Crackly Dry

The picture is Aurora Borealis over Whiteknife.  Here in San Diego, much of our day has been spectacularly windy and quite dry.  I'm sneezing and my lips are dry.

We are on fire watch, as is most of southern California.

On that note, a bit more dp (disaster preparedness).  The Red Cross (redcross.org) sells a variety of prepackaged dp kits for people like me who don't like to be re-preparing every three months or so.  You can get them for your car, workplace and home.  There are also organizations that sell packaged water that will keep for a few years.

Bit number two: have at least one fire extinguisher and know how to use it (1. Pull, 2. Squeeze).  

Disaster Preparedness: Give Me a Break

When I hear the words "Disaster Preparedness," my eyes glaze over.  What inevitably follows the enunciation of these words is the recitation of an impossibly long list of commandments assembled by someone with OCD and too much time on his hands.  To do these things requires a full day's work once a week!

There is always not enough attention to priorities--for example, what is the most important thing to do to get ready?  Do you have any idea?

I'm part of a joint effort by the Episcopal Diocese and the United Methodist Churches of San Diego to both continue to rebuild from October 2007, and to prepare for the 2008 fire season, which is upon us.  So I'll pass along some simple and easy things I've learned.  Just time for one right now.

What is the most important thing to prepare for?  What is the highest-probability "disaster"?  It's a power outage.  In virtually any natural disaster situation, the power will go off, and stay off.  And, of course, we have power outages when there's no natural disaster.  So we need to be prepared for the power to be off for at least three days.

That's enough for now.

The Fires Three Months Later

Quote of the day:
“42.”
--The Ultimate Explanation for the Universe, according to “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

A few weeks ago, Merrie and I visited Heidi, who lives near Ramona, about 40 miles northeast of San Diego. Her house had burned to the ground in the October fires. In fact, every house on her street was a pile of rubble.

Heidi was living in a FEMA-supplied trailer next to her burned-up house. She said she’s not going to rebuild, because she plans to retire and move in a few years. Her matter-of-factness about this impressed me.

It’s hard for me to imagine what it’s like to lose most of your possessions, including where you live. During the fires, people who had lost everything would often say something to a reporter about how they were so glad to be alive and that their families were safe.

Life is the most important thing, of course. But as much as I might hold on to that, I would still have to put my life back together.

As we drove past all those destroyed homes surrounded by blackened earth and trees, I simply could not grasp what all these people had been through--and will continue to go through.

Comparison of Two Presidents

Quote of the day:
“A man's silence is wonderful to listen to.”
--Thomas Hardy

The San Diego wildfires brought to mind a specific difference between Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

When Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of southern Louisiana, and after southern California’s wildfires, Bush waited for “the appropriate time” to visit. He waited for an invitation, and for a careful choreography of his visit to be prepared.

After Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1999, President Clinton was on site in short order, showing compassion and making clear that federal help would be available. He did not wait to be invited, or for “the right time.” He just went.

For a United States president, which is preferable? A passive, wait for proper procedures approach? Or an active, commander-and-chief-executive approach, short-circuiting permission and protocol?

Which is the better way to go when lots of Americans are in danger or in trouble?

San Diego and New Orleans

Quote of the day:
"Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use."
--Emily Post

News reports have been awash with comparisons between the responses to Hurricane Katrina and the San Diego wildfires.

Much has been made about how positive San Diego’s response was, compared to New Orleans. Most writers postulate one or both of the following reasons for this: 1) different racial or class composition and 2) different levels of governmental competence.

While I think both of these things made a difference (especially the second), there is an obvious factor that I think is more important.

The Katrina floods affected huge areas in New Orleans, including near the Superdome. Highways to and from the stadium were often closed or impassable.

Those who might have volunteered to help were instead deterred by not knowing if they’d be able to get safely to the Superdome.

In San Diego the situation was very different. Qualcomm Stadium was never threatened by fire, and the areas for miles around it were never threatened by fire. The roads leading to it were not closed or jammed with cars.

People wanting to help knew they could safely and easily drive to the stadium to donate or volunteer. When people started doing this, others were watching on TV. They were inspired to volunteer, also.

So many people wanted to donate that supplies began piling up. So many people wanted to volunteer that people became very creative about how they helped. That’s why people were doing message, leading yoga, and making balloon animals.

They didn’t do that because our local and state governments were effective. And they didn’t do it because of their race or income level. They did it because they wanted to help, and because the help was fairly easy to give.

Air, and What's What?

This morning we have a bit of cloudiness and fog. It's cool and nice.

National news reports are focusing on poor air quality. The outlying areas, where the fire still smolders, are still dealing with this. For us, yesterday evening was the first time we've opened the windows all week.

At 2 p.m., the sun was bright and the sky was blue, with just the faintest light-orange haze in the distance. No smell of smoke, and a pleasant breeze came in from the ocean. It was a very nice, typical 70-degree October day for us.

Now insurance companies are running full-page ads--claims information salted with sympathy. Macy's is giving disaster victims 15% off everything they carry, as well as 90 days of free credit.

Friends of the County Animal Shelter (FOCAS) is calling for volunteers to help deal with lost pets and other issues in affected areas. Merrie has been involved with FOCAS for years and may help with this.

One of the major sidebar stories from the fires is what people take with them when they evacuate. Beyond themselves and their pets, almost always people seem to take photos and mementoes. Video from the evacuation centers showed that some people, with more time to prepare, took a lot from their homes when they left.

For those of us not facing evacuation in five or ten minutes, this is a constructive life exercise. It's forced priority-setting. What's most important to me? Really. As in everything other than what you gather in the next ten minutes may shortly be gone.

We were never advised or ordered to evacuate, for which we are grateful. But we still thought about what to take. Merrie pulled boxes of photos from our closet. We gathered some documents, medications and a change of clothes. Then what?

The computers. Most of our files and work is on them, and backed up to the internet.

I found myself standing in front of my records, and I started pulling a few out. The originals of some Miles Davis and Duke Ellington: "Kind of Blue," "Indigos," "1940 Fargo." "Sgt. Pepper" (of course), "Cheap Thrills," "Hejira," Michelangeli's Beethoven's First, the Callas 1958 Traviata, some Frank Sinatra, Donovan's Greatest Hits.

I had to stop. Too much. I could imagine my arms getting tired.

Mornings After

Woke up to good news. Qualcomm Stadium is being closed as an evacuation center. Fires are generally being managed, though Palomar Observatory is threatened at the moment. The air is supposed to be bad again today, but seems better at 8 a.m. Unfortunately, wind conditions are supposed to bring more smoke over central San Diego for most of today.

Another day mostly inside, sedentary. A recipe for craziness for all those with two legs and four.

This has had a huge psychological impact on San Diegans, as you might expect. Most of the city doesn't look any different, except for a light coating of ash (see my car above), and except for the odd light cast by the haze-filtered sun. But scratch the surface and reality oozes out.

We went to IKEA yesterday to buy some lights, and the cashier was a tad testy. This is very unlike IKEA which, like so many retail companies, relentlessly screens and drills employees on customer service.

Same thing happened at iHop, where service is unfailingly cheerful on normal days. On Wednesday, the waitress and kitchen were hassled and overloaded and preoccupied, though the Harvest Grain 'N' Nut pancakes were good, as always.

The whole city needs a break. Some sleep and some Marx Brothers.

A thought...
With the entertainment industry based in southern California, news of the fires had an especially broad and deep reach. It makes me wonder how things might be different if other natural disasters had the same exposure.

All City Evacuees Returning Home Today

Still smelling smoke this morning at 8, and the sky is covered with a light-orange haze. Fires are still burning, but they are being contained, and they are mostly far from populated areas. Within the city limits, an official said this morning that there is no active fire.

Looks like all city evacuees will be able to return home today, which is a huge relief. Thankfully, most will find their homes unaffected.

It's such a relief to be free of the grinding sense of low-level dread that we've all been living through. Our wildfires are unique among natural disasters in that they are slowly-unfolding as well as unpredictable. They are always a threat, and they will be a hazard for us for years to come.

I suppose we're all learning to deal with the uncertainty of living in the increasingly dry southern California desert.

We Are Over the Hump

In these 4 p.m. photos, the sky is less blue, even though there is no obvious smoke. Though it's hot, we're getting a little cloudiness and a bit of humidity which, along with almost no wind, is keeping the smoke around longer. The air is nasty.

Other than a quick bite at our local iHop, we've been inside with the windows closed.

The fires are now all away from major population centers, for which we are grateful. I find myself thinking that if the wind had blown differently, these fires could have been catastrophic. Even though hundreds of folks have lost their homes, this could have been much, much worse.

The most hopeful sign was at 1 p.m., when our TV stations began to air commercials during their continuous news coverage. That's a sure signal that the worst is past.

Observation: When the governor announced to the crowd at the Qualcomm evacuation center that President Bush was coming tomorrow, I didn't hear any applause. Not even a smattering.

More Smoke, Less Danger

Photos are from 9 a.m. I've included a shot of continuous wall-to-wall coverage on one of five TV stations.

There is ash on our cars this morning. Humidity is higher. We have more visible and smellable smoke. But the good news is that containment of the two huge fires has begun.

An evacuation has been canceled for a heavily-populated area called Carmel Valley, so many people are returning to their homes.

Fires are still threatening a few areas outside the city, and there are some new fires on the Camp Pendleton Marine base.

We are also heartened that our kitchen-floor installer was able to come today, after spending yesterday preparing his family for evacuation--which never happened. Normalcy continues to drift back to us.

KPBS radio was off the air all day yesterday, because the transmitter is on top of Mt. San Miguel, which was ablaze yesterday morning. The adult alternative commercial station at 94.9 donated its frequency so that KPBS could continue broadcasting. KPBS is providing by far the best radio coverage of what's going on. And I am unbiased.

San Diego Sundown Tuesday

These are 5:30 p.m. pictures, looking west, north and northeast. While fires still burn in San Diego, there seems to be a clear feeling of hope in the smoky air.

A few evacuated areas have been reopened. Because of lighter winds and the expertise of firefighters, fires have not advanced much today. A wide array of help is on display, from a legion of volunteers, and from the local, state and federal governments.

It was especially good to hear from both FEMA and the state insurance commissioner that serious efforts to help people recover have already begun.

Forecasters say the weather will continue to moderate tomorrow. It will be a better day.

We Are Thankful for Little Change

These are 11 a.m. pictures. It may seem boring to keep looking at these same views, especially when there's no change like this time. But Merrie and I are relieved and far from bored at no change. We are very grateful.

Officials estimate 1000 homes have been destroyed--but that's a guess. There isn't time to collect accurate data.

It's good news that calmer winds have allowed fixed-wing aircraft to begin dumping water and retardant, and that effort is expected to grow today. There are many helicopters in the air. We hope the winds stay calmer.

A few years ago, the Eastlake area of south San Diego county was one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation. Thousands of homes have been built there in the last ten years. This area is threatened and is under a voluntary evacuation.

At this hour firefighters are succeeding at keeping the fire away from the easternmost homes in that area.

For almost two days, San Diegans have been cycling between low-level dread and relief, with doses of fear sprinkled on top. Most people are waiting and watching--either at home, at work, or at an evacuation center.

Where to Go For News

By far the best national coverage of the fires is coming from the New York Times. This morning, see their excellent summary by clicking here.

CNN seems to be focused on Malibu and the celebrity effect. They have lost perspective.

Winds Calmer

The very, very good news right now is that the winds have calmed during the last few hours, and there are signs that the hot, dry weather may be starting to break.

Fires Move West

Merrie was awakened during the night by fire engines and aircraft heading to the east. Both the Witch Creek fire (north), and the Harris fire (south) moved westward during the night.

We smell smoke this morning, though the 8 a.m. eastern view above looks better.

Current estimates are 150,000 acres burned and 300,000 people evacuated. This morning officials asked for a mandatory evacuation of a large, heavily-populated area from the border to eastern Chula Vista in southern San Diego county.

We are safe, and have a place to go if we need to evacuate--which seems unlikely right now. But to burn some nervous energy we've packed some things and continue to get ready.

The governor is still here, and it's reassuring that local officials seem to be doing an excellent job in a complex, unpredictable situation. They look exhausted.

Fire on Night Two

These pictures were taken just before 6 p.m. to the northeast and north of our home near San Diego State University. You can see the smoke is back. What you can't see is yet another swath of smoke to the south, from a different fire.

When you look at San Diego by satellite, there are two east-west columns of smoke. One of these is north of us, the other south. We're between them.

Watching news coverage of the fires at night via high-definition television is dramatic. They are bright-orange infernos, blown horizontal by the wind. It's no problem seeing why firefighters say the fires won't be seriously challenged until the wind dies down. Forecasts are for calming sometime on Wednesday.

Latest count of homes destroyed: 500.

Fire Watch and Kitchen Tile

It is still clear, sunny and warm here, and most of the sky is blue.

These are the 3:30 p.m. Monday views to the north, which looks clearer, and to the northeast, which looks a bit smoky. Winds in our area have picked up in the last half-hour. They are coming from the east and northeast.

We've heard from some out-of town friends, and our kitchen-tile guy showed up a little while ago to put a finishing touch on his excellent work.

Fire Update

Outside our home at 12:30 p.m. it is sunny, warm and still with clear skies overhead. Right now there is very little smell of smoke and it's less visible in the distance. The photo is looking north.

I think the 100,000 acre number from our county officials may be a bit high. It seems like 30,000 to 40,000 may be more accurate.

In the realm of normal life, one of our contractors had to postpone our kitchen-floor installation because he's having respiratory problems. But another installer called to arrange a time to come tomorrow.

Life goes on.

We're fortunate that there have been comparatively few injuries and only one death so far.

Numbers

Statistics as of 10 a.m.:

100,000 acres of fire.

250,000 people evacuated.

High Winds Inland Cause Fires to Grow

Merrie and I are safe at home and not in imminent danger. This is the case for most of San Diego. There are now seven fires to the east, northeast and north of central San Diego.

The three pictures above are taken from our home. From top to bottom, they are 8 a.m. views to the northeast, north and northwest.

This morning the San Diego County Sheriff called these the worst fires in county history. We are all very concerned that we are seeing unusually high winds in inland areas, and they are expected to continue through tomorrow.

The winds obviously feed the fires, and they also carry embers to new areas. In addition, a transformer explosion ignited a new fire east of Escondido, near the San Diego Wild Animal Park. That fire has jumped and has now burned a number of homes in eastern Rancho Bernardo--a suburb about 15 miles due north of us.

The mayor has asked people to stay home today, to keep roads clear for evacuation. Thousands of poeple are now at area shelters, including Qualcomm Stadium.

Again, we are safe at home and not in danger. To be cautious and for our own peace of mind, we are making evacuation plans, as are many of our neighbors.