We are under threat from the Lilac Fire. We didn’t evacuate last night, but the mandatory evacuation zone started right across the street from our house. It was a sleepless night. We could see the flames shooting up in the sky for much of the night and also the two night-flying helicopters making water drop after water drop for hours into the night. Today they announced that those two flight crews between them had made 146 night water drops last night, most of them near our neighborhood. Those guys are heroes. They basically put the fire out or at least fought it to a standstill until it burned itself out.
Today was much better, but the winds are supposed to kick up again on Saturday and especially on Sunday, so it’s not over yet. We still have the cars pack up and ready for a quick get away should we need to run for it.
I was home from work today because they canceled classes; many of our staff had to be evacuated. Also, they didn’t want the students to be exposed to the toxic fumes from the LILAC fire.
People are volunteering rooms in their homes for displaced teachers.
This time, everyone appears prepared. They have their go-to documents, pictures, memory sticks, animals, and their irreplaceables all ready.
I feel for those firefighters; our winds are expected to be 50-80 mph this weekend.
I live near mandatory evacuation zone from lilac fire and son attends UCSB, so very stressful on both fronts. I work at the superior court in Vista which is less than 10 miles from ground zero for lilac and inexplicably the court was open yesterday so felt like I was forced to go to work. Schools, colleges everything else around here was closed. Meanwhile my son is sending me photos of the very thick smoke he is breathing at Santa Barbara and photos of himself wearing a mask. I think it’s shameful and all about money that they don’t let those students leave and make some other arrangemts for finals!!
I think you want N95 or N100 respirator masks. Typically they are sold at hardware, drugstore, and home supply stores. You may have to order from Amazon or ask someone out of the area to send them.
Timely, from a friend in Descanso, east of San Diego, but helpful for anyone.
“If you live anywhere near the fires, please be aware that wild animals are fleeing the fires and they may show up in our yards. The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection is urging you to bring your domestic animals in at night and let the wild animals pass through. Please put out buckets of water for them - they are scared, exhausted, and have also lost their homes - they need to refuel.”
@wecandothis as @Ynotgo mentioned Direct Relief is handing out masks for free. One of the locations is the Costco out near UCSB. We got some yesterday and the air quality today is much worse. The mask need to be the N95 type. A surgical mask or construction mask won’t do. My D went downtown in Santa Barbara today and said many businesses are closed.
When I was listening to one of the news briefing on the Ventura fire they said how much they had learned from the Northern Ca fires. That they were evacuating harder to reach areas earlier so people had a chance to get out.
I also feel bad for the horses. My horse D frequent Facebook pages for various equine groups and said having stalls padlocked is so bad. Everyone knows that in the event of an emergency you need to have halter, lead rope and stalls that can be opened. She feels also for the grooms who worked at the race horse training facility. They saved a lot of horses while their own belongings burned. Many live onsite and have little to begin with and lost everything.
East Montecito and Carpinteria above 192 (in the hills) evacuated overnight. Fire seems to have traveled a fair bit overnight.
Every cell phone in Santa Barbara got an emergency “evacuate now” message that didn’t specify what area had to evacuate at 2:30 am. Location information provided in emergency message 30 minutes later. Power to wide area cut out a number of times overnight.
We are in the Ventura area and had to go to Irvine (two hours south) yesterday. The Home Depot there had N95 masks and I bought some for DD and her friends who will be returning to school on Monday. I also picked up an air purifier for a friend since all of the stores in our area were sold out. The shifting winds make air quality unpredictable.
Power has been going on and off. Also got the cell phone alert in the middle of the night. I’ve offered my home to several friends if they end up evacuating.
My S works in Carpinteria and I told him I doubt they will be working tomorrow.
Yesterday my H and I were saying now grateful we are to have a car. I feel for those who use a bike as their mode of transport.
How is the San Diego’s fire doing? Our news is focused on the local fire.
The firefighters from all over the state are amazing. They must be exhausted.
The Lilac Fire in north San Diego County is 60% contained as of today. Winds have died down somewhat so at the moment they’re keeping an eye on gusts. I live 45 miles away so don’t know how air quality is. They’ve successfully used a lot of aerial fire fighting equipment against this fire.