[socal_parrot]

Pleas post your most current information regarding the fires ravaging San Diego County.

[socal_parrot]

Ping

[slimer]

It's dark and raining ash in Kearny Mesa. I just saw on the news that there is a fire in Scripps Ranch now too.

[maggief]

SIGNONSANDIEGO
8:26 a.m. October 26, 2003
http://signonsandiego.com/news/fires/20031026-0826-sdfires.html


TIM AUGUSTINE

Three wind-driven wildfires churned through housing tracts and thousands of acres of brush across San Diego County Sunday morning. At least two people were reported dead.

Fires burned in Ramona, Valley Center and in the Marron Valley area near the Mexican border.

A huge plume of smoke towered over much of the county, raining a thick layer of ash stretching to downtown San Diego. Dozens of roads were closed to through traffic.

The first fire, which started around midnight, was burning east of Ramona heading in a southwest direction toward Lakeside. More than 10,000 acres already have burned, and many buildings were destroyed, according to Lora Loews, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry.

At least seven homes were burned and mandatory evacuations were ordered in the San Diego Country Estates area, where the fire was said to have started.

Scores more homes burn throughout Southern California as winds drive fires toward new neighborhoods





Residents of Ramona Country Oaks area Ramona Country Estates also were evacuated. The Barona Casino had not yet been evacuated.

An evacuation center was set up at Ramona High School Performing Arts Center at 1401 Hanson Lane in Ramona.

Another evacuation center for animals was set up on the Rodeo grounds on Lakeside Road.

A retired firefighter reported to the California Highway Patrol that two bodies were found in a burned-out car at 11745 Lake Vincente Road, south of Ramona.

Several roads were closed, including Route 67 between Maple View and Poway Road and Wildcat Canyon Road, which is completely shut down, according to a CHP spokesman.

The second fire, in the Valley Center area near Lake Wohlford, burned 1,500 acres along with several homes and outbuildings, authorities said. The fire began around 2:30 a.m.

Southbound Highway 76 was closed at Cole Grade and Valley Center roads.

An evacuation center was set up at Lake Wohlford and Valley Center.

The third fire has was reported at Marron Valley, near the border with Mexico. A CDF fire spokeswoman reported that as much as 500 acres were burning there.
(snip)

[Travis McGee]

Admin, please move this to Breaking News.

This is HUGE, this should be leading the national news, and will be in a short time as the scope of this arson campaign becomes clear outside of California.

[Scenic Sounds]

My daughter called me at 5:00 AM this morning from Ramona. She and all her animals had been up all night watching the fire creep closer and closer. I think it's changed direction now.

As I look to the east, I see nothing but smoke.

[Brian S]

The lack of cable news coverage on this situation is absolutely mind-boggling!

[Grampa Dave]

Prayers for all of our freepers, their families, friends and other innocents in and around these infernos in the San Diego and LA areas.

Stay safe.

Have a safe route if necessary and don't wait too long. These fires can jump blocks or miles at a time with the right wind and temps.

Have your personal papers, pictures and smaller family irreplace treasures in the trunks of your escape car or the back of your SUV, ready to go. Have medicines, water and food for a day in that car with blankets or sleeping bags.

Get children, pets, older adults and anyone with respiratory problems out of those areas and head to the beach, don't wait.

Remember homes/furniture can be replaced, but lives can't be replaced.

[Travis McGee]

Ping

[hole_n_one]

[cgk]

Flames burn in Boulder Creek Canyon 3 a.m. Sunday in this photo taken from North Peak in Cuyamaca.

[cgk]

Evacuation centers

Mira Mesa High School
10510 Reagan Road
Mira Mesa

Valley Center Middle School
28102 Lake Wohlford
Valley Center

Ramona High School
1401 Hanson Lane, Ramona

Santana High School
9915 Magnolia, Santee

Olive Pierce Middle School
1521 Hanson Lane, Ramona

Mira Mesa High School
10510 Reagan Road, San Diego

Animals can be evacuated to the Lakeside Rodeo grounds in Lakeside.

[MinuteGal]

This is certainly a great catastrophe for all those Californians already suffering monumental loss and those under imminent threat. My heart goes out to them.

"After a couple brushfire clips, the Kobe/Peterson/Minelli coverage should resume shortly on a network near you."

Leni

[cgk]

A third fire has was reported at Marron Valley, near the border with Mexico. A CDF fire spokeswoman reported that as much as 500 acres were burning there.

A fourth fire was reported in the northeast corner of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar at 7:45 a.m., east of Interstate 15 and north of Highway 52.

[cgk]

A large home burns out of control, a victim of a wind-driven wildfire that tore through Ramona.

[cgk]

Road Closures:

Interstate 15 southbound at Mira Mesa Blvd.

I-15 northbound at Miramar Road.

Interstate 163 at northbound I-52.

Highway 67 between Maple View and Poway Road.

Northbound 67 at Slaughterhouse.

Wildcat Canyon Road completely closed in both directions.

Southbound 76 at Cole Grade Road.

Valley Center Road between 76 and Lake Wohlford.

Welcome Way at Ramona Oaks Road.

Route 2 heading north at Lazyacres.

Scripps Poway at Highway 67 intersection.

[today]

San Diego Headline News SAN DIEGO, CA - Strong Santa Ana winds are blowing two separate fires through large areas of San Diego Sunday morning. According to a CDF spokesperson, numerous structures have been lost in both the Valley Center fire, as well as the Ramona fire. The San Diego Fire Department is asking residents in the Scripps Ranch area, who believe they are in the path of the fire, to prepare to evacuate to Mire Mesa High School.

[Sub-Driver]

California wildfire causes flight delays


The Associated Press
10/26/2003, 3:02 p.m. ET


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Air traffic nationwide was disrupted Sunday when a wildfire forced the evacuation of a Federal Aviation Administration control center.

Aircraft scheduled to fly to Los Angeles International Airport, San Diego's Lindbergh Field and other regional airports were ordered held on the ground for varying lengths of time, FAA spokesman Paul Turk said from Washington, D.C.

The delay affected flights originating throughout the United States and Canada, he said.

The problem began about 9 a.m. PST when a fire on the Marine Corps' Miramar Air Station in San Diego forced controllers to evacuate the FAA's Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control. They remained out of the center 3 hours later.

The facility's functions were transferred to a center near Palmdale in the Mojave Desert that normally handles high-altitude traffic.

"The net effect is a somewhat reduced ability to take in traffic," Turk said

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/national-12/1067198943181580.xml

[Grampa Dave]

Maybe freepers who have homes on the coast/beaches in the SD area can offer to shelter other Freepers in harms way until this fire storm is over.

You could exchange freep mail with those in harms way and offer them an over night slumber party.

[hole_n_one]

[sourcery]

For perspective: The Oakland/Berkeley Hills Firestorm of 1991