San Diego besieged by fire

[Sweet Katie]

Very sad. I hope that everyone here from that area is doing well.

[jose]

16,000 of the 20,000 members of the California National Guard are now deployed in Iraq,

U.S. needs to keep fire tanker funding

Oakland Tribune, Nov 27, 2005

WHILE trying to slash billions of dollars from the federal budget to help cover the costs of the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina, the Bush administration wants to cut funding, a move that would ground much of the federal fire-fighting tanker fleet. This would be a bad idea. While western states have managed to get through the last two years without a major flare-up of wildfires, wet winters and long, hot summers mean that the inevitable has only been delayed. If major fires break out next year, we could find ourselves with a 50 to 75 percent reduction in our aerial fire fighting capability.

U.S. needs to keep fire tanker funding Oakland Tribune - Find Articles

[Sonart]

.
The headline this morning...

500,000 people evacuated, 1,300 buidlings destroyed, making this officially a bigger disaster than Katrina.

The good news with the wind changes yesterday was that it allowed air fire-fighting assets to get up.



And they're now bringing in the Paris Gun of water bombers, a Martin Mars seaplane. Wham, 3 acres in one drop! Weeee!!

[Praxius]

Yeah I was about to update with information regarding the Martin Mars:

Tired firefighters face Day 4 of California wildfires battle

......Crews expected extra firefighters and equipment from other states Wednesday. As well, the world's largest water bomber, the Canadian-owned Martin Mars — is being dispatched from Port Alberni, B.C., to help fight in the fight. A day earlier, fire officials said a lack of resources was hampering the firefighting efforts. Firefighters' lives were threatened by too few crews on the ground and a quick deployment of aircraft could corralled one of the massive blazes, Orange County fire Chief Chip Prather told the Associated Press. "It is an absolute fact. Had we had more air resources, we would have been able to control [the fire near Irvine]," he said. Twenty-one firefighters and at least 24 others have been injured.......

Also, further information in the same news link above:

Minor earthquake Already dealing with what one official dubbed a "perfect firestorm," Southern California also experienced a minor earthquake early Wednesday. At 5:22 a.m. local time, a 4.3-magnitude quake shook the area, centred about 165 kilometres northeast of Bakersfield and several hundred kilometres north of the fires. No injuries have been reported. Ridgecrest police department dispatcher Kammy Rana said it lasted less than a minute, and described it as a "jolt and then a smooth roll" that made the office slightly sway.

[Dieval]

Quote by: tinybear Are Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe badly hit? I e-mailed friends living in those areas, but so far no reply.

I believe that Rancho Santa fe was evac'd, and part of Del Mar was as well, but I believe they were allowed to go home when the wind started changing direction...

[Dieval]

4.3 earth quake is nothing The buildings in CA are supposed to be able to withstand something like a 7ish comfortably.

[Sonart]

.

Quote by: Dieval 4.3 earth quake is nothing The buildings in CA are supposed to be able to withstand something like a 7ish comfortably.

:) Yep... a 4.3 is more like entertainment. "Hey, d'ja feel it???" You sorta rock around for a bit, it's way cool.

Quote by: Dieval I believe that Rancho Santa fe was evac'd, and part of Del Mar was as well, but I believe they were allowed to go home when the wind started changing direction...

Rancho Santa Fe (the highest income community in the U.S.) was on the edge of the path, and I know for a fact that at least one home there burned down. However, I could've swore I heard this morning on KPBS that ONLY one home was burnt. That would be great news. Indeed, most of Del Mar was evacuated, but I don't think they were ever in real danger.

Then again, every thing we write here is basically gleaned herarsay.

.

[Dieval]

Quote by: Sonart . "Hey, d'ja feel it???"

"feel what?" is usually the response for a 4.3

[Milton Bradley]

So I have a couple of questions for the people living out there.


1) This is not the first time time that the out of control wild fires have been sparked by electric lines, correct?


2) Why is it still acceptable to have power lines above ground in the area known to suffer through these Santa Anna winds, and long dry seasons?

[Jack]

There's hardly any topsoil. The county is very hilly, and those hills are granite under their thin layer of soil.

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: Isherwood There's hardly any topsoil. The county is very hilly, and those hills are granite under their thin layer of soil.

Well, that does make perfect sense then, doesn't it.


Still, I would think that people would be looking for another way as costly as this method has become.

[Sonart]

.

Plus I'm not aware that many of these fire are actually caused by downed powerlines. Most downed powerlines are the result of fires, not the other way around.

Generally, most of these fires are started by humans, either arson or carelessness, or such things as lightning strikes. Given the tinder dry conditions from our extended drought, igniting a fire is incredibly easy. At this point they dont actually know the causes of these fires.

.

[Dieval]

A lot of the areas around here, especially where the fires started, are very remote and can be somewhat rocky locations, as Isher said. I'm sure that they keep as much of the power lines underground as possible, but it's not always possible to do that.

So far, I've only heard of an arson investigation for one fire. At least one other fire, Wild Animal Park, was caused by power lines. The rest, I don't believe anyones real sure of what started them, but it seems likely that the main ones were cause by the extreme winds and power lines.

[Sonart]

.

Dieval, I was looking at a map this morning and saw that the San Diego Wild Animal Park was smack in the fire zone. You know anything about how they fared????

-----------------------------------------------------

Nevermind, answered it myself....

San Diego's Wild Animal Park animals are safe and staying put

ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- "While more than 250,000 people have fled the flames and smoke in the San Diego area, the beasts at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park are staying put.

Zoo spokeswoman Yadira Galindo says the park's 3,500 animals are safest in their enclosures, protected by the park's fire break and irrigated areas, and, if conditions get worse, the animals can take refuge in their watering holes."

.

[Dieval]

Quote by: Sonart . Dieval, I was looking at a map this morning and saw that the San Diego Wild Animal Park was smack in the fire zone. You know anything about how they fared???? ----------------------------------------------------- Nevermind, answered it myself.... San Diego's Wild Animal Park animals are safe and staying put ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- "While more than 250,000 people have fled the flames and smoke in the San Diego area, the beasts at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park are staying put. Zoo spokeswoman Yadira Galindo says the park's 3,500 animals are safest in their enclosures, protected by the park's fire break and irrigated areas, and, if conditions get worse, the animals can take refuge in their watering holes." .

Your article is pretty much what I heard too

[Always2L8]

Quote by: tinybear Are Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe badly hit? I e-mailed friends living in those areas, but so far no reply.

This message was sent to me at 10:30 this morning by a friend who lives in Del Mar:

We were evacuated for one day and one night only and then allowed to return home, keeping our bags packed and ready for another potential order to vacate. It seems the conditions are shifting further as the wind is softening and changing direction back toward the East which will drive the fires back onto burned territory, for the most part.

[Dieval]

That's about the same with me....I was gone for about 1.5 days and back now...but I still have my things packed, just in case.

[tinybear]

Quote by: Always2L8 This message was sent to me at 10:30 this morning by a friend who lives in Del Mar: We were evacuated for one day and one night only and then allowed to return home, keeping our bags packed and ready for another potential order to vacate. It seems the conditions are shifting further as the wind is softening and changing direction back toward the East which will drive the fires back onto burned territory, for the most part.

Thanks. I hear the winds have abated. I haven't heard from my friends yet though.

[Jack]

They may not have internet access, tiny. Most of the electrical and phone lines are down in the area.

[tinybear]