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California's Burning


ships-cat

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There was a brief topic on this subject, but it rapidly dissapeared.

I'm amazed that this subject hasn't been discussed more on this board. I learnt today that my Cousin and his wife (who live in San Diego) have just been placed under immidiate compulsory evacuation of their home. (errr.... along with everyone else in their suburb, I should add... it wasn't personal). The police cars came round earlier today with the "get out NOW" messages on their tannoys.

It appears, from what I could gather, that there are three major fire centres surrounding the City, and that the central City itself (as opposed to the suburbs) could be under threat. Attempts are being made to evacuate San Diego Wildlife Park. (this isn't a Zoo, but a huge safari type thingy).

There is a major naval base in San Diego, with barracks on a sort of 'island' (or is it an ismus ?). The Navy have ordered all sailors to board the ships, so that the barracks can function as emergency shelters. I gather that Big Arnie has requested - and received - a formal State of Emergency order from the President.

What the hell is going on ? We've heard almost nothing about this on the UK terrestrial news. California is burning and we're all sitting around discussing Rush Limberg and Ahmed Dinnerjacket ?

Could any American members fill us in a bit ?

Meow Purr.

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Waspie Dwarf has a thread showing an aerial view.

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Waspie Dwarf has a thread showing an aerial view.

Yes... from space , no less.

Meow Purr.

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There seems to be more of an attempt of evacuation here then there was in New Orleans.

Gotta save those Stars!!!!

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There was a brief topic on this subject, but it rapidly dissapeared.

I'm amazed that this subject hasn't been discussed more on this board. I learnt today that my Cousin and his wife (who live in San Diego) have just been placed under immidiate compulsory evacuation of their home. (errr.... along with everyone else in their suburb, I should add... it wasn't personal). The police cars came round earlier today with the "get out NOW" messages on their tannoys.

It appears, from what I could gather, that there are three major fire centres surrounding the City, and that the central City itself (as opposed to the suburbs) could be under threat. Attempts are being made to evacuate San Diego Wildlife Park. (this isn't a Zoo, but a huge safari type thingy).

There is a major naval base in San Diego, with barracks on a sort of 'island' (or is it an ismus ?). The Navy have ordered all sailors to board the ships, so that the barracks can function as emergency shelters. I gather that Big Arnie has requested - and received - a formal State of Emergency order from the President.

What the hell is going on ? We've heard almost nothing about this on the UK terrestrial news. California is burning and we're all sitting around discussing Rush Limberg and Ahmed Dinnerjacket ?

Could any American members fill us in a bit ?

Meow Purr.

I was about to post a topic about this too. I hadn't even heard of this in the local media before this morning, and as it happens I had also received an SMS from a very good friend of mine from San Diego that the fire was 9km from his house, and that it might get burnt too :( Haven't heard of him since, he said he'd keep me posted so I'm just waiting. I lived in San Diego for 6 months and absolutely loved it, and made plenty of friends there.

I've got some friends' parents living in Escondido and Rancho Santa Fe, of which Escondido at least might have been evacuated (the wild animal park is there too). Hopefully they can evacuate the wild animal park, it is absolutely the best 'zoo' I've seen...plenty of space for the animals, kinda like a safari. I saw two lion cubs playing there with their mom :)

One thing I read in the internet was that they have some sorta 'reverse 911' mechanism in place over there in case of wildfires, meaning that people would get some sort of automatic phonecalls to their homes if they're located in the danger zone. Don't know if that's exactly how it works but it does seem like a pretty good system.

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I have some friends in San Diego - They say that the first day of the wildfires was several orders of magnitude worse than the worst ever wildfire there to date :(

There's a Google Map showing the progress of the wildfire, which can be found here.

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There seems to be more of an attempt of evacuation here then there was in New Orleans.

Gotta save those Stars!!!!

They advised the people to evacuate from there too....a week in advance.

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I have some friends in San Diego - They say that the first day of the wildfires was several orders of magnitude worse than the worst ever wildfire there to date :(

There's a Google Map showing the progress of the wildfire, which can be found here.

Thanks for the link.

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I'm amazed that this subject hasn't been discussed more on this board.

It's because Bush can't be blamed for the wildfires.

But I'm sure as soon as they find a way to blame Bush, you'll find more discussion. It won't be long before Ripley claims if Bush didn't have troops in Iraq, there'd be no fire in California, and that Rush is making fun of those who died in the fire because he said the word "hot" on air.

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There seems to be more of an attempt of evacuation here then there was in New Orleans.

Gotta save those Stars!!!!

Actually, an evacuation was ordered for New Orleans, and 80% of the population had left the city before the hurricane hit.

But hey, don't let the facts get in the way of your ignorance.

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It's because Bush can't be blamed for the wildfires.

But I'm sure as soon as they find a way to blame Bush, you'll find more discussion. It won't be long before Ripley claims if Bush didn't have troops in Iraq, there'd be no fire in California, and that Rush is making fun of those who died in the fire because he said the word "hot" on air.

now, now....

but I can feel for the people, we just had the same problem in my neighborhood, though my island was not affected (that time).

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Thanks for that Clocker and Tiggs....

AFter a very brief search.... here are some bits about San Diego county, and it's horrifying. They're talking about 350,000+ homes evacuated with possibly up to 750,000 refugees in the county alone ! :o

There are stories of people being evacuated to temporary accomodation, only to be re- evacuated as that in turn came under threat. (and yes, Clocker, it mentions that 'reverse 911' thingy as well... what a great idea).

The local Marine base has evacuated all it's figher and bomber aircraft.

According to my Cousin, part of the problem is the seasonal wind they have there... it is a very dry wind, and a very fast one (60+ MPH ? ). It's fanning embers in advance of the fire front, and triggering 'advance fires' ahead of the fire-fighting effort. Most of the houses there are made of wood, and so ultimately become part of the problem as they - literally - add fuel to the fire.

If this is just SD County, what's happening across California as a whole ?

Meow 'bucket chain' Purr :o

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Isn't New Orleans in the crap again as well ?

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If this is just SD County, what's happening across California as a whole ?

It's also happening slightly north in the Los Angeles area, but much further than that, like central California where I live currently, there is nothing. So it's a Southern California thing. The first six months of this year I lived in Los Angeles and it was pretty routine to have fires break out, but obviously not on this scale. My ex-roommate works in Los Angeles and he says it's pretty crazy right now.

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Thanks for that Clocker and Tiggs....

AFter a very brief search.... here are some bits about San Diego county, and it's horrifying. They're talking about 350,000+ homes evacuated with possibly up to 750,000 refugees in the county alone ! :o

There are stories of people being evacuated to temporary accomodation, only to be re- evacuated as that in turn came under threat. (and yes, Clocker, it mentions that 'reverse 911' thingy as well... what a great idea).

The local Marine base has evacuated all it's figher and bomber aircraft.

According to my Cousin, part of the problem is the seasonal wind they have there... it is a very dry wind, and a very fast one (60+ MPH ? ). It's fanning embers in advance of the fire front, and triggering 'advance fires' ahead of the fire-fighting effort. Most of the houses there are made of wood, and so ultimately become part of the problem as they - literally - add fuel to the fire.

If this is just SD County, what's happening across California as a whole ?

Meow 'bucket chain' Purr :o

Damn I had no idea the numbers were that huge! :o

I suppose this is usually mostly a SoCal problem (I could be wrong). But this year it has gotten totally out of hand. I think the winds you're talking about might be the Santa Ana, but I'm not sure. Wildfires in that region are pretty common I guess, relatively speaking. And unfortunately the locals (the ones I knew) weren't very careful with their bonfires, which probably doesn't help the matter :/ A friend of mine is now in student exchange in SD, and she's living in El Cajon, which is quite close to downtown (you can see it on the map link Tiggs provided). Her neighborhood hadn't been evacuated yet, as of a few hours ago, but she said they couldn't really go outside because of the smoke.

Oh by the way, did you know that the Miramar base (in SD county) is the one they shot Top Gun at? I bet it's the one they evacuated since it's very close to the danger zone.

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Damn I had no idea the numbers were that huge! :o

I suppose this is usually mostly a SoCal problem (I could be wrong). But this year it has gotten totally out of hand. I think the winds you're talking about might be the Santa Ana, but I'm not sure. Wildfires in that region are pretty common I guess, relatively speaking. And unfortunately the locals (the ones I knew) weren't very careful with their bonfires, which probably doesn't help the matter :/ A friend of mine is now in student exchange in SD, and she's living in El Cajon, which is quite close to downtown (you can see it on the map link Tiggs provided). Her neighborhood hadn't been evacuated yet, as of a few hours ago, but she said they couldn't really go outside because of the smoke.

Oh by the way, did you know that the Miramar base (in SD county) is the one they shot Top Gun at? I bet it's the one they evacuated since it's very close to the danger zone.

Ah... you're right on both counts Clocker... it was the Santa Ana (there seem to be some spelling variations), and indeed the Miramar base. (ooooh.. didn't know about the Top Gun link).

From the teeny bit I've read, the evacuation and response (both from citizens and the State) seem pretty cool... a far cry from the New Orleans debaclé. Thankfully, there has been almost no loss of life yet... just one unfortunate individual.

One article I read quoted a State Supervisor saying that the 'major' fires should be 'contained' by 1st November. Err... that's a week away. Contained where ? Tijuana ?

You've got to hand it to the San Diegans though... my favourite quote so far from an elderly lady evacuated from a retirement home (subsequently destroyed)... "oh well, I had far to much junk anyway".... Class.

Meow Purr.

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Oh by the way, did you know that the Miramar base (in SD county) is the one they shot Top Gun at? I bet it's the one they evacuated since it's very close to the danger zone.

Highway to the... Danger Zone!

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Highway to the... Danger Zone!

Thanks for that contribution McNuclearWar.

Next.

Meow Purr.

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Ah... you're right on both counts Clocker... it was the Santa Ana (there seem to be some spelling variations), and indeed the Miramar base. (ooooh.. didn't know about the Top Gun link).

From the teeny bit I've read, the evacuation and response (both from citizens and the State) seem pretty cool... a far cry from the New Orleans debaclé. Thankfully, there has been almost no loss of life yet... just one unfortunate individual.

One article I read quoted a State Supervisor saying that the 'major' fires should be 'contained' by 1st November. Err... that's a week away. Contained where ? Tijuana ?

You've got to hand it to the San Diegans though... my favourite quote so far from an elderly lady evacuated from a retirement home (subsequently destroyed)... "oh well, I had far to much junk anyway".... Class.

Meow Purr.

Yeah, I'm also under the impression the evacuation has gone quite well so far. And I'm very glad they have.

Hmm, a week? I wouldn't be surprised if it took them longer to contain the fires. If the numbers on googlemap are up to date, they've only contained like a 1% of the 'witch' fire which is the one threatening the base and the wild animal park. As to where it will be contained...now that's a good question.

It seems San Diegans are taking all this very bravely. By the way, about "San Diegans"...have you seen "Anchor man"? A Will Ferrell flick...in my opinion a very funny movie which has scene where some guys are arguing over what is the correct word for a person living in San Diego. Situated in San Diego too, an absolutely brilliant comedy flick :D

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I live in La Puente, 20 mins east of Los Angeles & it's pretty much nuts. The sky is orange from the fires.

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I live in La Puente, 20 mins east of Los Angeles & it's pretty much nuts. The sky is orange from the fires.

Bloody hell Walter.... how are Los Angeles's (Angelican's... ? what IS the collective noun for citizens of the City of Angels ? ) taking it all ? Is the city under threat ?

Are YOU safe ?

C'mon back.

Yeah, I'm also under the impression the evacuation has gone quite well so far. And I'm very glad they have.

Hmm, a week? I wouldn't be surprised if it took them longer to contain the fires. If the numbers on googlemap are up to date, they've only contained like a 1% of the 'witch' fire which is the one threatening the base and the wild animal park. As to where it will be contained...now that's a good question.

It seems San Diegans are taking all this very bravely. By the way, about "San Diegans"...have you seen "Anchor man"? A Will Ferrell flick...in my opinion a very funny movie which has scene where some guys are arguing over what is the correct word for a person living in San Diego. Situated in San Diego too, an absolutely brilliant comedy flick :D

Dammit Clocker.. this is NOT the time to be discussing movies... errr... is that the one where he is sitting at the newsdesk, and underneath the desk (out of camerasight) he has no trousers on ? If so, that is in my local video shop... confirm we are talking about the same video, and I am hiring this tomorrow . (the US release may have a different front cover to the UK release, of course...).

Err... where was I ? Oh yes... criticising Clocker for talking about movies....

And DO please post more about the situation as you see it Walter'

Meow Purr.

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Yes, that's the one Ships-cat :tu:

And I too would like to hear more from Walter since he's in the thick of things :o

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Thanks for that contribution McNuclearWar.

Next.

Meow Purr.

Sorry I forgot for a sec that this is your thread...

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I read about this in the paper this morning let's just hope most of those people are all right.

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I read about this in the paper this morning let's just hope most of those people are all right.

:tu:

Meow Purr.

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