Southern California Fires Affecting Battle at the Border

[Kyle]

Originally Posted by EricH

I don't get why Castaic is burning again. I'd have thought the Day Fire last year would have cleared that area out. The same goes for Malibu last winter.

New growth starts quick, roots and such, also people plant new tress and stuff that a fire would just rip through. Wild Fire's are THE worst type of fire because they can travel by wind or even under ground by the root structure of plants so even if you put the fire out on the surface you have to dig up all the area and make sure that everything is out, thats why it takes so long for these fires to be placed under control.

To Jon Jack:
As a fellow Fire Fighter I am praying for your friend who might be burned and the families of the other 6 known fire fighter deaths so far.

Once this fire reaches a certain level of fire service need there is a chance that I can fly out there and help out, I hope that it doesn't get that bad.

Good luck to all who are being effected.

[Jon Jack]

I've had a long night. I just woke up from a two hour nap.

My dad is the manager of the San Diego County Sheriff's Printshop which is located down by the border, and at the heart of the fire storm. He got a call at 11:30PM last night from one of this deputies who asked him to print some documents to support the National Guard troops arriving to day. They needed the documents by 7am this morning so he left right away and I went with him.

By the time we got to his shop there was an orange glow off in the horizon. There is a hill that was 50-60 yards from the door of his shop and the flames were right on the top of the hill. The smoke was think and the ash burned the eyes. Periodically throughout the night we'd check the ridge to make sure the fire wasn't coming down the hill. After 2 hours we got the job done and quickly left the area. As we were coming down off the mesa where his shop is located, we saw the entire side of the mesa on fire.

When we got back to the street I live on you could see flames maybe 10-15 miles east of us.

We've heard from more of the members and mentors of team 1622 from Poway, CA. As of yet no one from their team has lost a home. We've only heard from one mentor from one of our Ramona teams. He said his home was fine and that he hadn't heard from anyone else in the area.

As for our family friend... Her station is right next to my dad's shop. When we arrived at the shop her car and fire engine was there and the commanding officers said that they had seen her and that she was safe and sound.

[+()c|D]

Originally Posted by Jon Jack

That map doesn't even show the 'Witch Fire' burning down here.

I'm not sure if this one does, but it is a great (not that there is anything good about this) representation of this....

[+()c|D]

My heart also goes out to all affected by the fire, some of my friends live in Malibu and they are going through the same thing. All I can say is I hope that these fires will be out as soon as possible and that these winds stay calm.

As for the Battle at the Border, whats the word??? I hope that you will be able to postpone it by a few weeks, or a month or whatever is necessary.

Good luck to all that are being affected by the fires, and god bless.

[Madison]

This map -- (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...e9ca465cefeeed) -- is being updated much more frequently and accurately than anything I've seen on the news.

[Jon Jack]

Shortly after my last post we (myself and the three other people who are running this competition) had an 'emergency' meeting the discuss the future of Battle at the Border. We're sorry to regret that we are canceling the event. I've sent this email to all team leads:

Battle at the Border Participants,

We hope this email finds you, your family, and the members of your team safe and in good health. Unfortunately, due to the fires burning out of control in San Diego and throughout Southern California, we have found it necessary to cancel the Team San Diego Battle at the Border FIRST Robotics Competition scheduled for October 27th. Although we regret the late notice informing you of our decision, like you, we kept hoping our local situation would have changed for the better – it hasn’t and it doesn’t look like it will before Saturday. Many concerns have brought us to this decision: 300,000 plus people evacuated; very poor air quality; loss of major power lines; school closures; the Mayor of San Diego’s request to avoid travel as much as possible in order to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles; the uncertainty of where the fires will burn and when they will be contained; and most importantly, the safety of you and your team members.

Due to other FIRST events and school holidays, we will not be able to hold the Battle @ the Border before the start of the FRC season. We are, however, planning on holding the event next fall. We would like to thank all of the 24 teams for their outstanding support and understanding and look forward to competing with all the teams in the upcoming season. Upon the reopening of our schools, Team San Diego will be notifying each team to discuss the best method for refunds. Please be safe.

Sincerely,
Team San Diego

[Dan Petrovic]

Good luck to everyone is being affected by these fires.

Luckily, the worst weather New England has been with as far as I know is snow (although the ice storm last year was pretty rough). A wildfire is a possiblility and, especially at this time of year, if one picked up, we'd be toast (no pun intended).

My brother and mother were watching the story downstairs and one of the first things I thought of was "I wonder if anyone has posted about this on CD." This seems to be my news feed.

[Bomberofdoom]

I'm from California too, currently in Israel, wishing you guys to be safe as possbile.

[indieFan]

Originally Posted by Kyle

As a fellow Fire Fighter I am praying for your friend who might be burned and the families of the other 6 known fire fighter deaths so far.

Kyle,

So far, only 2 deaths are being reported. One in San Diego, and one in Santa Clarita.

indieFan

[Bcahn836]

i am down in point loma, ca and i can see and smell smoke cars are covered in soot and ash. many navy familes that have been evacuated in the area are coming to my base. I was underway monday and the smoke blowing off the coast was restricting visibility to less than 1/2 mile. my craft was around san clemente island when we got the call that some of the guys on the boat, homes were being evacuated. and we immediately headed back to san diego. everyone got out safe but no updates on their homes as of yet.

[Kyle]

Originally Posted by indieFan

Kyle,

So far, only 2 deaths are being reported. One in San Diego, and one in Santa Clarita.

indieFan

That dose not account for the Fire Truck that flipped over and killed 4 fire fighters last week while responding to one of the fires. Not directly killed by the flames but the situation.

[Zyik]

Old google maps link won't work for me anymore. This does for now.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...79739.htmlpage

Glad the Santa Clarita fire moved, was right next to my cousins house.

[+()c|D]

I would not be supprised if the fires burned to mexico and the sea, the question, though, is what will happen then??

just hope all of you that are being directly effected by the fire are ok...

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by EricH

I don't get why Castaic is burning again. I'd have thought the Day Fire last year would have cleared that area out. The same goes for Malibu last winter.

I heard that the Castaic fire started just south of the Day Fire burn area. Had the wind been blowing from the ocean, the fire would have quickly run into the burn area and died out, because it hasn't regrown very much yet. But of course with the Santa Ana winds blowing from the north/east, the fire has been blown further into unburned areas.

As for Malibu, it has a very long coast line. When winds are from the north, the fire blows from the hills down to the sea. As I recall, only about eight homes were burned last winter, which is less than a city block. This week's fire started in a different section of Malibu.

The fact is that, even though there are so many fires right now, and they are so big, the unburned areas of the state are many times bigger. We will always have fires.

Which is why our recent news sounds like a rerun.

[George]

HI Jon,

We at Team 60 are sorry to hear about the fires and hope all is well with everyone in the San Diego area. After some discussion, we would like to donate out registration fees to any FIRST team or FIRST family in the San Diego area. We will leave this to your discretion. We hope you all survive well and God Bless, Team 60.

Have fun soon.
Geo

p.s. Next Year?