Voice Post - Evidently San Diego is trying to burn down.

[elfgrove]

EDIT 9:15am PST: Whoo... I'm home. Faster than expected. Hopped on the 15 just as they re-opened it for evacuation purposes. Awww... gawd. That was really, REALLY scary.

I am not designed to handle this shit on 3 hours of sleep. I'm really not.

EDIT 10:03am PST: Fuck. Now Rancho Bernardo is actually starting to burn. I was just fucking up there.
... I hope my workplace is okay.

EDIT 10:09am PST: 4S Ranch is now burning. This is a place where my co-workers and I often go for lunch breaks. It's really close to my work. ;;_;;

On the off chance anyone's concerned, just comment, email or AIM me. Don't call. Emergency services are using cell phones to communicate, so we've been asked to stay off our cell phones if possible.

I am safe. Just very freaked since I practically drove into one of the seven fires threatening San Diego this morning. One of the largest evacuation points, Qualcomm Stadium, is literally about 3 miles from me.

EDIT 1:49pm PST: This (the San Diego stuff) is now being called the worst fire in CA history. Beating out the 2003 Cedar Fire.

Over 8K acres burned in SD county. Only 1 confirmed dead right now.

It's weird watching the neighborhood where I work burn on TV.

My gods. The evacuation areas keep getting larger. Chula Vista is starting voluntary evacuations, but most evac's I'm hearing about are mandatory. But they're still telling people to go to Qualcomm Stadium, which is very close to me, so I must be safe.

Around 50K people have been evacuated thus far. If I have to evacuate, that means the fires are reaching essentially the city center. Means San Diego as a city might be S.O.L.

Interesting fact I've learned... Wildfires like this behave like tornadoes in a sense. Mysteriously skipping one house while completely destroying the neighbor.

EDIT 2:00pm PST: Poway is starting mandatory evac's.

Upside, looking like there's a lull in the fires burning in Rancho Bernardo.

Making this entry public for the time being. I'll continue updating it at random. Once again, friends wanting to talk to me, I'm on AIM as "KageLycorne". Please don't call my cell. Much as I would love to talk to you, emergency services have asked that we try not to overload the cell phone towers. Some towers evidently have been overloaded already.

EDIT 2:40pm PST: I-15 North is completely closed down now. I-5 North is a parking lot. Southbound I-5 is closed. They're starting to block anyone from going East into Scripps Ranch.

I've still got blue skies in University Heights.

EDIT 2:56pm PST: One of the fires has jumped the I-15 towards Fallbrook. It's moving quickly. People in Fallbrook cannot exit via I-15 due to the fire. They're being escorted through Camp Pendleton to the I-5 (can only go North on it).

And I can't keep up with the road closures anymore. Jeeze.

EDIT 3:07pm PST: There are now 8 fires burning around San Diego county. Moving primarily Westward.
Here's a couple of maps showing the fire source locations and evacuation areas.
- http://media.signonsandiego.com/fires/
- http://www.cbs8.com/misc/fires_oct_07/wildfire_map_0900am.jpg
- Check out the "Fire Maps" Slideshow : http://www.nbcsandiego.com/slideshows/index.html (This is one of the better collections of maps.)
They may be a bit outdated. These things are moving relatively fast.

EDIT 3:16pm PST: I'm hearing reports saying in excess of 14~20K acres burned for each of the two largest fires. One east of San Diego and by the Mexico border, the other started North in Ramona... it's the one that spread to Rancho Bernardo.

I've no experience with this, but officials keep saying they've never seen this happen on so many fronts simultaneously, or so large (in reference to the two largest fires).

Over a quarter million have been evacuated (and apparently that's just for the Witch Creek Fire).

Solana Beach is being told to prep for evacuation.

EDIT 3:22pm PST: The Coronado Hills fire is not out, but is being reported as contained. Finally! Some good news!

EDIT 3:44pm PST:
AREAS UNDER MANDATORY EVACUATION ORDERS

Everywhere north of Highway 56, east of Interstate 5, west of Interstate 15 and south of Del Dios Highway.

All residents of Ramona

The Sheriff has issued a mandatory evacuation along Highway 94 for residents of the following communities:
* Barrett Junction
* Engineer Springs
* Dulzura
* All areas in between

Updated Evacuations:
* Voluntary Evacuations are underway in the following Chula Vista neighborhoods: All of Bellalago, all of the Woods at Eastlake, areas of San Miguel Ranch and areas of Rolling Hills Ranch.
* Scripps Ranch residents have been told to pack up and evacuate.
* Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for Rancho Santa Fe, portions of Leucadia, as well as the Olivenhain Dam area.
* Mandatory evacuations have also been ordered for Lakeside at 13100 Willow Rd.
* Pomerado Hospital & Nursing Home evacuated

EDIT 7:17pm PST:
Okay, Confused as heck now. They re-opened some of I-15, but I dunno how much, because the websites, that actually have some maps if you search enough, aren't updating. Sounds like the fires in Rancho Bernardo stopped, but I don't know if it is or will be open again for me to even consider going to work in the morning.

More and more evac's are being called. It's hard to keep up. Otay Mesa (to the South of me is now being evac'ed the Harris Fire along the Mexico border is moving again and swiftly.

Mandatory evac in Chula Vista, one somewhere around Carlsbad... Rancho Santa Fe... West of Black Mountain Rd all the way to the ocean.

Winds are picking up with nightfall. It's gonna get chaotic tonight.

EDIT 7:50pm PST:
Found a blog with photo and map updates. Seems as confused as I am on the current situation, but hey, someone else try to make sense of the info is nice.
http://and-still-i-persist.com/

Gargh. Still confused. I can't figure out what's most recent. I'm going to just stop trying to keep up for a while.