SoCal Farktograhpers, CHECK IN!

[millera9]

I know a few of you around here are SoCal natives and I just want to get some updates on your status.

I can’t tell you how much it sucks for me and my dad to both be out of the country and out of reach right now while my mother evacuates the house and deals with the pets/paperwork/relatives. I wish I could get home. So far it doesn’t look like there’s any real danger to our house but I know that’s not the case for a lot of people.

So check in if you can, let us all know how you’re doing, and please stay safe!

/Fark is really an amazing place. By far the most up to date information I’ve been able to get over here has been in the fire threads. CNN international is only talking about the celebrities in Malibu and global warming and the feeds from the SD news stations on their websites are only showing dramatic footage without any real content. Very frustrating considering how many people I know who’ve been evacuated and the amount of real information available in a thread full of civilians with radios on a fake news website.

[Elsinore]

Oh God, Miller, I’m so glad you checked in; I’ve been wondering/worrying about you. That really does suck that you and your Dad are out of the country. Is your apartment safe? From what I know of SD and where you are in general, I’m guessing so, but still…. I hope your Mom can get things pulled together and get herself someplace safe with a minimum of hassle/worry/problems.

Those threads really are something else…so much current and useful information. Believe me when I say they can be a handful, though, and the mods are doing what they can to keep them troll-free.

Hope you and your Dad have a safe remainder of your trips, and much luck to your Mom as she pulls things together to evacuate.

[millera9]

My apartment is fine and downtown is in no danger. Mom got everything out this morning when they first warned her to be ready and she’s in Temecula with family right now. The dog’s in a kennel and her macaw is sitting quietly in his cage, trying to understand his new surroundings. Everything is alright so far but the Poomacha fire is 0% contained and heading in our general direction last I heard. It’s in an area that’s very difficult to get to and I fear it will head into Valley Center before anyone can even get near it. Friends and acquaintances lost lives and property last time that happened in 2003.

I’m debating whether or not to end my trip early and head home. It would take me 36 hours to get there and once I did there wouldn’t be anything I could really do to help the situation so for now I’m sitting tight. Ugh. It’s 5am here and I’m not likely to sleep any time soon. Maybe I’ll get some good sunrise pics…

I’m hoping RCMacStudent is ok.

[millera9]

Poomacha fire update
Posted @ 8:55 PM

The Poomacha fire has burned 23,000 acres and has no containment. The fire is burning a mile away from the Witch Creek fire and both fires are expected to converge by late Tuesday or early Wednesday, said Holly Crawford, a spokeswoman with the Office of Emergency Services.

Palomar Mountain is on fire. Ten firefighters were hurt and 218 others are fighting the blaze. The fire moved swiftly through the region because of extreme fire behavior, lack of resources and high winds, said Roxanne Provaznik, a Cal Fire spokeswoman. It has destroyed 50 homes. There are mandatory evacuations in effect for residents in this area.

Firefighters are starting to arrive to the but they have not been able to surround the fire because they are protecting structures, Provaznik said.

Crap.

http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=33.196179,-116.937103&spn=0.388419,0.63858&z=11&om=1&msa=0&msid=114250687465160386813.00043d08ac31fe3357571

That little area to the west of Valley Center called Hidden Meadows is where I grew up and where my parents live.

[RcMacStudent]

…
I’m hoping RCMacStudent is ok.

Thanks for the thought, I’m doing fine. I live in the Pasadena area, so I’m almost unaffected by the fires. In fact, today was the first time I saw any evidence of the fire and that was only in the form of high-level smoke and a very small bit of ash that was blown up the valleys by the onshore breeze. So for the meantime I’m just going to school and doing what I normally do.

If you zoom in right between the “Los Angles” and “Ponoma” text you’ll see Pasadena. It also shows you ALL of the SoCal fires as of ~11:45pm PST
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=104490150066531762262.00043d07fd69c22f79aee

Millera how much longer is your trip? They’re saying that the fires are going to burn basically as they please until the weather changes (hopefully Thursday/Friday).

Here’s a link to one of the local all-news radio station streams, they’re doing fire updates on every quarter hour:
http://cbsplayer.streamtheworld.com/index.php?CALLSIGN=KNXAM

Any other SoCal Farkers out there???

[Elsinore]

Glad you’re ok, RcMacStudent!

[Curious]

news stations on their websites are only showing dramatic footage without any real content. Very frustrating considering how many people I know who’ve been evacuated and the amount of real information available in a thread full of civilians with radios on a fake news website.

first glad you and RcMacStudent are ok. my sister lives in long beach and folks keep asking me if she is ok. people who don’t know socal seem to think SD and malibu abut each other.

re why the quote, when i had to evacuate for Katrina the news coverage was the same. 90% devoted to new orleans, done by people who didn’t know the area, and only occasionally the gulf coast and virtually nothing about the northshore of the lake. when i came back two weeks after the storm hit i had no real idea what i’d find.

[Claff]

We were in SoCal last weekend and had no idea the fires were as bad as they’ve become. Spent Thursday in La Jolla and it was gorgeous, no hint that this bad stuff was on the way. Sunday, before we had to go to the airport we went to Huntington Beach and got absolutely sandblasted down by the water. Didn’t realize that those wicked winds would be the worst thing possible during fire season, and also didn’t really realize that fire season was going on as we spoke.

[schnee]

Wow, RCMacStudent and Millera9 – I’m glad to hear that you two are relatively OK. I hope things stay that way.

[millera9]

Thanks for the love all. For better or worse I’m still in Spain. Talked to mom last night, she’s back home (though she had to off-road a bit to get around the roadblocks) and there is no fire near us. She seems to be satisfied with her safety. All friends are accounted for though many are still evacuated and have no idea about the safety of their homes. My high school is now the temporary home of approximately 2000 people (more than the entire population of the school when I was a student there!) and the Poomacha/Witch Creek fire is still burning fiercely despite the improving weather. There are reports coming from friends back home that the winds did almost as much damage to crops as the fires did.

/Why did I have to leave town just before the most widely photographed event in my hometown’s history?!?!?

[XenPix]

I’m glad you guys are all OK, and that your homes aren’t in imminent danger.

Let’s hope the wind dying down gives the firefighters a chance to at least control the fires to start with, so that they can eventually get them out.

[Author]

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