FIRES - OLD

[2Wheels 0]

We had a few tense moments the night before last watching the flames in the hills around Proctor Valley Road. We had our things packed and ready to go, but the houses on the south side of Otay Lakes Road didn't have to evacuate. The ones on the north side of Otay Lakes Road did.

We're happy we still have a roof over our heads.

[sandiegoland 0]

After watching continuous local coverage for a few days, last night the national news was broadcast.

I was reminded of something I guess I already knew... network news is a tad melodramatic

=====

Good luck everyone with your property and personal well-being. I hope you all get back home soon. Our "guests" from Rancho Bernardo are still hanging out with us. Things look well for them. The folks we knew who had to evacuate large animals in the Cedar Fire have so far been able to stay put. We've gotten a lot more sleep on this one.

BTW, it was only two weekends ago that Lisa and I put out a hot spot from the Angel Fire (that was still smoldering 4 weeks after the fire was officially contained). Keep an eye out for the next month... seriously!

[dirt dame 559]

After watching continuous local coverage for a few days, last night the national news was broadcast.

I was reminded of something I guess I already knew... network news is a tad melodramatic

=====

Good luck everyone with your property and personal well-being. I hope you all get back home soon. Our "guests" from Rancho Bernardo are still hanging out with us. Things look well for them. The folks we knew who had to evacuate large animals in the Cedar Fire have so far been able to stay put. We've gotten a lot more sleep on this one.

BTW, it was only two weekends ago that Lisa and I put out a hot spot from the Angel Fire (that was still smoldering 4 weeks after the fire was officially contained). Keep an eye out for the next month... seriously!

And pray for rain .

[SCHWINN 0]

I hope our offroad families are ok out there in ramona area campo area.

Hope all is well with our families. When I posted this note all was quiet before hell broke loose. I would like to thank Hammerin hammond craig and rex everything john for checking on my family that I evacuated to the Walmart parking lot in oceanside. Craig and John found me coming up out of the roadblock at DelDios and lake hodges tuesday afternoon so I showed them around the fire on our motorcycles. DelDios and Lake hodges and Via Rancho Pkwy look like a bomb went off in escondido by my house. Thanks to the firefighters and all the helicopters that showed up tuesday all day, thank god the lake hodges was there for lots of water dumps for the copters.

[Joliet 0]

Pics????

[chickenheart 0]

has anyone heard from metaltwister? i think he lives in jamul so of course im worried since i havent seen him post that hes alright.

and again if anyone needs anything just PM me and i'll come i'm checking the site every 20-30 min.

ed

[PastaPilot 17]

DelDios and Lake hodges and Via Rancho Pkwy look like a bomb went off in escondido by my house. Thanks to the firefighters and all the helicopters that showed up tuesday all day, thank god the lake hodges was there for lots of water dumps for the copters.

Steve,

I'm glad to hear your family made it ok (so far anyway). I hate to drop more bombs your way but, there is also a fire burning in the Lake Arrowhead area. Have you heard anything from up that way?

Jon

[SCHWINN 0]

DelDios and Lake hodges and Via Rancho Pkwy look like a bomb went off in escondido by my house. Thanks to the firefighters and all the helicopters that showed up tuesday all day, thank god the lake hodges was there for lots of water dumps for the copters.

Steve,

I'm glad to hear your family made it ok (so far anyway). I hate to drop more bombs your way but, there is also a fire burning in the Lake Arrowhead area. Have you heard anything from up that way?

Jon

Our house is on the southside of the lake at mitry and bluebell and the Village is in front of us and the fire Dept is on our left so I think were safe.Last I heard the fire was on the southside at Grass Valley and 128 homes burned.

[Metal Twister 0]

has anyone heard from metaltwister? i think he lives in jamul so of course im worried since i havent seen him post that hes alright.

and again if anyone needs anything just PM me and i'll come i'm checking the site every 20-30 min.

ed

We are fine here, we were asked to leave our home yesterday around 2:00pm. We are very close to Steel Canyon High, and some homes have been lost in that area from what Ive been hearing. We will have to wait and see just like 500,000 of others. We are well and the bikes are at the shop, horses are at my sisters. all the rest can be replaced. We will check back in when this thing blows over. Thanks Bob

[SnailDarter 0]

Just spent two nights at Mira Messa highschool with 1000+ others. Very nicely run shelter considering the circumstances. Fire got within 1/4 mile of the houses in Mt Woodson but none were lost.

Moved into a hotel at the East end of Mira Messa for a little more comfort and to lessen the load on the Red Cross.

I'm going to try to make a run up the house but expect to get turned around. We have two cats in the house who went and hid right as we were forced to evacuate. They probably need some more food and water and NEW LITTER by now, but I'm sure they're OK.

/Fred

[Kaw'ee 10]

.

911 call back registration link..... for cell and unlisted phones.... this is for more than just fires !!!

.

http://www.sandiego.gov/ohs/reverse911/index.shtml

[tntmo 887]

Hopefully some of you have seen our helicopters flying in water buckets. Lots of red tape we had to go through to get out there but they are out there now. Glad to hear everyone is okay at this time, I'm sure if anyone needs assistance this group will be all over it.

[ADV Bum 205]

Hopefully some of you have seen our helicopters flying in water buckets. Lots of red tape we had to go through to get out there but they are out there now. Glad to hear everyone is okay at this time, I'm sure if anyone needs assistance this group will be all over it.

Nothing has changed since the Cedar fire! Lots of ass kissing but no results! Fn air support sat on ground doing nothing! To windy my ass. Maybe they should train for high winds? That would make to much sense. Just like evacuating 2 days before the fire gets there. Then the police are bitching because they have to spend time watching out for looters! Either let the people protect there own property, or shut up and do what you get paid for! Sorry but I get really tired of all the bullshit. People need help, not a speech every ten minutes by the mayor and politicians praising each other because they can communicate better. Mayor Sanders is worthless!

Fires came close, but we were able to avoid disaster on several fronts! I hope everyone else is fairing as well!

[sdklr650 0]

hello all finally just got some wireless service working at the hotel,many off you guys may not even know me, i havn't riden in a while the klr has been sleeping .Anyways hope everone is ok Me and my girlfriend have taken a hit from this fire , but we don't even know how big yet .We live up in rancho bernardo ( ow ya the worse hit area ) we got evacuated monday morning at around 5am(reverse 911) phone woke us up and then looked outside to see barley nothing but very heavy smoke and frantic people honking horns to notify others, we took about 10 mins to get everything together so as you can imagine many things got left behind , all we really took was couple days of clothes,computer, two vehicles and the cat.And the dam fire picked the worst week because my KLR was sitting in the garage with the rear tire out getting changed so it stood in the garage).yesterdays paper page A-10 has a pics of our complex (la terraza apartments in RB ) and it does not look so HOT,as of right now we still do not know if our place is untouched or gone hopefully untouched . Pres bush is coming down tomorrow to do a speach so they might not let us go check on it till fri. I'm gonna try to post that pic from the news paper.they say they are going to start letting people get meds and personal stuff out and check on condition of your home so hopefully that will start after Bush arrives because as of now they still won't let us anywere near our house! Just crossing my finger and hoping the KLR is ok ow ya and all the stuff in the house to

[Spyder 2]

Well Crap! Posted just a bit too late. Had to edit.

SDKLR, I wasnt at the complex and cant tell you much about it. Other than the guys were there for a long time working. I hope the best for you! Glad you and your GF are ok. If you need anything please just ask!

Paul hope your home is still safe. Crawdaddy, RideOrange, DD, Terrible, Bruce, Carguy, Twowheels,MetalTwister,Fred, and everyone else, I hope things stay safe for you all!

Worked in RB, Escondido, Luz Valley, Artesian, RSF, and Fairbanks Ranch Monday and Tuesday. Went home for a few hours downtime Tues nite. And back at my regular Firehouse today. Strike team most likely early AM Thurs on..... Wife is going nuts, but she's all packed up and ready to rollout if need be......

Sorry to say we lost many homes and many just had no chance. No time for pictures, unfortunatly. We put out ALOT of fire. NO sleep and one MRE in two days. No support. Still quite tired and dehydrated.

Bum you are right. Some of us learned valuable leasons and most did not. Boxer and Davis and Sanders made me wanna puke! Better rest and not get worked up over this yet...........

Our guys and gals gave it their best and two maybe be giving up everything (thier lives)... Very Sad Story that should NOT have happened. (more later).

Spyder

[sdklr650 0]

SPYDER , just want te tell you and your fellow fire fighters thanks for everything you guys do, You really don't realize what you guys go threw until your in the middle of it!!! one again thank you

[RogerTOWM 0]

Bum,

Actually quite a lot has changed since the Cedar Fire. Before the Cedar Fire different agencies couldn’t talk to each other. They all used different radio frequencies. Firefighters from one area couldn’t call Firefighters from another agency for help. In the old days they had to use different radio frequencies to prevent information over load and confusion. Modern technology solved that problem. The agencies can communicate better; they can talk to each other! That is a tremendous improvement.

Aircraft can fly in high winds but they can’t fight fires in high winds, especially in mountains. Fire retardant and water must be released close to the ground to be effective. Fly to high and the retardant will disperse too much and will not work. If you’ve ridden your bike in high winds you’ll remember how you got blown around. Heck even heavy trucks get blown over in the winds sometime. Now try to fly an aircraft low to the ground in that wind. Do that and you will have dead pilots and crashed aircraft. I don’t know about you but my house is not worth a pilot’s life. I think that his family needs him more then I need my house. But maybe that’s just me.

I guess I missed the police bitching about having to watch for looters. I don’t know any cops who complain about trying to protect your property or your life. Heck they do that every day. I do hear them complain about someone who would harm you and take your property. For some reason they don’t like those people, they even call them names like dirt bags and crooks. Looters make them quite angry. Not too many cops are members of the ACLU.

About evacuating 2 days before the fire gets there. I know it is terrible to have to leave your home. But it would be irresponsible to wait until too late to tell people to evacuate and have them lose their lives. Do you remember the number of people who died in the Cedar Fire because they didn’t get out in time? I think that someone has learned from that fire. Do you know how many firefighters have died trying to save someone who refused to leave until it was too late? Firefighters have died because of some people’s pigheadedness.

People do need help and I think that the local government is doing a pretty good job of getting it to them this time. About 1 million people have been displaced. I hope you realize how big this is. There are not enough firefighters and cops in this country to stand by each house 24 hours a day. It’s just too big. It is natural to be flustered and even frightened in an event like this. But please think it through, how would you take care of everyone’s needs? You saw what happened in New Orleans, that’s not happening here!

Many homes have been lost, but many more have been saved thanks to firefighters. I don’t know about you but I think they are crazy. Most people run from fires, these guys run to them! Now that is crazy! Let’s see, they work forty hours with only an hour or so of sleep and that is lying in the dirt next to their fire truck. Risking their lives to save someone else’s home? Go by the burn unit at UCSD hospital and you will find some of them fighting for their lives, burnt trying to save someone else’s property. Yep, I think they are crazy, God bless them!

Politicians … well I don’t think I have much I should say about that (moma told me if I don't have something nice to say don't say nothing at all). I don’t reside in San Diego city so I don’t think I should talk about Mayor Sanders. I’ll leave that to the citizens of San Diego.

I’m happy that your home was spared. I pray everyone else comes out alright also. When something like this happens leaving us helpless, it is natural to become angry, flustered and scared. That’s ok.

Roger

[ADV Bum 205]

Bum,

I pray everyone else comes out alright also.

Roger

Amen! +1

[boat440 0]

This is a good story, my house is ok. The brush on the hills and in the canyons was burnt, but no homes lost. My HOA is very strict in what types of vegetation you can plant and how close it is allowed to your house. At the time I did my landscaping, I was very annoyed of the approval process. (This was costly and several iterations of the plans occurred so as to conform to the fire safety CCR's.) I now understand and thank the HOA for the tough stance and decisions made.

Also keeping up on clearing a defensible space around your house is heavily enforced. Some of my neighbors were heavily fined for not providing this necessary maintenance. Not being responsible for clearing brush on your own property, may fuel a fire and contributes to both of our homes safety. Fires do not stop at one's property line.

The defensible spaces may have saved us combined with the fire departments fine efforts. I was told they did an excellent job in protecting houses. My many, many thanks to the fine efforts. They are the heros of today.

As now my development is still under evacuation and the electricity is off. I believe to be allowed in today (10/25).

Enough with the lectures. I'm planning a Death Valley ride for 11/10-11/11 and welcome all to join. Will post details on Sunday. Any early takers?

Thanks, Steve...

[piratemonkey 0]

Looters make them quite angry. Not too many cops are members of the ACLU.

HahahAHAHHAhaha! I'd put my money down on that. Very nicely written post, Roger.

I live by SDSU and am not at risk, but I'm still very thankful for the firefighters and police doing what they do.

Hoping all you dualsporters remain safe.

Zina

[KIP 0]

I knew that I should have gone to Qualcomm - 1000 freeloaders partying and stocking up on freebees, hanging out with Al Roker and the Governator. I knew they were having too much fun.

[RogerTOWM 0]

Steve,

I’m glad that you made it Ok. I’ve heard that some of these fires were started by an arsonist (that’s what the T.V. says). I’d love to get them in a room alone so I could explain how wrong and evil it is to do that.

Kip,

I pray everything turns out alright up in Julian. I’m happy to be missing the party at QualComm, even if I miss Al Roker and the Governator. That’s one party I thank God I didn’t have to join this time!

Everyone be save and I think I’ll keep the spark arrestor on my bike.

Roger

[ADV Bum 205]

I’ve heard that some of these fires were started by an arsonist (that’s what the T.V. says). I’d love to get them in a room alone so I could explain how wrong and evil it is to do that.

No need for talk! Just shoot them dead, like the one they shot in arrowhead trying to start more fires!

[dirt dame 559]

I’ve heard that some of these fires were started by an arsonist (that’s what the T.V. says). I’d love to get them in a room alone so I could explain how wrong and evil it is to do that.

No need for talk! Just shoot them dead, like the one they shot in arrowhead trying to start more fires!

I think KL meant to get them alone in a room to "explain" in a way that would either leave them dead or make them wish they were dead .

[Joliet 0]

I hope our offroad families are ok out there in ramona area campo area.

Hope all is well with our families. When I posted this note all was quiet before hell broke loose. I would like to thank Hammerin hammond craig and rex everything john for checking on my family that I evacuated to the Walmart parking lot in oceanside. Craig and John found me coming up out of the roadblock at DelDios and lake hodges tuesday afternoon so I showed them around the fire on our motorcycles. DelDios and Lake hodges and Via Rancho Pkwy look like a bomb went off in escondido by my house. Thanks to the firefighters and all the helicopters that showed up tuesday all day, thank god the lake hodges was there for lots of water dumps for the copters.

Here is a picture Rexeverything took while they were out there.