Ensconced ourselves – rather informally, from the standpoint of military regulation – at my working digs, the place being otherwise vacant what with orders keeping all but “critical personnel” at home. Our boss told us the work wasn’t going anywhere, take care of family – good man himself.
The work place seemed as likely as any – I’m pretty much the HMFWIIC of the building I occupy, and we slept unmolested after a brief stop by McP’s in Coronado for comestibles. Your correspondent being more in need of strength than nurture took his refreshment courtesy of the gentlemen from Saint Jame’s Gate (and many thanks to occasional reader Bryan who threw a preemptive fin in the tin, for to help in the paying of it). Didn’t have the heart to bear with sleeping on a gym floor among a cast of thousands, but the office floor wasn’t so very much better – apart from the fact that the gentle exhalations of those sleeping around me were familiar to me. Note to those who follow after: If you’re going to bring the family cat, bring the litter box. Otherwise the little beasts will make do.
Of my people, only one has a house that is directly threatened, but by great good fortune his house was nearly empty of material goods, his retirement being right around the corner. There are at least 500 families in our community who are not so lucky but, so far at least, everyone people appear to be bearing up with dignity. Of course, this isn’t over yet, not by a long chalk.
Our house is still in a non-evac area, and frankly we only came down here to placate certain anxieties among the sensitive set and so that I might myself sleep an hour or two, a notion which otherwise might have proven problematical. We’ll be heading home today to take further stock and – having exercised our immediate action procedures – better prepared to face what comes.
We all very much appreciate the kind words, thoughts and prayers.
Update: Got the muster in as the girls headed back up north, and joined them after stopping briefly to take SNO to breakfast. Actually, he treated me. Which was nice. His school has responded to the situation by shutting down classes, and to judge by the collection of empty plastic cups and beer cans on his patio, SNO and his confreres at the NROTC unit have responded by performing some class of community service. Garbage collection, I wot. It looks a bit as though the particulate matter in the air has made their eyes red and faces puffy, the poor dears.
It can be a cruel hard service.
You couldn’t miss the smell of a fire in the air, even in Coronado. Motoring north after breakfast I saw the pall of gray smoke high to the north – it became truly apparent at La Jolla. I’d have taken pictures but I don’t think they’d have the same effect – two-dimensional flat gray on slightly darker gray does not evoke the feeling of seeing your neighbors’ homes fly transubstantiated into very fine ash. The air has a peculiar golden cast to it that would almost be beautiful if you didn’t know what it meant – somewhere not so very far away, an unthinking, primal force is ravaging someone’s home, hope and treasure to ember and dust. I burn to climb into an aircraft and do something. See it. Fight it.
Ash everywhere, on everything. Tickling in the back of your throat. Swirling in strange patterns in the garage. Wonder how it got in there. Lurid images on the television. The local NPR station is off the line – a fire around their transmission tower it seems. The hiss on their radio frequency is faintly chilling. Like a long-accustomed friend with whom one often has friendly disputations has suddenly vanished.
There are 400 houses in our community, and only 10 are still occupied. No guard in the guard shack at the gate, he’s making rounds. We’re told.
Even though we are outside the mandatory evacuation area, many of our neighbors have gone to stay with friends until all of this passes. Workmen drive past in pickup trucks, going nowhere in particular, doing nothing obvious, seemingly surprised to see us. With all of the police, sheriff and fire fighting services drawn to the actual fray this has the effect of making me feel strangely less secure. It seems an absurd precaution, there have been only a handful of looting incidents but the veneer of civilization can be very thin.
But no one loots a burning house, they loot on the margins. Where we are.
Some people do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. Some because they fear the wrath of God. Others only because they fear getting caught. The Remington 870 comes out of the safe and goes into condition three. It’s only game load but no one else needs to know that, and anyway there is something about hearing a 12 gauge rack that makes everyone think a little harder. Choose more carefully. The plug came out for the first time since I’ve owned it, and I’ve owned it a very long time.
“Can we not put that away someplace?” the Hobbit asked.
“No. Once it has been loaded it must be kept close to hand,” came the reply.
You don’t need it until you do.
I don’t know if we’ll be able to stay here tonight.
It’s not so very far away.
Update 2: The wind velocities are much reduced since yesterday. A good thing.
Update 3: Thanks to those who have asked what material things they can do to help. Our own situation is unchanged. The San Diego Human Society is accepting cash donations to support rescue efforts. Cash donations can be made online at www.sdhumane.org or by calling (619) 299-7012. Locals can contribute toiletries, food and bedding – the Encinitas Community Resource Center at 650 Second St can be contacted at (760) 753-1566. From what I understand the folks down at Qualcomm have everything they need, and they’ve been turning volunteers away. More generally, the San Diego Volunteer Hotline can be contacted at (858) 636-4131 for cash donations or volunteer services.
A lot of good, up-to-date gouge here, at the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Fire Blog.
Web 2.0, baby.
Update 4: The tide may be turning. The Santa Annas have stayed down and the evac order on both Solana Beach just to the northwest and Chula Vista to our southeast have been lifted. There will be reckoning to be sure – TV reporters were saying that 1000 homes had been lost. My impression though is that the leadership, emergency services and people of San Diego have handled this very, very well. Three hundred thousand people have gone to emergency shelter, and so far the highest demand signal has been for Depends – and who among us has not forgotten those, in a moment of crisis?
A flickr picture pool here.
Update 5: Finding our way back to form now that the existential is past, your Navy has contributed magnificently to the damage control effort. As have the Guard, reserves and Marine Corps.
Insert something snarky about some politician here. Followed by something depressing about the world in general. Conclude with a brief note of we’re-all-in-this-together optimism.
All will soon be well. For us, anyway. I think.
Fingers crossed.
So many emotions resurrected in the watching on TV and reading your notes from afar of the fires, for me. I well remember the most recent (Cedar) as if it were yesterday. Excitement, fear, awe, sadness for those who lost so much, trying to make not such a big thing of it to my kids (small as they were for the Cedar fire), but not too successfully as they can’t go outside with so much ash/smell/smoke is in the air. It hits home well too, as we have so many friends who are amongst the evacuees and their homes in the path of the beast, our thoughts are with them as well. Then I see Larry Himmel reporting from the front of his home of 25 years, as it too is reduced to ashes and lost memories. Hard to imagine the act of professionalism in the face of so much lost. The wife and I shared a table at a Beat Farmers concert with Larry and his wife at the Bachanal back in the very early 90′s, a decent guy he is. And a San Diego icon in a little big kind of way. Sadness, grief, pain, but, hope too. I never did like those evil Santa Anas. This will pass, and in the ashes again San Diego will rise up. Great cities do that. With the class, and professionalism they’ve handled this crisis so far, I have no doubt of that. I miss my home of 22 years, and wish all of you there the very best of luck as you face these terrible windstorms of fires. Good luck and Godspeed Lex and all in San Diego.
Things sound great – just got a call from my girlfriend’s parents, apparently they are safely back to their house in Scripps.
I can’t help but get the impression the big difference between this fire and the Cedar fire was the fact that the government was allowed/able to step in a lot faster (to the tune of 4-5 days) than they were the last time.
I just turned on the news and they are already talking about how “climate change” is really to blame and the “UN warned of increased wildfires”. I guess there is no end to people using tragedy to push their own agenda.
Lex,
Very glad to see that you and your family made it through the worst part and that my old place in Del Mar Heights survived. Last time the fires never even got close and I didn’t imagine that they ever could. Of course, back then there was 3 miles of scraped barren earth between me and the fire waiting for Pardee to build 50,000 more houses in Carmel Valley.
As you know, I’m a member of a camping organization down here at NOLF. We ran a 1000 cots up to Escondido last night and still have hundreds more. It looks like we may be loaning many of them to NASNI for awhile along with our very luxurious air conditioned and heated tents. Let me know and I’ll drop some off at the office.
I know I don’t have to say it, but I just wanted to let you know that you’re not forgotten.
Well, I’m breathing a little easier for you now.
You’re right about being on the fringes when all the “law enforcement” has been pulled to other jobs. Good idea to pull out the gun and have it at the ready… I especially pray it won’t be put to the test – but if it must – better that you have it than not.
Mother Nature certain provides a wild ride.
Glad to hear that you and yours are safe. As to the cat: don’t they taste just like chicken?
Umm JAS, cat is the most common cheat in cheap restaurants for rabbit stew, when they can’t get rabbits. There are lots of bad jokes on that subject.
I’d eat a rabbit before I’d eat my kitty, and there are some kitties I’d eat before I’d eat a rabbit, and there are some humans…
whom I’d want to stew for a long, long, time before I fed them to my kitty, as I wouldn’t want him to catch any nasty diseases.
Dogs, of course, like humans, will eat *anything*.
[...] Bruce Webster. It is a server problem that he is working on. That's good news. Meanwhile, Lex took his family and evacuated – even though he was not under a mandatory order. Ensconced ourselves [...]
Currently, I’m watching KUSI’s live stream of the final briefing of the eve, and the tap dancing has begun in earnest. Those from the region will remember post-Cedar fire finger pointing by CalFire on their reluctance to allow “outside agencies” to provide air resources (google “Sheriff Deputy Gene Palos” for a full description of what COULD have been done during the incipient stages of the Cedar Fire). 3 Congressmen later, with promises of letters absolving those at CalFire of any responsibility, and now the Military can assist with Air Resources to their full capabilities.
This is the same situation that occurred 4 years ago during Cedar fire. The head of CalFire has his head firmly ensconsed in his A$$, all the while, families lose their homes. Too bad we’ll never know what the real loss of property would have been, had CalFire not been so inept.
The truth is Gene could have greatly diminished the Cedar Fire devastation had he been able to put his bambi-bucket to good use. CalFire stopped him. I’ve known Gene for 14 years, and I know he could have made a difference in that fire. CalFire still has not learned. Our Military by all accounts were/are ready to go at the very beginning of these fire, and they were not employed by CalFire to the full extent that they should have been. Someone needs to go to jail.
Lex, Most happy all are well and starting to get back to some sort of normal routine…although you did miss a golden opportunity to dump the cats…maybe next time eh?
Did visit San Diego two or three years ago with my bride to attend a convention..a/k/a boondoggle of little merit or memory except for the fact that it got us to San Diego… which for unrepentant northeasterners like us was a truly different and somewhat exotic place. Did the usual sights the SD Zoo was most impressive…I assume it’s ok and hitched a ride, my spousal unit went in a different direction, on a sailboat… a one time Americas Cup challanger, it’s name escapes me, converted to a sightseeing/sailing craft for Americas Cup wannabe sailors like me. Great sailing, I actually got to con the beast for a time outside the harbor and although the weather that day was cold and rainy, early spring I recall, it was a never to be forgotten expierience. Next day boondoggle over skies clear and sunny, we rented a car, sporty Mustang convertable (a great ride for us but in SO-CAL it was chopped liver…you are truly what you drive there) and headed north up the PCH…ended up in Del Mar and stayed at a hotel right on the beach with a great restaurant next door…saw the sun set over the Pacific…life was good. Drove back to SD the next day an flew home.
Thease are my memories of San Diego and its environs…all pleasant …not the ones I’ve seen on TV… but I’m confident this too shall pass. Stay well and kindly kick the cats for me when you get the chance. Best
I thought California had strict anti-smoking laws – that photo looks like the whole state has lit a big stogie.
On the news tonight here is Oz we saw footage of a DC-10 tanker waterbombing a fire. Damn impressive, even my better half commented.
There’s a lot of good information (including video) at the Sign-On San Diego (www.sosd.com). I talked to my brother who lives in Encinitas yesterday. He said he has to run the exhaust fans to keep smoke from accumulating in his house. Lots of ash in the air.
John;
I’ll not touch that last line of your comment #63…
Lexonauts without Lex might decide to have some fun with the possible misconfigurations of that situation…
Lex, I never hung on your words as much as I have the last few days, worrying about you and your girls (and cats; the bird dog seems able to handle it)…
Please check in and update us on your situation.
I would like to suggest that you send the girls somewhere else. If you have family or friends outside the smoke area it would probably be best if you sent them away. As I said a few days ago, smoke damage to young lungs can take a lifetime to heal. It is not insignificant. Hey, send em here. I’ll give them a whole “Colonial America” tour! Should be worth a couple of points on their SAT’s.
I would call Kris in New England in for a special guest feature!
And then I would send them up to AW1-Tim for an overview on one of the greatest boat building areas in our nation’s history…
Babs
You could just as well keep going, send them further north and I will gladly expand their tour to include some “international” hisotry. It’s always good to be well-rounded, you know. And eventually, when the smoke clears out, we will get them back to Lex.