Fire Update

The sun is high in the sky now and we can see the smoke to the south of us blowing at a high speed in a westerly direction. This is how things look from our front yard.


There are a total of 7 wildfires burning around the county. Right now, they are to the north, east and south of us. The thing that is making this so bad are the Santa Ana winds. They are really strong, so strong that planes/helicopters with fire retardant can't fly because they'd get whipped around too much.

The latest around the county is:

9:16 a.m.
Interstate 15:
Interstate 15 has been reopened by the California Highway Patrol in both directions. The exception is to the offramps between Lake Hodges and Mercy Road. The offramps only will remain closed.

Conditions of the patients currently hospitalized at UCSD Medical Center-Hillcrest are:

3 Firefighters are in Critical Condition
1 Firefighter is in Fair Condition
4 Civilians in Critical Condition
4 Civilians in Fair Condition
1 Civilian in Good Condition

Injuries are: Critical:
60% burn injuries
29% burn injuries
28% burn injuries
12% burn injuries
8% burn injuries w/inhalation damage
5% burn injuries w/inhalation damage
5% burn injuries w/inhalation damage

Fair: 17% burn injuries
9% burn injuries
10% burn injuries
6% burn injuries
5% burn w/inhalation damage
Good: 4% burn injuries

Latest evacuation notices
8:32 a.m.
Here are the latest evacuation notices. Over 30,000 Reverse 911 calls have gone out.
Coronado Hills Fire (in San Marcos): Notifications made to 1,000 residents in the communities of Coronado Hills and Discovery Hills in San Marcos and to Attebury Rd. and Deadwood Rd. They were evacuated to Escondido High School.

Mission (Fallbrook) Fire: Notifications made to Rainbow Area residents (I-15 on west, Rainbow Valley on the north, Pala Temecula on the East and Pala Rd. on the south) instructing residents to evacuate to the west.

Witch Fire: Evactuation notices have gone out to Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve; Del Dios; Lake Hodges; in Poway at Espola Rd., Old Coach Rd., Heritage Rd. and Stage Coach Rd. Reverse 911 notification has been made for Poway in the area bordered by Pomerado on the west, Twin Peaks on the south and Espola on the north and east. Poway has established an evacuation center at Poway Civic Center.

Harris Fire: Notifications have been made to residents of Mother Grundy Truck Trail and Deer Horn Valley. They were evacuated to Steele Canyon High School. Future evacuatees will be directed to Santana High School in Santee. Mandatory evacuation in progress for Coyote Holler. They were evacuated East to Campo. Mandatory evactuation notices sent for areas north of Lake Wohlford.

Residents should call 2-1-1 for all non-emergency calls related to this fire. Due to large call volume, residents are also urged to find fire information online at www.211SanDiego.org Residents may also call the City of San Diego Community Access Phone at 619-570-1070 for additional fire information.

Fire total: 18,000 acres burning
7:25 a.m.
The San Diego County Office of
Emergency Services reports there are some 18,000 acres of San Diego County
burning right now. That includes the areas burning in the city of San Diego,
officials said.
The fires are zero percent contained.

Still no evacuation order where we are.

Two more pics from the wildlife refuge, a block away from the house:

When we took this pic, we could actually see the smoke being blown west right in front of our eyes...

Carlsbad in the distance...