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Blogging the Southern California Wildfires

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The infernos engulfing thousands of acres in rural and residential Southern California are being amply covered by bloggers in and around the region. Here is a sampling of citizen journalists/live bloggers documenting and photographing the disaster:

Kathy Nida, a fiber artist in San Diego, is ready to evacuate:

Watching the news, they call a mandatory evacuation for Rancho San Diego, the community just south of me. What the heck? Mandatory?! I start calling around, get confirmation that there is an evacuation, start packing clothes and medications and papers. Call mom, mom calls back, says her neighborhood is supposed to get a call (it’s by zip code, apparently, not logic), so she’s coming to me. I’m packing clothes and one of the kids starts yelling, then the other…they just reversed the evacuation order, it was a mistake.

Excuse my heart attack. Deep breaths. Might as well stay packed for a while.



Photographer Joanie, aka Da Goddess is uploading images of the fire in Poway to her flickr photostream and describes the situation in her area on her personal blog:

I just moved into Poway a few months ago from Rancho Bernardo. I'm glad I did. My old condo was 100 yrds from where a church burned. I don't know the situation of the condo now, but as of yesterday morning, I was never so glad to be out of there.

Apartments across from where I went to elementary school burned, too. And my son's school is very close to current fires.

While in the process of evacuating our area, we stopped at Walmart. I ran into an old family friend who was, like so many others, trying to figure out where he could take his horses and mules. The parking lot was packed with RVs and folks just not sure where to go.



The women's spirituality blog, Ponder Ethereal is posting reports from blogger Carrie. Understandably, Carrie and her family are on edge:

The Witch Creek and Rice fires are at our doorstep. The areas around us were all evacuated and my car was packed - and still is - ready to leave if we were told to. The neighborhood we lived in six months ago, 13 miles away, burned. Carlsbad, Fallbrook, Del Mar, Encinitas, Escondido… all evacuated. Ryan came home from a long day at work and then slept on the couch so that he would hear the police cars with bullhorns if they came through our neighborhood. I was so exhausted, I fell into bed and slept hard until morning. The morning of the sunrise that lasts all day.

BlogHer 07 attendee Becky who blogs at Miss Priss is 35 weeks pregnant and waiting, not just for the baby to arrive, but for shifts in the wind over her home in San Diego:

Right now, we’re holed up, waiting. Fires and evacuation areas haven’t reached us. Yet. But it really depends on what the wind does. So we’re stuck in our house, windows closed, no central air, a couple of fans, waiting. We have nowhere to go right now. So we wait.

My upper back hurts from all of the sitting, lying down, sleeping. What else is there to do?
So we just continue to wait. And tomorrow, no work. More waiting.

World Golf blogger Heather McMichael is providing the golfing community with the status of courses in the fire zone:

Sadly, wildfires are destroying a great deal of land and homes throughout Southern California with reportedly up to 700 homes lost. Here are some blogs reporting on the fires, particularly in relation to golf courses.

Geoff Shakelford is reporting that Phil Mickelson is among the 250,000 that have been evacuated due to fires in the San Diego area.

Curbed Los Angeles is reporting on the fire in Lake Arrowhead and that it is burning near the lake and Grass Valley Golf Course. No word of damage to the course but homes have reportedly been lost. An Ordinary Life has more on it.

LiveLeak.com has video of a helicopter grabbing water from the lake at the ninth hole of the TPC Valencia Golf Course to fight fires in the areas.

Many of us have been keeping track of Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest on Twitter where she's been apprising us of her evacuation status. Erin didn't fool around with her escape plans - at this writing she's at a hotel near LAX with her family and will board a morning flight to Florida. Good thing, as one of

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SocalMom 5 pts

Like you, I used to take our disasters in stride (after all, that risk is the price we pay for living out here). And then, I realized being in the wrong place at the wrong time could kill me (it only took until Northridge in 1994 for that -- and I was an evacuee after Sylmar in '71).

The Santa Anas blow in here every year, and I'm afraid there are resident firebugs who look forward to it. Three of the 20 or so fires that broke out over the last week have been identified as possible arson; I would not be surprised if they find that in many more.

While the devastation is dreadful for those who live in the fire areas, I know our state. As awful as things are now, we will bounce back, strong as ever. Californians always do. Blogger Karoli Kuns has been dismayed that some of the media coverage has lazily compared this disaster to Hurricane Katrina -- they are two very different kinds of events, and she has posted why here:
http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/2007/10/24/attention... ( http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/2007/10/24/attention... )

Grace Davis 5 pts

Becky, you pregnant Amazon-woman warrior-powerhouse! Here you are, concerned about others when you have every right to whine about all the stuff that goes on when you're 37 wks!

Thanks for the Twitter link. I've got it up in the post, but your mention provides another thumbs up for this invaluable Web2.0 tool.

Keep us apprised on your status. It looks like you're in a holding pattern.

Many blessings to you,
Grace

Grace Davis
Contributing Editor
State of Grace ( http://gracedavis.typepad.com/ )

DanaFiles 5 pts

Thanks for the great links!

I feel like starting a mission to send needed supplies!

I watched Night Line last night and they reported that one of the fires was potentially started by arson. I felt sick. I hate knowing that there could be people out there who would start this devastation on purpose.

lolagoetz 5 pts

Grace, thanks for writing about this. The outpouring of support from the San Diego community to those in need has been amazing. Of course, the scammers and swindlers have shown, too, but the good has been much bigger than that.

We are fortunate that the fires are moving away from our place. However, moving away from us means they're moving closer to others. We must rely on a weather change to really see things die down.

San Diegans can follow KPBS on Twitter. They are providing continual updates about the fires and evacuations: http://twitter.com/kpbsnews. And they also have a great Google map that they are updating as well ( http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&a...,-116.930237&spn=0.946815,1.842957&z=9&om=1 ).

Becky
misspriss.org ( http://misspriss.org )

Grace Davis 5 pts

Right when I published my comment, you chimed in with a verified link. Thanks so very much, Heather.

I had to quote your comments about the inventory. I was moved by how you were touched by these poignant images.

Also, thank you for coordinating the flickr group. It's great to see the wealth of images from citizen photojournalists all in one photostream.

Peace to you,
Grace Davis
Contributing Editor
State of Grace ( http://gracedavis.typepad.com/ )

Heather King 5 pts

News 8 in San Diego has put together a page of information on REPUTABLE places handling donations. You can find it here:

http://www.cbs8.com/misc/fires_oct_07/help.html

One thing to take comfort in, is the the local community is really stepping up at the moment for the evacuees and the displaced. Every time the city has put out a plea for donations or assistance, they have had to follow it up within hours asking people to stop donating because they are overwhelmed by the massive response. It has been great to see.

On a separate note, I am "Heather on the Go!"...the admin for the Flickr group referenced in the main post. I'm glad you picked up on the post about people using Flickr to inventory their homes before evacuating. When I figured it out yesterday it made a real impression on me. Something about getting a photographic glimpse at the mundane things that those folks treasure and feared losing just made the tragedy so much more personal.

-------------------------------
http://strongwomentalk.blogspot.com/
http://www.simbalu.com

Grace Davis 5 pts

...because after I thank you here, I will add links to this post for recovery and aid agencies.

So, many thanks for being so thoughtful.

And, your dollin Grandma is absolutely right. This is a fiery, rocking place. But, with the exception of Hawaii, I could never live anywhere else but my beloved native state of California.

In appreciation,
Grace Davis
Contributing Editor
State of Grace ( http://gracedavis.typepad.com/ )

DanaFiles 5 pts

I can remember wanting to live in California when I was a little girl (because I hate snow) and my worry-wart grandmother told me, "that's the land of forest fires and earthquakes." I thought she was just paranoid.

But I can't help but worry about all the people who are in need of help and safety. Is there any relief system? Is there a way for people like me (here in Wisconsin) to send much needed supplies, like water or something? I don't even know how to help! Any ideas?

Grace Davis 5 pts

...but that does not preclude the fact that we sit on a faultline, ready to shift in a big way any day now.

Thanks for your comment, Heather. I'm going to update the post with more resources as the disaster and recovery continues. And, it might be a while. Some reports say that certain fires won't be contained until mid-November!

Again, stay safe, y'all! Don't be a hero, get out with your family, pets and important papers! Oh, and your laptops, so we can get your blog posts.

Grace Davis
Contributing Editor
State of Grace ( http://gracedavis.typepad.com/ )

Heather Clisby 5 pts

Thanks so much for this post, Grace. Very, very helpful list of resources. As most of my family and friends are affected, I can focus on nothing else today.

I hope you and your family remain safe.

BlogHer Contributing Editor, Photography ( http://www.blogher.com/node/19958 )
Proprietor, ClizBiz ( http://www.clizbiz.blogspot.com/ )

Grace Davis 5 pts

You know, Catherine, I used to take the natural disasters of California in stride - until the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the Oakland firestorm of 1991. And now, this. We always expect some burning, but not to this magnitude.

To all Southern Californians - stay safe! Evacuate if it's mandatory! Wear a nose and mouth mask!

Thanks for your comment, Catherine.

Grace Davis
Contributing Editor
State of Grace ( http://gracedavis.typepad.com/ )

Catherine Morgan 5 pts

Sitting and watching the images on the news...it's hard to believe that it is really happening...even seeing it. It's just so unbelievably sad...heartbreaking really.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com ( http://www.catherineblogs.com/ ) and The Political Voices of Women ( http://politicsanew.com/ )