My family drove home to Ramona this morning. The house is indeed standing with minimal damage. There is a nightmare of a mess - dirt, dust, soot, and ashes have worked their way into every crevice and covered absolutely everything. My Mom spent the day cleaning out the refrigerator and large freezer that have been without power in the 90 degree heat for several days while my Dad tried to get the garage back into some kind of order.

My Dad noted that the 4-stall barn appeared to have burned on the inside and will need some repair. This was confirmed by my parent's next-door neighbors who stayed during the fire and used dirt and a shovel to put out the fire. The neighbor also used a hose to put out smoldering leaves and brush that had blown up against a fence near the house and were threatening to catch fire. My parents are taking them out for a four-star meal once things calm down.

Due to the lack of water and electricity, my family is staying in a hotel in nearby Poway tonight. Interestingly, their phone is still working.

I'll be flying down to San Diego tomorrow morning and will spend the next several days helping to clean the house and volunteer where I can. Internet access will likely be iffy and I have no idea what type of schedule I'll be keeping. I'll definitely take lots of photos.

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Ramona residents are finally being allowed back home tonight after the Ramona Municipal Water District has held the evacuees hostage for an extra 24 to 48 hours. I'm too exhausted to write about the near riot that occurred, but you can read about it on the Union-Tribune's blog. I totally agree with the first comment on the blog -- It is dangerous, but it is all kinds of awesome.

Go Ramonans!

I was able to find a picture of the Oak Tree Ranch Mobile Home park on the Ramona Fire 2007 Blog that show a corner of my parent's house peeking out in the background. Friends have walked the property and say the house is in good condition without damage. I'm nervous though, especially after finding my parent's address on the San Diego County Confirmed Damaged and Destroyed Homes Assessment. It's listed as "moderately" damaged. My parents are waiting until tomorrow to go home, as the rush of 30,000 plus people tonight will be crazy, especially since IDs will be checked for every single car entering town.

Ramona still has no drinkable water and is under a boil order. No one is supposed to flush toilets and they are trucking in a couple hundred port-a-poties. That could get ugly really soon. Using OSHA calculations, the town should require about 2,000 portable toilets - we'll see how long the few hundred last. Bottled water will need to be brought in, and animals will require water from somewhere as well. It will be an interesting situation.

Our horses are going to move to my sister's work site tomorrow in Rancho Santa Fe. Until the situation improves in Ramona they will stay "down the hill" where resources are more readily available. Feed is still scarce and no one knows exactly how things will go over the next few days. The national guard is armed and patrolling the streets.

I'm going to attempt to fly down on Saturday, although my parents are going to make sure that they will be able to stay in their house tomorrow when they go back. If it is too badly smoke damaged they will be back in their hotel in Del Mar while it's cleaned. We'll all be volunteering to assist with evacuees, either human or animal for the next few days. My parent's church has remained open throughout the entire ordeal, providing food and shelter to firefighters and national guardsmen and women in Ramona, and now will do the same for those who have lost their homes.

I've heard from a few friends. My sister's best friend lost her home, as did her father. Several old horse friends have checked in - things are looking pretty good on that front. Most people I know had horses who were evacuated or are safe and have homes that are still there. My horseback riding instructor that lost her home in the Cedar Fire in 2003 stayed in Ramona and her house survived.

One of my close friends in Ramona appears to have lost his house. It's on the destroyed list. I believe his parent's home is also on the list. They live just a half mile from my parents. I haven't been able to connect with him and am trying to find someone who can tell me he and his family are safe and well. I'm sure they are, but I just want to hear his voice to know. Y'know? If anyone has spoken with Leonard Bowman in Ramona, or his parents, please send me an email and let me know if they are OK.

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Over half a million people have now been evacuated in San Diego. There have been over 650,000 reverse 911 calls made to homes in San Diego County.

The Witch Creek Fire seems to have slowed its progress through Rancho Santa Fe. Residents are now being allowed back into the Del Mar Heights and the Torrey Pines area on the West side of the 5 Freeway. My family is still in their hotel and have not needed to move again.

The horses are in San Juan Capistrano and are doing OK. All are showing signs of stress and are being given electrolytes and other supplements to keep their vitals as close to normal as possible. My Mom's horse, Snowy, is showing signs of colic - they are giving him bran mashes with mineral oil and are debating calling a vet.

Reports from the Ramona Sentinel newspaper indicate that 20 homes have burned in the Magnolia Road area of Ramona. Magnolia becomes Black Canyon, the street that my parents live on. I'm sure that the damage is much worse the further you go down Black Canyon Road.

The Sentinel is also reporting that the Ramona Municipal Water District pumping station in Poway is now without power. This is reducing water pressure in parts of Ramona and will eventually drain the town of water if power is not restored soon. SDG&E is estimating that it will take two days to restore power. There are generators on their way to hopefully restore some power by this evening. All drinking water must be boiled for the time being in Ramona.

My Mom just received a second report that my parent's house is still standing. Good news, although no one is fully believing anything until they are standing in front of it, seeing it with their own eyes.

UPDATE (1:35 PM): ALL SAN DIEGO COUNTY SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK.

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I can no longer get access to KOGO's news online and the national news is being unhelpful. I've been given information on the statistics of teacher's sexual misconduct, the two bus drivers in Florida dealing with the super-bug, and the fact that the Republicans are on the attack. They reference the fact that the Witch Creek Fire is the most dangerous, however, the only fire that they are reporting on is the Malibu Fire. It's the most glamorous. Fuck you CNN.

Seriously, a half dozen neighborhoods under evacuation advisory trumps 250,000 people actively fleeing a racing fire in San Diego? There are now 8 fires burning in San Diego County and they are running out of places to go.

New map of the burn areas is up. It appears that the fire covers my parent's home, however, the edge of the fire runs just behind their property. Ramona is in terrible shape. Half the town, if not more, is gone.

UPDATE (7:50 PM): Flames started coming over the hills in view of the Del Mar Polo Grounds over an hour ago. My parents and younger siblings are still in their hotel room for the time being, but the horses are on their way to another large-animal shelter in San Juan Capistrano. The stress of moving time after time is driving my poor sister to hysterics. I feel for her. She was ready to leave for her in-law's house in Yuma this morning if not for the high winds that would have been dangerous to the horse trailer.

The fire currently has eaten over 145,000 acres and destroyed over 600 building. There is currently 0% containment at this time. You can see another map of the destruction
here. This map gives an idea of when and where the fire has traveled. There is a lot of info. missing, but the fact that you can see when the fire reached downtown Ramona...erie.

All schools are shuttered in San Diego County tomorrow. All businesses should have the sense to close. Moving a quarter of a million evacuees through the city while trying to shoulder a normal commute is a ridiculous idea.

Praying that Katie and her husband will find a hotel for the night near the horses in San Juan and that my parents and younger sibs will be safe for the evening and won't need to evacuate again.

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Living in inland Southern California, evacuating one's home becomes a weird sort of right of passage. I had to do it 3 or 4 times over the course of my life. Most of which while living with my parents and one time while in my own home in downtown Ramona during the Cedar Fire that ravaged San Diego in the late part of October in 2003. That last one was scary - the fire seemed to be everywhere at once, starting in the east and ending up in the west, taking out all lines of communication and closing the roads in and out of the city.

The Witch Creek Fire started around 12:30 today. I knew things were bad when CNN mentioned that the road was closed at my parent's street. They were given the mandatory evacuation order about an hour ago and are now holed up at my sister Katie and her husband's house about 9 or 10 miles away.

Katie was able to evacuate her horse out earlier today to her work site (she's a therapeutic riding instructor, for new readers) and was only allowed back in to my parent's house because of her horse trailer and old driver's license with their address. The fire department's official instructions, "Get in and get out - fast!" My Mom's horse is now on his way to a safe place for the night.

I feel so unbelievably helpless at this moment. I can only provide support through brief phone calls every so often, and the most actual "help" I've given is to guide my Dad through the set up of KOMO's streaming online news. If you're looking for news on the Witch Creek Fire, I'd suggest you listen there.

Fire is just a short distance (less than a mile) from my parent's home and moving toward it. The Santa Ana winds are getting worse, not better. Please send prayers and good wishes.

UPDATE (9:45 PM): Fire is cresting the hills at the SD Country Estates and climbing the hills in Black Canyon.

10/22/07

UPDATE (7:29 AM): The area where my parent's house stood burned last night. They heard from a friend that the property was in flames, no word on the status of their house itself. The answering machine is ceasing to pick up, but that could be because the phone lines are down, not because it no longer exists.

The evacuation of Ramona was incredible. The majoity of people were out by 1 AM with the turnaround of the incoming lanes into outgoing lanes. Katie called me at seven this morning panicky because they are going to have to move the horses again as the fire is heading toward their evacuation site in
Rancho Santa Fe. Their overnight hotel room is also becoming an unsafe site and they will need to find another place to go tonight as the fire continues to travel and eat up miles.

The 15 Freeway has been shut down in the Rancho Bernardo area. People attempting to get into work this morning have clogged the freeways and having the freeway shut down are causing additional problems. I'm continuing to feel helpless here, but I know that flying to SD would not help anything.

UPDATE (1:25 PM): My family is still in their hotel in Del Mar, hopefully safe for the time being. Their small pets are with them. Our horses, now three as we had loaned my horse, Padre, to my sister's riding program had to be moved this morning as the fire bore down on Rancho Santa Fe. My parents, sister, and brother-in-law, along with volunteers moved all the horses to the Del Mar Polo Grounds as the Racetrack is full and they are beginning to double-stable the horses together. With Lakeside now under danger from fire, San Diego is running out of places to move large animals.

Over 250,000 people in San Diego are fleeing fires, the Witch Fire and San Pasqual fire have caused the Wild Animal Park to evacuate. The 15 Freeway is still shut down and the 5 Freeway is likely next.

The National news is disgusting me with a focus on the Malibu fire that is burning "expensive homes belonging to the famous". Good information can be found at the FireBlog at Sign On San Diego.

FIRE INFO:

Currently, the San Diego Country Estates and the Black Canyon are in Ramona are under MANDATORY EVACUATION. If you are any closer to the Witch Creek area, consider yourself evacuated.

UPDATE 9:45 PM: Evacuation is MANDATORY FOR THE NORTH OF RAMONA TO MAIN STREET and RECOMENDED FOR ALL OF OF RAMONA. Traffic is bad, however, the CHP is directing traffic and moving people as quickly as possible. Highway 78 through Escondido, Highway 67 through Poway, Highland Valley Road, and Wildcat Canyon Road are all evacuation routes. IF YOU LIVE IN RAMONA YOU NEED TO GET OUT NOW PER THE DIRECTION OF SD EMERGENCY. INCOMING LANES MAY BE TURNED AROUND TO BECOME OUTCOMING LANES. DO NOT WAIT. GO NOW.

Large animals can be evacuated to the fficial&hs=2T8&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=lakeside,+ca+rodeo+grounds&spell=1">Lakeside Rodeo Grounds. Staging grounds for horses is available at the Poway Rodeo Grounds.

You must have a permit to rescue large animals - you may be forcibly stopped if you attempt to rescue without a permit.

Small animals may be evacuated with you. Many San Diego area humane socieities are staying open throughout the night and will accept small animals if your shelter will not accept them.

Find more information at sdcountyemergency.com.

Posted by: Ensie at 07:29 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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