stephani stephenson on tue 23 oct 07
just checking in here.
this has been an interesting couple of days.
thanks Claybuds who called and emailed me asking how
things are ...
just want folks to know that I am OK.
needless to say, the last couple of days have not been
normal down here san diego way by any means.
But right now i am on a flight to Wichita Kansas for
some family matters
This is my first chance to grab a few minutes to
type out my impressions of what is going on with fires
in southern California,
especially for those of you who have friends etc in
San diego and want to hear from a local.
sometimes the national news is so vague.
drove back to san diego sunday evening after a day in
the desert helping with a desert clean up.
on the return, extremely high Santa Ana winds on I-8
over the mountains... freeway rerouted : saw a semi
laying on its side blocking the interstate, the top of
the semi trailer ripped right off, trailers and
pickups strewn across the road. horrendous dust moving
west and southwest... blowing doesn't describe
it...howling driving/cresting over the mtns into san
diego.. something was definitely not right and it
wasn't just dust. Fires igniting to the north and
south all along the west flank of the mtns spurred by
70 plus MPH winds , some gusts higher... fortunately
made it past the roadblocks and into the city , though
quite a thunderous trip in a jeep with the back half
open..
that night winds continued to howl, town of Ramona
evacuated and some of the communities on the eastern
fringe of san diego metro area from Escondido down to
chula vista..no word on what is happening in Tijuana
or in Mexico.
the winds were heavy right down to the coast.. some of
the greenhouses in my area lost their roofs, trees
down just from wind. as of monday my place still
held together from wind and well away from fire,
though inside and out covered with ash. minor wind
damage.
monday was like Dante's inferno. it was so dark. we
were in the downwind plume of th large fire, the witch
fire. a small fire in san marcos was contained but
these other fires were at zero percent containment on
monday. the wind and smoke so bad they couldn't fight
it from the air at all, and also could not get a look
at the extent of the fire or damage. what amazed me
listening to the radio is how many critters people
have and what an issue this becomes for evacuation.
places taking horses, including the large del mar
fairgrounds filled up quickly. as of monday over
250,000 people were evacuated and it seems like there
must have been many times that number of cats, dogs,
birds, iguanas, you name it.... something to think
about. many folks in easy county only had about 15
minutes to get out.
the reverse 911 system is credited with saving many
lives, though it seems they are also doing a lot more
preemptive evacuating this time around.
i spent the night at a friends in san diego then drove
up to encinitas monday AM. little ms prepared had her
new cell phone but no charger, and a car charger which
suppose to fit the new phone but didn't. so couldn't
call a darn person. but i did have a full tank of gas
and plenty of water.
up in north county it looked like midnight at moidday,
air quality so bad you really did need a mask. eyes
burned, particles fine and coarse filled the air.
studio was on the northern edge of the main plume.
because i had to fly out today, tuesday, i gathered
what i could, important papers, cash, fed the cat,
talked with the guys, watered the plants , battened
down the hatched and made my way back to san diego.
i pretty much have to have faith that everything will
be there on my return, and i think it will, but still
there's a feeling of angst about it all.
my thoughts are with the thousands of those who will
lose homes and business, but hopefully they will still
have lives and health...definitely more important,,,,
but losing homes and resources..... not a light matter
either.
considering that I-5 was the only main corridor still
open, i lucked out. freeway jammed going north but
heading south on 101 surprisingly sparse. i heard on
the radio that some of out coastal communities
including leucadia (encinitas), solana beach and del
mar were under voluntary, but not yet mandatory
evacuation..inland communities of rancho bernardo,
rancho santa fe, olivenhein (also part of encinitas),
and many many communities to the south and east were
under mandatory evacuation... considering the number
of people on the move and the short notive, i thought
it went pretty wellm from my own small experience.
people looking shell shocked. convoys of fire trucks
coming in from everywhere.
people who had to evacuate during the night, from
places like Ramona had a nightmare go of it, but
everyone as in a nervous yet calm wait and see mode.
peopple were sked not to use cell phones to keep
bandwidth open.
there are many potters in San diego area. some of them
are getting hit for the second time. this one is not
isolated to the rural areas.
the good news, i think is that, though high winds
continuued last night they seemed to be abating a bit,
and also, in general, as the santa anas get closer to
the coast , they abate. staye with a friend on a boat
in the harbor last night a pretty good place all
things considered.
i flew out this AM at day break and it was quite
overwhelming to see it from the air, the plumes of
smoke went far, far out over the sea, generally
limited to 5 miles or so, these went as far as i could
see, which gives an indication of the massive power of
these winds. we flew directly over the fires and i
could see flames an burning all the way to the
north.... the news might say there are only a few
fires but every ridge and canyon on the west slope
seemed to have a fire in it.
in contrst, the snowy peaks in clorado and even the
dry desert of arizona looked pretty good from the
air.... the fouled air from this one will be blowing
around for awhile. as many have said, the caliber of
people responding to this is petty amazing. there are
a lot of exhausted folks who have worked their tails
off these last few days.
i'll be back there in a few days and hope that things
take a turn for the better. it will all depend on the
weather.
for now i have some other matters to tend
to...hopefully i 'll find a place i can email this to
the list. sorry for the baale here, best wishes to
all.
Stephani Stephenson
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James and Sherron Bowen on wed 24 oct 07
"..what amazed me listening to the radio is how many critters people
have..."
This is going to devastate wildlife, too. We were in a chaparral fire in San
Bernardino many years ago and the local wildlife ranger was roping wild
burros and deer ahead of the fire line. He could do that because the fire
was on flat ground and you could drive on myriad trails and roads and throw
a rope from your pick-up . Not much chance of that in the terrain of these
fires. Good luck out there my thoughts are with you. There is nothing
scarier than a wildfire. My body may be in Colorado but my heart will always
be in Southern California. No better place.
JB
----- Original Message -----
From: "stephani stephenson"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 7:53 PM
Subject: hi from steph /san diego
> just checking in here.
Marta Matray on wed 24 oct 07
stephani,
so good to hear from you, i tried to call you!
and thank you for your report about the horrible fires,
now that the archives are working again i could read your post.
have a safe trip,
xoxo,marta
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