Our prayers go out to all affected by this tragedy. My God this is horrible.

Horrible indeed...too bad the enviro-whackos refused to allow the forestry dept. to clear the forests of dead wood that suck up all the ground water and leave the standing trees in a state of "Disaster Waiting to Happen".

The Do-Gooders refused to to allow the professionals to avert this and now they are engulfed in flames.

Very sad.

I've got a buddy in San Diego, who lives just east of the Torrey Pines State Reserve, south and east of Del Mar, across the San Diego freeway.  She's been sending me regular e-mail updates (her Internet's still working, but the cable's out), and has pointed me to this site:

Sign On San Diego

which is being updated live on evacuation orders etc.  Her area's on continuous "ready" status and could be ordered evacuated at any moment.  She says the authorities claim the fires (which are mostly north and east of her position) will burn south and west until they reach the sea, so she's expecting there's a good chance she's gonna lose her home...

Oh yeah, she also wishes she had some HEPA-filtration masks and goggles for herself, her husband and her baby girl.  Apparently the smoke and ash are getting quite bad.

Made for a busy day at work today. Every hotel in metropolitan San Diego was sold out.

orry for the duplicated SOS Fire Blog URL, everyone — I've been hopping back and forth between e-mail and here and didn't check Kate's other link in the header post.

No e-mail from her for the last 90 minutes or so.  I suspect they've bugged out, and from what I'm seeing elsewhere, I sure hope they've bugged out...

Just got an e-mail!

Time-stamped ten minutes ago (8:04 P.M. Pacific), it says "We are heading out.  They've asked our area to evacuate.  I think we're going to head to Orange County, but we may go to [blank]'s.  I'll write again when we arrive."

Godspeed.  It looks like it really might burn all the way to the sea this time...

My aunt has just e-mailed me in Ottawa to say my cousin in San Diego is being evacuated. She has been in her house for about 15 years.
This may end up being worse than 2003.

I SAY WE SHOULD PUT ALL THOSE ENVIROMENTALISTS WACKOS ON IT AFTER ALL THEY HAVE STARTED IT WITH THEIR IDIOTIC LAWSUITS SO LET THEM TAKE CARE OF THOSE FIRES

Well, my buddy and her family drove almost 100 miles north to Garden Grove (just southeast of LA, in Orange County) and finally managed to find a room in the Orange County Hyatt.  They must have had to drive through the fires surrounding I-5, and probably saw a lot of ruined homes/neighbourhoods.  They're safe now, but have no way of knowing whether or not their home is still standing...