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Post by rducasey on Oct 24, 2007 18:14:45 GMT -5
Good news Martha! Glad you are home safely. But what an awful thing for so many people. It is heartbreaking to see them on the news having lost everything. Hope it is over soon for you people in CA.
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Post by Duchess of Lashes on Oct 24, 2007 18:38:37 GMT -5
MLM, glad to hear that you and Lacey are home, safe and sound where you should be!
I spoke with one of our employees today who lives in Rancho Bernardo - they evacuated Sunday - as of today, she has been told that her home is safe, but one of the only ones on her street left standing. My heart goes out to everyone who has been affected by this.
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Post by bjobsessed on Oct 24, 2007 20:14:22 GMT -5
Great to hear that you are ok and back home.
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Post by carl1951 on Oct 25, 2007 10:46:48 GMT -5
Good news. You are back home and safe.
Bad news, it was reported one of the fires was started by an arsonist. What kind of a mind is that?
Later, Carl
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Post by bjobsessed on Oct 25, 2007 18:36:30 GMT -5
Good news. You are back home and safe. Bad news, it was reported one of the fires was started by an arsonist. What kind of a mind is that? Later, Carl A sick one. Last I heard there were still 10 fires not contained. Still alot, but way better than it was I guess. |
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Post by maggiethecat on Oct 25, 2007 19:07:36 GMT -5
Oh, mlm, how happy I am to hear that you and Miss Lacey (and all your beautiful Heisey glass  ) are safe once again. What a frightening week this has been for Californians, and I hope if they ever find the arsonist who started one of the fires he is . . . okay, let's take a leaf from The Mikado, "let the punishment fit the crime" and burn him at the stake.  And a brief update with an apology for having been absent for the past few weeks. I AM MOVING on November 1st, with Mom and the real Maggie the cat and fifty kajillion cartons of books. To a lovely duplex in the center of town, beautifully maintained, and -- wonder of wonders , miracle of miracles -- slightly cheaper than where we are now with the manipulative Landlord from Hell. It's not been great year, but things are finally looking up.  I am very glad that mlm is home safely, and when I am unpacked and the computer is set up again I will be back! I really have missed you all!!! |
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Post by bjobsessed on Oct 25, 2007 19:16:52 GMT -5
Good to hear, Maggie. Hope the move is a smooth one and you're not gone too long.
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Post by carl1951 on Oct 25, 2007 20:19:40 GMT -5
Mags: Karma Smooth-move to you.
(Anita gave me the "smooth move" idea.)
Later, Carl
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Post by mlm828 on Oct 25, 2007 22:45:12 GMT -5
Good news, mags! I hope the move goes smoothly. Moving is always a hassle, but it sounds as if the end result will be worth the effort. Please let us know as soon as you're settled, if not before. ;D
A brief update from the fire zone: Most people have now been allowed to return to their neighborhoods. In general, the fires in San Diego County are burning away from the heavily-populated areas. Everyone I know is safe, but I got the sad news yesterday that an attorney from my old firm lost his "dream house" in Fallbrook.
Air quality is bad almost everywhere. It looks like the bad smog days in LA which I remember seeing on TV in the 1950s and 1960s. The winds have stopped blowing, which is a big help to the firefighters, but this also means the stuff in the air isn't going away soon.
It looks as if the "crisis" stage is beginning to wind down, but the fires of 2007 will leave their mark on San Diego for a long time to come.
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Post by Chris on Oct 26, 2007 16:50:15 GMT -5
I'm so glad to hear you got through this OK, Martha. Sorry about your friend who lost his Dream House - and for everyone else who have lost their homes in the fires. Maggie - good luck with the moving. One good thing about moving is that you get to go through all your stuff. You re-discover things you've forgotten and it's the perfect opportunity to throw way stuff you don't use or need anymore. ;D Come back soon, Maggie, we miss having you around too!!! Take care and keep smiling - Chris |
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Post by krissie on Oct 26, 2007 17:19:01 GMT -5
Martha, I'm delighted to hear that you've made it home and that everything is safe and sound. Maggie: good luck with the move! I hope everything goes well for you on the Big Day!  Krissie |
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Post by hoosier on Oct 26, 2007 17:46:42 GMT -5
Thank goodness the worst seems to be over. All those people who now face the problem of sifting through what is left of their belongings and trying to move on... Surely there is something that can be done to avoid similar situations in the future?
Maggie, good luck with the move! It will be great to have you back on the board. We've missed you!
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Post by inuvik on Oct 27, 2007 11:19:18 GMT -5
Thank goodness the worst seems to be over. All those people who now face the problem of sifting through what is left of their belongings and trying to move on... Surely there is something that can be done to avoid similar situations in the future? I don't think there is, unless of course we manage to change the weather drastically through climate change--which may of course happen. Here's some info on foehn winds--the Santa Ana's are just one local example of these warm winds. Chinook winds in Alberta and Montana are another example. The temperature can go from freezing to a warm summer day in a matter of minutes! A föhn wind or foehn wind occurs when a deep layer of prevailing wind is forced over a mountain range (Orographic lifting). As the wind moves upslope, it expands and cools, causing water vapor to precipitate out. This dehydrated air then passes over the crest and begins to move downslope. As the wind descends to lower levels on the leeward side of the mountains, the air temperature increases adiabatically as it comes under greater atmospheric pressure creating strong, gusty, warm and dry winds. Föhn winds can raise temperatures by as much as 30°C (54°F) in just a matter of hours.
The name föhn (from the German Föhn, pronounced [føːn]) originated in the Alps, and central Europe enjoys a warmer climate due to them. Föhn winds are notorious among mountaineers in the Alps, especially those climbing the Eiger, for whom the winds add additional difficulty in ascending an already difficult peak.
Winds of this type are called "snow-eaters" for their ability to make snow melt rapidly. This ability is based not only on high temperature, but also the low relative humidity of the air mass. Föhn winds are also associated with the rapid spread of wildfires, making some regions which experience these winds particularly fire-prone. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%B6hn_wind |
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Post by hoosier on Oct 27, 2007 16:49:54 GMT -5
What I have often wondered is why California lets brush etc. accumulate. Its a fire waiting to happen. I know that the environmentalists say to let organic material rot naturally but sometimes you have to clean areas up for public safety if nothing else. Plow it under, let it decompose under ground and deprive a fire of the fuel it needs to exist. Seems simple things like this surely could help in the long run.
Even here there are laws regarding the disposal of naturally fallen trees. They are supposed to be left where they fell (unless they fall onto a road). Recently, however, some were swept away in a river during a storm and damaged a bridge.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for doing things to help the environment but, if it were me, I would clear the brush far far away from my house!
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Post by mlm828 on Oct 27, 2007 22:33:08 GMT -5
What I have often wondered is why California lets brush etc. accumulate. Its a fire waiting to happen. I know that the environmentalists say to let organic material rot naturally but sometimes you have to clean areas up for public safety if nothing else. Plow it under, let it decompose under ground and deprive a fire of the fuel it needs to exist. Seems simple things like this surely could help in the long run. In San Diego, it is not a matter of letting dead brush accumulate. I know this is something that's debated in forest management, but that's not what happens here. The vegetation that burns is the naturally-occurring chaparral, which gets very dry in the dry season. The high winds and low humidities of a Santa Ana condition cause this vegetation to explode into fire with only a slight spark. Like the fires this past week, such fires often start in remote, inaccessible areas in the back country. Bulldozing all of the wild areas in a 4500-square-mile county simply isn't feasible. And the vegetation serves a purpose by holding the soil on the hillsides in place. Without the vegetation holding the soil in place, there would be mudslides in the rainy season. Don't get me wrong, I am all for doing things to help the environment but, if it were me, I would clear the brush far far away from my house! In the fire-prone areas, there are brush clearing requirements which provide what firefighters call "defensible space" around houses and other structures. Unfortunately, the winds were so strong last weekend that even "defensible space" often wasn't enough, because the winds blew burning embers considerable distances. The Witch Creek Fire jumped across a major freeway, I-15, which is 8 or 10 lanes wide in the fire area. |
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) are safe once again. What a frightening week this has been for Californians, and I hope if they ever find the arsonist who started one of the fires he is . . . okay, let's take a leaf from The Mikado, "let the punishment fit the crime" and burn him at the stake. 
