:roll: Here I am, at home again. For the third time in two weeks, they have closed all of the schools in the high desert. This time, it was ugly... - Cajon Pass is closed on both ends. This means there is no way into or out of Southern California on the Las Vegas side, unless you drive all the way around from either Palm Springs on the south or the Grapevine in the north. - This fire jumped the mountains and came down hard on Hesperia, where I work. The historic Summit Inn is gone. It was built in 1952 and anyone who has ever driven from SoCal to Vegas and back has stopped there, including Elvis Presley, Clint Eastwood etc. Many homes in the Oak Hills area are gone. The Sheriffs are going through the ashes with cadaver dogs as I write this. - This latest arson-caused fire is being fought by thousands of firefighters and volunteers; plus 8 aircraft, 8 helicopters, and 2 heavy aircraft tankers according to the local newspapers. - They don't mention military assets and personnel involved in this, but we know that they're involved, because they fly directly over my house at low level. - I had never seen a "firenadoe" before, but I have now. They're small tornadoes made of fire that whirl around and destroy everything in their path. - Hundreds of trucks and cars were caught in the Pass and the drivers had to abandon them and walk out. - A Union Pacific train was caught at the bottom of the Pass, but administrators for the railroad were helicoptered in and boldly fired it up and drove it out of there. If anyone needed proof that railroad men are crazy; this was it. - Diane and I almost bought one of those nice homes in Oak Hills three years ago. We dodged a bullet there... - Lytle Creek has burned to the ground...again. - The rest stop in the Pass is gone. Everything burned including the McDonald's, Chevron Station, etc. - There was ash falling on our school yesterday for hours as classes went on as usual. We're day-to-day now...
A terrible tragedy. I'm sorry for the people affected and hope there is no loss of life. Buildings can be restored.
8) re: exit I have the perfect exit. Going east I have an empty freeway all the way to Las Vegas. Furthermore, if I get an evacuation order (40,000 have been evacuated so far.) my union will pay me $500 to get a hotel room and up to $3,000 for expenses. - All school districts in the High Desert have been closed until Monday; so I'm home again. - Sultana High School in our district is now a refugee camp. So many people up here are illegal aliens from places like Guatemala and El Salvador. They have no place else to go. - Down in the Pass there have been thousands of huge explosions in the areas from the 15 freeway to Lake Arrowhead Road and Big Bear City. These were caused by the homes having no natural gas lines. They have large propane tanks that turn into bombs when the fire hits them. The firemen won't go near those houses until they disintegrate. - 12 helicopters, 16 fixed-wing aircraft, 3 large tankers and 2 Canadian Super Scoopers have joined the fight. Fort Irwin Army Base and the Marine Logistics Base near Barstow, CA are in the fight. - In a miracle, the cadaver dogs have found no corpses yet. - Cal-Fire reports this mess, known as the "Blue Cut Fire" to be 4% contained. I have no idea how they measure that...
I wonder if they count the rear of the fire that has already consumed all the fuel it has passed over in that "contained" number. Otherwise, I don't know how you can have a number as low as 4% and still know that it is meaningful.
:idea: - 80,000 evacuated - The fire is 22% contained - 1,584 fire fighters - 178 fire engines - 17 helicopters - 10 air tankers - 2 very large air tankers The Red Cross has announced that they are NOT accepting donations at this time. They already have everything they need. The Protestant churches up here are amazing. They hand out food, blankets, clothing and allow their churches to be used as shelters, command centers and distribution centers.