Dispatch from a Burning San Diego

Just about two days after wildfires seemingly engulfed all of San Diego County, turning Southern California into a Hell worse than, well, Southern California, FEMA is thinking about showing up, Michael Chertoff is on his way to survey the damage (and not look totally incompetent on television just yet -- though he is a few hours late already), and the National Guard is here. That being said, as of noon on Tuesday, October 23, over 500,000 people that live in San Diego County have been evacuated. Qualcomm Stadium, home of the Chargers, is housing more evacuees than Network Associates Coliseum often plays host to during a Raiders home game. 70mph gusts of wind combined with under 10% humidity has made the three biggest fires 5%, 1% and 0% contained, having burned well over 200,000 acres combined. We're told that that 5% containment, after the fire has blazed for two full days, is great news. The size of all the fires combined is bigger than New York City. Over 1,000 houses have been lost. And, in case you were worried, when it all started, the news coverage focused more on the multi-million dollar homes catching fire than the (then) more deadly fires closest to the Mexican border. How odd.

That being said, the roles have switched, and the fires farther north -- those affecting the more affluent areas -- have merged into one 150,000 acre fire, cutting swaths back and forth throughout the region, revisiting some towns a second time, burning down houses it missed the first go-round. The Santa Ana winds are so strong, choppers have had trouble getting into the air to assess the best way to attack the fires, or drop retardant on the flames. But because (more) fancy mansions might burn down and white dudes might lose their houses, states of emergency are declared, and the president is stopping in on Thursday to tell us that everyone's doing a heck of a job. Until the Feds really mobilize, however, firefighters from up and down the state have hauled ass down to San Diego County to do everything possible. Blackhawks are in the air, doing something useful, or at least keeping the Navy busy.

And yet, near my apartment, over a dozen miles from any of the flames, business as usual. Pizza was delivered, gas tanks were filled, even costumes worn once were returned to Party City before receipts expired (and since when are costumes fifty bucks, anyway?). If it weren't for the thick layer of Pompeiian ash at my feet as I walked from my car to my office in San Diego's South Bay, I could live my life oblivious to the mass disaster around me, perhaps just wondering why the air was a little funny.

But I keep the TV and radio on as long as I am awake. I see and hear the devastation, but I also see and hear, either because of or in spite of the dangers all around us, an outrageous amount of support coming from the San Diego community. People are opening their homes to strangers that need a place to stay. Businesses are opening their parking lots for RVs, horses, and everything else in between. Even that GREAT EVIL Wal-Mart has donated thousands of cots for the displaced. People are calling radio stations informing others where and how to help out -- and people are listening. There has been a steady procession in and out of Qualcomm of civilians dropping off anything they can afford to give. One person, displaced to my couch last night, stated he was almost embarrassed to witness the amount of charity being poured out in the midst of this disaster, considering the Katrina debacle, and all the "snags" that went along with that.

It's nice to see that even if FEMA had decided to sit on its thumbs for three days before stepping foot over here, the residents of San Diego decided to take care of themselves. I had planned on going to Qualcomm myself tonight, yet the radio tells me that they actually have too many donations. There are more volunteers than they know what to do with. I will be taking supplies to another site, where they are announcing they need no more food or water -- too many people have given those necessities. Instead, they are asking for specifics, such as denture cream and sandwich bags. And the beautiful thing is, they'll get all of that. San Diego as a community has banded together, and we're insisting that we don't even need George Bush to care about us, whether or not he arrives on Thursday. With help from the extraordinary efforts of the state's firefighters, the members of the community here will take care of each other.

UPDATE via text message: In the past 20 hours since I wrote my post, the fires have nearly doubled, and the situation has gotten much worse. Anyone with the means is asked to help by donating to the Red Cross.

Comments

[Coronadoman]

With friends evacuated here in San Diego, I have one big question. Why has it taken so long to get planes, equipment and military personnel into the fires? What is it about the Governator and Shrub that has stalled the response? Oh, everyone will blather about it being SO MUCH FASTER than Katrina, but it's taken DAYS. It's unacceptable. Why did it take so long? Who is responsible for NOT getting the mechanisms in place after the devastating 2003 fires???

[JulieSA]

The high winds and low visibility have in many cases grounded the planes and helos. They were there, ready to go, but they can't fly under suicidal conditions.

[lm945]

The winds have been a factor to be sure, but it hasn't helped that at least 50% of the California National Guard's equipment is in Iraq.

[kasa5400]

The fault is that of San Diego

You know -the county that is too ant-tax and anti-government (good little rabid Republicans that they are) too even pay for a county fire department or raise taxes after the 2003 fire to increase fire protection services.

Don't yell for government help if you don't want government or want to pay the taxes to have the services.

Serves San Diego and Orange counties right - they got wwhat they wanted. Less taxes and less government,

[Marilyn Ferdinand]

The federal government is becoming more and more irrelevant as they work for themselves and not the people who hired them.

[cynara]

In California, we've always considered the federal government a little irrelevant. :P

The main organization that have responded to this disaster have been Calfire and local fire fighters and police, and the local red cross chapters.

Though giving credit where credit is due, the Navy was incredibly helpful, dedicating a number of helicopters to the effort. The US border patrol has also stepped up to help with the evacuation effort, something that is totally outside their usual line of duty.

Also, credit to the Mexican governmental organizations - the Mexican utility company CFE has given power to our power grid, and Tijuana sent its firefighters north the help with the firefighting efforts.

[Bladernr1001]

Walmart, was also on the scene in NOLA at a very early stage.

So what is so evil about them?

[Imhotep]

Maybe the response is different because 67% of N.O. was black and 67% of San Diego is white? Peace

[cynara]

Plenty of lower income and Latino areas have been effected as well, and the relief effort has been no less cooordinated and effective there as in the rich white districts. A fire broke out in San Ysidro, a low income Latino border town, and was put under control with only 40 acres burned. The potrero fire hit Tecate and Otay Mesa, but was contained before it burned the densly populated, low income, Latino Chula Vista. People were evacuated to shelters as effectivly in the Latino areas (San Marcos, Escondido, Ramona, Chula Vista, Otay Mesa, etc..) as they were in the majority white areas (Poway, Rancho Santa Fe, Solano Beach, etc..) So, I don't think the response was racially based.

[politicky]

I know the radio reports have been all over the place, but one of them said the fire in San Ysidro was being investigated for arson, as was the one in Irvine, and the small one in La Mesa.

[Kundera]

Yeah, that's it.
How's the weather in Victimville?

[Wilburrr]

hot, windy, poor visibility.

[usedtowander]

That's hard to say. We have evacuees in our home, we live two miles from Qualcomm Stadium, the main evacuation center.

Yesterday, the line of people giving donations was longer than the line of evacuees.

I don't think your numbers are correct - San Diego has a lot of minorities - albeit Hispanic and Asian communities are bigger than the African-American community.

Perhaps it has more to do with the nature of the community - San Diego County is at the far corner of the country and rarely gets help from the rest of the country. San Diego Countly is, also, the home of many the Marines sent into battle to revenge the New York disaster - and many live in the path of those fires - Camp Pendleton is on fire - home of the 1st Marine Division; MCAS Miramar has been deeply affected; and the Pacific Fleet , including SEAL teams is here in San Diego.

The NY Times published an editorial blaming our fires on where we build. The type of attitude represented in this NYT editorial is precisely why Presidential Candidates from New York City are of no use to those of us in the Southwest - Guiliani or Clinton.

Who needs effete, eastern "elite" that demonstrate a big sense of entitlement and do nothing but take from the rest of the country?

The Times editorial writers implies we in SoCal should not build structures that might burn.

The damage that results after a fire starts is, I suppose, predictable.
Southern California fires are set by humans.

The Times should remember that planes flying into buildings is, also, a human activity. And, that the damage that results from those incidents are also quite predictable.

Semper Fi.

[kasa5400]

"The Times editorial writers implies we in SoCal should not build structures that might burn."


No you should not build in those areas - unless you raise your own taxes enough to pay the bill for the damages.

Neither should morons build houses 200 feet from the Gulf of Mexico and then whine when they ae wiped out in a hurricane.

Ditto Florida. If the 1926 hurrican hit today, Miami, with all its multi-story buildings and glass, would be gone.

Ditto those on Long Island NY and the shoreline of Conneticut. Photos of the 1938 hurricane show the shorelines wiped clean. Photos today show nitwits having built in the exact same places and now they put up $2 -3 million homes instead of the rough beach shacks of the 30's.

Don't see why the rest of us should subsidize the losses of such fools jsut so they can live on the water or endless sunshine.

BTW: snow does not wipe out buildings. It is merely inconvenient.

[AZDave]

Is it any wonder? We can't say why people are better off in San Diego than they were in NOLA, which was overhyped in the first place. Granted, I'm not trying to play down what really was a disaster, but I do have a feeling that, a year from now, you're not going to see San Diegans on TV griping about FEMA trailers.

The truth of the matter cannot be said. We know why SD is doing better than NOLA. The press knows. Those at Huffpo know. Andy Kondrat knows. Political correctness will silence the honesty of the situation here. Again.

[cynara]

San Diego is doing better since we were prepared. The 2003 fires were devestating, even though they were smaller more lives were lossed and there was confusion and poor coordination. Elected local officials had hell to pay. They learned their lesson, and had coordinated fire emergency centers preplanned at different points in the county. The fire department, police department, navy, tijuana police department, border patrol, Sempra Public Utilities, and Mexico public utilites have all been coordinated, that has made all the difference in the world. Also, in the last four years, a reverse 911 phone system was installed to call houses to evacuate them. As of today, only one resident has died in any of the San Diego fires. Coordination and planning are the keys.

[GeorgetteOrwell]

Learning from mistakes and trying to recognize and correct deficiencies--what novel ideas. It's very good to see that pay off, and we can hope that others will take the lessons to heart so that other communities faced with such calamities can say, "It was hell, but it could have been worse."

I hope the worst of this disaster is over and that your intelligent preparation continues to have good--and even better--results.

[winningticket]

What is it about horrific disasters that bring out the most inane, and the most stupidest of comments like AZ Dave's idiocy!

[Beatitudes]

We all know why the Bushies hate "big government," well, government in general. It's because they don't want to have to do anything. Them work? Them carry out the jobs they were sort-of-elected to perform? Heavens forbid. Like New Orleans, the people of San Diego are doing it themselves.
Lyn LeJeune- The Beatitudes Network Rebuilding the Public Libraries of New Orleans and The International Blue Book Campaign at www.beatitudesinneworleans.blogspot.com

[peaceandfreedom]

Beat--

No...they love "Big"--Big illegal spying programs, big illegal rendition and torture facilities (they're increasing the size of Gitmo five times) Big illegal detention camps right here in the USA--all built by Halliburton with our $, Really big neo-con PR and Smear campaigns in the Media, and BIG HUGE government borrowing to fund two illegal wars and saddle our chldren with debt they can never pay!

This Regime Love Big! They just don't have enough money for child healthcare or to help fight this fire...

[happyfrancis]

Why are people comparing this to Katrina? It is very different. First of all in New Orleans everyone with a car had evacuated before the hurricane even hit. Second, all the businesses that could've made donations/­contributi­ons were closed, and the airport was closed. Third, the only people that remained in New Orleans were mostly of lower income neighborhoods and the infirmed. Here in San Diego, the effected areas are white, upper to middle-class neighborhoods; a lot of them in rural areas. Our inner city/downtown area is not effected whatsoever and it's business as usual AND they are all helping out. In New Orleans the victims were all alone. In San Diego there is an abundance of help. Very, very different.

[JulieSA]

These are good points. Also, during Katrina, almost all communications were wiped out by the storm, and the mayor was almost completely cutoff from the other local authorities. Police couldn't contact HQ, etc.

[SkippyJones]

I agree completely. And, oh yea, in katrina, the whole city was underwater! Not so great for dropping off donations. I'm here in san diego, the potential for disaster is still great, but as of right now this is like what katrina would have been if it reduced to a category 2 and didn't hit new orleans directly. not comparable. now if it gets worse, then that would be awful, but right now the fire chief has said we are past the worst, which makes me skeptical of the incredible hype. the news casters just challenged the fire chief on this - the same newscaster that said 3 times this morning that 'this was bigger than the katrina situation'. Ok. a half million san diegans go camping for two days at hotels, friends houses, or maybe qualcomm or some other shelter - three thousand families have legitimate concerns that their houses may have been destroyed, and 1,500 families have indeed lost their homes. total damage right now 1bil. WELL, over 2,000 people DIED in katrina. 100bil in damage, 100bil in federal aid. tens upon tens of thousands of homes destroyed. right now, this is 150-200 times less serious than katrina. my bets are that we are past the worst of it - as the fire chief said and has not retracted - so i'm amazed at the hype today. our country is addicted to disaster, if you ask me. ever since 9/11 everybody wants to participate in the 'rush' of 'events happening on the ground'. i'm not condemning that - just pointing it out as phenomena. maybe we want to feel united, and crisis allows that. I don't know. But with so many images of burning forests zillions of yards away from any civilization whatsoever - or showing the same burned neighborhood 100 times on tv as though this were all of san diego - its triumph of entertainment versus reality. msnbc actually said 'five hundred thousand residents racing from the flames'. You have GOT to be joking. This was simply being careful, and that's great, but people are crazily hyping the magnitude of this.

[kgrdem]

Exactly. When I saw that idiot at Qualcomm saying how this is so much better than Katrina because of the wonderful cooperation FEMA is getting from San Diego (where I am) and CA, I wanted to throw a brick through the TV.

1) A fire happens slowly. The VAST majority had lots of time to evacuate.

2) We have 24-hour newscasts telling everyone which areas are evacuated and where to go. Our TVs work, our phones work, our roads are generally clear.

3) People can get in their cars and drive virtually anywhere...they aren't under water!

4) Our airports are open our military bases are operating. We could get supplies in in a heartbeat, if required.

My mother lives in Fallbrook and had to drive through Camp Pendleton to get out. It was slow but orderly. She had no fear of drowning...or burning, for that matter. The house she and my dad built is gone, I'm sure, but she never panicked...and she's 86!

You just cannot compare this to Katrina and anyone who tries to say "Look at San Diego, why didn't the people of New Orleans act like that?" does not know what they are talking about and should shut up.

And I wish Bush would just stay away. He'll probably go to Rancho Sante Fe, look all serious, say something inane and then get out. Ugh!!!

[cynara]

Aside from the 5 being closed north of Camp Pendelton (though the south lane looks like its opening up), things are looking better this morning. The fires are as bad as ever, but they have moved into less populated areas. Jamul, Deluz, and Fallbrook are the main parts engulfed now, hope the residents there were able to get out okay, and best wishes to them.

[kevin2323]

Maybe your buddy should consider the media when comparing the charity of the San Diego fires with the "snags" of the Katrina debacle. Our citizenry was nothing short of heroic around here, but you wouldn't hear those things about a "flyover state" out there in California.

I hope you experience the same brave, heroic efforts that people in our community gave to help out with this tragedy. Something tells me, no matter where these events take place, the cream always rises to the top in these situations.

[cynara]

I live in San Diego, but the comparison between the response in San Diego and New Orleans, and somehow assuming that there is a higher volunteer spirit here, is really off base, and is starting to grate me. The difference between here and there, is that the government and non-organizational efforts here have been smoothly coordinated, period. I am sure if people were stuck at qualcom for days with out water, we'd have riots too, but it appears the emergency plans put in place after the last fire are working so that hasn't been an issue. There are good people that want to help and volunteer everywhere, and here the volunteer channels (211, salvation army and http://www.volunteersandiego.org) have been well coordinated and directed the volunteers in ways they could be effective. From what I saw, Katrina showed a lack of coordination and planning in government­/instituti­onal response, not a lack of heart in the people involved.

[jazzman]

I agree. It's hard to compare because the people in NOLA were stranded in the Dome. There's plenty of access to Qualcomm Stadium from different routes making getting supplies to people easy. The same is true of people who are in the suburbs of SD. They have roads and different ways to leave. The people in NO were surrounded by water and in many cases turned back by police and the military when they tried to leave. Different catastrophes, different issues, different results. If we're going to compare, try apples to apples not apples to oranges.

[GeorgetteOrwell]

Spot on.

[JulieSA]

"One person, displaced to my couch last night, stated he was almost embarrassed to witness the amount of charity being poured out in the midst of this disaster, considering the Katrina debacle, and all the "snags" that went along with that."

Your friend doesn't know much about the Katrina/Rita situation, and the huge outpouring of volunteer charity from cities in the surrounding states, corporations like WalMart and AT&T, churches and NGOs, and individuals. In many small devastated towns, WalMart was the first on the scene with bottled water and other supplies.

As one who was involved in a small way with aiding the thousands of evacuees who wound up in the refugee centers hastily set up in my Texas city, I saw the massive efforts of the local volunteers and businesses first hand. It was a very moving experience to be a part of. I can tell you that you should not be surprised that people are pitching in to take of each other.

This is what we do.

Best of luck to you and your neighbors. A donation to the Red Cross sounds like a good idea.

Perhaps HuffPo can do a fundraising drive. The blogosphere raised 100's of thousands of dollars for Katrina/Rita and the tsunami, but HuffPo was not involved in these drives. Maybe it's time for HuffPo to pitch in for a change.

[overtheedge]

You are correct. I remember WalMart had a donation bin that was full only a couple of days after Katrina. There were many churches, businesses and individuals who offered help.

Seeing the disaster in So. Cal. brings back many bad memories. My thoughts are with the people over there.

[DRaymond]

Folks are looking at FEMA and saying how the Feds aren't doing anything when they are missing the large contribution from a far less visible agency, The National Interagency Wildland Fire Center. Who is it that coordinates the actions of forest service fire fighters and multiple local fire departments? Who coordinates all those firefighting aircraft? Who directs loans of firefighters from, for example, Arizona to California? Yes, it is the National Interagency Center.

Now, is there an National Interagency Hurricane Center? To my knowledge no, and that is part of the problem.

FEMA as an agency is set up to go in and help victims after a disaster is over. That is all they do because that is all they know how to do. That is because helping a home or business rebuild is pretty much the same no matter what destroyed it. They know as little about fighting fires as the National Interagency Wildlands Fire Center understands about Huricaines.

[hankandted]

DRaymond is right. Fires happen every year out here. The only credit Bush should get is that he did not dismantle the agency.

That being said, the situation in Southern Cal could have been much worse. It so happens that the fire season in NorCal was over last week, after a long, soaking rain. As a result, numerous crews have been dispatched from NorCal to help out. In a normal year these crews would not have been sent, because our fire season usually does not end until Halloween. Remember the Oakland Hills fire was in October.

The state and local governments get credit for the evacuation calls and the citizens get credit for responding.

It remains to be seen how FEMA does.

[cynara]

I'm in San Diego, and haven't heard anything about National Interagency Wildland Fire Center. Actually the organization that is basically coordinating everything fire fighting wise, and disseminating fire information is CalFire (which may be part of the NIWFC). FEMA came in yesterday, but from what I've seen I'd call this mainly a state, not national, response.

[JulieSA]

This is true. FEMA is not a first responder agency. Anyone who sits in their house and waits for FEMA to come save them is in for a long wait. That's not their job.

I've watched the NIWFC at work on Wyoming forest fires. They are amazing.

[cognate]

FEMA, as an uber-bureaucracy, is bound to come up short.

Ron Paul warned about this and opposed its creation.

[CheGuevara1]

All hail Ron Paul?

[Bladernr1001]

Here Here!

Someone who understands that government is not the solution to most things.

I agree with Ron Paul. FEMA was a dumb idea in its very concept. It is proved every time it is deployed.

FEMA, stay away from CA....we don't need ya.