San Diego County Wildfires
UPDATED MONDAY EVENING:
Our area is still safe and likely to remain so, although we had a brief scare this afternoon when we heard reports of a brush fire at an intersection about a mile from our house. It was quickly contained and poses no further threat. Authorities believe it was started by flaming material blown from a wildfire almost 20 miles away from us!
Some 250,000 people have now been evacuated from their homes in the north and east parts of San Diego County. Thousands more are without power. A staggering number of homes have been lost. Keep those prayers coming.
Here’s a post from my friend Laurie, whose mother has been evacuated from her North County home and is now staying with Laurie’s family. Laurie has experience with evacuations—her family had to leave for 3 days during the fires of 2003. I sure hope that won’t be necessary this time. Laurie writes:
There is the worst corridor of fire North of us.
And as of tonight there is a growing corridor of fire south of us with the new evacuations of Chula Vista.
We live near the Qualcomm stadium, where they are sending evacuees, so hopefully that is a good sign that we may remain safe.
I
have clothes loaded into laundry baskets and photo albums in a box. The
file of important papers on the counter ready to go. Won’t forget the
laptop and cameras.(The kids all packed their backpacks full of
legos and toys first thing this morning as they woke up and I let them
know of the danger.)
My kids packed their treasures this morning too, even though I assured them it is highly unlikely we will need to leave. People are evacuating to our area, I told them. Rose didn’t care. She was all for hightailing it out of here, the sooner the better. That’s about when I decided it would be a wise idea to turn off the TV news. The footage is horrific.
MONDAY MORNING:
From SignOnSanDiego (no link because I don’t want to jam their server):
7:25 a.m.
The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services reports there are
some 18,000 acres of San Diego County burning right now. That includes
the areas burning in the city of San Diego, officials said.The fires are zero percent contained.
Our area is not likely to be in any danger, but parts of San Diego County to the east and north are seeing severe damage right now. As I type, I’m listening to a news reporter describe how the fire jumped over Interstate 15 at one point—a huge multilane freeway. It’s hard to imagine fire leaping across that expanse of blacktop, but burning embers can travel quite a way on the wind.
Please keep the evacuees (thousands of them) and firefighters in your prayers today.
Alicia and Kristen have blogged about this too. Boy, Kristen, I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t shoot for this week to visit the Wild Animal Park after all, eh?
margaret says:
I tried to find a map of the progression but have not located one. Where did it cross 15? Is it as far inland as Poway?
Prayers for all.
On October 22, 2007 at 8:21 am
Joann says:
So, Lissa, are you between the fire and the ocean??
On October 22, 2007 at 9:16 am
Jenny in Ca says:
we are praying for everyone effected. We are in OC, not near any fires, but we can smell the smoke-which is always eerie.
On October 22, 2007 at 9:27 am
Kristen Laurence says:
Oh, yes! I just heard on the radio many of the animals are being transported to the zoo hospital for safety. I’ve been thinking about you guys all morning, Lissa. You are certainly in our prayers.
On October 22, 2007 at 10:30 am
Love2learn Mom says:
Margaret – The 15 borders Poway on the west side. I know that parts of Poway have been evacuated at least (not sure how much) because my brother was evacuated.
Lissa – excellent point about not clogging the San Diego web site. I think it’s important not to try to call people unnecessarily during these things.
On October 22, 2007 at 11:19 am
Lissa says:
Joann, there is a fire a ways to the east of us, but it would have to travel a long way to reach us, so I am not concerned for our neighborhood. We are in a high-density residential area with not much open brush around.
The fires in North County are the really worrisome ones (not for us personally, but in general)–most of Scott’s coworkers were evacuated in the middle of the night. It’s pretty bad up there.
On October 22, 2007 at 11:58 am
Tim S says:
So glad to hear that y’all are not in any present danger. When I saw the headlines this morning, my first thoughts were of you and E.S. and your sweet kiddos.
We will be praying for everyone out there — especially for those putting their lives in danger to fight it out on the front lines.
On October 22, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Jane Ramsey says:
Prayers for all affected by the fires!
On October 22, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Meredith says:
Praying for you and all others affectd friend, we were just experiencing this ourselves, it’s scary!
On October 22, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Margaret Mary Myers says:
Thought of you right away, along with our family and friends in L.A. and Ventura Counties.
My sister-in-law lives near Canyon Country, north of Los Angeles, so we’re watching and praying about those fires, which are “competing” with the San Diego fires for fury.
Praying for all of you!
On October 23, 2007 at 4:56 am
mary mi says:
Lissa,
My heart and prayers go out for all those who are affected by the fire, tho’ I am relieved that you are safe.
The part in your post from your friend describing how her kids are packing toys put a lump in my throat.
It’s very scary to watch the fires on tv, I can’t imagine what they are like up close.
God bless,
~M~
On October 23, 2007 at 7:12 am
April @ For His Glory and My Good says:
I used to live in Ramona and Escondido (lived 10 min from W.A.P.)until a year and half ago we are now in Perris. Our previous church family and blood family have been greatly effected.
Nice to meet another blogger in the area.
On October 24, 2007 at 10:58 pm