I also just spoke to TavD on the phone.
He had to evacuate and is staying with friends near the Mexican border.

He is not sure if his house is still there but he's hopeful based on maps he's seen of the fire's path.
It will be very close.

He expects he will be allowed back home tomorrow.

Oh, and his new 9'4" Mason and Hamlin CC is insured.

Thanks for the updates Kenny.

I kept thinking about the SoCal and LA piano forums parties participants...

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum_members/SoCalParty1.htm

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum_members/SoCalPartyJan2003.htm

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum_members/SoCalPartyJan2004.htm

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum_members/LAparty.htm

http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/topic/22/27.html

http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/topic/22/142.html

Those Californian's sure know how to party.
I can't wait until we can talk about forums parties again, instead of fires!

Please keep us updated, and take care.

Hi.
I'm a few miles north of Mt San Miguel (in the Mt Helix area south of El Cajon, about 1 mile north of Rancho San Diego, where reverse 911 was just announced a few minutes ago on 600 KOGO) , and the Harris fire seems to be slowly headed our way. We have the car pretty much packed, and are ready to go if the need arises.

As for pianos, I don't care if my 56.75" Ricca & Son upright gets torched - it's in fairly bad shape anyway, and I don't know what she thinks, but my mom's 4'11" Young Chang PG-150 is 7'3" too small to be worth trying to save.

Oh, one thing I haven't mentioned, the pitch on my upright seems to have dropped several cents in the last few weeks.

And, on a good note, compared to the 2003 Cedar fire(s), I've heard that there's only been 1 (maybe 2) fatalities, and a couple dozen injuries - a tiny percentage compared to 4 years ago.

sympathy and prayers from Kansas City are sent your way.

I'm near the beach (Huntington), so I'm not affected, but the smell is so pervasive. Even here at the office in Newport there is smoke smell in the ventilation. My place smells also, but the Estonia is fine! The winds were so strong they blew down trees in front of my townhome--could'nt use the front door.
Thanks for all your concerns. Some of the fires were started by arson--that is so sick.

It's catastrophic, a national desaster of the first degree....

Rest assured the whole world is watching, German TV I'm watching in the evening is brodcasting updates every 20 minutes...

Feeling genuinely sorry for the many people being affected by this, reportedly now alos including Dino whose family has just been asked to evacuate....

Our thoughts are with all of them!!

Pianos can be SOOOO very unimportant......

Norbert

Akira:

I am hoping that we will hear from you soon!

I think Akira is right in the midst of this disaster - and I am quite concerned.

Akira has been posting for just a few months now and always with good information, inspiring and motivating words to others, and just beginning as an adult piano student for about the same length of time. Akira has been very, very resourceful and has made an impact on the PWF is such a nice way.

Betty

And the dry, hot weather is not helping, either. My school reached 100 degress this afternoon. I saw one of the fires from the distance today. Freaky!

Four of my piano students came down with the flu since the fire started. I guess it's due to the fact everybody stayed indoors with the windows shut, and there's no moisture in their nostrils to protect them from the flu bug...

Does anyone know how Opera Tenor (from Sandy Eggo) is doing?

It's 12 noon right now, and the sky is very strange looking, a dull pink color, feels like I'm living on Mars or something; we've been having some glorious sunsets lately though.

I got a PM from him this morning around 10:45 that didn't mention anything about the fires, so I assume he's okay, phew!

Think twice about living in such areas.

Mother Earth is talking!

You're right. Maybe everyone in SoCal should migrate to the Pacific Northwest. Would you and all the other folks up there welcome us?

Sure! There is always Idaho.

Really, all my thoughts and prayers for those in S.CAl. I hope everyone is safe.

I too am concerned about Opera Tenor. Pique, do you know? Perhaps I should see on the Well-tempered forum.

Just read Monica's post. Sounds like OT and his family are okay.

Thinking about PW'ers and all those affected by this devastation.
Hoping for everyone's safety and an end to this inferno.

Sophia

from pianobuff
Thanks for the invite. I think a lot of Californians are moving to Idaho. There's a mini population explosion there for sure.

If I didn't have to work (what a damnable interference to life that is!!), you'd find me in Hood River, Oregon with a few fruit trees in my backyard to pass off as my occupation.

You are more that welcome to be a neighbor turandot, actually I do live in Oregon, until then, be safe and hopefully the weather will change for the better and the fires will die. All the best!

I would just like to express my concern about the ongoing events in Southern California. My heart goes out to any members affected.

I attended Anglican Evensong yesterday after work, and prayers were specifically offered to those in need.

Warm regards to all,

pianobuff,
you do know that idaho has wildfires every year every bit as bad as these california fires, if not worse?

for the last two summers, it seemed like the entire state of idaho was on fire.

it just doesn't get as much press because there aren't millions of people in the path of those fires.

for good reason. most people have more sense than to settle in the middle of a forest that has co-evolved with wildfire.

opera tenor is apparently not in the path of the fires.

Just to let people know, the San Diego fire was really down here last week. I live by the coast but boy we had smoke and ashes come our way. By day 2 our region (20 miles N of San Diego in Del Mar) was evacuated. There were at one point 8 fires in San Diego county alone - speculation has that 3 were started by powerlines and the gusting winds. The cause of that others are still under investigation. I know a few people who lost their homes and it is truly devastating. One of my friends is a great man in the shop working with wood. He bought a bit of land a few years back and handbuilt his house. Sadly it was also burned down. Nearly 1 000 000 were evacuated.

Although the fire was larger, it was not as destructive as a fire that we suffered in 2003. Also the firemen, marines, FEMA and National Guard were all great. I stayed at Qualcomm Stadium and the hospitality that people got there was tremendous. This crisis situation was handled very well by the government!

Van,

I noticed that 'Mars' sunset last week as well. It was very eerie - I commented to my family that it looked like the pictures from Mars.

We also had lots of smoke at home, but no wind damage. Today the winds kicked up a bit again, but it is much more mild, and hopefully will not re-ignite anything.

I live in Santee, (a valley area in East San Diego). During the Crest fire I was stuck at Barona Casino for 30 hours when the fire rolled in. When we were able to leave we drove slowly around downed poles still smouldering and rushed passed burning brush, arriving safely but days away from the fire being put out. The fire got as close as the hills and it was amazing to see them coming down the hill towards the houses and even more amazing to know that the fire dept. put them out before any houses burned.

This time the fire was all around us in the hills, not just on one side. The news was devastating to hear. The schools closed, most business' closed and no one was allowed outside. We monitored the t.v., sleeping in shifts for the first few nights, but I felt that we probably would not have to be evacuated, although my son, just 2 miles away on the other side of Santee was on alert, as his back door is a wild life preserve. It was not until the 4th day until I was able to start relaxing and knew the worse was over.

2 weeks ago we took the back way to Palm Springs that would take us through our neighboring town of Lakeside and Ramona. We all became silent when we saw families sorting through the ashes of their homes that were sitting right on the main roads.

We have the best fire dept. in "East County" and have suffered through many fires in Santee over the years and they have always been successful in getting the fires out before any homes were lost. They know what they are doing and if they couldn't stop this fire, no one could have stopped the fire.

The people of East County applaud our fire fighters and they hold a special place in our heart.

I only just saw this thread. Sorry I didn't check in at the time, but thank you all very much for thinking of me.

As for the fires, we were on what I referred to as "an island of tranquility in a sea of fire." All around us was fire and smoke, but we could look straight up and see blue skies - eerie.

We have a couple of friends who lost everything they owned. Thank God they came out alive.

This was what one friend's home looked like. that piano was a 1910 Steinway M in mint condition - not even a scratch. It got so hot the plate warped and broke.

So sad...sorry for their loss......I just heard that a friend of mine who has some friends in Malibu where the fire was, lost their home and their 9ft antique M&H CC.