HEAVEN GOES SOUTH

Monday, October 22, 2007

7:24 p.m.
OK. I've had plenty of Temecula. We've had bad pizza. I bought Don a huge bottle of Fat Tire at a liquor store next to a head shop. We've been to KMart, which wherever I go, continues to be the most unappealing store on the face of the earth.

Tomorrow we're relocating to go to a different hotel in Oceanside that takes pets, so we don't have to be underground anymore. We are holed up like Taliban after a raid. It's not right. The problem is that the dogs get very worried and bawl their eyes out when Don leaves. So we can't all go anywhere together.

I'm going to go bathe the kids. Tomorrow will surely be a better day. This one cracked the Top 10 Weirdest in my life.

6:16 p.m.
"Mom? What if the fire gets to our house? What if a new fire starts here? What if people we know are getting hurt?"

Among many unanswerable questions... my mind can't even go there right now.

5:51 p.m.
You know it's bad when my partner closes the agency for 2 straight days.

4:49 p.m.
Stealing some content from catdirtsez blog. Because it's good coverage of the latest press conference, and also, it's damned funny.

Ron Roberts/4th District Supervisor
We are doing our best, we feel real bad.
His announcements:

• 34K SDG&E customers lack electricity/power.
• Sheriff using reverse 911 and county alert have place 194K calls! Wow!
• 211 line has received 5800 calls; 3 to 5 min. waits.
• Road closure info: Call 511.
• Military Evacuations @ Coronado and some place else- Admiral Kraut field house for people with pets. Call some chapel 619 556 0603 for 411, 556 9399 for info for MILITARY ONLY.
• 250K have been evacuated. Evacuation itself presents logistic issues.
• Three helicopters are helping fight the fire and doing rescues.
• The Mayor of Tijuana has pledged his support! Thank you TJ! Send taco vendors to Qualcomm.

A long way from containment if there such a thing in these winds.

Next up: Jerry Sanders/Mayor

• Governor McBain is coming back to Qualcomm.
• The US Navy is giving us cots and blankets. Awww. Thanks US Navy!
• Mandatory evacuation sites: see below. Fire continues north of the city.
• Fire continues in the city, not sure where the city is going to go, want people out of the way.
• I 15 is still closed.
• Trying to stop looting! Boo looting!
• Stay off your cell phones! Calls not going through because lines are busy.

Next Up: New Firefighting Liaison Chief Ken Radis

• Some fixed wing flights are up, helicopters are up.
• Cal Fire: Airtankers are in the air- boo yah.
• The down side- people stay away. Lookie Loos- stay the fuck away.
• He gave lots of fire reports - most important one to us is Witch Creek Fire: Worked by Cal Fire; making movement into San Diego. Containment is "unknown." "Most difficult, challenging fires we're working" The problem is the quickness it moved through San Pasqual. Entered RB through Northwest, jumped 15 in two places. 450 firefighters; 98 apparatus; RB is through the worst part of it, determining the damage; biggest area of activity is west and south; Rancho Santa Fe.

4:11 p.m.
I'm exhausted.

We decided to head to Riverside County instead of all the way to Palm Springs. Still, it took us 3 hours to get here! Seems everyone was looking for a good escape route. We drove by Ramona on the way here:


Don't worry, we were nowhere near the blaze. But it's bad! Apparently, the worst fire in California history!

We're in a Hampton Inn in Temecula. We had to smuggle the pets in. Our first time here and already, we're criminals.


11:04 a.m.
Got what's called a "reverse 911" call. 911 called us and said... evacuate! So evacuate we shall. I'll post when we're in Palm Springs.

Holy apocalypse.

10:30 a.m.
We're packed and ready to go. Not going till we have to. As many of 250,000 people have evacuated San Diego county. Right now the evacuation area is south of us. We're keeping an eye on it. Here's a map for you guys of what's going on.


I'm taking pictures and video, will post them later. Our patio is covered with a thin layer of soot and there is thick black smoke everywhere. We are watching TV coverage of people's homes burning, which is just terrible... but the wind is so fierce that there is no containing this fire. We'll just have to wait and see if we have to leave.

9:15 a.m.
Spoke to my partner several times - the agency is without power. Until he knew that, he was going into the office! We've touched base with all employees and everyone's taking care of themselves and their families.

Don flew into Mountain Man Mode. I know Mountain Man Mode well - I saw it during ice storms in Chicago when we would lose power in the middle of the winter. He becomes Man Protecting Domain. I don't know how to explain it, except that he has good fight-or-flight instincts. He packed us up, prepared for power surges, looked at maps within 10 minutes.

Thank goodness for that. I showered, styled my hair, and made the bed. I am not sure why I made the bed. It bugs me not to make the bed, but it's completely irrational to make the bed when you could possibly be evacuating. And I look like a Desperate Housewives cast member. I guess when everything is going to hell around me, I have to control what I can. My hair and the bedspread? Help me out here.

8:04 a.m.
Well, there had to be an ugly downside to the 72 and sunny thing we had going on here. If you have not seen the fires up and down the coast, log onto CNN for a minute... it's way beyond charming.

Everyone here is fine. That's my main message for this post. We are going to go spend the day in Palm Springs or somewhere far away from where the hot zones are. I'll post more later, but I wanted you to know.

We're fine.