Sothern California is on Fire again

[Joe Dillard]

Thank you Sergey. I appreciate the offer. For the time being we seem to be okay. I was up & down all night watching Mt Miguel, Steel Canyon, Jamul, NE parts of Spring Valley, and portions of the surrounding county take heavy hits.

Good to hear Scott. We'll continue to keep our fingers crossed for you and all others.

Any update from Matt Pascoe? I'm very concerned for him & his family and plan to call him shortly.

[NAILER341]

Joe,
as of yesterday, the fire had gone down his street. there is a listing of homes that had been burned, and homes that had not. his was on neither list.
i am also very concerned for their property. from what i understand, the family is in a safe place. they were in a "second" evacuation point, as they had to evacuate the first.

their home is in one of the hard hit areas. i most certainly wish the best to all of the folks in the burning areas. if there is anything i can do, please dont hesitate to ask.
i have a room, a "twinkie" a small truck, and some fresher air in my area. speak up if any of these things interest you, or there is anything else you can think of.

[mrblaine]

I just talked with Matt and he and his family are fine. No news on his home or his rig yet. He's in San Marcos trying to find a way to scout the neighborhood and see what's left.

Originally Posted by Lawrence

A Canadian water bomber is on its way down from BC. The Mars can pick up 7,000 gallons of water on the fly in about 25 seconds, and be back over a fire in as little as 10 minutes.

SoCal burns, like what, every year? How come there isn't one or two of those sitting in SD ready to go, so we don't have to have one fly down all the way from Canada?

Hope everyone is safe.

[papromike]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

I just talked with Matt and he and his family are fine. No news on his home or his rig yet. He's in San Marcos trying to find a way to scout the neighborhood and see what's left.

Blaine, you can give matt my number (the new one 202-7539) and I will gladly come down in the ZJ and pack up people and drive them in, if they will allow it.

I have plenty of room for 4 people plus myself..

I sure hope everything is o.k.

This makes the ashes raining in my yard for the last 2 days seem like nothing, I sure hope that Matt's place is o.k.

[Jason L Williams]

Originally Posted by Scott Hill

Well just found out my house was still standing at about 9 am this morning this is a confirmed visual from a neighbor that did not leave until this morning. I hope that good news holds but at this point I am not holding my breath.

The main thing is my family and pets are safe.

Scott

That's good news Scott. I have a truck if you need help moving things. That offer stands for anyone else who may need assistance.

Jason

[Desert Fox]

Wednesday morning finds us still waiting for the reverse 911 call in northern Escondido. So far, so good. we have been blessed so far. Best of luck to all San Diego county board members involved.

Fred

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by dennisuello

SoCal burns, like what, every year? How come there isn't one or two of those sitting in SD ready to go, so we don't have to have one fly down all the way from Canada?

Hope everyone is safe.

It hasn't burned this dramatically in about 3 years. What everyone forgets is most of the areas that burn like mad are arid and the plants use lots of oily secretions to keep water evaporation to a minimum. Good for the plant, bad for fire suppression.

The fire season is always the same, but what's happening now is the result of a record year of rain a few years ago that produced massive plant growth and then the subsequent years of drought that produced a lethal combination of dry fuel, lots of it, low humidity, and high winds. A potent recipe for disaster if there ever was one.

We don't have those air tankers because we don't need them. Typically the fires get knocked down pretty fast with the normal ground crews and air support.

Similarly, when Yellowstone burned, it was predictable, but the equipment wasn't staged, because it wasn't predicted.

It only seems like we burn every year, but it's been a long time since the Laguna fire and if you drive through the canyon, you have to really know what to look for to even tell the fire went through there.

[Paradiddle]

The fire was stopped last night about 2000 feet from our house by a thick layer of that red fire retardent. It has gone back up the hills, and somehow wrapped around to the side of us - I think down near O'Neil.

We are good for now, and I honestly think with the wind calm we will be fine.

Scott - you have NO idea how relieved I am to hear your news - I pray it holds true until they contain that blaze.

Now if Matt could get some great news my day would be a happy one.

This is a tight group and I'm glad everyone has come out okay so far. Let's keep the good karma flowing.

Jeff

[TObject]

I am afraid to say it, but it looks like my house will be all right. My personal opinion is that once the fires reached the areas burned in 2003 they died down quickly.

Thank you for messages, Joe, Blaine, Erik, and Jamie. Thank you very much to everybody's thoughts and prayers.

[maddmike]

again i wish the best of luck to everyone and hope you all have homes to return to soon, and if anyone needs a hand moving back in, i'm only a stone's throw away and would be happy to help out.

glad to see that there has been luck on everyone's side so far.

[Jerry Bransford]

Matt Pascoe just called me to say his house is one of the few in his neighborhood that came through the fire unscathed. He said the rest of the neighborhood is fairly devastated though.

Matt had to hike in, the police wouldn't let him drive in but said it's ok if he walked in. It was quite a hike from where he parked near my house but a news crew finally picked him up and got him past the National Guard that was blocking access to his neighborhood. He's driving out in his Jeep that is loaded down with personal items so I'm going to go pick him up where he is dropping it off here in Escondido.

[The Freak]

Originally Posted by Jerry Bransford

He's driving out in his Jeep that is loaded down with personal items so I'm going to go pick him up where he is dropping it off here in Escondido.

One more reason I LOVE having a capable 4x...

Best wishes to everyone involved...I feel bad being mad at the rain that is currently falling here...

[Kiwi]

Originally Posted by Jerry Bransford

Matt Pascoe just called me to say his house is one of the few in his neighborhood that came through the fire unscathed.

That's fantastic news. I just can't imagine how that walk back must have felt not knowing what you might find.
Hope the good news continues for you all over there.

[Lawrence]

That's wonderful news Jerry. It looks like everyone is ok so far and we couldn't have asked for more, although Scott might not be totally out of the woods yet. It is amazing to see so many friends stick together through thick and thin, and I am glad to be a part of it.

[Jeff Weston]

Originally Posted by Jerry Bransford

Matt Pascoe just called me to say his house is one of the few in his neighborhood that came through the fire unscathed.

Hallelujah! That is welcome news.

[Dukes69]

Great news about Matt. I was just going to post if anyone has heard anything from him. I hope the same can be said for everyone else who is in harms way. I got a 4x4 pick up if anyone needs anything.

[Joe Dillard]

AWESOME news for the Pascoe family!

David, I agree, that MUST have been a hike he'll never forget.

If anybody is interested, and has AAA Insurance, here's a link to some FAQ's which could be very helpful.

http://www.aaa-calif.com/corpinfo/07...ire-alert.aspx

[papromike]

Great MATT, I am so happy that everything is o.k. relatively speaking..

[Daless2]

You guys sure are having to deal with one heck of a problem out there. I wish I could be of help, but too far away.

As always, my prayers are with you all and your neigbors,

Frank

[Macgyver]

Originally Posted by Macgyver

We just heard on the local radio that all areas west of the Big Bear dam are up for mandatory evacuation. Pretty much everything east of the dam (BBL, BBC, Baldwin, etc. is just waiting. Since the other fire a few weekd ago, we are looking good so far. Also a note lots of Running Springs houses are gone. Air quality is decent in Big Bear, we ar looking okay for now unless the fires come back. Right now they are going down toward highland.

Also of interest, the forrest is CLOSED to use, anything dirt up here is off limits due to the threat of Big Bear going.

Quick Big Bear update.........

The smoke has finally arrived here at the shop. The fire isn't here, it's still way down by the Green Valley and Butler fire area. Since the wind shifted now all the smoke is blowing into Big Bear, hopefully the fire wont follow. Great news about Matt's family and house!

[chef]

Hope the good news keeps coming...

[blkTJ]

Originally Posted by chef

Hope the good news keeps coming...

agreed!!!!

[Matt Pascoe]

What an incredible community JeepBBS is!

With all the stress and BS that I've dealt with the past few days, I've never felt helpless or alone. The amount of offers for help, or ANYTHING I needed from you guys has been truly heartfelt.

Community seems like the wrong word. More like family

My neighborhood got hit bad, but other than alot of ash, my home is untouched

This morning I tried to hike in along the mtb trails that I frequent (National gaurd was doing an excellent job of securing the area). Hot spots started flaming up and helos started dropping water again so I hauled ass outta the trails. Fortunately a news crew from New York picked me up and agreeed to drive me down to see if my house had burned (I needed to get asthma meds for my wife and attempt to find/feed our outdoor cats).

After seeing the house was fine, the news crews left me and my plan was to use my Jeep (which I had left in the garage) to get out. Scared the crap outta me when it barely started after the 4th slooow engine rotation (gotta get a new battery).

Anyways, were all safe and sound in San Marcos, and the Jeep is finally safe in Escondido

Huge thanks to all the support from you guys, and special thank to Jerry B for helping me get back my wifes car (that I had left at the barricades).

Hope theres more good news coming from you guys in Big Bear.

Matt

[NAILER341]

excellent news!

[Paradiddle]

EXCELLENT NEWS MATT!!!!

After the year you've had you surely deserved this - that is so great. It's also good to hear the NG is securing the area - hopefully they will shoot looters on sight.

Now we just need to pray for the people on the hill!

Jeff

[NAILER341]

here are some pics matt forwarded to me to l ink up.
these are of his street. i'm sure he will chime in and let us know what we are looking at.

[Joe Dillard]

Awesome Matt! Fantastic news. I did miss a call from you earlier. Not sure why. I left you a voicemail a few minutes ago.

Jason, got yours too. Sorry I missed your call.

Arnold is around the corner speaking with a group of folks at an evacuation center (Steele Canyon HS). Which is a nice gesture, especially for the folks staying there.

I don't see flames from my livingroom or my upstairs office anymore, which is a good sign. That's a first in almost four days. Smoke is terrible still, but I think the worse has past from my location.

Wishing others the same, or better!

[Lawrence]

Originally Posted by NAILER341

What's amazing is how randomly it has hit. The car on the left side of the street is obviously burnt down, and so is the house across the street. However the house behind it is ok and the tree on the right side is intact, and there is even a patch of green grass in front of it. Stunning.

[zman]

Originally Posted by Matt Pascoe

....and the Jeep is finally safe in Escondido

Looks like you have no excuses to miss the Turkey Day run. Glad you, the family, and the house are safe. I remember when you came out to AZ and burned all those mahogany boards left over from you deck, glad that's as far as it got.

Hope to be seeing you and the rest of the crew in a few weeks.

zman