Posted on 10/21/2007 9:48:36 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
UPDATE: The city of Malibu is advising residents in Puerco Canyon to begin evacuating due to a wildfire driven by powerful winds. This area is north of Pacific Coast Highway and about 1 mile west of Pepperdine University. Residents along the beach on Malibu Road may soon be evacuated. Pacific Coast Highway is closed between Kanan-Dume Road and Topanga Canyon. Residents are advised to head to the west. Evacuation centers are being set up in the Zuma Beach area.
A wildfire driven by powerful winds in the Malibu Hills this morning threatened a university, destroyed at least one home and forced the evacuation of hundreds more, authorities said.
|
| |
| Related Stories | |
| - | Wildfire burns 500 acres near Interstate 5 |
|
|
|
| - | Santa Ana winds are sweeping the region |
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
That is why they would not let residents back in to Bouquet Canyon. I saw Eric Spillman interviewing some residents at the blockade, they wanted to get back in to water their horses, check their homes, etc....
This really sucks, that is some beautiful land and houses around there. I used to live just north of the 56 highway, looks like they would have moved me out with this evacuation.........
new start in City of LA
“Well, the houses they save in this firestorm will get wiped out by the mudflows during the rains. Its like dejavu all over again...1993?”
That’s exactly what my husband said. All that loosened earth will cause mud slides.
Prayers for all the folks in that region. I just spoke with someone in San Diego and she said the fires are twenty minutes away from her location and they may have to leave their office.
Malibu fire still out of control!
I’m seeing Malibu and Irvine on TV... will stand by for more re City of L.A....
Thanks, Karl.
I pray your brother’s house can be saved, doorgunner69.
This is simply unreal. Every time I come back here, another fire has started, or more people are being evac’d.
Adding arson to the mix really boggles the mind.
These firefighters must be worn to the bone..expect you’ll be getting reinforcments from all over the country.
Our hopes from here are that you are all safe and will stay that way.
Saying small humble prayers for all of you.
Regards,
AR
Still waiting to hear from you, Julian is usually pretty hard hit during these fires...
19,000 Navy families being evacuated..San Diego .. cnn
Zero-percent contained
Wildfires rage in Southern Calif.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071022/ap_on_re_us/california_wildfires
SAN DIEGO - Wildfires fanned by fierce desert winds consumed huge swaths of bone-dry Southern California on Monday, burning dozens of buildings and threatening hundreds more from Malibu to San Diego, including a jail, a hospital and nursing homes.
More than a dozen wildfires had engulfed the region, killing at least one person, injuring dozens more and forcing hundreds of thousands of evacuations. Overwhelmed firefighters said they lacked the resources to save many houses.
“We have more houses burning than we have people and engine companies to fight them,” San Diego Fire Captain Lisa Blake said. “A lot of people are going to lose their homes today.”
Nearly 250,000 people were forced to flee in San Diego County alone, where hundreds of patients were being moved by school bus and ambulance from a hospital and nursing homes, sheriff’s spokeswoman Susan Knauss said.
About a dozen blazes erupted over the weekend, feeding on drought-parched land from the high desert to the Pacific Ocean. One person was killed and several injured in a fire near the Mexican border, and dozens of structures have burned across the region.
Warm temperatures and strong winds created “dramatically worse” conditions overnight as flames shot 200 feet high, said Bill Metcalf, chief of the North County Fire Protection District.
In Orange County, a 1,049-inmate jail was being evacuated because of heavy smoke, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said. Inmates were being bused to another facility in Irvine.
All San Diego Police Department officers and off duty detectives were ordered to return to work to help with evacuations.
The fires have burned about 100,000 acres, or 156 square miles, in San Diego County, said county Supervisor Ron Roberts. Across the region, 40,000 acres, or 62 square miles, had burned by Sunday.
“This is a major emergency,” Roberts said.
In many cases, crews couldn’t begin to fight the fires because they were too busy rescuing residents who refused to leave, fire officials said.
“They didn’t evacuate at all, or delayed until it was too late,” Metcalf said. “And those folks who are making those decisions are actually stripping fire resources.”
More than a dozen people were being treated at the UC San Diego Medical Center Regional Burn Center for burns and smoke inhalation, including four fighters — three in critical condition, officials said. Some of the injured were hikers, and others may be illegal immigrants.
One blaze devoured more than 5,000 acres in northern San Diego County and forced the evacuation of the community of Ramona, which has a population of about 36,000. Several structures were burned on the edge of town and sheriff’s deputies called residents to alert them the fire was approaching the city, San Diego sheriff’s Lt. Phil Brust said.
“The winds are up, it’s very, very dangerous conditions,” San Diego County spokeswoman Lesley Kirk said. “Fires are popping up all over the place.”
Guardsmen assigned to the border were forced to evacuate one of their barracks and troops were aiding evacuations, said Col. David Baldwin, director of operations for the California National Guard.
“The border is still secure, but agents are evacuating the threatened areas and the Guard is supporting that operation,” Baldwin said.
Qualcomm Stadium, home to the NFL’s Chargers, was added to a growing list of evacuation centers.
The fires were being fueled by stronger than usual Santa Ana winds roaring out of the region’s canyons, scientists said Monday. The powerful, dry winds typically blow between October and February and peak in December.
Typically, Santa Ana conditions last about a day, but the ones that flared up over the weekend were expected to last through Tuesday.
“For it to be this strong for so many days is unusual,” said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
In Saugus, north of Los Angeles, about 120 people spent the night on cots in the gymnasium of Saugus High School, principal Bill Bolde said.
Michele Beard fled her home with her husband, mother-in-law and three older children.
“It just lit up the whole mountainside fiery red,” said Beard, 48. “I had never seen anything like that so close before.”
The fire in Malibu had destroyed or damaged 16 structures, among them a church, homes and a historic castle, and was expected to burn for another two to three days, Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said. “There will literally be thousands of homes that will be threatened” until the blaze is out, he said.
___
Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Chelsea J. Carter and Jeremiah Marquez in Los Angeles and AP Science Writer Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
I have to go offline for a few hours.
West Hollywood is fine, but stay tuned to this thread and especially info from Burbank Karl...
DHS has it covered, I’m sure. ;-)
Of course you are aware that the particular flapjaw motormouth to whom you refer has long been a plague on FR. As I recall, this guy was (and probably still is) one of the more vocal screechers debunking the SPP/NAU as a valid threat.
Posted by MNJohnnie to al baby; La Enchiladita; dragnet2
On News/Activism 10/21/2007 11:05:38 AM PDT · 102 of 1,319
( Celebs Homes...Mel Gibson...etc)
I will explain it to you since your knee jerk self riotousness blinds you to the painfully obvious. Many of these people are fashionable greens. Not quite so much fun for them to actually bear the consequences of their Green dogmas. Proper conservation techniques would prevent these sort of disasters but because of their rabid Green dogmas, they prevent anything that might spoil their “pristine” environment. Kind of a case of their chickens coming home to roost.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.