Prince of Peace Abbey Update as of 102507_1530

You can see the hybrid map of Camp Pendle-
ton and the adjacent areas of northern Oceanside and the area to the west of Benet Hill, where Prince of Peace Abbey is. I have enhanced the image here. The map was updated roughly 3:30 p.m. Thursday, 10/25/07.

The red area is a fire area on the grounds of Camp Pendleton which are being fought. The area in question is roughly a mile from Prince of Peace Abbey. The yellow diagonal line is roughly the boundary between Camp Pendleton, and the City of Oceanside (which is to the south). I've done a rough outline in light blue of the Prince of Peace Abbey, which abuts the base.

Here is a google earth overhead - taken most likely early 2006.



Last year I took a bit of video outside the Abbey - most of the buildings are of concrete block construction, and ceramic tile roofing. The clip is 13 seconds long.



The Abbey is built with mostly Concrete block and ceramic tile. The military is on the fire. Keep them in your prayers.

(The still at the top is of the outside of the church, taken 9/18/06. There are some times and situtation where building churches out of concrete blocks and ceramic tile makes sense. This is one of them!)

Update: Last fire map late Thursday night local time shows current fire area farther north in Pendelton area - i.e. further away by a "grid" or two, away from PoP Abbey.

Thursday Fire Status, San Diego, Ct. 102507_11:16a.m.

Here is the latest news on the general conditions of the fires:

10-25-07 10:00 a.m. Evacuation Notice Lifted for Escondido.
All areas within the City of Escondido previously evacuated have been re-opened to residents.

Evacuation Notice Lifted for County’s Portion of 4S Ranch
The County of San Diego has lifted the evacuation order its portion of 4S Ranch. All of 4S Ranch is now re-opened to residents.

10-25-07 9:38 a.m. CAL FIRE provides the following update:

The Harris Fire is 81,000 and 10% contained. Full containment is estimated for October 31. Currently there are 93 engines, 16 crews, 4 helicopters (2 of which are helitankers) 3 airtankers, 2 dozers, 12 water tenders (1,611 firefighters). Fire behavior remains active in old and extremely dry fuels. The winds have returned to a normal diurnal flow (from the west). Major wind reversals in this area have caused firefighter fatalities during past incidents. There are heavy fuels and steep terrain on the northern edge of the fire. Active structure protection continues in Lyons Valley.

The Witch Fire is 197,990 acres and 20% contained. There have been 22 injuries to firefighters and it up to $5.3 million in suppression costs. Currently there 325 engines, 45 fire crews, 45 water tenders, 22 dozers (2,619 firefighters). Winds in the fire area are still variable with coastal influence returning to valleys as normal weather pattern. Warm, dry and unstable conditions still exist at the higher elevations and the eastern areas of the fire.

The Rice Fire is 9,000 acres and 30% contained with full containment expected on the 28th. Cost to date for suppressing this fire is $1,283,133. Currently there are 112 engines, 19 fire crews, 13 water tenders, 11 dozers (1,095 firefighters). Firefighters made good progress with perimeter control and structure protection. Evacuation orders still in effect for Fallbrook and outlying areas.

The Poomacha Fire is 35,000 acres and 20% contained. Cost to date for suppressing this fire is $950,000. There have been 12 injuries to firefighters. Currently we have 75 engines, 25 fire crews, 1 helicopter, 1 helitanker, 9 airtankers, 10 dozers, (859 firefighters). Firing operations were conducted but were hampered by wind shifts. Firing will continue today. Interior burning was most active within the eastern portion of the incident. Burning trees and rolling material continue to be a safety hazard to resources. Re-entry plans are being developed for displaced residents.

For latest updates see: San Diego County Emergency page -- Satellite maps available, as well as a list of known structures *in unincorportated areas of the county* lost/heavily damaged in the fires.

The sosdfireblog.blogspot.com seems to have the best frequent local updates.

Twilight Sky; San Diego, 5:55 PM 102307

Here is a photo I took early this evening. Sunset's about 6:35 -- This is taken from my front sidewalk, looking WEST, towards the ocean, about 8 miles away. This is NOT a Marine layer tinged with red from the sunset. It is, however, the smoke from the fires backlit by rays from the sun.

I had to get out to the store to grab some more drinks, etc. I got a scratchy throat just in the half hour I was out and about. "They" were estimating earlier today that some of these fires won't be entirely out until Nov. 1.

Some good news: So far - Eastlake, Spring Valley, Bonita, and Jamul - no homes lost today. (One of my friends and her family live in Eastlake area.)

And "only" some 2000 acres burned in the Harris fire today in the south end of the county. [It was hellish on Sunday and Monday.] The fires up in North County are still bad.

One out of three homes in the county have been evacuated overall. (Some have been let back to their homes/area.)

CBS News 8 has some Excellent Resources/Maps here.

San Diego- Register Your Cell Phone for reverse 911 alerts

If you live in the City of San Diego, you may register your cell phone to receive emergency reverse 911 calls. The link is here.

Good frequently updated information online is here.

Also: San Diego County Emergency Homepage.

Fresh bulletin: May be new concerns for JULIAN AREA. (5:05 PDT -- Voluntary evacuations as of this time.)

At least 50 homes/structures have been destroyed in Fallbrook area.

Update: 11:30p.m. - Julian evacuation now mandatory in the last hour. 75% had taken heed during the voluntary evac. Also they want people out of the Cuyamaca area, and Wynola area.

Fire Update Some Bad News, Some Better News

According to recent report, fire up in Fallbrook area (Rice fire) has burned 6100+ acres. Area isn't getting any air support yet - Palomar Mountain and La Jolla Indian Reservation area also in trouble - these fires will likely join. Right now, "they" are concentrating on the more populated areas. There are some more tankers on the way - but it's already 1p.m. and it gets dark about 6:30 now. A good friend of mine and his daughter and her family lives up in Escondido in a evacuated zone - and in the south parts of Chula Vista are threatened, another friend and her family live out that way - I don't yet know if they've had to evacuate. There has been some air support. There are a few helicopters out down there - it can drop 10 tons of water a time on a drop.

A fairly decent map which someone is updating is pretty good. Link is here. The map can be expanded.

In the county all told some 350,000 (yes that's the right amount of zeros) homes have been evacuated.

On a better note, some areas are allowing people back in - Del Mar Heights area, plus some of Poway and the Scripps Ranch area.

So far at very least 1200 homes and structures lost in the county (and they don't think they have an accurate count) - 240,000 acres have burned - it's at least as big as the Cedar fire 4 years ago.

The area shelters are fairly well provided for with individuals and corporations stepping it up with food/toiletries etc.

National Guard is deployed in evacuated areas, and other than a report of two teens looting in Ramona (who got nailed right away) there haven't been reports of looting.
The US Navy Seahawks are also assisting with water drops. Thank God for them, they have more capacity than the contracted aircraft.

Today is supposed to be make or break - the winds are supposed to die down some time tomorrow - they are still really fickle and unpredictable. All schools in San Diego unified school district will be closed through end of week.

Yesterday, one of the local reporters was reporting in the wee hours of the morning that his home had been evacuated. Some hours later he'd found out his home had burned down. He was positively heroic in keeping his chin up. "We'll rebuild, we'll get through this. It's only THINGS." They'd managed to grab the most important "things" and pack up the cars with people and pets - but most people were glad to get themselves and their animals and the most important items out. This time around communication and notification was much better - the "Reverse 911" system working fairly well. I.E. 911 calls YOU to tell you it's time to pack up and get out.

I've been through fire scares before - and when you really analyze it pretty much "everything" can be replaced - so what you end up grabbing are you, family, pets and PHOTOS, and important papers. So for all of you who can, but haven't: Scan your important photos in your computer! And keep a backup in a safe deposit box somewhere. The rest is G.R.A.V.Y.

FIRE! Keep us in your prayers

There are currently 7 counties in California in a state of emergency due to fires fueled by Santa Ana winds. The fires started Sunday and there are 7 major fires in San Diego County alone, thousands have been under mandatory evacuation yesterday and early this morning new fires have kicked up and there are thousands of acres burning. At mass yesterday, we could smell the fires from miles away. And it's very acrid now.

As I write this at 4:30, in some areas there are wind gusts up to 45 mph. Generally if there is a Santa Ana, at night the winds die down, but this is not the case. Breaking fire updates for San Diego County here. Please pray for the safety of those having to evacuate and the firefighters.

Update: At almost 1PM today, roughly 100,000 acres are in the fire area, and approximately 250,000 (yes that's right 1/4 million) people in the county were advised to evacuate to other areas - the winds were I am in town aren't much but it there are gusts up to 60MPH - Click here to see a rough map of the area. I've highlighted in red SOME of the areas where the fires are hopscotching though. Solana Beach has just gotten voluntary advisory notices to evacuate. We are supposed to have Santa Ana winds at least until Wednesday. There are more fires south of San Diego - just at the bottom edge of the map you can see UCSD in the lower left, and Miramar Airstation towards the bottom center. Some of these areas are very heavily populated. One hospital in the North County has been evacuated, the staff there on top of things and started evacuating patients early this morning to other hospitals. There were at least 7 firefighters critically injured so far, by early this morning.. A few minutes ago we have had the good news that the Navy can now safely go in to use some of their choppers on the large fires in the southern part of the county. [Off this map[ Where fires have been also burning since yesterday - closer to the border - but at least 20,000 acres down there by Dulzura and Potrero There are also some fire areas north of this map.