Fire Update Information

[PaperDoll]

The news about new evacs is disheartening, but looking at the percentages that Buzz posted I see MAJOR improvement. Two days ago most had containment of 30% or less. Now with some having numbers of 70% or above they should soon be out. And as they lessen more efforts and resources will be freed up to apply on the others. And I am praying for rain.

Meee tooo.. There are rain clouds out right now, but once again that doesn't mean it will rain... The fire is still burning on the hills though. I can see it from my balcony.

 

[Julez]

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/sections/homepage/

After a week of fierce battles with unruly flames that raced through 27,521 acres of Orange County land and defied firefighter attempts to contain it past the 35 percent mark, fire officials said the Santiago blaze could be 100 percent contained in the next three days.
"We are cautiously optimistic that we will have the fire fully contained in 72 hours," said Phil Rawlings, Fire Captain with CAL Fire.

 

[JBean]

I was just at Crown Valley and Forbes in Laguna Niguel and there were raindrops on my car.:woohoo:

 

[JDB]

I was just at Crown Valley and Forbes in Laguna Niguel and there were raindrops on my car.:woohoo:

Thanks for the info Jbean. I am really hoping you get a good soaking today.I know the Fire fighters can use all the help they can get.

 

[JBean]

Thanks for the info Jbean. I am really hoping you get a good soaking today.I know the Fire fighters can use all the help they can get.

Howdy JDB. I doubt we will get a good soaking, but anything will help. I am back in San Juan and there are no raindrops here. But Laguna NIguel is closer to the Santiago fire and so the humidity level is getting higher.

 

[PaperDoll]

:woohoo:We had a few rain drops today, nothing major though, but hey, every little drop counts. I just had to check in to let everyone know this.. I still see some smoke with helicopters in the mountains but I feel much better. The air is clean for the most part Ok, now I'm checking out again and ready to go out with hubby for awhile.. It still may rain..

 

[CaliKid]

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/10/27/news/top_stories/20_65_6410_27_07.txt

Information on San Diego County fires at the above link.

It's overcast and sprinkling at my house. The air outside is cold and clear; I can't even smell smoke.

 

[CaliKid]

Did you all hear about the phony FEMA press conference?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21488743/

Chertoff is furious. FEMA called a press conference on the fires but didn't give the press enough time to send reporters, so FEMA employees posed as press agents and asked questions given to them by their supervisors.

DUMB IDEA!

 

[reportertype]

Did you all hear about the phony FEMA press conference?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21488743/

Chertoff is furious. FEMA called a press conference on the fires but didn't give the press enough time to send reporters, so FEMA employees posed as press agents and asked questions given to them by their supervisors.

DUMB IDEA!

That is the most bizarre thing I've ever seen a gov agency do.

 

[Tom'sGirl]

Yeah, getting some rain out here, hope it lasts! Poop, it stopped!

 

[Buzz Mills]

Did you all hear about the phony FEMA press conference?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21488743/

Chertoff is furious. FEMA called a press conference on the fires but didn't give the press enough time to send reporters, so FEMA employees posed as press agents and asked questions given to them by their supervisors.

DUMB IDEA!

That's our government for you. They only talk to themselves; no small wonder we have a hard time getting anything, we want, done. No worry though, they already know what is best for us. Or do they??

 

[JBean]

The day before the fires I had gone to a nursery in Foothill Ranch to tag trees for my yard. Obviously i haven't been back because of the fire. I went up today and wow. The hillsides are all charred black right up to and including the nursery. A handful of their trees were burned but by and large this nursery was safe. I could see the Santiago fire burning away and the helicopters going back and forth. We walked around the whole nursery for a couple hours but the air was so bad I finally had to leave. I took some pictures and will post later. Seeing treees burnt and hillsides turned to rubble was really shocking. Good news is it is cold, humid and sprinkling outside.

 

[Buzz Mills]

Glad you guys had some sprinkles today, and it is on the cool/cold side; that will all certainly help the firefighters. I heard another weather report and it said they can't see Santa Ana winds until the end of this coming week. Sure hope she is right.

 

[JBean]

Fire chief says next worry is mudslides ... - 4:14 p.m. Orange County Fire Authority chief Chip Prather said that hillsides denuded of brush in the aftermath of the Santiago Fires were now at risk of mudslides.
He said fire departments would be involved in re-seeding of some hillsides in order to prevent fire-blasted earth and rock from slipping during a rainstorm and burying canyon communities below.
"We will help with (re-seeding) if we have any resources we can bring to bear," Prather said. "The concern is even without the vegetation being pulled out there have been boulders coming down those canyons (in the past)."
Prather said that rescuing victims of mudslides will be "as dangerous as fighting the fire."



www.ocregister.com

 

[JBean]

 

[JBean]

These people survived, but their neighbors did not.


Couple survived fire by huddling in pool
Dr. Roger Bielasz stood in the remains of his hilltop home near the swimming pool that saved him and his wife as a firestorm raged over their heads.

“We survived in our pool,” Bielasz said between coughs. “We have a guardian angel.” Roger and Dena Bielasz live on a ridge overlooking San Pasqual Valley and the Wild Animal Park.
Their next-door neighbors, John “Chris” Bain and Victoria Fox, who lived about 500 yards away on the same ridge, were not so lucky. Trapped in their garage, they died in an inferno that roared up from the valley floor.

Bielasz, a podiatrist, said all of his neighbors were aware that the Witch Creek fire was burning Sunday. “I talked to Vicky (Fox),” he said. “They drove up to Starvation Mountain,” a ridge just south of them, about 9 p.m.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20071027-9999-1n27pool.html

 

[hockeymom]

That is an incredable story. I don't even want to think of the horror the poor neighbors went through.

 

[JBean]

That is an incredable story. I don't even want to think of the horror the poor neighbors went through.

I know it's awful.
The Santa Ana's have just kicked up again. It just got hot and windy out. Hopefully it won't turn into much.

It's about 70 degrees out right now.

 

[mysteriew]

Good pictures JBean. At least good in the sense of showing what you see. Very sobering to consider what it is like there. Glad you all got a bit of a sprinkle.

 

[CaliKid]

These people survived, but their neighbors did not.


Couple survived fire by huddling in pool
Dr. Roger Bielasz stood in the remains of his hilltop home near the swimming pool that saved him and his wife as a firestorm raged over their heads.

“We survived in our pool,” Bielasz said between coughs. “We have a guardian angel.” Roger and Dena Bielasz live on a ridge overlooking San Pasqual Valley and the Wild Animal Park.
Their next-door neighbors, John “Chris” Bain and Victoria Fox, who lived about 500 yards away on the same ridge, were not so lucky. Trapped in their garage, they died in an inferno that roared up from the valley floor.

Bielasz, a podiatrist, said all of his neighbors were aware that the Witch Creek fire was burning Sunday. “I talked to Vicky (Fox),” he said. “They drove up to Starvation Mountain,” a ridge just south of them, about 9 p.m.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20071027-9999-1n27pool.html

I can't even begin to imagine getting trapped by a fire.

As of this morning, there were 38 people missing in the fires. I think we're going to hear many similar stories in days to come.