October 22, 2007

• EDIT 1 Below

  
  

  EDIT 2 Below

  
  

  EDIT 3 Below

  
  

  EDIT 4 Below (3 am)

  
  

  I will have multiple updates today, as the day progresses.

  
  

  This morning I got up at 6:30, when my alarm was scheduled to wake me up.  Throughout the night I woke up to howling winds, to which I learned later were hurricane force winds of up to 80 miles per hour.  I checked my computer as soon as I got up.  No new emails from work.  No school closures in Escondido.  So, I jumped in the shower to get ready for work.  When I got out of the shower I turned on the news to see what the status of the fire was.  That was when I learned that the highway I take to and from work had been shut down.  I couldn't go to work even if I wanted to.  I also learned that there were no longer 2 major fires, there were 6!

  
  

  I have been staying inside all day long.  Alternating between catching up on episodes of Survivor, and watching the news.  Things keep getting progressively worse in San Diego County.  My brother-in-law, Chris, has just been placed under voluntary evacuation.  He lives up north, in Encinitas for those who know the area. 

  
  

  We also just learned that the Harris Fire is moving closer to Chula Vista.  The housing development next to my mom's has been placed under voluntary evacuation.  She is currently packing everything up.  My in-laws live a bit further west, but are getting anxious to get home to start packing as well.  Unfortunately, not all schools were canceled today, so they have to wait until all the students have been picked up.

  
  

  Meanwhile, I am sure my blood pressure is going up.  I am trying to stay calm and cool.  But I can even smell some of the smoke inside my home, and all the windows and doors are closed.  They have just ordered voluntary evacuations for a housing development called San Miguel Ranch (which is a new development in Chula Vista).  If that goes, there is nothing but kindling between us and them, even though there are several miles between us.  So, I am now in the process of gathering all of our important documents, as well as getting bags ready to be packed.  If we are asked to be evacuated, I am currently planning on going to my dad's.  However, with the 2003 Cedar fire, he was asked to be evacuated.  So, you can see, I am a little stressed!

  
  

  We can't stay at the hotels where Brian works, as they are now filled with evacuated people.  I may have to go to my aunt's house, she lives near the airport... we will see. 

  
  

  Just pray that the winds will die down and give the fire fighters a chance to fight this!  The winds have been so strong they have not been able to use air support to fight the fire, so most of it has 0% containment.

  
  

  EDIT 1

  
  

  I let my next door neighbor know that we don't have a land line any more.  The County of San Diego has set up a reverse 911 system to let people know if they need to evacuate.  It is set up to call people's land lines.  So, she has agreed to pound on our door if she gets a call.

  
  

  Brian is home, and we have gathered some things already.  If we can do it when we have time, and are calm, we will be more likely able to grab things we need that are important to us.  Including ALL of Sarah's pictures!

  
  

  Finally, I have a very odd request.  The news has been on a continuous feed since I got up this morning.  So, I am sure the prime time shows will not be on.  Can someone please tape Heroes for us?

  
  

  EDIT 2

  
  

  It is approaching 9 pm.  The winds have settled down a bit, but the humidity level is in the low double digits to low single digits.  In some areas it is as low as 0-1%!!  Part of me wants to pack up now and head over to my dad's house.  I think I would sleep a lot better.  But then again, the fires are far enough away, and the reverse 911 is giving people plenty of time to get out.  More than likely I will pack up pictures tonight, and have our suit cases open to throw things in, before I go to bed.

  
  

  Brian just let me know that we will put all the photos and albums in the Expedition tonight before we go to bed.  Makes me feel a little better.

  
  

  Finally, Heroes is scheduled to play in our area on Sunday.  Thanks Heather for the tip of watching it online.

  
  

  EDIT 3

  
  

  We just had a small scare.  I smelled fire, strong, inside our condo.  We went outside to see if there was anything.  A neighbor had just pulled into their garage, and he hadn't seen anything on his way in.  We couldn't see anything, so we think it was just the wind blowing.  We did look to the south east, where the Harris Fire is burning.  We couldn't see anything... not even an orange glow.  Good sign! 

  
  

  If you want up to the minute information of what is going on in San Diego County click here.  I keep refreshing this webpage on a regular basis to see if there is anything new.  Especially evacuation warning.  There are two maps, one is the Witch fire, which is north of us, the other is the Harris fire, which is to the south east.  We are watching the Harris fire, as that one poses the greatest risk for us.  As you can see, they have a huge area evacuated, providing ample time to get people out before the fire reaches their homes.

  
  

  This will be my last update for the night... unless anything drastic happens.  But it is now 9:40, so I am going to try to relax before going to bed.

  
  

  EDIT 4 (3 am)

  
  

  I woke up around 1:30 this morning, thanks to my bladder.  On my way back to bed I looked out the window, as we decided to keep the blinds open.  I COULD SEE FLAMES!  I woke up Brian.  We turned on the TV, checked out the internet sites, called the emergency numbers the news told us to call.  Finally we learned that the Harris fire had moved over Mt. Miguel, which isn't too far, but not too close to us.  As time went on there were talks about placing Bonita on voluntary evacuation notice (the small town where we live).

  
  

  Finally, some time after 2 am Bonita was placed on "be prepared" for a possible evacuation.  We went into scramble mode.  We threw all the pictures and important documents in the car, I took pictures of everything inside our condo, Brian took pictures of the inside of our garage.  The last thing we will pack is our clothes.

  
  

  All of our neighbors are up, and we keep going outside to check on the status of things.  Thus far the word is it would take about 2 hours for the fire to make it to our area, if the winds continue in the direction they are going.  Most of our neighbors are getting ready to leave, as we have not been placed on voluntary or mandatory evacuations.  There is still a chance that the fire could go north east of us.

  
  

  Needless to say, I am exhausted.  It is very dry and smokey, with ash falling everywhere.  The fire looks omniscient going down Mt. Miguel, with the orange glow in the night.  Even the moon is orange.  We will most likely evacuate around 4, once we have a better idea of which direction the fire is going. 

  
  

  I will try to post an update on our location later.  Please continue to have positive thoughts for little wind once the sun comes up.  We need little to no wind so that the air attack can be done on this fire!

  • 5:28 pm
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