Well folks it is fire season in San Diego

[nadinbrzezinski]

and it looks like this will be as bad or worst than the Cedar fire four years ago

Just from watching the local media... this will be bad...

[Skink]

1. How bad is it?

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Two major fires out of control

voluntary evacuations are already in place

And one person has been killed, while seven have been injured

Seen this before... these are bad enough that you may not be able to outrun the fire on a fire aparatus.

And of course where is the Guard? We know

[calimary]

8. Well, LA County isn't doing too well at the moment, either.

A lot of the canyons - Canyon Country and more, plus Malibu - YIKES.

And OF COURSE the weather contributes with erratic and REALLY gusty winds, and hot temps. Forecast is for more of those winds through the week. A real horror show for Halloween, I'll tell ya.

One commentator just said this is just the beginning as far as the winds. Sigh.

What's really sad is "That Castle" on the hill in Malibu, I think it's called Castle Kashon, is in ruins. It was always so beautiful! When the Renaissance Faire was held in Agoura (way up in the western edge of the San Fernando Valley) we used to take Malibu Canyon Road through the coastal mountains to the event. We'd always pass that castle - with the battlements - a real storybook roof line. It was nestled on a hilltop in the foothills below the mountains in the background, overlooking Malibu and the beach et al. SO cool. I used to fantasize about living there or in a home like it. It's been a local landmark for years. Now, just a charred ruin.

These conditions are just murder on our poor firefighters! And the terrain is AWFUL. Nearly IMPOSSIBLE to pick through. And it's been SO dry here that every hillside is covered with kindling. This morning, I was driving my son out to his school to strike the set on the fall drama production (which ended last night), and we saw a caravan of what must have been nine or ten firetrucks, fully loaded, lights blazing, heading south on the 405 - probably to get off at Sunset and go west to PCH and up to Malibu.

Now, I hear it's in Orange County - Santiago Canyon is in trouble. NINE fires they say are burning in this area now - TEN throughout the state.

I hate this season. Just HATE IT. Every year, October is a problem because it brings fire season with it.

BIGTIME bummer.

[tomreedtoon]

2. Fire season? Who's firing on you, the cops or the Klan?

Just askin'.

[rwheeler31]

3. Fire season gets longer ,hotter and dryer.ugly and unsafe.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Correct... but there is no global warming

as I poined out yesterday... one of my parrots is having classic spring time behavior as well

Thankfully I live far enough from it, but not my sis

[LWolf]

5. I lived in CA for 38 years,

and spent many hours on fire watch, on evacuation watches, and going through days where the sun never broke through the smoke cover.

I helped evacuate, and care for, refugee horses, donkeys, llamas, goats, and other critters. I camped next to my horse trailer, ready to haul out at a signal from the fire department. As a kid, I once helped round up 200 head of horses, turn them into large arenas and turn the sprinklers on them, as we were cut off from escape and watching the ridge just above us burn.

Just last May, my school here in Oregon was an evacuation center for a large area ravaged by wild fire.

My thoughts go out to you, and to all in the path of the fires today.

[Hekate]

7. We drove out from Goleta toward Ventura yesterday & saw a huge dirty cloud coming at us...

... over the mountains. Naturally we had left a few windows open, and the back slider locked ajar for the dog and cat. Got back late last night with the wind blowing like mad. This morning I saw soot everywhere -- the bathtub is peppered with the stuff, and so is the bar of soap. Everything needs to be wiped -- the cars had to be hosed off. All of this was blown at us from the forest over the mountains where the Zaca fire burned during the summer.

Checked the tv and saw that Malibu was aflame, then later Agua Dulce, Castaic, Sedgwick Ranch area by Figueroa Mountain...

We are a considerable distance from these fires but the air is foul and our eyes are stinging. Soon I'll hunt up my inhaler and take a hit.

We need rain. This hot dry wind is bad news, when everything is so tinder dry.

Be safe, Nadine. :hug:

Hekate

[TahitiNut]

9. Earthquakes: OK to joke about. Fires: No joke.

That was part of my "Californication" ... and it sure makes sense.

Stay safe, nad. That Witches Creek fire sounds bad ... 8,000 acres and growing. I hope the rez keeps safe, too.

:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. If it gets here, we are in trouble

but my sister is relatively close

Though the geography might keep them safe

For the moment, we have a writers group on Mondays... I just cancelled it, to keep three more vehicles off the road

Fire and Rescue needs those roads

So if you live in the area and don't need to clog the freeways... DON't

[SoCalDem]

11. Here's a link that lists road closures & fire updates..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2105774&mesg_id=2105774

[dysfunctional press]

12. but a lot of the fires are just as natural as the earthquakes...

there are bushes that ooze creosote at the same time of the year as the 90-degree winds come blowing up from mexico...mother nature's firebug son must have come up with that one.

[XemaSab]

13. Manzanita for one

resprouts really vigorously after fires.

Interesting how the end of some plants is a rejuvenation for some, and a rebirth for others. :)

[SoCalDem]

15. and some seed pods NEED fire to crack them open..and they need the ash

they land in for nutrients..

Nature doesn;t make too many "mistakes"..

People make LOTS of mistakes.. like building developments where they should never be..and by removing drought resistant and fire tolerant plants, and replacing them with "landscaping":grr:


and they squeeze the poor critters into more dangerous terrain and eliminate their escape routes from fires..

[QueenOfCalifornia]

16. Santa Ana

winds come from the North - not from Mexico.

I have lived in San Diego forever... and these fires, although natural, they also destroy everything in their path. Just like Hurricanes. Just like earthquakes.

It does not change the fact that a lot of will lose all we have.

[SoCalDem]

17. The winds..

What are the Santana or Santa Ana Winds?
http://www.ocalmanac.com/Weather/we23.htm
The Santana Winds or Santa Ana Winds, most common in the late summer and early fall, begin with dry air moving in from the interior of the U.S. towards Southern California. As this air flows down into the Los Angeles-Orange County Basin through the low gaps in the mountains (notably Cajon Pass on the east end of the San Gabriel Mountains and Soledad Pass south of Palmdale), it compresses and warms about five degrees Fahrenheit for every 1,000 feet that it descends. Though these winds are much cooler high in the mountains, they can become hot and dry and assume gale force when descending into the Los Angeles-Orange County Basin. They are often the source of air turbulence for aircraft approaching Los Angeles International Airport.

The original spelling of the of name of the winds is unclear, not to mention the origin. Although the winds have been commonly called Santa Ana Winds or Santa Anas, many argue that the original name is Santana Winds or Santanas. Both versions of the name have been used. The name Santana Winds is said to be traced to Spanish California when the winds were called Devil Winds due to their heat. The reference book Los Angeles A to Z (by Leonard & Dale Pitt), credits the Santa Ana Canyon in Orange County as the origin of the name Santa Ana Winds, thereby arguing for the term Santa Anas. This might be supported by early accounts which attributed the Santa Ana riverbed running through the canyon as the source of the winds. Another account placed the origin of Santa Ana Winds with an Associated Press correspondent stationed in Santa Ana who mistakenly began using Santa Ana Winds instead of Santana Winds in a 1901 dispatch.

Special credit for the research assistance of Librarian Nancy Smith of the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System Reference Center, Los Angeles Public Library.

[Bluebear]

14. Ramona being evacuated. Transit busses are en route to Ramona to assist evacuees.

All 36,000 residents ordered to evacuate.

Poway HS shelter being closed/moved to Mira Mesa HS.

http://www.sdcountyemergency.com/

[AtomicKitten]

18. It's pretty breathtaking from what I've seen on TV.

I used to live in Escondido a thousand years ago.