CA fires

I think that it's wise to at least have in your mind what you'd want to take in a hurry and even have it set out to grab. My coworker who was evacuated yesterday said they had no warning, no voluntary evacuation notice, just the police driving down the street telling them to evacuate immediately. They grabbed their 2 dogs and a few photo albums and left right away. Fortunately, they were able to return today and their home is fine, but it's always good to have a plan.

That picture of the horse in the pasture is eery. I always cringe when I think about the animals that have perished in these fires

Yeah, I have all my old family photos/albums packed and by the door, just in case. I'm also nervous about leaving Rascal at home alone - I think it's worse when the dog isn't particularly stranger-friendly. I'm so worried about what would happen if someone tried to come in and rescue him - would they still try to save him if he was trying to bite them?

 How are things in San Diego? Any better today?
 

 Hi Cita,

not much too good to report.  we are now at over 1/2 a million under mandatory evacuation in our city, a couple new fires that popped up last nigh t and most have 0% containment. The only good thing is the winds are starting to die down a bit and this is helping them.  we are still safe at my home, but only because we are not TOO close to rural areas.  Our neighboring cities have been evacuated though.

Fingers still crossed... 

Wow its just getting all crazy!

My drive home. Taken at 6:30-6:45ish pm. Sunset was supposed to be at 6:10pm

View from "ABOVE"

And some info of the fires with a map... http://www.calfires.com/   ... might take a while to load since there seems to be a lot of traffic trying to access it. If you get an error, just refresh.

Everyone please stay safe. Dont breath the nasty air too.

My cousin (with the sick-from-the-smoke 4 year old) can see the fire now from her apartment..the southernmost point of it is like a mile from them now... They're southeast of it, which is the direction the fire's been moving. God I hope it doesn't get closer...

I've been following the news about this, wondering how our California i-doggers are.  I hope the outlook is a bit better today.  I'm totally terrified of fire, so am praying for the best for all concerned.  Very sad and scary.  {{hugs}} to all...

I've been wondering about our California Idoggers too.  Just saw this thread today though I've been watching the news.  Sending my best rain vibes down to you all.  Stay safe. 

The Irvine fire is looking a little better - it didn't spread that much overnight, but where it did go (and is going now) is starting to get into homes. :( It's almost reached the Cleveland National Forest - I don't know if that's a good thing (no houses) or a bad thing (lots to burn)... 

Shelly and others, how is San Diego this morning?

And the Malibu area? 

Maxs Mom

My thoughts and prayers are going out to the CA idoggers! I hope you, your family and friends are safe! If I knew a rain dance I would do one.

 Sadly, what often follows these fires are the heavy rains and then we start seeing the devastating mudslides .

 There was a woman from the Humane Society on the news this morning saying that so much help is needed for the animals. One farm (?) has taken in about 700 horses and she said they need people to rake hay, clean stalls and fill water buckets (there's no automatic watering system). I wish I was close enough to help with that type of thing.

I posted over in Gen Chat about ways to help the animals involved...feel free to add to it anyone if you've heard of ways to aid the pets/livestock affected!

I did notice on the ABC special re: the fires last night that people are being allowed to bring their pets with them into Qualcomm Stadium, and most likely other shelters as well.  It looks like they really did learn  something from Katrina after all.

Joyce

Joyce, you are right.. they are actually doing a pretty good job with the whole “pets and livestock” thing.   We have a multitude of area that people can take their pets with them and a few areas for livestock.  Folks are donating hay, pet food, etc as well.

Gina, I will check out your thread in general chat.  Thanks for starting that.

 Cita, glad you are Ok.  We are still home and it doesn’t look like we are gonna get evacuated unless the wind changes again.  It is amazing how it is pretty much all around us though.  This morning on my 6 am dog walk in the dark, I could actually see the red glow over the top of part of a small mountain about a mile away.. THAT WAS SCARY. It was confirmed today that one of my coworkers lost her home, we think 2 of our clients at our hospital program might also have lost their homes and 4 other coworkers are still evacuated.  My soon to be MIL is also evacuated and they almost lost their house a few years ago.  I think I would move if it were me in their shoes!

Thanks for the warm thoughts everyone.  It is nuts here.  If you saw a map you would see that our whole city is practically on fire. It has affected everything. 

Joyce.. hugs to your family down here in Jamul.  Hope their home is OK.   

On the Today show yesterday, they interviwed a couple who'd lost their home. Matt Lauer asked them if they had insurance and they said "no".  I couldn't believe what I heard. Then today, I saw in the paper that a man had lost his home and he hadn't been able to buy insurance on it because it was tucked too far back in the canyon. He probably won't be able to rebuild. Does anyone understand that? I mean, I can't imagine wanting to build/own a home that I couldn't insure.

 I know one woman who was evacuated and probably lost her home in Silverado Canyon. She originally moved there because she lost her previous home in the big Laguna Beach fires of 1993.

I read that Senator Feinstein is saying that Californians should be prohibited from living in high fire risk zones... You know, while we're at it, we should move out of earthquake risk zones too, and definitely away from drought risk zones. I wonder how she's planning to move all of us to Iowa, though?