Hello,
I got home late last night. It was a long 3 days. I am on stand by.
Everything is fine here. My home was on the edge of an evacuation area, but I was at work
an hour away, so it would not have mattered. We lost power and have a bit of ash but we
are better than the 1300 other famlies who have lost their homes. Currently my wife is in
Arizona. My 17 year old daughter is staying with friends.
My cousin Chuck either lost his house or had it damaged. He is not yet allowed back in.
He was able to use a telescope to look in the burnt area. The street looks totally
different now so he is not sure which home is what from miles away. He was able to
evacuate with about 30 minutes warning.
Other immediate family members are okay. My Sister-in-law had to evacuate but they were
allowed to go back home.
My work was on the other side of the fires. We had 75 mph winds and had to receive
evacuees from other camps when the wind shifted early Tuesday. After the wind shifted we
got smoke and ash fall. Visibility dropped to about 100 yards at times. I had to move
between dorms several times and wound up using a mask and my inhaler.
Many staff had to take care of families first or could not get to work due to the fire.
As it was I just got through myself before one fire jumped the I-8 Sunday morning. I
forgot to reset my clock so I went to work early and was able to get through.
Many of my coworkers have lost homes or had to evacuate. Many of the Juvenile wards in
the same boat. We allowed many otgoing phone calls as possible until the trunk line went
down. Our new buried fiber optic line (for computers, and secure telecom) went out late
yesterday when the fire destroyed a hub location after the wind shifted. We were lucky
still because we had back up generators for electricity when the main lines went out on
Sunday.
To get an idea what the San Diego area is like as viewed by the residents, go to the
following web page and click on ...
Fire Photos From Viewers, Part I
Fire Photos From Viewers, Part II
or the direct web page at:
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/index.html
The 7 major San Diego County fires that raced toward the coast with the Santa Ana or Devil
Winds are mostly contained. Those fires which did not double back on themselves when the
wind shifted are still burning back toward the mountains. Homes are still being lost,
people are still being evacuated ... just not in the tens of thousands.
I am going to rinse out my eyes once again and go back to bed.
John R. Carpenter
La Mesa, CA USA