There are 12 major wildfires burning in California, including LA and San Diego areas.




San Diego seems to be getting the worst of it right now.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/22/wildfire.ca/index.html

Situation in San Deigo area getting worse...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/22/wildfire.ca/index.html


Checking to make sure our west coast members are ok.
If you are anywhere near the fires and they ask you to evacuate, please do as they say and get out.

I hope they find a way to get these fires under control soon, but right now the fires are winning.

Stay safe, and let us know how you are doing.

My wife's best friend lives in Malibu and had a harrowing escape yesterday morning. She and her family had only recently moved back into the house after some renovations. Yesterday, they woke up and noticed some smoke coming from one of the canyons in the distance. They went out for breakfast and when they came back, flames were visible on a closer ridge. They decided to leave so they packed up the kids and dogs in two cars and got on the PCH to drive to a friend's house to wait it out.

Apparently when they got down to the PCH there were flames on both sides of the road (e.g. the hill side and the beach side). The smoke was so thick she couldn't see her husband's car driving in the next lane. When she rolled down her window to speak with a passing police officer, hot embers flew in the window!

Needless to say they were a bit freaked out. We don't know what happened to the house. The pre-school of their youngest daughter was destroyed.

Worst of all, the forcast calls for more Santa Anna winds.

Keep those firefighters in your thoughts. This is a really nasty one.

We are near the beach near Los Angeles.
The fires are all around us but the city is safe so far.
Usually the only houses that burn are the ones they put at the top of a hillside full of dry brush.

I was just outside.
You can smell smoke.

The sun is out, no clouds, but the color of the light is wrong.
The light has kind of an orange-tan color and it is too dim.

Eerie!

Be safe! We are thinking of you!

I just heard from TavD.
He's the guy with the new M+H CC in Southern California.

He said he may have to evacuate today.

This is scary stuff.

CNN says over 250,000 people have had to flee the fires so far.

It's so sad. Southern CA is one of my favorite places in the country. I feel so bad for the people in the areas near the fires.

Scary stuff! My prayers and best wishes to all of you in the widfire areas in CA. I can only imagine the terror experienced by your wife's friend and her family driving through flames on both sides of the highway, SHPiano. It gives me chills thinking about it.

I remember all too well the San Bernardino Fire a few years back that charred the foothill communities from Rialto all the way towards the San Fernando Valley.

To give you an idea of what Kenny is talking about, this was taken going south on I-15 south of Hesperia just before the beginning of the downgrade down the El Cajon Pass. You can see the air pollution from the fires unable to pass up over the mountains.



Once down the mountain, just 15 minutes down and a few miles from where the above pic was taken, the scene is night-like, with entire foothills big enough to hold several hundred homes ablaze. It was hard to breathe and even harder to see. Multiply this scene by about 50 and you have Malibu or San Diego County right now.

My prayers are with all of you. It's hard to imagine what each of you are going through.

Take care - be safe.

Those of you in Southern California affected by the fires, please check in at first opportunity - I'd like to know that you are OK and I'm sure many others would like to know it too. It is devastating to see this happening and the peril you must feel in the midst of this. Concern for PWF posters, and the friends I've met here is genuinely heart felt. This is a place where we touch each others lives with our common love of things music and piano. I look forward to hearing from you.

Betty Patnude

with the climate getting hotter and drier, the wildland fires are getting more extreme every year.

it's terrible when it's near major population centers. where are people supposed to go?

i too have friends in the area, and i am very concerned. i saw some videos of the malibu fire--quite frightening.

you can't stop fires like that. you just have to get out of the way.

kenny, stay safe.

I'm very worried about Dino, he lives there but is away in China right now....

Norbert

Thanks guys.
I don't care about me.
It's the pianos!!!!!!

I have poured several buckets of water into the the pianos, just in case.

All clear over here. No worries. thanks!

I'm a couple of blocks from Torrance Beach at the south end of Santa Monica Bay. No danger of fire but horrible air quality. Weird yellowish daylight all day both over the land and the bay Lots of ash particles in the air and settling on surfaces.

These fires are such an annual occurrence that we locals probably don't pay as much attention to them as we should.

Good luck to all of you in CA.

kenny - just remember you can always buy new pianos, but your family comes first. So, thank God for them.

I live in Rancho Bernardo, in the 4S Ranch area and my townhouse is right over the hill from where the fires are. Hopefully they didn't get to my neighborhood as I haven't heard any reports of homes nearby on fire on the news, but several homes over the hill have burned down.

My poor Bosendorfer is sitting by itself! (><)

I'm okay where I live (West Orange County), but I have students who live near the Irvine/North Tustin/Foothill Ranch fire. They had a voluntary evacuation last night, but everything got better this afternoon.

The air quality is horrible everywhere in So Cal. I live 20 miles west of the nearest fire, yet the air is filled with ash and particulates. During the day, it got up to 95 degrees, and the sun is glowing eerily yellow through a haze. Brings back memories of 2003.

Things aren't so good in Northern San Diego. I just got an e-mail from a teacher who has been forced to evacuate. The fire is spreading in a northwest direction, and can eventually hit the beach.

These things are a dime a dozen out here this time of the year. I live in Redondo Beach, about a mile from the beach, pretty much the whole of LA county would have to burn down before any fire will get to me

I don't watch TV much so today was the first day I even noticed the news of the fires, beautiful sunset this evening.

Just noticed, we probably have enough people in the so cal area for a piano party (anyone up to it? We could call it the santa anna or something )

From today's (23 October) New York Times : " Several hundred houses appeared to have been destroyed or heavily damaged, according to the governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and thousands more were in danger."

For some, therefore, the impending disaster is a very serious threat, and the potential victims may have neither the time nor the inclination to pause to admire the sunset caused by the smoke and haze from their destroyed homes.

In dispair as they flee, and helpless as we watch, we can only pray that lives will be spared and that belongings and homes can be replaced.

Regards,

I live in Chino Hills. We've had very high winds since Sunday and today is no exception. I see the smoke and smell the fire but don't see any flames. We live right up against the hills of Chino State Park so I'm constantly watching those hills for any fires that may crop up. I have a student who attends Pepperdine but I've found out she's OK.

AZNpiano: I also got an email from a teacher in the San Diego area who had to evacuate. Perhaps it was the same person - Linda. I would like to hear from you if possible.

Why doesn't California just use the water from the ocean to put out the fires? It would only make sense. Theres plenty of ocean water why not?

It isn't lack of water, it's lack of a way to get the water to the fires.

The National Guard is on it's way with some big tanker planes. I'm glad they are on their way, I just wish they had been there sooner.

I watched CNN for a while this morning, my heart goes out to the people in these areas. We aren't talking about one or two homes (which would be bad enough), we are talking hundreds.

big wildfires like this create their own weather. it can be very unsafe to fly over them. from the reports i've read (i've written a lot about fire science and wildland firefighting), nobody is going to be able to do much about these fires until the weather helps out.

that means it's got to cool off, the winds have to die down, the RH has to go up. only then can firefighters get anything like an edge on the situation.

From San Diego: 300,000 people evacuated, tens of thousands of acres burned, uncounted hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed, at least one more day of hot, dry, intense winds expected.

These are not dime-a-dozen fires.

The latest from CNN:

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- Raging wildfires have destroyed 1,300 homes across Southern California and, pushed by fierce Santa Ana winds, threaten 72,000 others, California fire officials reported Tuesday.


Evacuees joined hundreds of thousands seeking refuge in shelters, schools and stadiums Tuesday as fires pushed into new areas.

"It will not end ... until it reaches the ocean or the winds turn around," San Diego Fire battalion chief Bruce Cartelli said.

At least 16 wildfires have scorched about 425 square miles from north of Los Angeles to southeast of San Diego since the weekend.

While three major fires rage in Los Angeles County, the largest disruption of life and property came to the south, where San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts said Tuesday about 1,000 homes have been destroyed.

More than 300,000 people fled their homes in San Diego County, where five of 23 emergency shelters reached capacity Monday evening. Others took shelter with friends or relatives.

The U.S. Navy ordered sailors out of barracks and onto ships to make room for evacuees.

In an e-mail to CNN, Jonathan Gallen, a doctor in Poway, described how the fires quickly closed in on his neighborhood Monday.

"My pool was completely black with soot. Like the 'Creature From the Black Lagoon' was about to walk out of there," Gallen wrote. "The soot was falling so heavily that it blocked out the sun. There was a smoke cloud above our home that seemed to stretch for miles. This was bad."

Reporter Larry Himmel of KFMB-TV in San Diego showed viewers the destruction of his home in the Forest Ranch area.

"You can see my hose right here valiantly trying to do something," Himmel said as flames dwarfed a trickle of water. Watch reporter's account as his home burns »

National Guard troops were posted at Qualcomm Stadium, home to the NFL's San Diego Chargers, as it became a temporary home to 10,000 fire evacuees.


Sean McGough and his family fled their home in El Cajon for Qualcomm early Tuesday as the flames closed in.

"I looked out and saw the mountain engulfed in flames with a trail at least three miles long coming down," McGough said.

"When I went to bed at midnight, nothing in the East County was any immediate threat. ... Two hours later is when we got the news we needed to get out of our homes."

President Bush issued an emergency declaration Tuesday for seven California counties, clearing the way for federal disaster relief.

Emergency officials asked for food and water for evacuees and told those still in their homes to cut electrical use so the power grid is not strained.

We went thru the Cerro Grande fire in 2000 when all of Los Alamos and White Rock were evacuated, and every time fire season comes along and the homes start burning around the west we all get that feeling again, and the folks in Los Alamos particularly, of course. I know several people whose homes burned, or whose homes were across the street from a whole street that was just gone, or next door to where the devastation started. You can still the blackened sticks that used to be trees on the side of the hills when you drive into town. No one's really over it yet, tho it's better than it was a couple of years ago.

This is huge, and my heart goes out to these communities - it's a major event.

Cathy

Unbelievable. I can only imagine the horror of it all. We in B.C. have had bad fires and have lost many homes to forest fires. But nothing like we are seeing in Southern California.
My heart goes out to all.

My niece recently purchased a nice home in Escondido, north of SD. She evacuated yesterday afternoon just before the mandatory evacuation in her community. 70 homes there had already burned.
She, her husband, and dogs are guesting with friends. No cell phone use but is updating with emails.

Maps are just coming up in the area that are making sense. This area has burned, this area evacuated etc. Devastating.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/slideshow/news/14396456/detail.html

Another lilyfriend has posted that he is safe but his friends who also raise Bengal cats (as does he) have lost their homes in Ramona. Everyone is helping out the best they can, but some are relocating to only relocate again. The Santa Anna winds are still raging off and on in several places.

There are several websites where people are posting their pictures. Sad, but you should take a look.

Recent:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/slideshow/news/14399288/detail.html

From here you might be able to see at least 6-8 links of home pictures.

http://www.knbc.com/slideshows/index.html

When the winds die back it will be safer for the helicopters and planes to fly.

What will those who return have left after fires have burned down their communities and landscape? Where will those who have lost everything turn?
Fema better get it right this time.

LL

I just talked to Joy and Rick, they are okay.
They just returned to their home, which was okay, after spending the night in a high school with their two cats.
The risk is not over since the winds can change in a moment.
So they are paying close attention and may have to evacuate again.

Joy said everything was very organized and there were as many volunteers as evacuees, but the worst thing was the pizza they were served for dinner was burnt.