~ D&T, our friends in Saugus which is near Magic Mountain north
of Los Angeles didn't have to evacuate. Their neighbors, mutual friends
of ours, had to assist in evacuating their parents and themselves,
though. They were a bit to the north. D&T's house was full of
evacuees---people and pets---yesterday and, as he put it, he was sick
of playing Monopoly. Not heard yet from them today.
~ My SIL and
her family didn't have to evacuate. At one point they made it voluntary
to leave which she had to find out through someone else. She's not
happy she wasn't personally notified even though they've lived there
for two months. She is in San Diego county in Encinitas which is a
coastal town north of the city of San Diego.
~ Not heard from
family friends A&D who live in Fallbrook though my MIL, who works
with A, says she's probably ok. Fallbrook is not too far from the fires
that began near Wild Animal Park.
~ Santiago Canyon, where Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary is, has been affected. We visited there a while back. I have no idea what happened to it. Nor have I found out if the rumors that Arden, the Madame Modjeska House is gone are true.
~
Wind speeds of 90-100 mph are considerable and, in Southern California
which gets little rain fall, can down many trees which can have shallow
roots due to little precipitation. But couple that with two consecutive
seasons of well below average rainfall and some fires, those winds get
devastating. My MIL told me that the fire had jumped the 15 Fwy which
is eight lanes wide. It had also jumped the 805 Fwy. which is just as
wide.
~ There are two fires at Camp Pendleton marine base which
is in between Orange County and north San Diego County. It is adjacent
to the San Onofre nuclear power plant owned by Edison. Edison's
private fire fighters are assisting Pendleton staff with fire fighting
duties.
~ I'm expecting that hospitals and doctors will have a
big increase in cases that have to do with respiratory issues. Well,
they probably are already.
~ The good news: from the coverage
I've seen, it looks like they're being very cautious and notifying
about voluntary evacuation ahead of time. It also seems that the relief
organizations in the area (Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc.) are really
on the ball with evacuation centers and other help they usually provide.
Some links of interest:
~ a graphic that explains the cause and effect of the Santa Ana winds
~ a screen shot of a Southern California map that notes the wild fires
~ another map, not as simple but it gives you an idea of scale and how much area the fires cover (it's considerable)
