Here's hoping that anyone in the southern California area is able to stay safe right now. In San Diego County alone, there are eight separate fires burning, accounting for over 100,000 charred acres. 18 people have been hurt, including four firefighters, and one person, a civilian, has been killed.

Watching the news, one County official just said "We can't stop this fire". That's not all too comforting.

We were evacuated four years ago during the Cedar Fire, which scarred over 300,000 acres. We're only two days into this ifre, and it's going to get far worse before it gets better. Santa Ana conditions are prevelant, with single-digit humidity and wind gusts, in some areas, of 85 miles per hour.

This is expected so bad that the city of San Diego has opened Qualcomm Stadium as an evacuation center.

So, if you're in SoCal, stay safe. Remember, all that fancy shit you own can be replaced, and your garden hose just ain't gonna' cut it...

__________________
Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

*salutes*

one thing thats heartening, is the rapid response to take care of all the folks who have been displaced by this tragedy. maybe this is a sign that lessons from katrina have been well learned, as folks have been evacuated, the elderly have not been abandoned, etc etc.

imma hoping there is also an outpouring of donations for the folks in california, who have suffered economic loss from all 'o this.

aye!

My in-laws are in Poway. I haven't reviewed the news/firelines yet. Hell, they can afford to lose their house, unlike many others.

Be safe out there So-Calians.

__________________
When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

Parts of Poway have been evacuated. I don't think the whole city of Poway has been evacuated, though...

__________________
Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

Jesus. It's a hell of a fire, isn't it?

I hope my in-laws don't lose their place; there's a lot of photos and stuff there. Fortunately, they're well enough off that they'll be OK if they lose it; they have other places to live.

Fucking crazy. I finally found a map - looks like they'r in an evacuation area, but not a burn area (yet).

You're in an OK spot, Steve?

__________________
When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

Transforming a desert into one of the world's largest oasis makes frequent fires one of the potential penalties of living in SoCal.

*watches fires in san diego in disbelief*

if anyone on these here boards be a fireman, i have a question;

if peoples refuse to leave their homes, when firemen are sweeping through areas requesting they evacuate, should they be just left to their own fates, or should they be compelled to leave (by that, i mean forced, yarrr!) by the police and any national guard who are on site?

-meadhallpirate

Actually, it seems like we're in one of the few areas that hasn't been evacuated. My in-laws are here with us; they had to leave their home yesterday.

We were evacuated four years ago, during the Cedar Fire. The "peak" in this photo is the roof of my garage:



I think we're gonna' be cool this time around, thankfully. If we're not, well, we'll deal with it. If we have to leave, we leave. Sure, it would suck to lose our house and all our stuff, but we can always get a new house and more stuff.

My office and our factory closed at 8:30 yesterday morning, and we were closed today. Given the scope of the evacuations, I'm bettin' we're closed tomorrow, too...

__________________
Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

IMHO, let 'em burn. If you refuse to leave your property in the case of an impending disaster, especially when given a reasonable means of evacuation, you're responsible for the results.

__________________
When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

I wouldn't be surprised if my in-laws lose their house. They've been evacuated, and as of this morning (last time I heard from my wife) the fire was 1 mile away or less.



At least they're safe, but it's still unfortunate.

__________________
When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

Actually, I think the answer to the question is "Yes, they can".

Firemen threatened to arrest a homeowner today. I didn't even know they could do that, but I've been assured that they can.

The idiot in question was trying to knock down 75 ft. flames, about 30 feet from his house, with a garden hose.

I can understand wanting to do everything possible to save your home but, sometimes, I think you just gotta' say "fuck it"...

__________________
Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

Agreed. It's just stuff.

I just have a problem with firefighters having to risk their lives because of people's stupidity. I mean, shit, between the drunks and other stupid assholes out there, EMS is dangerous enough. If you're dumb enough to try to knock down anything more than a BBQ grill with a garden hose, you deserve what you get.

__________________
When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

In Australia the decision is entirely up to the property owner, however, emergency services do have the authority to prevent people entering a threatened area (including property owners). This works well because it is recognised that correctly equipped, prepared and trained property owners actually assist fire fighters. However poorly equipped and untrained ones hinder them.

Therefore, every summer, there is a massive community based training and information program in fire risk areas. Over the years this has lead to reductions in both property and lost lives. The reduction in lost lives comes because people involved know how to make good decisions.

The fundamental decision they make is whether to stay and fight or leave. They are all instructed to make that decision early - before there is a fire threat - based on their capacity to fight a possible fire. Then the authorities announce a recommendation for those who have decided to leave an area when to do so.

Those that leave are taught how to prepare their properties to mitigate losses. Community based fire fighting units know the status of each property and will deploy resources in an attempt to save those that are well prepared as these have a chance. Unprepared properties are simply left to chance - any one who has ever faced a fire front will understand why.

The sad thing is about this type of situation is it can be too late at that point.

A well prepared occupied home can be saved while all those around burn to the ground - if you know what to do.

There are risks and the home and lives may still be lost. But the well prepared home owner will know that if the house does catch it will still protect them long enough for the main fire front to pass making escape possible.

You've just got to understand the forces your up against - which are immense in the extreme.

There are exceptions. My father-in-law decided he'd stay and save his farm house. It was hard to see an threat, the open fields had been in a long drought and there was nothing to burn - how could a fire even reach the place? Well he said he thought it was the end of the world when unbelievably the fireball descended upon him. He jumped in the water tank - bad move under normal circumstances - boiled alive is not a good way to go. However it was moving quickly and passed in seconds. As he emerged from the now warm water the scene was one of total devastation - the house wasn't burning - that was over, it had exploded and burnt, in seconds.

I lived in San Diego when I was stationed there and several years as a civilian before I went back into the military. That's why I follow the Chargers which is also the reason for the bolt avatar.

Locals said the Qualcom Stadium parking lot, formally known as Jack Murphy Stadium, was pretty much turned into a big tailgate party rather then the disaster the Super Dome became. They are asking that finger-pointing reporters and politicians leave them alone and let them do their jobs.

Things are running very smoothly in California as far as disaster relief. This is what happens when the Governor actually tries to do his job and cooperates with the Feds and the President rather then fight them at every turn like Gov. Blanco in LA and Mayor Nagan did in New Orleans after Katrina.

Harry Reid said yesterday that the fires were caused by Global Warming.......then when asked about his statement a few minutes later denied it. Now we find out that many of the fires were set by arsons.

Barbara Boxer claimed that the reason it was so hard to fight the fires is because half of the National Guard's equipment was in Iraq. How many wild fires are the California National Guard fighting in Iraq? What good does she think that untrained National Guard troops will do with 100 mile/hr winds and a 60-80 ft high wall of flames. They will just end up being overrun by the flames.

The California Lt. Governor, a Democrat, is complaining about Bush coming to visit. He doesn't want him to visit because he thinks he will just get in the way. Arnold needs to tell him to shut his mouth and get out of the way and let everyone willing to help do their jobs without all of the political nonsense.

__________________


"We can't screw it up any worse than they have." - Barack Obama

Wanna bet?



"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste...." - Rahm Emmanuel