Emergency.Blog

UPDATED List of Evacuations, Closures Due to Southland Wildfires

19:30PDT - 23 Oct 2007

UPDATED List of Evacuations, Closures Due to Southland Wildfires

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 23, 2007 (KABC-TV) - Here is a current list of evacuations, shelters and closures:

* MALIBU/"CANYON INCIDENT"

* AGUA DULCE, CANYON COUNTRY/"BUCKWEED INCIDENT"

* CASTAIC/"RANCH INCIDENT"

* LAKE ARROWHEAD/"GRASS VALLEY FIRE"

* GREEN VALLEY CREEK/"SLIDE FIRE"

* ORANGE COUNTY, IRVINE/"SANTIAGO INCIDENT"

* SAN DIEGO COUNTY/"HARRIS FIRE" & SAN DIEGO COUNTY, WITCH CREEK/"WITCH FIRE"

-- A toll-free hotline has been established by the governor's office for businesses interested in making "large quantity" donations to people displaced by the Southern California wildfires. The number is (800) 750-2858. It will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. by officials from the governor's Office of Emergency Services.

Individuals interested in donating items or volunteering to support relief efforts should contact the Red Cross at (800) 733-2767.

Extensive information can be found at: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=5719546

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23 Oct 2007

2 S.D. Fires Merge, 1,000 Homes and Businesses Lost

Fires Burn 242,000 Acres, 513,000 Homes Evacuated

WITCH CREEK, Oct. 23, 2007 - The Harris and Witch Fires merged in San Diego County, creating a blaze that stretches 12 square miles. At least 513,000 homes were ordered to evacuate in San Diego County. There are voluntary evacuations for another 12,000 people.

Two other smaller fires are also burning in the area. The Rice Fire has burned some 7,000 acres in the Fallbrook area. On Tuesday morning, officials announced more than 1,000 homes and businesses had been lost, but that number is expected to climb.

So far there is no containment on the fires.

Erratic winds on Tuesday made things very difficult for fire crews. Winds would gust up to 60 miles per hour and then die down. Those winds are also spreading embers which can start smaller fires. Fire officials say aerial assaults are the key element in the fight against this fire.

Among the hardest-hit areas is northern Rancho Bernardo, where as many as 300 homes went up in flames Monday, according to a group of firefighters taking a break at a strip mall on West Bernardo Drive Monday night.

Officials say ten times more people have been evacuated than the 2003 Cedar Fire which charred 280,278 acres and killed 15 people.

The Harris Fire killed a Tecate man and injured 21 others since it began in rural southeastern San Diego County on Sunday.

Shelters were set up at Qualcomm Stadium, Santana High School, Poway Community Park, Poway Girls & Boys Club, Campo Community Center, Mission Hills High School, Mira Mesa High School, Escondido High School, the Del Mar Fairgrounds, El Toro Air Force Base, Steele Canyon High School and San Marcos High School. Several of the school shelters are full.

All San Diego Unified School District schools will be closed for the remainder of the week due to the fires, and classes at UC San Diego have been canceled for the rest of the week as well... -- Source: KABC & CNS - http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=5719545

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Residents urged to avoid non-emergency cellphone calls

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA: San Diego County authorities today asked residents to avoid making non-emergency calls on their cellphones as voice traffic surged and prevented some connections. Emergency officials managing response to the fires said text messages were fine.

Many callers, in contrast, received messages that all circuits were busy. It wasn't immediately clear if cell towers were destroyed in the blazes, compounding the standard surge as people abandoned their houses and checked in with one another by cell.

"It's not unusual in an emergency situation," said spokesman Joseph Farren of CTIA-The Wireless Assn., an industry group.

"Think of an L.A. highway at 6 p.m. If you have a lot of calls going in to one site, it overwhelms the site. You want to avoid that kind of rush-hour gridlock and keep the lines open for true emergencies." Spokesmen for Verizon Wireless and other major carriers didn't immediately respond to interview requests.

Continues/Source: LA Times, Joseph Menn and Michelle Quinn, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cell24oct24,1,1018637.story?

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Editor's note: The editors and webmasters at Emergency.com/Emergency.Blog would like to thank S.D. County resident Col. Gary Wilson (Col. USMCR, Ret.) for all of his contributions and information. Col. Wilson and several other readers have provided us with a perspective that has allowed us to better understand and report the situation of citizens at risk in the SoCal fires... If you have information or pictures that you would like to share here...send to webmaster@mail.emergency.com

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