Southern California wildfires--are people okay?

Parent Cafe
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<p>As I recall, Sandiegomom lives in Del Mar, parts of which were evacuated, but I don’t think any of it burned. So she is very probably okay.</p>

<p>I’ve been impressed with the way San Diegans have rallied around those who were evacuated - the thousands at Qualcomm stadium have been showered with donated food, clothing, blankets, etc. that were brought over by luckier unevacuated residents and also by local businesses. The Chargers’ practice field is full of evacuated horses and goats.</p>

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<p>Just got back to LA from SD. While on the I5 by San Onofre, I literally saw some of the “smaller” satellite fires from the Witch Fire. Absolutely crazy. I’ve never seen such a large fire up close, and I can say that it’s something I probably won’t/don’t want to repeat.</p>

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<p>Carolyn, I just read the last few posts here. I have been thinkning about everyone in CA. Carolyn, I am glad that your family is safe. I just learned how close the fire is to your home. I will keep you in my prayers.</p>

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<p>LOL… reminds me of the oft-cited opinion that there are no fox-hole atheists.</p>

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<p>So the fire decided to flare up again, now that night has hit and there is very little the firefighters can do. No planes anymore; the drops made some progress toward containment (reportedly 16% for the Slide Fire and 30% for the Grass Fire), but there’s no control.</p>

<p>The west bank of the Slide Fire has begun to move again, and it’s making quick tracks toward my neighborhood. This is terrible news not only for me but for the residents the fire will go through first: their homes burned down in the 2004 fire, and have only recently (last 1-2 years) been rebuilt.</p>

<p>:(</p>

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<p>Here is an LA Times article about the relief efforts at Qualcomm stadium that I was talking about in post #81:</p>

<p><a href=“A relief center to behold”>A relief center to behold;

<p>"SAN DIEGO – Just inside the stadium gate Monday, a young bleached-blond woman offered a drink: “Would you care for a Red Bull, sir?” Another hundred feet on, a woman walked by carrying a sign: “Anyone distressed?” She gave directions to a crisis counseling center down the way. There was more food than could be eaten. More help than could be used. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders guessed there were as many volunteers as victims.</p>

<p>Over the weekend, the Earth had exploded into ever-wider rings of fire, threatening thousands of homes and hundreds of thousands of lives. A good 9,000 people ended up here, at Qualcomm Stadium, and if this was the endgame of a disaster, it would be a disaster that seemed possible only in the idyll of California.</p>

<p>There was a banh mi picnic in the parking lot, beef empanadas on the chow line, Caesar salads, cartons of fresh Starbucks House Blend, free magazines, toys for the kids, cots for grandma, pizza by the slice or, if you wished, the box. There was a man playing jazz guitar, a blues band, massages and acupuncture.</p>

<p>“It’s better service than when you go to a restaurant,” said Gary Potter of Rancho Penasquitos. “Every time you turn around, people are asking us if you need something – water, food, anything.”</p>

<p>“They thought of everything,” said Erin Kelley, his wife. She was particularly impressed by the massages being offered in the parking lot…"</p>

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<p>Oh, there’s a reason I love California, the diverse culture that make it special, leading to such a scene as above. My heart aches for all suffering through this, and the beautiful land. May peace come soon.</p>

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<p>S in Orange, CA says his college is safe from the fires but the air is heavy and he’s thirsty, can feel it when walking between classes, and it makes him a bit “sick” though not enough to wear anything uncool that we suggested (mask, wet handkerchief). </p>

<p>I think it’s hard for students with any allergies or asthma, even in schools not closed down. Our S, thankfully, does not suffer with these but other students are feeling it. </p>

<p>The college recommended to all: run room air-conditioners (lucky them to have them) with RECYCLED AIR (not pulled in from the outside). So that’s a good tip if you have a student attending classes this week in SoCal.</p>

<p>H recommended sunglasses because of particulates that bother his eyes. That suggestion went over much better because he’ll look cool still.</p>

<p>I’m sorry to belabor this, but does anyone with an understanding of lungs know whether the ash in the air right now in SoCal is harmful in the same way as was 9/11.
There, the workers suffered a few years later; so if I should be more insistent to advise son to wear a mask, I’ll do it. For today I backed off.</p>

<p>S also couldn’t understand how an arsonist could add to this problem, which is happening near him. An arsonist was shot by police, apparently. I wondered if someone disordered with mental illness would be triggered by seeing all these fires on TV, but S feels it’d more likely be to gain insurance on a bad house or business; cover it over by being in the midst of this big conflagration. </p>

<p>Last night in a class, some 8th graders asked me how the cops know if it’s arson. I didn’t know many answers (other than finding gasoline on a carpet). Anyone know?</p>

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<p>P3T, I grew up in So Cal, and remember the bad air from fires very well. It’s definitely unpleasant, but I wouldn’t worry too much about health issues in an otherwise healthy person (no asthma or other breathing problems.)</p>

<p>It is my understanding that the air after 9/11 was heavily contaminated with asbestos, concrete dust and other contaminants.</p>

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<p>paying3, I’m not a medical person but I’ve been through several of these wildfires in CA. Generally speaking, in my experience (ONLY so please don’t bash me if you disagree) the air quality when you are outside the fire area is not bad enough to wear a mask and does not pose long term health risks. It is slightly difficult to breathe if you exert yourself outside and you are definitely thirsty all the time. The 9/11 experience was firefighters and other emergency personnel who were in the thick of it and breathing the particulate matter in the air.
I’m sure that there are people with severe asthma who have a different experience but I am speaking as a generally healthy person.<br>
Plus, short of going there and walking around holding the mask on your DS’ face, I’m not sure how insistent you can be. He’ll be fine :)</p>

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<p>cross posted (and happily agreed ) with sjmom</p>

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<p>All of my friends and co-workers who evacuated have now been allowed back in to their neighborhoods, and none of them lost their homes. Others of course were not so lucky. One member of my staff at work asked for tomorrow off to go help his best friend pick through the ashes of what used to be his house.</p>

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<p>The Santiago fire still rages on 10 miles from my house. Yesterday afternoon the fire was at ~ 18,000 acres, and 50% contained. Due to the directional shift, it now has charred 22,000 acres, and is back down to 30% contained.</p>

<p>The Saddleback school district has closed all its schools and mandatory evacuations continue. </p>

<p>The sky is a pinkish-gray color and the air is DRY and heavy. More and more ash continues to fall. </p>

<p>I don’t have asthma, but I can definitely feel a tightening in my chest. My nose is caked (sorry, trying to be gentle with descriptions), and I feel as if I’ve been smoking cheap cigarettes for days. There’s also a metallic taste in my mouth which makes everything taste terrible. I drink water and immediately feel parched.</p>

<p>I cannot even imagine what fear and hurt some must be dealing with.</p>

<p>My heart is heavy.</p>

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<p>Semi-good news: my boyfriend thought that both of his parents had lost their houses (divorced, but live in homes down the street from one another); it has been confirmed that only one was lost. Small blessings and recoveries…</p>

<p>The fires also subsided a bit. There haven’t been too many updates, but it seems like the Slide Fire was just “burning the unincorporated woodland” which is just fine and dandy because it wasn’t burning homes, but those of us who have places on the other side of that unincorporated woodland would sure like to know a bit more. :P</p>

<p>They’re hoping to make as many air drops as they can and get a handle on containment (begin to, anyway; one was 30%, but the other was 0% last night and they were HOPING to make 20% by the end of the morning) before the wind changes.</p>

<p>From reports we’ve received, even once the fires are over we might have to wait a few weeks before we can go back up. The fires burned VERY hot, and reduced lots of places down to what someone referred to as “lunar landscape.” Utilities are fried, water lines are damaged, and reportedly hundreds of miles of power cables are down. The fires may not be burning, but the place certainly won’t be livable for a while.</p>

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<p>Yuck- I just went to Santa Ana where I do volunteer work at the zoo. The air quality there is so bad. I feel very badly for the animals there, and at the OC ZOO, and Wild Animal Park and San Diego Zoo. I am sure the keepers (who themselves are breathing this very unhealthy air) are trying to keep the animals comfortable, but even if they are in thier night quarters the air is very bad. I heard that several birs in our exhibits are coughing.</p>

<p>The air is somewhat better closer to the coast. The light has such a wierd quality to it. We haven’t seen the sun, moon or stars for days now, and the light even at mid-day has a reddish glow.</p>

<p>Oh, someone asked in a previous post how they know Santiago Canyon was set by an arsonist (that’s the OC fire - started at the Irvine Tustin border), and it is because there were three places where the fire started. Two on one side of a canyon, and one on another.</p>

<p>I lived in Oakland in the hills when we had the firestorm back in the early 90’s , and the magnitude of this is so much bigger, although without nearly as much loss of life. It is just surreal.</p>

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<p>I live about 5 miles from the Santiago Canyon fire.</p>

<p>My school district (Capistrano Unified School District) closed all the schools today because of bad air quality, also two of the High Schools were threatened by two separate fires. (San Clemente HS and another one is RSM).</p>

<p>The air is orange-pinkish, its been that way for the past 24+ hours and my car has a layer of soot on it.</p>

<p>As of right now the Santiago Canyon Fire is 30% contained, I can actually see it creeping down towards Rancho Santa Margarita from my house. Luckily the winds have died down significantly.</p>

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<p>Earlier in the week the San Diego Wild Animal Park was severely threatened by the advancing fires and it was announced that they were evacuating the animals, which left me wondering how they were going to evacuate that Sumatran Tiger. Not to mention all the rhinos - you can’t just turn a rhino loose and tell it to go be free.</p>

<p>The danger has passed there now, and they did lose a couple of animals to the smoke - a Clapper Rail and a Kiang - but most of the animals came through okay.</p>

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<p>Thanks coureur…I know our little local zoo got a call from someone asking if we could house some big cats. I can’t imagine evacuating all those exotic animals. They get stressed being moved.</p>

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<p>Sandiegomom here, checking in. I just heard from Carolyn, and their house is still standing, albeit with much ash all around. This is wonderful news --there are many homes in her area that burned. As Coureur surmised, our family evacuated for a couple days, but we are back. Many, many people were not as fortunate. It is hard to communicate the impact that these fires have had. Best to all. P</p>

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<p>Thank you sandiegomom for checking in and we are so grateful to hear that your family’s home is OK and to get word that Carolyn’s home is still standing considering how close the fires were in her neighborhood. The devastation for others is so enormous that it is terribly terribly sad.</p>