fire Thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=39823)

:beer: