California's Wildfires

[Coast2CoastHoya]

I know most of you are unaffected by what's happening in Southern California this week (other than what you're seeing in the media of course), but the situation is getting really bad, and I wanted to send thoughts and best wishes to any fellow HoyaTalkers in danger or already affected by the blazes. Out here in the desert it's sunny-as-usual, but my friends in SD are reporting near-"war-zone" conditions as skies blacken, refugees pour in, and roads and businesses close.

Good luck to you folks.

[On edit: for those looking for maps of the fires, check searchengineland.com/071023-111626.php]

[vcjack]

If things get really bad, this could have a devestating economic impact, moreso than Katrina even. If it turns out for the worst, expect to see and feel the effects of the fires throughout the nation.

[Coast2CoastHoya]

Good point - and there's also the military impact to consider: they're already evacuating aircraft from Miramar (USAF) and other bases, a fire has broken out in Camp Pendleton (USMC) (which is also in the path of the Fallbrook fire and has been on evac watch since roughly 800 marines volunteered to help out with that fire), and the Naval facilities in SD-proper are on watch to load evacuees onto a number of ships available in the harbor.

[Bando]

The size of the fire-impacted area is really what's stunning. We're talking about from north of LA to the Mexican border. That's insane.

[Coast2CoastHoya]

Very true about the size and coincidence of these fires - and one of the most amazing aspects is that none of the fires is more than 4 days old. Some people who woke up on Sunday in SD thought the hazy skies were fog from a marine layer (no joke - one of Bando & my's mutual friends was telling me as much over the phone on Sunday, as was one of my buddies from high school who lives in SD).

The sheer size of the area and the speed with which they've developed is a testament to the combined effects of multi-year chronic drought, this year's particularly accute drought, high Santa Ana winds, hot weather, non-native invasive species, and -- believe it or not -- continued real estate, road, and other development farther and farther into the interior of California, which stretches the resources and ability of fire fighters to deal with fire events. As many have said, much of what they're doing is protecting lives and property instead of battling blazes, a situation made much more difficult as communities and buildings have spread into formerly unoccupied areas, or established communities (like those near Arrowhead) that are just hard to get to.

[SFHoya99]

I grew up in Poway. My parents moved out to Carlsbad (so far relatively safe), but needless to say too many of my friends and their parents still live there. The national media is focusing on Malibu, but San Diego is a bad two days of winds from being absolutely decimated.

Just pray for the wind to die.

[DFW HOYA]

tothebeach said:

The sheer size of the area and the speed with which they've developed is a testament to the combined effects of multi-year chronic drought, this year's particularly accute drought, high Santa Ana winds, hot weather, non-native invasive species, and -- believe it or not -- continued real estate, road, and other development farther and farther into the interior of California, which stretches the resources and ability of fire fighters to deal with fire events.

Agreed. SoCal continues to be overbuilt in mountaineous regions where water and other rescue resources are scarce.

Unfortunately, the Geraldo-like hyperbole isn't far away. I read one headline which called S.D. County evacuations "the largest peacetime movement of Americans since the Civil War," which is just plain fiction.

[hoyarooter]

While the fires began in Malibu (and of course, Malibu has the glitz and glamour), San Diego County has been hit far, far worse than LA County or Orange County (which would have emerged relatively unscathed but for the arson blaze in Irvine/Santiago Canyon) by this siege of blazes. Just devastating. The Lake Arrowhead area in San Bernardino County has also been hit very hard. The winds are supposed to start dying down today, but most of these fires, particularly in San Diego County, are nowhere near under control. Damage is going to easily exceed $1 billion. My prayers go out to all of those who have lost their homes or been dislocated.

[kchoya]

bando said:

The size of the fire-impacted area is really what's stunning. We're talking about from north of LA to the Mexican border. That's insane.

Location, location, location. It looks like all of the southern California fires have burned about 400,000 acres to date.

Earlier this year, we had a wildfire in central Utah that burned almost that much, and there was a 600,000 acre fire up in Idaho. The 1988 fires in Yellowstone scorched almost 800,000 acres.

The difference, those fires weren't located in densely populated metro areas with houses built everywhere.

[Nevada Hoya]

My prayers go out to all the people in that area. Two of my best friends (including a roommate and next door neighbor in NS) live in the San Diego area. Since the winds are still Santa Ana and blowing from the desert, we have not seen the smoke in the Las Vegas valley. When the offshore winds kick in, we should be seeing lots of smoke.

[Nevada Hoya]

The smoke started to come into the Las Vegas valley last night and has continued today. I hope this means the offshore breezes have made a difference in the containing the fires.