Newcomer's View of the San Diego Fires
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I picked the wrong week to move to San Diego. |
My family arrived in San Diego late on Oct. 15, to a new home, lifestyle and local culture. By the weekend, we had unexpectedly bonded with San Diegans faster than expected—through a firestorm that, as of this morning, had destroyed an estimated 1,300 to 1,700 homes north of the city.
Signs of trouble started late Sunday afternoon, when misty clouds appeared from the north. By Sunday evening, as my daughter and I drove down Qualcomm Way, a thick haze hung over San Diego. The dirty cloud reminded me of Los Angeles smog, and in newcomer ignorance I assumed that's what it must be. I'd heard that Santa Ana winds had come to San Diego, and I presumed they blew in some pollution. But by the time we arrived at our apartment, I realized by the smell in the air that we'd seen the settling smoke of fire. Even Easterners have heard of California wildfires.
Monday morning brought strangers to our apartment complex, as people forced from their homes sought refuge with friends. Reverse 911 calls sent recorded warnings to people in communities throughout San Diego County: Get out of your homes. Now.
Shifting winds meant the fires could suddenly change direction, burning one house to the ground while sparing another across the street. The reverse 911 calls were evacuation orders—to flee for life and limb and leave nothing behind. But some things were too precious for some people to abandon.
One grandma taking refuge in a nearby apartment told my wife about the escape from a community about 40 miles north of the city; in horse country. People fleeing with their horses created gridlock on the roadways that could have cost their lives if the winds had differently shifted.
My apartment complex's director of maintenance stopped by to lay down some cable on Monday afternoon. His family had evacuated their home, and he was anxious about the fire's path.
The area's worst fire, Witch Creek, started about 11 a.m. on Sunday east of Romona. The Witch Creek fire would march west toward the ocean, forcing the evacuation of more than 350,000 homes in the communities of Escondido, Poway, Rancho Santa Fe and San Marcos. Gateway's main offices are located in Poway.
What was mainly four separate fires has grown to nearly a dozen, as 50 mph to 70 mph winds spread embers and ash. Some fires were close enough to combine, as was the case with Witch Creek and Poomacha blazes overnight.
Local impact is shocking, even some distance from the maelstrom of wind and flame. On Monday, my wife, daughter and I drove over to the Westfield Mission Valley shopping mall to pick up housewares at Target. We were surprised to find nearly every store closed at 6 p.m. I had never seen a mall close so early, but reasoned it must have something to do with location—dumb newcomer thinking. Stores closed early because of the distant fires.
Yesterday, my wife and daughter went to the Ice Town skating rink, which is inside the food court of the Westfield UTC mall. At two in the afternoon, nearly every store was closed. I couldn't imagine any event short of a terrorist attack that would stop commerce. Both malls are located far from harm's way, but surely employees and customers had been displaced from their homes.
Streets that were filled with people walking last week have been largely deserted since Sunday night. For the few people on the streets, face masks are must-wear apparel. I walk down the street and see TVs flashing in home after home. Many local TV stations are covering the fire nearly 24/7. Most people are staying inside riveted to TV news covering the fires.
It hasn't been easy for the TV stations, several of which had signal problems because fires damaged a transmission tower. Two poignant news segments caught my attention. In one, a newscaster walked through his burned-out home of 25 years. In another, firefighters put one of the newscasters on a hose, in a desperate attempt to protect a home from raging flames. There is too much fire, too much destruction, too much despair and not enough firefighters.
Today, Day 4 of the blazes, San Diego is a city largely cut off from Western state electrical grids. TV stations earlier today reported 60 percent electrical capacity and called for people to cut power consumption. Fires have taken out portions of the electrical distribution grid. Large sections of the city could be powerless by Thursday morning.
There is nothing like crisis to bring community together. Technology plays its role. There are eight groups on Facebook offering information or solace about the wildfires. The largest grew from about 1,600 members when I checked this morning to about 2,800 6 hours later.
Cellular services are strained but holding up, as people text message locally or call to check on their homes. I've heard several evacuees staying in our apartment complex calling for news about their homes. Even if they return to find structures intact, there is sure to be damage from smoke and soot. This morning we awoke to find fine ash over the cars on our street, and the fires are far north of our apartment, which is located in a section called University Heights.
The Union Tribune newspaper has put up a blog providing fire information and videos on YouTube. Individuals and local officials have used Google Maps as a way of informing people about the fires' paths. One popular Google fire map was updated until Oct. 22. Another Google map, maintained by KPBS, is one of the best for tracking the fires.
There is no shortage of information about the fires, or where to get it. The crisis will pass, and so will the national attention. The real challenge, the real story, will be the recovery that follows.
Comments (15)
Are you still considering to write on "Microsoft Watch " , Mr Joe Wilcox
Posted by Marty | October 24, 2007 11:39 PM
eWeek decided to change the Microsoft Watch to Wild Fire Watch
Probably Joe will blame Microsoft for the outbreak of fire ?!@#
Posted by John | October 24, 2007 11:43 PM
Marty, John,
It's no laughing matter. There are many people out here who's lives are devastated. There are Microsoft resellers that lost homes or businesses. That's reason enough for this to be a topic here.
Joe
Posted by Joe | October 25, 2007 12:13 AM
Joe,
Welcome to Southern California :-)
I work as a senior software architect for PlantCML, the company that provides the 9-1-1 software for the County of San Diego and City of Los Angeles, and the Reverse 911 calls you received.
As you say in your comment to others, this is no laughing matter.
Several of our coworkers were evacuated, my manager being one of them. Nonetheless, she managed to participate in long meetings during the weekend with Microsoft, while her daughter was being evacuated from Ramona, and we had the Rice and Rosa fires burning very close to our building.
As you may guess, we build our software using Microsoft Windows. Maybe you'd be interested in visiting sometime. We're located 50-60 miles North of San Diego in the Temecula Valley (wine country).
Regards.
Posted by Javier | October 25, 2007 12:29 AM
Joe, indeed , it is not a laughing matter, but you should stick to your mission .
If you can report wildfire in Microsoft Watch , it means you can report anything.
You can even start to write Pamela Anderson ...in Microsof Watch
Thers must be a guideline ...
Posted by John | October 25, 2007 1:31 AM
Joe:
I hope you will disregard the lowbrow insensitivity of some of the responders to your heartfelt post about the fires in your new city. Your report was worthy.
Posted by mgo | October 25, 2007 4:54 AM
Mgo, what do you mean by "heartfelt post "?
There are thousand of US soldiers being killed in Iraq , why not ask Joe to report it as well. Some of the soldiers used Microsoft Office as well.
Does " There are Microsoft resellers that lost homes or businesses" mentioned by Joe automatically made this entry qualified as Microsoft -Watch ?
Do you mean that just something related to Microsoft will be an entry for Microsoft Watch ?
Posted by John | October 25, 2007 5:15 AM
Joe reply : It's no laughing matter. There are many people out here who's lives are devastated. There are Microsoft resellers that lost homes or businesses. That's reason enough for this to be a topic here.
It is indeed a silly argument to support his entry .
'Microsoft resellers that lost homes " --reported in Microsoft Watch
Then is there any Linux and Open-source Reseller lost their home , probably Steven J Vaughan Nichols will report later in Linux-Watch
Then is there any Google developer lost their home , probably Clint Boulton will report later in Google Watch
Finally , thousand of Apple iPOD are destroyed in the fire, probably Dan Turner will report them in Apple Watch
Posted by Marty | October 25, 2007 5:27 AM
For all of you who only seem to want to complain about this blog, why don't you go create your own with all of the features you think are lacking here?
Very often, those who complain about something that someone else is doing don't have the creative capacity to do it better themselves. They somehow feel superior by pointing out flaws, real or perceived, and telling everyone about how wrong they are doing it or how they would do it better.
If you want a blog that only mentions Microsoft and puts Microsoft in a positive light, write one. If you want a blog that provides additional information for you to use when making up your mind about various products, continue reading here.
Posted by Chris | October 25, 2007 12:30 PM
Having made it though the Oakland Hills firestorm of 1991 with my house intact (despite a several-hour rain of cinders), my sympathies go to the residents of San Diego suffering a firestorm of even greater proportion.
You are correct that "The real challenge, the real story, will be the recovery that follows." It took several years for the devastated hillsides to be fully replanted with homes.
--rj
Posted by Roger Jennings | October 25, 2007 2:19 PM
There is one Novell Netware reseller who lost his home in fire.
Too bad as eWeek does not carry Novell Watch
Posted by Lee | October 26, 2007 2:28 AM
Why do they keep building houses with wood? The last time London burned down they learned the lesson and started using bricks instead. But that was in 1666!
Posted by Takeo | October 26, 2007 9:09 AM
Why do they keep building houses with wood? The last time London burned down they learned the lesson and started using bricks instead. But that was in 1666!
In London, the problem was that the houses were combustible and they were also very close together. The densely packed houses were the combustible material on which the fire fed, grew, and spread.
In California, a lot of these threatened and burned houses are spread far apart, much too far apart for one burning house to ignite another. The material on which the fire feeds is the brush that fills the countryside. If the houses were made of brick, they bricks would not burn but the contents of the house would still become superheated because the fire is feeding on the surrounding brush.
In addition, I would guess that well-constructed wood frame houses are more earthquake tolerant than brick houses.
Of course, in San Francisco's densely packed housing areas, there are the combined problems from fire and earthquake. And that's another story.
Posted by Brian | October 26, 2007 2:21 PM
For years I've read Joe's blog and he's strictly stuck with "business as usual". Generally discussing 0's and 1's, just as a computer geek should. For once, I've seen the human side of Joe, along with his family, reporting a human interest story. One that involves thousands of lives, some close to him. Joe has every right to report or cover stories although they may not directly relate to MS on "his" blog, especially when it deals with how the internet has changed technology in disaster cases such as these. Although slow and in infancy Google was a great source in letting potential fire victims know what might be in store for them, where they should go, road blocks and traffic congestion. I for one, commend eWeek and Joe for allowing us to get an insight on his experiences firsthand. Keep up the good work Joe and eWeek
Posted by nvyseal | October 27, 2007 3:11 PM
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