Fire in San Diego
05-14-14, 04:21 PM
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Fire in San Diego
Lots of fires down here. Pendleton will definitely be closed for some time.
05-14-14, 08:06 PM
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11 now at last count here in san diego county @ 6pm.
rode through pendleton from oceanside and got turned around at the junction roughly a mile se of the las pulgas gate because of fire at the extreme nw corner.
5 freeway north was already at a standstill while riding north thru the base. simply turned around, rode back the 7 miles or so and got on the 5 freeway
heading north (legal but usually questionable). wasn't really concerned about it because traffic was still at a standstill but there were the occasional
diphthongs pulling out and driving on the right shoulder (and getting nowhere since many 18-wheelers decided to wait it out on the sidelines on the same shoulder).
fire hot spot had jumped the freeway and was on the san onofre state beach side but the crews were doing mopup work. rode through about 4 miles with a moistened bandana
tied so as to cover my nose/mouth and that worked great. most of the fire crews were minus any kind of mask at that point.
turned around at pizza port in san clemente (after lunch) and headed back same way. got turned around by ca state park sheriff .25 mile north of the actual nuclear power plant
that hadn't been there on the first pass through. left me with a choice of waiting it out or taking the freeway south from basilone (which i thought to be illegal to ride on until you
got onto the las pulgas to oceanside stretch). there was no sign at the onramp indicating bicycles (or pedestrians!!) couldn't ride/be on the freeway so i went for it with a beautiful tailwind.
pretty smooth shoulder pavement the entire 16 mile stretch but not recommended for the squeamish. didn't bother to check the las pulgas gate on the way back either since i was making
such good time with the tailwind.
with the various north county fires relatively close together, would not be at all surprised if one or more morph into a larger one, closing the base to riding through for a while.
rode through pendleton from oceanside and got turned around at the junction roughly a mile se of the las pulgas gate because of fire at the extreme nw corner.
5 freeway north was already at a standstill while riding north thru the base. simply turned around, rode back the 7 miles or so and got on the 5 freeway
heading north (legal but usually questionable). wasn't really concerned about it because traffic was still at a standstill but there were the occasional
diphthongs pulling out and driving on the right shoulder (and getting nowhere since many 18-wheelers decided to wait it out on the sidelines on the same shoulder).
fire hot spot had jumped the freeway and was on the san onofre state beach side but the crews were doing mopup work. rode through about 4 miles with a moistened bandana
tied so as to cover my nose/mouth and that worked great. most of the fire crews were minus any kind of mask at that point.
turned around at pizza port in san clemente (after lunch) and headed back same way. got turned around by ca state park sheriff .25 mile north of the actual nuclear power plant
that hadn't been there on the first pass through. left me with a choice of waiting it out or taking the freeway south from basilone (which i thought to be illegal to ride on until you
got onto the las pulgas to oceanside stretch). there was no sign at the onramp indicating bicycles (or pedestrians!!) couldn't ride/be on the freeway so i went for it with a beautiful tailwind.
pretty smooth shoulder pavement the entire 16 mile stretch but not recommended for the squeamish. didn't bother to check the las pulgas gate on the way back either since i was making
such good time with the tailwind.
with the various north county fires relatively close together, would not be at all surprised if one or more morph into a larger one, closing the base to riding through for a while.
05-14-14, 09:43 PM
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The fire got within 200 yards of my condo. (Nooo! I just paid the mortgage off last July!!) But the wind was pushing it very strongly westward. After the fire jumped past El Camino Real, the wind very suddenly turned South. If it had turned South 5 minutes sooner, my place would have been toast.
I'm still wearing my work clothes, but am filthy, exhausted, starving, and my work socks are full of those scratchy little weed-stickers, because I've been on top of a hill all day long with a fire extinguisher and 10 gallons of water & towels to tramp out any flare-ups. There were ashes and cinder blowing all over the dry, dead grass & weeds on the hill behind my condo, and it was a miracle we didn't have any flare-ups.
I just got home and found out that everyone has been evacuated. It's so quiet.
Thankfully the wind died down, and it looks like they're getting the Camino Vida Roble fire knocked out.
God bless those firefighters. They've had a hard day, and they're going to be scrambling all night to get San Marcos put out before the winds come up again tomorrow.
I'm still wearing my work clothes, but am filthy, exhausted, starving, and my work socks are full of those scratchy little weed-stickers, because I've been on top of a hill all day long with a fire extinguisher and 10 gallons of water & towels to tramp out any flare-ups. There were ashes and cinder blowing all over the dry, dead grass & weeds on the hill behind my condo, and it was a miracle we didn't have any flare-ups.
I just got home and found out that everyone has been evacuated. It's so quiet.
Thankfully the wind died down, and it looks like they're getting the Camino Vida Roble fire knocked out.
God bless those firefighters. They've had a hard day, and they're going to be scrambling all night to get San Marcos put out before the winds come up again tomorrow.
Last edited by calamarichris; 05-16-14 at 10:58 AM. Reason: The wind turned SOUTH, not North.Also, it got a lot closer than my original estimate.
05-14-14, 09:46 PM
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East San Marcos is on fire. It started on northwest side of Coronado Hills, towards CSUSM, but I saw flames on the opposite side going towards Harmony Grove Road, so much of Whitney Mount must have burned by now. Strong smell of smoke in Escondido.
05-15-14, 01:01 AM
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may luck and good fortune be with everyone this week.
05-15-14, 07:07 AM
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Just got notification that San Diego Unified shut down all schools today.
My daughter considers that good news.
My daughter considers that good news.
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05-15-14, 09:46 AM
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San Diego unfortunately gets more than a fair share of fires...I can smell the smoke up here... please everyone stay safe, don't take risks or chances... let the firefighters do their jobs and I pray everyone is kept safe. Man, can't wait for this nasty week to be over!
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05-15-14, 10:36 AM
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05-15-14, 11:04 AM
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Last night's sunset - that's smoke, not clouds.
05-15-14, 01:22 PM
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Ugh. The wind is picking back up, and San Marcos is starting to smoke up again. I sure hope we don't have any flare-ups down here. Will be posting my pics from yesterday later.
05-15-14, 03:07 PM
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Notice the dry brush in the foreground. This is the reason we were all nervous as hell about cinders making their way across the road and causing flare-ups.
This poor little owl looked like he'd been woken up. The flames were 50+ feet high and it was like sitting too close to a campfire. I have chapped lips and a mild sunburn from it today.
The wind was HOWLING westward (to the left of the photo), and it quickly jumped over the main road, El Camino Real.
The wind was blowing fiercely, so it burned up very quickly and soon there wasn't any more fuel.
It was lucky for us, because shortly after it jumped across El Camino Real, the wind started blowing South, (which would have been directly toward us and our yellow, dry grass if it'd changed direction 5 minutes sooner.
The fire burned right up to the street to our North, then made an immediate left and burnt houses in the neighborhood to our West too. It was uncanny good luck (for us at least). I was stayed on flare-up watch for 9 hours, with buckets of water, towels spaced all over the hill, and a fire extinguisher.
This poor little owl looked like he'd been woken up. The flames were 50+ feet high and it was like sitting too close to a campfire. I have chapped lips and a mild sunburn from it today.
The wind was HOWLING westward (to the left of the photo), and it quickly jumped over the main road, El Camino Real.
The wind was blowing fiercely, so it burned up very quickly and soon there wasn't any more fuel.
It was lucky for us, because shortly after it jumped across El Camino Real, the wind started blowing South, (which would have been directly toward us and our yellow, dry grass if it'd changed direction 5 minutes sooner.
The fire burned right up to the street to our North, then made an immediate left and burnt houses in the neighborhood to our West too. It was uncanny good luck (for us at least). I was stayed on flare-up watch for 9 hours, with buckets of water, towels spaced all over the hill, and a fire extinguisher.
05-15-14, 03:21 PM
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Those are some scary photos, Chris. I'm currently at home watching the fire coverage and hoping I don't have to evacuate.
