Fire update

[surflvr911sc]

What a weekend. My wife called me at work on Saturday to tell me that my best friend was evacuating his parents in North San Bernardino. I got a hold of him twenty minutes later on my way to help and they had just left the house b/c the heat and embers were becoming too intense. They left so quick that they only got the pets and a few personal items. The garage and front doors were left wide open and luggage was still in the driveway. Fire moved through the neighborhood and the neighbor’s house had just caught fire as they drove out. They evacuated to their shop a couple miles away.

By the time I got to the shop ten minutes later, the smoke was so thick you could hardly breath. We decided to be cautious and evacuate the shop almost as fast as we had decided to use it for shelter. It’s amazing how fast things change when fire and wind get together. We brought everyone to my house, Jeff, his wife and daughter (who were already living w/ us), his parents, their dog, cat, and parrot. Later, we took in another family and lady whose houses were threatened.

The fire above my house on Saturday night.



About 10 PM we decided to go up to the neighborhood and see what was left. It looked like a war zone. We had to go through side streets and around road blocks to get up there, houses and trees still on fire, some just smoldering piles of rubble and some sitting completely untouched in the middle of the destruction. All the power was out so the only light came from fire and the occasional fire vehicle working it’s way back to the front. When we reached their street everything was gone, except their and their neighbor’s houses. What an eerie sight, these two untouched homes being lit up by the surrounding devastation. Relief came over us followed by the instinct to go into action to preserve the blessing we were given.

We spent the entire night fighting the burning remains around the two lone houses w/ hoses, shovels and sledge hammers. We kept constant watch on the hills around the neighborhood, the fire had gone around and was heading back towards us from a different direction. Early in the morning there were flare ups that had us very nervous but by daybreak we were pretty confident that the two houses were out of danger.

I went back to my house to get a couple hours of sleep and by eight o’clock Sunday I was back on the roof watching the fire above my house at the edge of the 330. An hour later it crossed, and within a half hour it was a half mile from my Dads house in East Highlands. My Dad is in Antarctica right now so I called my step Mom and told her to meet me at her house so we could start thinking about getting things ready. She lives a mile from me and by the time I got there I decided that now was the time to pack up. We loaded all the trucks and cars we had and headed to my house. We had time to get a lot of their things including my Dads 911 and the new SSI exchangers that we hadn’t installed yet.

The Pet count at my house: 1 dog, 2 cats, 1 Parrot, 1 desert tortoise
The approaching fire.



We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the fire from my roof and the winds, or lack of, were very good to us. By the next morning the fire had moved in closer and it seemed that on cue the helicopters showed up to fight the advancing line. They were pulling water right out of the small community lake behind their house and by 2 PM Monday it seemed that the fire was completely halted. We went back and moved everything back into her house and headed home for something to eat.

The helicopters behind my Dad’s house.



7 PM, all hell broke loose. The fire had come back from the other direction and there was a wall of flames a mile wide heading back towards East Highlands. We ran over there and packed up again as the Sheriff helicopter circled the neighborhood telling people to leave. We could feel the heat and the ash was like snow flurries through the streets. This time we had to leave my Dads Porsche. As the fire ate its way down the hill they began setting backfires to meet it. Thankfully the wind held back and the backfires were effective. We watched again from my roof at the sight of darkness turning bright red and orange. We were so exhausted and by 2 AM we decided that there was nothing else we could do but try and get some rest.

We woke this morning to snow like ash everywhere. The smoke so thick that the daylight was nothing more than an orange glowing overcast. My Dads house is fine and so far I believe that no houses were lost in the neighborhood. I still cannot believe that the winds held back for the past two days and know that the whole scenario would have been very different if they hadn’t.

At my friends parent’s house, they have been trying to get things around them cleaned up. They are electrical contractors so they have been setting up generators for everyone left standing in the area so that they will have power. Looting has been a big concern and they have caught a couple, mostly teenage kids. The police have been diligent and very responsive to calls about looting and it’s being kept in check. Not much worse than looting IMO, they should be shot.

I still have coworkers and friends that live in Crestline, Arrowhead, Running Springs, and Green Valley Lake that are anxiously awaiting word on what the fire does next. The entire mountain is still at risk and hopefully the winds will hold back long enough for the fire crews to stop it.

I’ll post more pictures later. Good luck to everyone else out there being threatened.

[scottb]

Pretty amazing stuff, Ryan. Makes my situation look like a Boy Scout bonfire! Hang in there, buddy.

[nostatic]

I'm a hour or so away, but let me know if you need longer term housing for the pets. Our menagerie won't notice the increase.

[pbs911]

Ryan, what can I say. Be carefull. Glad to hear that everything and everyone is ok so far.

[Sarah]

Wow. Thank you so much for the update. I have not talked to my sister yet today. She is in the San Diego area...they were supposed to be heading back to their place to start some clean-up if it was safe. The scary thing is that she has only lived in CA since June and the first place she put a bid on (and did not get) already went up in flames. How awful for everyone there dealing with all of that.

I hope your family & friends continue to be safe.

[Doug Zielke]

Ryan,
We've been watching the devastation on TV..... Frightening; as were the fires that burned for 3 months, in the interior of our province this summer.

Glad you, your friends, and pets are ok.

[surflvr911sc]

Thanks for all the well wishes. We are breathing much easier now, not counting the smoke and ash. We also had our first real nights sleep last night and made it to work today.

Unfortunately the drama is not quite over. We have many friends and co-workers in the mountains and high desert that have evacuated or are being evacuated. We also have a cabin in Green Valley Lake but there isn’t much we can do about that now.

If anyone else out there needs help getting out or a place to stay please call me. 909-553-0356. I wish everyone to be as fortunate as we were this time.

[Speedster94]

hallo Ryan
I am glad you are OK , i saw the news here in Germany , it is hard to believe that they couldnt get the Fires under Control for a Week .
But it is even harder to hear that the Fires are set on Purpose .
All my best for you Guys out there and you know it will be soon " Surfs Up " again in SoCal.
Harald

[makaio]

Ryan, I'm glad you and your family and friends are OK! I was down there for much of the action in San Diego. The fire behavior was intense to say the least. We tried to save every house we could but some just couldn't be saved. In fact one of our engines caught fire on the night of the 28th, while trying to protect a cabin near Julian.

[wckrause]

How did Julian come out of this?

[surflvr911sc]

I think the town of Julian ended up ok considering. The break in the hot windy weather was a very unexpected blessing.

Matt, it’s now my turn to thank you for your service. Too bad you couldn’t have been down here under different circumstances, I would have liked to buy you that beer. One of these days I’ll get to thank you in person for the support (on multiple levels) that you have given me. Thank you and take care of yourself out there.

[makaio]

Originally posted by wckrause
How did Julian come out of this?

Julian fared OK. The weather died out on the morning of the 29th, and most of the structures were spared. Unfortunatley, Fire Apparatus Engineer Steve Rucker from the Novato, CA Fire Department died while protecting one of those structures near Julian, hours before the weather changed.

I past Steve's engine just an hour or so before, and gave him a wave as we were heading in to San Diego for some rest.

Ryan, I'll take you up on the offer one of these days. I will have weekends off most of the Winter/Spring, and I want to do some road trippin' with the wife and Porsche.

[tabs]

Harrowing.