JediDefender.com Forums
Community => Watto's Junk Yard => Topic started by: JediMAC on October 27, 2003, 01:45 PM
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(http://i.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/us/0310/gallery.wildfires.1026/12.jpg)
So we've got over 10 wildfires burning out of control in various areas around Southern California right now... At least 13 dead and over 850 houses burned down, and growing by the minute.
(http://i.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/us/0310/gallery.wildfires.1026/07.jpg)
We've got a couple fires that are getting dangerously close to our new house, only about a 10 minute drive away - the Simi Valley fire and the Lake Piru fire. As soon as I left the house this morning, I saw the huge plumes of black smoke rising up over the closest range of hills. We're pretty much surrounded on 3 sides by the fires right now, and we live down in a small valley, so once they start down all the neighboring hills, we're going to be in deep $h!t... :-\
(http://i.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/us/0310/gallery.wildfires.1026/01.jpg)
Here's a satellite photo of Southern California, so you can get an idea about how widespread the area is right now - covering hundreds of miles from San Diego all the way up to Ventura - 4 or 5 different counties...
(http://a799.g.akamai.net/3/799/388/afc618466f7f8c/www.msnbc.com/news/2053497.jpg)
I was up in Santa Barbara about 10 years ago when the Painted Cave fire happened as well. Burned down what seemed like half of Santa Barbara at the time. 600+ structures destroyed in that one. The ash and soot both then and now generally cover the entire area as if it was night time, while snowing down ashes everywhere. Pretty crazy...
Anyone else dealt with wildfires before?
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Never dealt with fires before but I have been thinking about you Matt the past few days hoping that all was well. That doesn't sound to good though? You and Patty made any plans to evacuate or move your stuff out of your home to a safe locale?
Hope eveything turns out well Matt :-\
BTW, thought I'd add that tonight's MNF Game was moved to Phoenix due to the fires in San Diego as well...pretty scary
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I was just coming here to see how you were doing Matt, and you have a thread up already.
Are you packing up some of your valuables just in case you are asked to evacuate?
These are suppsosedly the 2nd worst fires ever in CA, and it sucks that you're so close to them.
I was living in Northern Cali when the big fires hit Oakland in the 90's. I lived in Vallejo then, so we were well out of the path....but my school did a relief collection for the families and then I went down there to drop stuff off. We drove by the fires (some of which were really close to the freeways) and took pictures to give to the yearbook staff before we dropped off our goods.
Man, I have never seen anything like that, and your pictures really reminded me of those times. It's amazing that in this day and age man is still reminded how insignificant we are when it comes to the elements.
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Thanks for the concern Scott and Josh. Yeah, I am starting to plan a little for a potential evacuation. Have a lot of friends and family on standby in case we need to empty out the house (after just filling it up 2 months ago). The hobby room is in a total state of disarray right now, so packing that stuff up quickly would be almost impossible (Star Wars, DVDs, CDs, baseball cards, model railroading, etc.)
As for the rest of the stuff, a fair amount of it is still boxed up at this point, so that would be pretty easy to deal with. Most of our furniture at this point is still "hand-me-downs", so it wouldn't be the end of the world if we lost some of it. Not sure how the heck we would deal with some of the bigger stuff though, like the piano, fridge, washer/dryer, etc. Might rent a giant U-haul truck if I have to, and just fill the thing up. Hopefully it doesn't come to that though.
SoCal looks like a war zone right now though. Everywhere you look, it's dark brown/black sky, with giant pillars of smoke everywhere, and ashes snowing down on top of everything. Makes you wonder how much of this was done on purpose, and by whom. They're reporting that at least two of the bigger ones were set by arsonists...
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I was just reading more about this over at CNN, and was curious how you were doing as well JediMAC. I wasn't sure exactly how close you were to everything, but it sounds like it is too close right now. Our thoughts are definitely with you and your wife/family, I hope that these fires end soon, and no one else has to lose their homes or especially their lives. All the best to you, hope everyone stays safe, be careful, take care, and God bless.
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I've been thinking about you too, Matt. I realized when I mailed your box how close you were to the fires that were being discussed on the tv.
Thanks for keeping us posted, keep safe.
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Matt hope every thing goes okay with your house and all of the So Cal JDers who live in any area affected by these fires. When I heard about the Simi fire I thought of you guys and you new home around that general area. I know to many people that have been affected by all of these fires co workers and my cousin. My cousin, who lives near Fontana had to be evcautated on friday leaving behind probably all of his Star Wars collection and other items he has in his house. One of my cowrokers also lives in that area but both of their homes are okay. My manger's house had a wall on fire and I haven't heard how he faired with it, I need to ask him next time I see him. ANother one of my Co workers ex's house was threaten and he went over to pick up his car and to check to see if she was okay. Also yesterday a lady who didn't want to cross our picket line was talking how she had to since she lives in Davoe and had to visit her parents in Walnut. I hope the authorities get the SOB's who let these things and charge them with the highest possible charges.
I just wish this stuipid smoke will blow away so I can breath and not have to worry about hacking up my lung from all of the ash in falling over here.
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Yeah Matt, I've been hoping you're ok too...
Cali's got to be the worst place on Earth for Natural Disasters... Earthquakes, mudslides, wildfires, etc... I hope everything is gotten under control out there really soon, and that your home is spared in the meantime while they get a handle on all of this.
I'll never complain about our incliment weather, that's for sure.
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Good luck Matt, you and the wife are in my thoughts...
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stay strong man,best hopes and regads from SC. :)
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I've been watching the news & been thinking about you & Patty.
The only wildfires that were bad up here was in BC earlier this year. I had friends that were on evacuation alert in Kelowna. Everything worked out for them.
My thoughts are with you Matt!
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My thoughts are with you and your wife Matt. Lets hope that fire doesn't hit your house, or anyone of your family members or friends' houses. It is awful seeing that stuff on TV, and knowing there isn't a damn thing I can do to help put it out.
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Thanks for the concern and well wishes everybody! Patty and I appreciate it. Couple other JDers out in the path of the fire too like Jared and Bil, so best wishes to those fellas as well! The good news is that the winds are dying down a bit, and the weather's supposed to be cooling off tomorrow (still 90's/100's today).
The bad news is that we can now see two seperate fires (Simi Valley and Piru) on two different sides of us from one street up in our neighborhood. The Piru one is still a good ways off, but the Simi Valley one has started coming over the hills into the Santa Clarita Valley just in the last hour or so (from the Porter Ranch/Chatsworth areas). Probably about 5-6 miles away. Nothing much but hills and brush (and a large freeway) between us and the lower point of that fire right now.
Keeping our fingers crossed, but we'll be checking it out first thing in the morning to help determine if we want to start loading some things up...
The latest statistics indicate 15 dead and 1,100+ structures destroyed now throughout SoCal, with very little containment still at this point. Pretty scary! :'(
(http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/images/10/27/top.main.fire.homes.ap.jpg) (http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/US/West/10/27/california.wildfire/story.bearvalley.ap.jpg)
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How are things looking down there this morning?
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Well, the Simi Valley fire still looked pretty ominous as of this morning, but they seemed to have held the fire line at the top of the ridge of mountains that descend into the valley that I live in, which is right where it was last night the last time I checked it. It still seems to be burning up on that range pretty badly, but mostly just on the other side now it appears, so I think today's looking fairly safe - at least for us... I think. :-\ The other nearby Piru fire that we can see is still a safe distance away.
I'm still tuned into the radio listening for the latest updates at all times though. We also packed a few "essentials" up last night and got our game plan in place just in case. Still overwhelming smoke and lots of ashes everywhere too...
Patty's aunt and uncle's vacation cabin up in the mountains of Big Bear is now being threatened by a seperate fire though. One of our favorite places to get away to, so hopefully it stays safe. Unbelievably sad to watch the news and see all the people mourning over the loss of their houses...
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Damm, I wish I could send you this weather were having up here Matt. It's starting to snow & were suppose to get around 15 tp 25 cm, 6 to 10 inches. The flakes are big & wet.
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Agreed. It's a shame you can have our rain from Seattle today, too.
I'm still kind of blown away that you have these fires going on a couple of miles from your house....and yet here you are, on Jedi Defender, chatting away.
I think I'd be packing up my Star Wars guys like crazy, and calling Uhaul, just in case.
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I'm still kind of blown away that you have these fires going on a couple of miles from your house....and yet here you are, on Jedi Defender, chatting away.
I think I'd be packing up my Star Wars guys like crazy, and calling Uhaul, just in case.
The U-haul is already lined up and ready to go, as are some friends and family with their vehicles. Most of my SW stuff is still packed up anyways, since it hasn't even been unpacked yet from the move a couple months ago. We started packing up some of the important stuff last night, so we're already semi-prepared... The Santa Clarita area where I live was actually looking fairly safe most of the day today, until just a couple hours ago when the winds shifted again and started blowing the fire back in our direction. They've just started to issue the first evacuations for our city (in Stevenson Ranch).
Unfortunately, my bosses are being major pricks right now and not "allowing" me to leave work to attend to matters there, since they seem to think there's much more pressing matters here at the office right now. They just asked me if I could work some serious overtime for the next several days due to a large rush job we just got in, even though my house is in increasing danger. That's just brilliant... >:(
I basically just said "screw you, I'm going home" a few minutes ago. They're pissed.
More updates later... :-\
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If I were you, I'd just keep that SW stuff packed up for a while! No telling what type of disaster will hit California next. I'd be pretty worried if I lived out there. Most of the homes I've seen on fire on the TV look like million-dollar homes... :o :-\
I'm glad to see that you're okay. Hopefully the fires will die down before they can do any damage to your home!
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Best wishes to you and Patty (and any other SoCal JD members out there), Matt. Add me to the group of people who would be willing to send some of our weather if we could, as its been raining pretty heavily the last three days here in Mass.
My morning news today did say a little help is on the way: replacement firefighters from Nevada, Arizona and Washington, a little rain at the end of the week and dying winds and temperatures. Hopefully it helps.
And I hope they catch the prick that started this real quick and he gets what he deserves.
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Well Matt we wish you all the best and hope your area is spared. I know Sue and myself are thinking about you and Patty as well as the rest of the group.
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Man...I hope he didn't have to bug out of his house yesterday.
Looking for updates soon Matt.
I hope all is well down there, and that you're just busy at work.
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I haven't seen him around :-\
Shoot us a line when you get a chance Matt
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Still alive and kicking, and still owning a home at this point. The fire continues to move along the hills by Stevenson Ranch (in Santa Clarita), which is still about 5 miles away from our place. That whole mountain range is all equidistant from our house, so it's not actually advancing towards us yet, but just one burning ember flying off in our direction with all the hills and brush surrounding my house, and we'll be in big trouble real quick! When we were looking to move, most of the houses/condos we were looking at were in Stevenson Ranch. Lots of million dollar homes in that neighborhood too, so the firefighters are putting up one helluva defense around them. Seems to be working so far... Hopefully they're protecting my TRU and Wal-mart right there too! :P Good chance we'll probably be losing the family's vacation cabin out in the Big Bear mountains though, in a seperate fire about an hour away from here. That's gonna really suck if that goes... :-\
Finished packing up all the essentials last night. Brought in everything off the back patio this morning, which backs right up to a hillside full of brush. Picked up some of those breathing masks, some batteries, water, etc. from Target on my way home last night (along with some Blue Clonetrooper 3-packs ;)), so we're ready to deal with whatever happens.
I don't like being nearly an hour away though, at the office here. Tuned in to the radio to see if the fire jumps anywhere. Our front yard and back patio looked like they had been snowed on when we went outside this morning. We can't even see the fireline anymore, or pretty much anything for that matter, at this point. The sky looks like it is completely gone. Visibility is probably about 200 yards in any direction right now. It's absolutely gross - nothing but smoke, soot, and ashes everywhere. Sounds like a lot of the firefighting planes and choppers can't even help anymore due to the lack of visibility... :-\
Guess that's it for now. I did manage to get a couple of my trading packages out to fellow JD'ers in the last couple days, so if my house burns down at least their stuff won't go with it, and I'll have a clear trading conscience! ;D
Back to work and the fire watch now... I'll update if there's any new developments. Thanks for the concern and well wishes everyone! Patty and I really appreciate it...
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Glad to hear that your house is still hangin in there. You should capture some pictures of the atmosphere around you (that is, if you have digital capabilities) and preserve them for posterity and everyone online.
Good to hear that you're still able to hunt for (and find) your Star Wars figures even with the fires looming closer. I can just see it now:
"Hmm, the fire is 5 miles away now, and I should be packing....but I should check TRU for clone wars stuff first".
Hehe. True fan down there.
I wish you continued good luck, and still wish I could send some of our rain down there to you. Actually, I wish that every year.
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Well, right after I made that last post there, things quickly got a bit more sketchy, as the fire quickly moved another mile or two closer to us - right up to the main interstate 5 highway that I figured was our best defense. The 5 freeway was closed down for several hours while the fire crews battled the blaze right from the highway, keeping it from hopping the highway which has been our greatest fear all along. So despite it closing in a bit closer finally, it looks like we're still in good shape for now.
In fact, they're reporting that they're hoping that this fire will now be completely extinguished by sometime tomorrow, since they've forced it into a vacant canyon area that they've spent the last couple days bulldozing. Hopefully that'll do the trick, 'cause this is getting exhausting dealing with all the stress and worrying...
I took off from work early today to rush home when I heard of the fire's advancement, but apparently so did everyone else in L.A. Took me just about 3 hours to drive 19.5 miles back to my home. >:( Fortunately time was not of the essence as it turned out, otherwise I would've probably been SOL.
Still burning badly out of control in a couple of other areas in SoCal though. Very sad...
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What's the latest, Matt?
It seems like things are finally starting to get settled down out there, thankfully.
You guys have been in my thoughts since it all started. . .
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Thanks Matt. It looks like we're going to make it through OK now... They've steered the fire into a small canyon nearby that is mostly already bulldozed, and they're hoping it'll just burn itself out in there, if it hasn't already (haven't caught the news yet this morning).
But for the most part, the smoke and air quality has gotten much better, and the rest of the weather finally started pitching in to help, by giving us our first cool day (about 65) yesterday in several weeks. Even got some light showers here and there. So the big Simi Valley fire seems to be in good shape now.
Still can't say the same for the San Bernardino and San Diego fires that are still raging out of control though. I think they've got a little more containment on them, but not much. Still a lot of wind here in the Southland. Not sure yet how our Big Bear cabin has fared though... :-\
It's kind of bittersweet being excited that my home and neighborhood were saved and made it through OK, when so many people were not nearly as fortunate... I think they're close to 3,000 structures destroyed now, and at least 20 deaths blamed on the fire, and growing...
But in my own selfish little world, my home and I look to be A-OK now! :) Thanks again for the well wishes everyone...
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Matt,
Glad to see it's finally calming down in your area. I really feel for the people in the harder hit areas, or guys like you who had days of wait and see what happens. Fortunately we only had about 24 hours and then safety.
And now we've been getting a lot of rain in Moorpark, hopefully you've gotten some of it too. Maybe it'll help the air quality, breathing smoke for days bites, but at least I've still got my house so i don't want to complain.
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And here we go again... ::) So Cal's got a bunch of wildfires burning out of control right now. Not near as bad as last year's (yet), but they're moving and growing quickly. There was a big truck fire right off the side of our local freeway this morning, right at the exact spot near our house where last year's fire was finally extinguished. I was quite worried it was going to pick up right where it left off, since that area is nothing but brush from the edge of the freeway, right up to the back of our home not too far away, but fortunately they got it out quickly though!
But there's a bunch of other areas that have been burning out of control the last several days around here. Of course, the 100+ degree weather isn't helping very much... :(
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100+ weather? Blech...
I'm glad I'm not where you are Matt... 80 here's already too hot to suit me. It's too hot right now anyway, it's only May. 70's or 60's I like though.
Hope all remains well for you this year... Why they don't get out there and clear that brush out, I do not know... I'd think if it's such a problem, it'd be prudent that the borough, state, or whatever get on that ya know?
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Why does California get so damn hot?
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100+ weather? Blech...
I'm glad I'm not where you are Matt... 80 here's already too hot to suit me. It's too hot right now anyway, it's only May. 70's or 60's I like though.
Hope all remains well for you this year... Why they don't get out there and clear that brush out, I do not know... I'd think if it's such a problem, it'd be prudent that the borough, state, or whatever get on that ya know?
Most counties have for the past ten years or so, since the 1994 wildfires, have made it mandatory that if you live in a area where brush is to clear it out, in LA county its 100 feet, other places it depends. If you don't do it the county will send out crews to clear it and bill you for the service. Unforutantely alot of homeowners have areas that are either state or federaly owned or have a protected speice in it so they can't clear out the brush as much as they should.
One thing thatI heard on the news yesterday sounded like they are going to do ban smoking in cars to help stop fires from starting from people throwing the cigrates out the window.
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Oh ****! MASSIVE brush fire burning out of control half mile away from our house right now! We’re packing up the house, and it looks like pitch black night time outside, and absolutely raining ashes down everywhere… This is WAY closer than last year’s fire. They’ve closed down our freeway and are evacuating a few of the neighborhoods right next to us. They’re even starting a couple back fires just over the hill from our house. It's been over 100 degrees all day, with serious winds blowing too. Not good.
And to top it all off, we were nearly two hours away driving to Palm Springs, when we heard about the fire, so we had to turn around and drive all the way back, which took almost twice that long due to all the freeway closures and clogged side streets. It looked like a nuclear bomb went off over Santa Clarita. Plus, there’s another huge fire burning on the far side of our city (probably 7 miles away), so there’s nothing but smoke in every direction. This totally sucks! They said this area hasn’t burned since 1962, so of course, what better time to burn than 8 months after the last fire. Two times in 11 months since we’ve moved into our new home here. This is freakin’ ridiculous…
Alright, back to loading the cars! ARGH!!! >:(
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Oh ****!
Holy ****! Way to close, pack what you can & get the heck out of there Matt. Best of luck to you & Patty & everyone else.
Damm, wish the big whopping rain & hail storm we had last Sunday was down there & not up here.
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Was wondering how you guys were doing with this new fire Matt. I can't belive how fast that sucker is moving 1000 arces per hour I have heard. I probally have a few friends that are on the fire line either they or in one of the other local fires we have here I think theres at least three major ones. Hope everything goes okay for you.
I wish this stuipid heat would go away but know it won't until December or so.
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Hang in there bud and best of luck to youse guys. Be safe. :-\
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I've been wondering about you Matt, and how close that stuff's been to you lately. I really hope this is taken care of, and that you, Patty, and your home are going to be ok...
I'd be to the breaking point myself... I couldn't live under conditions where natural disaster was so imminent. CA just seems to be disaster waiting to happen 24/7. :-\
I hope you're ok, seriously, and that the fire's contained very soon.
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This is just unreal. I keep seeing this stuff on the news and wondering how you are doing down there.
Here's hoping they got the fire in your area under control and we'll still be meeting up for drinks in less than a week.
Thoughts are with you and yours tonight.
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Woah, there are more fires over there? Yikes. That shows how uninformed I am now. Hope you can make it out without a scratch, MAC. :-\
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Hope everything is OK Matt.
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Holy Crap matt, lightning strikes again, not cool, not cool at all, hope all is well and I've been thinking of you guys all weekend
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Good luck Colman.
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Best of luck, Matt. The area that's burning now went up a couple years ago, as well, when I was living there. (I used to live literally a block away from where Matt is now). I remember standing on my patio and seeing the plumes of smoke, and it felt like it was only moments away.
Since the area is such a narrow valley the smoke tends to settle inside it and not blow over, and you end up living under its umbrella. It leaves an almost apocalyptic feeling with the sun blocked and everything taking on a dark orange hue. Soot covers everything and you can't escape the smell.
However, the area made it through the last incident safely. As epic and disastrous as it looks there's a lot of people looking out for the safety of the area and it will get under control.
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I'm guessing since he hasn't checked in today that he's be evacuated...you SoCal guys know that or not? His town, neighborhood etc
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Thinking of you and Patty, Matt.
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I'm guessing since he hasn't checked in today that he's be evacuated...you SoCal guys know that or not? His town, neighborhood etc
No, he's there, just spoke with him.
The fire is on the other side of the freeway, which isn't very populated (at least not like the west side), but the news is saying they've evacuated about 400 homes. No structures lost.
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Still no Matt news since last night?
I hope he's ok down there.
Matt....give us a shout out when you get to some place with a PC.
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Hey everybody. Thanks for the concerns and well wishes (AGAIN). We've had the computer packed up along with a lot of our other things, hence my silence since Saturday's post here...
Very pleased to say we're fine, and still have a home standing, and still have a very large Star Wars collection to enjoy. ;) It's been a hellacious weekend monitoring our 'Foothill Fire' though, but fortunately the winds shifted direction to the Northeast pretty good on Saturday evening, keeping us somewhat out of immediate danger even though the fire was just about 3/4 mile away.
The fire's been burning all the way up our local 14 freeway, which has been serving effectively as a firebreak keeping "our side" safe so far. The firemen have basically just been letting it burn right down to the edge of the freeway, but making sure it doesn't hop the freeway over to our side, which is a very real concern with the insane winds happening, and the massive amounts of ash flying around everywhere. We've got a good inch of it on our back patio and in the front yard, not to mention our entire house smells like smoke (even though we've had the windows closed). Pretty nasty stuff... There's also been firedropping planes and helicopters flying over every few minutes too, which is pretty crazy considering the flying conditions (like zero visibility).
Still looks like our whole valley is under a nuclear bomb cloud, with an eerie orange glow shining through from time to time. Add to that all the black, charred hills all around us, and it really feels and looks like a war zone. The first 6 miles of my drive in to work today were all along burnt out hills. Very depressing. The thing's still burning (http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/07/19/wildfires.ap/index.html) pretty good today as well, though not quite as close to us now - a little over a mile away, though there's been a number of smaller flare ups closer than that. We live off the Placerita Canyon exit, which is where a lot of the action's still taking place, on the opposite side of the freeway. They had to evacuate another 1,600 homes last night now that the fire's approaching the populated areas, and has burned right up to some houses yards. We never got a mandatory evacuation announcement, but most of our neighborhood was totally packed up and ready to go on Saturday afternoon. Last I heard, the fire was 39% contained, and there still hasn't been any structures lost, amazingly. Definitely a result of the firefighters great work, as they've always got defensive perimeters around any threatened structures, whereas they'll just let the fire burn if nothing important is around.
(http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2004/US/West/07/19/wildfires.ap/story.fire.santa.clarita.ap.jpg)
Patty and I spent a lot of the day yesterday taking cold bottles of Gatorade around to all the fire fighters (Patty's idea, of course). Then we spent most of the evening and night up on some lookout areas, observing the fires at very close range. I've gotta tell you that there's nothing more amazing and impressive in nature than watching a 30 foot high wall of fire a couple miles long, just marching up and down hillsides in one long, continuous line. Also saw a bunch of firefighters starting huge backfires too. Pretty cool seeing them shoot flare after flare into the brush, and seeing a huge blaze erupt. Almost looked like something out of a Sci Fi flick, since it was night time and dark out, but you'd see these little purple/red balls of flame flying 20 feet through the sky, way up on a nearby hill.
(http://www.foxnews.com/photo_essay/photoessay_64_images/071904_wildfires6.jpg)
Just a crazy and very stressful experience all the way around, especially considering the brush from the neighboring hills goes right up to our back patio, plus the fact that my stupid ass still hasn't gotten contents insurance (the structure is covered though). We've actually still got all of our stuff packed up, just in case there's another shift in the winds and something kicks up closer to us again. Hopefully that won't be the case though. (fingers crossed)
Thanks again for the concern everyone, and I'll keep ya' posted if anything changes...
- Matt
P.S. The start to the fire supposedly occurred when a red-tailed hawk got electrocuted on a nearby power line, and dropped (on fire) into the nearby brush, sparking the entire blaze. :-\
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Glad to hear the wife and you are okay Matt.
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Thanks for the update Matt, you still planning on leaving for San Diego? Or are you going to stay at home????
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Good to hear from ya Matt & very glad both of you are OK. :)
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Still planning on heading down on Wednesday, but if there's a turn for the worse with the fires, I might have to postpone. But considering there's not a whole lot left to burn near our place, hopefully the fire will stay away...
I'll probably just have to play it by ear.
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I guess it's safe for me to send the check now, huh, Flanders?
Great to hear that you and the wife and the home and the stuff are doing okay, Matt. . .
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Glad to hear all you SoCal guys are OK.
Those fires are nuts, man. Absolutely nuts. Seeign the pictures is probably nothing like seeing it in person though I'll bet!
Tell Patty, "Nice move with the Gatorade!" I'm sure those firefighters really appreciated it!
:)
Jeff
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Nice to hear things are ok.
Where were those pictures taken? Or...did you take them yourself? That DOES look like a movie scene.
Has this given you any more consideration into moving the hell out of the sticks and to somewhere with a little more concrete and a little less brown grass? ;D
Where is your stuff packed up anyway? In the cars? In a storage unit? Rent an emergency U-haul?
I'm glad the winds have changed though...that's great news.
Hopefully in two days we are still going to be hoisting them back at the non-Coyote Ugly-but-just-as-good bar I am headed over to. :)
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Check? Sure. Cup didn't quite go out yet though Matt. Hopefully tomorrow! :-*
As for the Gatorade, I just talked to the Mrs., and she's still passing the stuff out as we speak. She's so excited with the kick ass job the firefighters are doing, under such hot and horrid circumstances (and with all that heavy gear on), that she's been buying caseloads of Gatorade at our local Costco, and driving all over the place looking for firefighters to give them to. They've all been very thankful and nice to her, with one exception where a fireman actually said "No thanks. I'm fine." Pissed Patty off sumthin' fierce! :P
I really wish we had a digital camera to take some pix of this madness. Even our regular camera is out of film, so I won't have too much in the way of keepsakes from the craziness, other than a couple lung fulls of really bad air... I pulled those pix off CNN.com and FoxNews.com. They're from right across the freeway from us, in the Placerita Canyon area. Looks pretty similar to the stuff we watched burning last night.
As for my SW stuff, it's scattered all over Southern California, in 5 different places. I have about a third of it at our house, but it's so chaotically disorganized that I wouldn't even know where to start as far as what to grab. I did put a few things in my car: several containers that had one of each loose figure up through the end of POTJ, and a box of the VHTF carded stuff (TF Vader, Sacul, MOTDS, etc.), but that was about it. Most of my modern carded collection would've been toast, since there was no room to bring it along. What's funny is that I wasn't too concerned about losing the other contents in the house, like furniture and stuff, since that can be picked out and purchased fairly easily again (albeit costly), but the thought of trying to piece together a huge chunk of my SW collection again was rather overwhelming and scary. :-\
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Damn birds.
glad to hear you guys are doing ok. Besides, if your modern stuff burns, you're welcome to all the crap I have in reserve that nobody else wants. Having your stuff burn would help me out quite a bit ;) j/k
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Besides, if your modern stuff burns, you're welcome to all the crap I have in reserve that nobody else wants.
You know that I don't collect that bi/tri/quad logo $h!t. ::)
(but thanks for the offer anyway :-*)
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You know that I don't collect that bi. . .
Hmmm. Always thought you were into the bi scene, for some reason.
Huh.
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Hmmm. Always thought you were into the bi scene, for some reason.
Huh.
Whatever Scott's been telling you is a big phat lie. >:(
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Glad everything is going okay for the both you Matt at the moment. This season is going to be bad in the areas that haven't burned yet (last year and at this moment). I'm just glad I a little ways away from the hill in my neighborhood but I don't expect that hill to go anytime soon unlike other areas in Diamond Bar. We already had a 20 plus acre fire caused by a train near us (a few miles away) that I went to go out and see at a distance.
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Thanks again for calling me back Matt >:(
I was up all night worrying about you guys!
Seriously, I'm glad that things are looking better today, and I'm still in favor of you and Patty packing it all up and heading out here where all you have to worry about are tornados. I don't miss any of those natural disasters in the least!
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Thanks again for calling me back Matt >:(
I was up all night worrying about you guys!
Yeah, well, uh... I was suffering from severe smoke inhalation, and was barely able to speak last night. Yeah. That's what happened.
Fortunately I was all better when you called today though! ;)
Hell, you're lucky I even bothered talking at all to your OTC (and Wildcat) hoarding ass!
**stomps off in a jealous huff** >:(
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Thanks again for calling me back Matt >:(
Or were you talking to Fatty, on behalf of both of us from Tennessee? If so, you're a little late in registering that complaint, though Bitchall already sent along his apologies to us for that a while back...
Said he was already asleep, or some such nonsense... ::)
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Or were you talking to Fatty, on behalf of both of us from Tennessee? If so, you're a little late in registering that complaint, though Bitchall already sent along his apologies to us for that a while back...
Said he was already asleep, or some such nonsense... ::)
Hey! This thread ain't about me! I already said--I was asleep when you lushes called, and even if I wasn't, the phone was in the car.
Tell you what, Smart Guy--I've got your number.
If anyone here at Jedi Defender is concerned about Matt Colman during his next Drama of the Week, give him a call, huh?
His number is 818-642-xxxx.
(Just push me a little more, Colman. Just a little more.)
I wonder if Jimmy_ still lurks around here. . .
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(Just push me a little more, Colman. Just a little more.)
Watch it Virex, or I'll tell everyone about that Mary Kate and Ashley poster that you have, dude. ::)
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Whoops. Sorry. Brainfart. I thought we were doing this via PMs... My bad.
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Watch it Virex, or I'll tell everyone about that Mary Kate and Ashley poster that you have, dude. ::)
818-642-6xxx
Three more. . .
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Dear Fettish, dustrho, Mainland, Durge, etc...
1 (405) 514-5xxx
Truce? :P
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Dear Fettish, dutrho, Mainland, Durge, etc...
That list. . . it just seems so small, though! Sure you got 'em all?
1 (405) 514-5xxx
Truce? :P
You got me.
Truce.
For now.
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Dear Fettish, dutrho, Mainland, Durge, etc...
That list. . . it just seems so small, though! Sure you got 'em all?
Sorry. I meant to BOLD the "etc." part. Fixed. ;)
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Well, glad you and Patty are doing ok. My sister-in-law is was home from Alaska and they are having some pretty wicked fires also. I'm not sure of how those compare to Southern Cal property wise but she did say that they lost a lot of acreage and they did have some evacuations.
Anyways, I think Patty rocks with breaking out the Gatorade, hope she's coming with you to C3, I just gotta meet her!!
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Thanks again for calling me back Matt >:(
Or were you talking to Fatty, on behalf of both of us from Tennessee? If so, you're a little late in registering that complaint, though Bitchall already sent along his apologies to us for that a while back...
Said he was already asleep, or some such nonsense... ::)
I hadn't heard this excuse, sounds a bit lame if you ask me...
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Saw the footage on the news last night, the Newscasters were all sort of chuckling about the bird on the wire thing.
Also, I thought I saw a lady out with a sack full of neon colored liquids running around near the fire engines...weird
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Yeah, what's the saying? A bird on the wire is worth... a fire in the bush...?
No, wait - it's Fool me once, shame on... you? Fool me... again, and... uh...
???
God, my head hurts now.
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Yeah, what's the saying? A bird on the wire is worth... a fire in the bush...?
No, wait - it's Fool me once, shame on... you? Fool me... again, and... uh...
???
God, my head hurts now.
Yeah, here it is:
"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
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Hey Matt, how you making out with all this? Hope all is well ???
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My wife had to evacuate work yesterday after the fire did it's u-turn thing. She works at West Hills corporate park which is south of Chatsworth and East of Bell Canyon. The smoke smell started getting strong in her building, she looked out the window and there was the fire creaping down the hillside toward them. She was pretty freaked out, but everyone got out okay and they are actually back at work today as the fire was taken care of.
It also looked like it was snowing here last night with all the falling ash, and my house is more than 10 miles away.
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sheesh glad the family's safe Anthony! :o
Stay indoors! it can't be good to breathe that not-so-fresh-air, not that it's good normally there but...with the smoke added..can't help :(
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Glad to see she's ok Anthony.
It also looked like it was snowing here last night with all the falling ash, and my house is more than 10 miles away.
The same thing happened to me during the Chino fires when I was living in Yorba Linda. Woke up the next morning and the whole city is covered in ash. I thought it was snowing and for some reason I had the craving for bbq that day. :P
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We're surprisingly OK this time (so far), but thanks for the inquiry Jim. I've actually been meaning to bump this thread the last few days to express my ire that every time the wind kicks up out here now, some idiot arson ******** have to start running around starting fires all over the place. It's absolutely ridiculous. They're pretty sure this is arson, since 3 different fires started within an hour or two of eachother, all in close proximity to eachother.
So now, for the 3rd time in just 2 years, the L.A. Valley area burns to the ground. It's just amazing how extensive these fires are too. They've been canceling a lot of classes at Moorpark College, where my wife teaches, but that's about the extent of our immediate involvement this go-round. We do know a lot of people in the affected areas though, who are packing up their most valuable and cherished possessions and getting the hell out of Dodge.
It's just bull**** that some windy weather means that mental cases out here have to start torching **** all over the place. I say these people fry in an electric chair, rather than just spending a couple years in the pen when they get caught, like usual. Just stupid.
I hope the rest of the SoCal'ers are doing ok though. Haven't heard from Bonk yet, but I'm guessing he may be the closest JD'er to the fires.... So chime in Matt and let us know how you are!
- M
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Here's a picture from the floor my wife works on. The red car parked against the mountain near the center of the picture is ours. When she got out of the building, the fire had crested the hill.
(http://images.snapfish.com/344%3B2%3C%3B923232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2324%3D4%3A5%3D%3C27%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3B3%3B8%3B%3C399ot1lsi)
A picture from earlier in the day from the parking lot:
(http://images.snapfish.com/344%3B2%3C%3B923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2324%3D4%3A5%3D%3C27%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3B3%3B8%3B%3C393ot1lsi)
And one from later in the evening from the parking lot after workers who couldn't get to their cars were allowed to retrieve them:
(http://images.snapfish.com/344%3B2%3C%3B923232%7Ffp45%3Dot%3E2324%3D4%3A5%3D%3C27%3DXROQDF%3E2323%3B3%3B8%3B%3C3%3A5ot1lsi)
As for Darth_Bonk, he lives just up the street from me, so he should be okay.
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Wow Anthony, I'm glad your wife got out of there okay. Make sure you keep those beautiful girls of yours safe and sound :)
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Ant I did not know you were that close to the action as well. Hope all goes well for your family and all other JD'ers out there. Doesnt sound like too much has been contained as of yet. Fires have always been one of my biggest nightmares, and even at afar they are a concern to me. And like someone else mentioned about the air and inhalation. I have a bunch of friends who are firefighters and their biggest fears involve what might be actually burning and ending up in the air. So much stuff unknown gets past on and the effects show up later.
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Uhh. . . bump???
:-\
Hope all you SoCal guys are alright. . .
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Keep Colman and his wife in your thoughts. The fires are right by him, but hopefully he's doing ok right now. You too Anton and anyone of you out that way, be careful, be cautious, don't take any risks with this. Hope you're all ok.
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I live in Foothill Ranch, where the canyon fire ended up spreading today. I left my class around 11am today to go pack up and evacuate but we never ended up having to. Whiting Ranch, the wild area behind my neighborhood (also where I was hiking yesterday) is up in flames right now so everyone's ready to move if necessary, but the Santa Anas seem to be moving this fire more towards the western entrance, away from the homes. Unfortunately, there's an elementary school right there, which actually leads right back up to my neighborhood, but the firefighters we have are making their stand over at the entrance to the park and I really doubt we'll have to go anywhere. Anyway, hope all is well for everyone else, keep in touch, stay safe, and I'll post more later once I know what's going on.
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It's like fricken Mordor here. Every direction there's a fire. Looks like the three fires in the Santa Clarita area are going to join into one.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y26/JayDouble/Internet/167089b7.jpg)
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http://calfire.blogspot.com/ if anyone wants to get updates. Looks like my fire was caused by arson, which I am none too pleased about. :-\
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Looks like my fire was caused by arson
People suck balls.
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Looks like my fire was caused by arson
People suck balls.
Amen. WTF is going through people's heads?
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Stay safe everyone. Can't believe some of the numbers of homes that have been destroyed exspecially in San Deigo, 500 home and 100 business since Sunday. Hopefully the death toll stays at 1.
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Unfortunately the death toll stands at 2 according to CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/23/wildfire.ca/index.html) & over 500,000 are fleeing. :-\
As others have said, stay safe.
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Here's to hoping that everyone is safe out there. I've been watching 20/20 for the last 40+ minutes and I can't get over what's happening. The worst we get in Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin is the rare tornado and usually just cold winter weather. I can't imagine what it's like dealing with natural disasters like earthquakes, but then also dealing year after year with wildfires. I started reading page 1 and honestly couldn't tell whether it was 2004 or the present based on the images and descriptions.
I don't see how people can deliberately set fires like this and I guess I'll never understand. I hope they catch the bastards.
Again, good luck to everyone out in Cali, and please keep us all posted on how everyone is doing.
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Everyone be careful out that there, my thoughts and prayers are with the people dealing with this tragic event.
My best friend lives out that way and they've got quite a bit of things packed up... I'm definitely worried for him and his wife.
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I don't see how people can deliberately set fires like this and I guess I'll never understand. I hope they catch the bastards.
Anohher group of people that need to be shot caught are the scambug looters who are in the evacated areas. Some guy house was serverly damage along with finding some of his belongings missing and house ransacked.
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Scary ****... good luck to all of you in So Cal. Be safe and be careful!
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Stay safe to all you SoCal guys. Biggest evac since the Civil War... Wow..
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Echoing what others have said - thoughts and prayers to all the people in So Cal, particularly our friends here at JD. Hopefully everyone is safe, and this nightmare will be over soon.
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Same as others, prayers are with you guys in danger or having to leave.
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I do not have much to add other than hope everyone is at the very least safe. I would have posted something earlier but my son has been in the hospital lately and my wife has been ill as well. Nothing major though. Certainly nothing as #$%^& as this.
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This is amazing to see.
It makes all the other things seem so small when people are fleeing for their lives.
Be safe everyone
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Wheeew, Man Like everyone else has said, Please stay safe!
All of you socal guys are in my prayers right now.
This all Started out as ARSON! that jackhole needs to be put away for a lonnngg time.
Jediknight760071
Anton
Coleman
Who else is by this?
Adam
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FoxNews.com is reporting a $70,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the arsonist. I've been driving around the past couple days keeping myself updated...Yesterday was pretty scary as the fires were all over the canyons about 1-2 miles behind our homes, but today they seemed to have died down...probably because I felt little to no wind today. The smoke is really getting to people though...it's been foggy in Foothill Ranch (where I am) for the past few days, but it's all just smoke and ash coming down. Irvine Valley College cancelled classes at 1pm today because of poor air quality. At certain points on the toll road out here you can see all the way to the coast and the smoke is covering just about everything up to there and beyond.
(http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/ern/04jan/images/calcoast.jpg)
I'm a few pixels above the "L" in Lake Forest...
(http://www.ocfa.org/_uploads/images/santiagofire1.png)
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Thank you for all the well wishes guys :) It looks like firefighters are finally starting to get enough of what they need to control these fires.
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Luckily, I live in on the valley floor away from the mountains, so we're (my family) physically out of fire harms way. However, the smoke has been pretty annoying. We were more or less surrounded by fires at one point, so any way the wind blew, we were screwed. It was like smelling and breathing campfire smoke 24/7.
It rained a bit yesterday, so that was a relief.
I've physically talked to and have seen Bikerscout1, Bonk and Crunchy Nug, they're all in the same boat as I am.
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The smoke around here seems to be clearing out from the distant fires around here as will. Wish it would of rain a little bit more to put these fires out completely.
Speaking of fourm members who are in the fire are has anyone heard from Matt (JediMAC) yet?
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Matt and Patty were not hit and are doing well.
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Matt and Patty were not hit and are doing well.
Thanks Chris.
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That's very good to hear.
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Not much to say here other than I hope you guys are still OK and that this is over with soon. :-\
I don't mean to be flippant when I say that I don't know how you SoCal people live with so many natural disasters, not only the quakes but these huge fires every couple of years. It's times like these I'm really glad I live in The Great Flatlands.
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That's very good to hear.
Amen to that. Glad to hear no one from our community has been hurt or displaced. :)
Looks like they have arrested a few people for starting one of those fires >:( hope they receive what they deserve.
Adam
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,306557,00.html
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Fires are going crazy in North Orange County. My parents are in volunteer evac. A buddy lost his apartment.
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I just posted this in the SoCal thread & will post it here too.
I was just reading the news on CNN & looking at pics. Absolutely terrible, so much damage & power loss in places.
I hope none of you are in the areas affected & all are safe. :)
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Thanks for your thoughts Dale. It's amazing how fast these fires can start and with the winds, fan through huge areas. We've been pretty much glued to the news since yesterday to see where the flames are heading.
Jay, hope your parents and their home are fine. Sorry to hear about your buddy's apartment. Wishing for the best for those impacted.
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We have our yearly wild fires and an earthquake every few years but its still better than living with hurricanes, blizzards and tornadoes every year like the rest of the country has to deal with. It just comes with building houses in a very dry environment near wilderness. That's why we all pay insurance.
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These fires are horrible. The air is just smoke and ash. I know lots of people who had to be evacuated. I live more towards the city and not near the mountains, so I am safe. But these fires need to go away. Bring on the rain.
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Unfortunately we are only at 25% of our normal rainfall for this time of the year.
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Is everyone ok out in So Cal? Been following the news on the fires, pretty bad again. :-\
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Well, my dog caught on fire. :'(
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j/k. ;)
It's been a fairly smokey hot day today but we are ok around here. Our hills only burn once every ten years and we got ours last November.
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Saw on the news last night that E.T.'s home almost burnt down, but they managed to save that neighborhood. Apparently that's more important then what really matters.
My relatives are in Rancho Cucamunga and they are saying that the smoke is so bad that they can't even open their windows. Said that it always looks like it's going to rain, but it's just smoke and ash.
Hope everyone is safe out there.
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lucky it hasn't started in San Diego but a few years ago we had out BIG one and I've never been in snow or been around snow but there was so much ash coming down that i guess that's what snow looks like falling.the sky was gray all day and knight with the night lights you could see the ash. it smelled nasty and the news said not to open windows and use the A/C in the car or house.every where you went there was tracks of ash like mud then it rained and it turned into mud which made it harder to remove the caked on mud off of everything that was outside. you also tracked it in the house with your shoes.