Sunday Morning, October 26th
 

When I got up Sunday morning, I could smell smoke but didn't think much about it.  When Patti came home from work, she asked where the fire was...she could see huge clouds of smoke to the southeast as she drove home.  She turned on the television and learned a fire had broken out during the night in the hills east of Ramona.  It had burned to the west through the  Morena Valley and Eucalyptus Hills areas near Lakeside and was now heading towards the Scripps Ranch area southwest of Poway.  There was also mention of a fire in the Valley Center area, near where our oldest daughter lives.  Patti called her at that time, and though she could see smoke from the fire to the east, everything seemed to be OK with our daughter.

As we watched TV during the morning, the fire spread further west into the hills south of Poway and on towards the Scripps Ranch area southwest of Poway.  There was much local media coverage of the areas of South San Diego County affected by what was now know as the Cedar Fire, but there was little mention of the fire in Valley Center and no news about Poway.  I assumed the fire was moving to the south and west and would at most brush the south side of Poway where a fire had burned earlier in the year creating a natural fire break.  I also assumed the Poway Business Park, along the ridge to the south would keep the fire from moving into Poway.

What I didn't know, and what I wish the media would have mentioned...the fire was also burning northwest through the hills southeast of Poway.  Had I known that, I might have been more concerned about our own safety.

Sunday, Midday

The smoke to the south was thick and roilling.  It stretched all the way along the horizon from east to west.  There was much concern for the Scripps Ranch and Tierrasanta Areas, but still no mention of Poway.  I felt fairly comfortable and safe.  We did get a call from our oldest daughter.  The Valley Center fire, now known as the Paradise fire, was advancing towards her area and she had been told to get ready to evacuate.  When the urgent notice to evacuate finally came, she didn't have much time to gather any  possessions and ultimately got out with our two grandsons but little else.

Sunday Afternoon
 

The smoke had become thicker now and was moving overhead.  I was beginning to worry a little.  There was media mention of fire approaching the Sycamore Canyon and Garden Road areas, but no mention of any fire approaching northeast Poway from the hills to the east.  Fire coming from that direction would put our home in more danger.

Sometime in the middle of the afternoon, Patti mentioned seeing flames up the canyon towards the east of our neighborhood.  I looked but didn't see any...I could only see thick black smoke.  About 20 minutes later, she told me to look again and yes, indeed, flames were now spreading across the mountain ridges east of Poway.  I was now very concerned.  The fire was getting too close and coming from a direction I had always worried about since moving into our home at the foot of Rattlesnake Canyon.

Around 3:00 PM, a Sheriff's car came down our street and the deputy told everyone in the neighborhood that we should consider packing some belongings and get ready to evacuate if necessary.  Patti backed her 4-Runner up to our front door and I hitched our Casita travel trailer to my pickup.  We started thinking about what to take and getting it ready to load if we had to leave.  Within a half hour, the fire had jumped across Poway Road and was burning down into Rattlesnake Canyon.  We stopped merely thinking about it and started loading.  As the fire started burning along Tooth Mountain to the east, the deputy returned with a more urgent warning that it was time to consider leaving.  With flames shooting up behind our neighbor's house at the end of the cul-de-sac, looking as if they were licking at his back fence, I agreed with the Sheriff's deputy and we drove out.  Some of our neighbors had decided to stay but many were packing to leave and a few had already left.

As we drove west on Twin Peaks Road, horses were being evacuated from the Stables and Rodeo grounds, where some had initially been brought from areas further east for safety from the fires...apparently I wasn't the only one who at first hadn't been concerned about the fire moving into our area.

Sunday Evening
 

About an hour before sunset, we made our way to the Costco parking lot in Carmel Mtn.  Ranch.  I parked the truck and trailer at the east end of the parking lot.  We had a good view from there and could see the smoke and flames in the distance towards the general direction of our home...not much we could do at this point but watch and wait.

There were other people in the parking lot who had evacuated.  One man drove back into the area of our homes just after sunset.  He said the fire was burning through the High Valley area to the east and along the ridge to the south toward Dearborn Cemetery, where our grandson is buried.  Patti drove down a couple of hours later and confirmed that the hill to the south was burning, but our neighborhood was apparently going to be OK unless the winds picked up or shifted.  I suggested we might head back, but she said the smoke was too thick and breathing would be difficult.  We watched the orange glow to the east for awhile and then climbed into the Casita for the night.

Monday, October 27th

We headed back home around sunrise.  The air was thick with smoke and we could not yet see what areas around us had burned.  It would be another day before we could see the fire had burned the ridges to the east and south but had not burned any homes in our immediate area...though we eventually learned there were homes lost in the canyons and hills to the east and southeast and in the Garden Road and Sycamore Canyon areas.

As a mild marine layer moved in over the San Diego County area, the smoke thickened.  There were fires still burning.  They would burn for several more days as they turned 180 degrees and moved to the east towards the mountain towns of Pine Valley, Cuyamaca and Julian.  The marine layer served as a cork, keeping the smoke bottled up in the coastal hills, canyons and mesas of the county...even the beach areas were affected.  The smoke was thick and breathing was difficult.  The sun was a faint orange ball and the sky, hills and canyons took on an eerie brownish-orange cast.  Visibility was around 1/4 mile to maybe a 1/2 mile at best.  Around midday, Susie (Andy's mom) brought us some masks she uses in her dental hygene practice.  They made breathing much easier.

It would be another couple of days before a weather front moved through the area and the smoke would clear out.  It was then that we were able to drive about and see what areas had burned and what areas were spared.  Considering the damage to the rest of the county, Poway fared pretty well...though there were over 50 homes eventually lost to the flames.

Sunday, November 9th

It has been 2 weeks since the fires started burning through the county.  Towards the end of the week after the fires started, we learned our daughters home in the Valley Center area had been spared, though power has just recently been restored and she cannot yet move back in.  She has been able to get in and start cleaning things up, such as the refrigerator and freezer left without power for several days, along with a thick accumulation of ash.  Hopefully, she'll be able to move back into her home during the next week.

Monday, November 17th

Over the last week, we've had light rain every few days for a total of a little over 1/2 inch.
As long as the rain stays light and occasional, there should be no flooding danger and it should help re-establish natural ground cover to keep the hills from eroding.  The power, water and phone services have been restored in our daughter's area.  She and her family have finally moved back home.  We are all pretty much back to our regular routines and looking forward to the coming holiday season.

A few photos from our perspective...
 
 

Witch Creek Fire

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Patti and I were forced to evacuate from our home Monday morning (10/22/07).  
We had been keeping an eye on the Witch Creek fire's progress from it's start, around
midday Sunday (10/21/07), by watching the local San Diego TV broadcast stations.  
I had already hooked up our travel trailer and we piled important documents, photos,
computer drives, etc. at the front door.  Even though there was lot's of smoke, there
was no visible fire.  We didn't get much sleep Sunday night.

I can't remember which came first, the reverse 911 call (on both our phone lines
almost simultaneously) stating our area was under mandatory evacuation orders;
or, the San Diego County sheriff's deputy driving down our street announcing over
a bull horn that our neighborhood had been declared a dangerous fire area and we
must leave.  We loaded everything into our vehicles and left.  

We parked and watched from a local Costco parking lot.  After a couple of hours,
things settled down and looked OK, so we returned to our home.  A few hours
later, flames appeared on a ridge to the northeast and started heading towards our
neighborhood.  We watched for awhile and eventually decided it was time to leave
again.  There was no order to leave this time.  As far as the local authorities were
concerned, we weren't there, we had already left and settled into the Poway
Community Center fire evacuation shelter.

We spent the night in a local Wal-Mart parking lot, along with some of our neighbors,
watching a wall of flames make it's way across and down the hills behind our homes.
Early the next morning, I drove Patti's 4-Runner (my truck was still hooked up to our
trailer) into our neighborhood.  There were a few isolated hot spots in the hills above
our home, but the flames didn't reach our neighborhood.  Even though the mandatory
evacuation order was still in effect and would not be lifted until Wednesday morning,
I saw no reason not to return home.  We had gas and water service, but no power.  
When we couldn't get a definite answer when power would be restored, I hooked
up the trailer fridge to propane and started cooling it down.  When the temperature
in the refrigerators rose to 50+ degrees fahrenheit, Patti drove to a store and bought
as much ice as she could and packed the food from our refrigerators into ice chests.  
We left the freezers closed to deal with later if necessary.  The estimated return
of power was at least 2 days, but by the end of the day, our power was back on.

We have some fences and tree limbs down from the strong Santa Ana winds.  Anything
in our backyard that wasn't tied down is strewn about.  There's leaves and wind blown
debris piled in all the corners and crevices of our backyard.  It's still smoky and everything
inside our house and out is covered with a layer of fine, black ash.  Otherwise, our home
is not damaged and all is OK.

Rich

Copyright © 2003-2007, by Rich McCormack
Send comments and questions to macknet@pacbell.net

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