# Bad fires in San Diego County!!! Call resort before coming



## Cathyb (Oct 22, 2007)

If you have any timeshare reservations for this next week, call your resort and be sure everything is ok.  We have seven huge fires with homes burning right and left -- especially Rancho Bernardo.  The winds are horrendous so they cannot fly the airplanes to help put out the flames.  Weatherman says another 2 days of same thing!

One of our TV reporters, Larry Kimmell, has lost his home and Del Mar Racetrack is full of animals from inland locations.  This is the worse fire in San Diego history.


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## ricoba (Oct 22, 2007)

I was curious about Welk.  I heard the fires are near Fallbrook now.


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## BevL (Oct 22, 2007)

I heard that most of Ramona had been evacuated?  Aren't there a few resorts there?  Can't remember the names.


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## TravelSFO (Oct 22, 2007)

We have four families (family members) with homes in the area.  So far, none of the homes have been affected but all have been evacuated.  One family says the fire is within a half mile of their home.

CBS8 has a list of homes that have been taken by the fire so far:  http://www.cbs8.com/


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## ricoba (Oct 22, 2007)

BevL said:


> I heard that most of Ramona had been evacuated?  Aren't there a few resorts there?  Can't remember the names.



Yes, the whole town has evacuated.  They mentioned Ramona Country Estates, is that the timeshare?


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## Fletcher921 (Oct 22, 2007)

Ramona Country estates is a housing area - not the timeshare...


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## Stressy (Oct 22, 2007)

The timeshare is San Diego County Estates...but it is located in Ramona. Also, Riveria Oaks Resort.


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## TerriJ (Oct 22, 2007)

I just flew home from San Diego today.  We were at Carlsbad Seapointe Resort for the past four days.  We were in San Diego yesterday and rode the train and bus back up to Carlsbad.  The smoke was really bad at the Solana Beach station where we caught a bus.  Skies were clear in Carlsbad, but you could see the smoke in the distance.

I'm sorry to hear about this for the California people, animals, and land.


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## Fisch (Oct 23, 2007)

Too crazy.  We have the cars and boat loaded up if we get a mandatory evac call.


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## Stressy (Oct 23, 2007)

Fisch said:


> Too crazy.  We have the cars and boat loaded up if we get a mandatory evac call.



Been there, done that earlier this year. Put your cars on the street and board up your outside vents so the embers can't get in. Most homes are destroyed from the inside out. STAY SAFE!


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## John Cummings (Oct 23, 2007)

Regardless of whether the resort is directly affected, you should stay away because of the very bad air quality. I live in the Temecula Valley which is about 30 miles north of Escondido. We have no fires in our area but the air is terrible. I awoke this morning to a thick coat of ash and soot on everything.

You will also be restricted from traveling around.


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## ava (Oct 23, 2007)

I live in So. Orange County. The air quality is terrible. I live about 5 miles from the Orange County part of the fire. People should stay away from this area for awhile. I heard that the interstate 15 is closed so if people are supposed to go to Lawrence Welk that is out.


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## UWSurfer (Oct 23, 2007)

My long anticipated week at San Clemente Inn (SCI) is/was this week wouldn't you know.   San Clemente is sort of an island between the San Diego Fires and the OC fires and the area has seen alot of evacuee's from San Diego which has 300,000 people evacuated from their homes. 

SCI mangement called the owners in our units to say that IF we were planning to leave early they've got lots of evacuee's who could use the room.  After two nights at the resort, my  concious got the better of me and we checked out this morning to make room for those who need it.   There was a waiting list this morning for available rooms and at least two seniors waiting there had slept in their cars last night.  My home is 90 minutes from the resort and frankly I will sleep better knowing that I'm not taking up space better served by someone in need.  

For those who aren't too hot on SCI, know that they are slowly updating the units.  We were in 201 and they've nicely refreshed that wing with new paint, carpets, furniture, refaced the cabinets and replaced the sink, counter tops with solid surfaces and have gone to a respectble brown on cream color scheme.  There are also new appliances too.   Doesn't make one inch more of space but having stayed recently in an older room, the make over is very pleasing.


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## borntotravel (Oct 23, 2007)

UWSurfer said:


> SCI mangement called the owners in our units to say that IF we were planning to leave early they've got lots of evacuee's who could use the room.  After two nights at the resort, my  concious got the better of me and we checked out this morning to make room for those who need it.   There was a waiting list this morning for available rooms and at least two seniors waiting there had slept in their cars last night.  My home is 90 minutes from the resort and frankly I will sleep better knowing that I'm not taking up space better served by someone in need.



That was very nice and considerate of you, I think I would have had to do the same.  I live on the east coast, but have been keeping up with the situation.  It is so very, very sad.  My heart and prayers go out to all of those affected by those horrible fires.  I pray that they are out soon.


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## hsintang (Oct 23, 2007)

Does anyone know about the condition in Solona beach area?

Thanks,
Yvette


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## PStreet1 (Oct 23, 2007)

In case you want to check to see what you can about fire locations, these are good sites:

http://www.cbs8.com

The UT has a Goggle map that they seem to be keeping up on fairly well:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/firemap
It shows the location of the fires as well as the evacuations.

SD County Emergency Homepage: http://www.sdcountyemergency.com

an evacueeposted this site to to watch her house...... 
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=....00043d08ac31fe3357571&hl=en&ie=UTF8&z=9&om=1


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## sage (Oct 23, 2007)

To all those of you affected by the fires I really feel for you.
We have similar blazes nearly every year in Australia and many homes are lost. It is really heartbreaking to see homes go up in flames. It happened to one of our friends a few years ago and you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy.

Does anyone know if the fires are near the Marriott Newport Coast Villas?. We are booked in there next year.


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## UWSurfer (Oct 23, 2007)

No fires anywhere near the Marriot Newport Villas but the smoke from the fires east of it in Irvine have pretty much blanketed the area for several days.


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## sage (Oct 23, 2007)

Thanks. I'll keep checking this site for any further info.


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## ricoba (Oct 23, 2007)

sage said:


> Does anyone know if the fires are near the Marriott Newport Coast Villas?. We are booked in there next year.



As UWSurfer told you, the fires are nowhere near Newport.

For reference, the only fire that was close to the Pacific was the Malibu fire.  All the other fires are inland and away from the coastal areas of CA.  But we still see and smell the smoke here.


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## Liz Wolf-Spada (Oct 23, 2007)

We own at Welk in Escondido and parts of Escondido have been evacuated as has Ramona and now Julian.
Liz


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## ricoba (Oct 23, 2007)

Liz Wolf-Spada said:


> We own at Welk in Escondido and parts of Escondido have been evacuated as has Ramona and now Julian.
> Liz



Liz,
How are you doing up in Wrightwood?  Don't you teach at Rim of the World?


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## UWSurfer (Oct 24, 2007)

hsintang said:


> Does anyone know about the condition in Solona beach area?
> 
> Thanks,
> Yvette



Per http://calfire.blogspot.com/

City of Solana Beach - All Solana Beach evacuation notices lifted. The City of Solana Beach has lifted all evacuation notices within the city. Residents who evacuated are allowed to return to their homes.


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## taffy19 (Oct 24, 2007)

UWSurfer said:


> No fires anywhere near the Marriot Newport Villas but the smoke from the fires east of it in Irvine have pretty much blanketed the area for several days.


We are staying at the Laguna Surf in Laguna Beach and saw the cloud of smoke of the Malibu fire over the ocean on October 21, 2007 at 6.31 PM.



 
Yesterday, we saw another cloud of fire coming from the other direction which may be the Santiago fire or yet another one.



 
We have to drive home every night and when we reach the end of Laguna Canyon, where the San Diego freeway crosses, we can see the Santiago fire on the ridge of the mountain just like this picture here but from farther away. The ashes and air are bad at home as well as at our resort. Two days ago, we had to stay inside all day and leave the doors and windows closed because of the smoke and ashes flying around and it was very hot.


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## Cathyb (Oct 24, 2007)

We just returned from a voluntary evacuation where we went to Orange County to be with family.  On the way south on I-5 near Camp Pendleton we saw about six small fires.  The streets are littered with dirt and the sky is still smoky but all is ok in Carlsbad


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## Carol C (Oct 24, 2007)

UWSurfer said:


> Per http://calfire.blogspot.com/
> 
> City of Solana Beach - All Solana Beach evacuation notices lifted. The City of Solana Beach has lifted all evacuation notices within the city. Residents who evacuated are allowed to return to their homes.



Hopefully this means that Sand Pebbles made it through unsinged.


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## hsintang (Oct 24, 2007)

Carol C said:


> Hopefully this means that Sand Pebbles made it through unsinged.



I got an e-mail from the management company this morning (I asked them a  question earlier) and it said" the resort is closed now for cleaning, they were allowed to return to the office yesterday".  Yvette


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## Mimi (Oct 24, 2007)

Glad to hear you're OK, Cathy!


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## Cathyb (Oct 24, 2007)

Mimi-thank you!  If there is ANYTHING I can suggest to Tuggers it is to have a handy, pre-thought out list of what you would pack if you never see your house again, and post it behind a door -- I then would think I, as a Tugger, have done 'my duty'


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## sage (Oct 25, 2007)

Cathyb,
This may be too late for many but may help in the future.
Our friends that lost their house to bush fires had a couple of things ready to go if they every had to evacuate. They stored them in a safe, but easily accessible place just in case. Some were in plastic storage boxes so they could be easily moved. When they did need to evacuate, they just grabbed them on their way out.

All important documents (insurance, bank details, mortgage paperwork, passports, marriage licences, birth certificates, etc) were in a filing cabinet draw. The draw had the stoppers at the back removed (so it could slide out easily)
All your photo albums - many of the photos may not be able to be replaced.
Your computer and discs. If you're in a hurry yank the cords out as these are cheap to replace) - information on your hard drive is not.
Take photos of every aspect of every room. If necessary, email it to yourself. That way you have photos to prove what you when you make an insurance claim. The first thing the insurance assessors asked our friends was to write down EVERY ITEM from EVERY ROOM. This included every little toy, trinket, kitchen item and number of each item of clothing (including brands!) 
Better still, go through your house and make a really comprehensive list and take pictures.

If you live in a fire prone area, you could  put a storage box together at the beginning of the fire season with at least one set of clothes for each family member & some toiletries. Our friends had nothing but the clothes they were wearing and, because they were in shock that they had lost their house, broke down when they realised they had nothing to wash with or to change into the next day.
You could leave this in your car; at a friends house or where ever is accessible.

Gillian


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## UWSurfer (Oct 26, 2007)

*Update on SCI...I'm back!*

As I posted earlier, this week was my week at the San Clemente Inn.   We checked out Tuesday morning as there was a steady stream of evacuee's coming to the resort looking for a place to stay.

As I had the remainder of the week for vacation, I came back down Thursday to surf at San Onofre, one of the best surf spots in Southern California and just a mile or two from SCI.  On my way back I stopped in to see how things were going and found the resort had emptied out today as people were permitted to return to their homes in many parts of San Diego County.

So I'm back with my surf board and scuba gear and will be using SCI as a base to play for the next couple of days.    I packed an overnight bag with my laptop, a few t-shirts, shorts and a sweat shirt.  It was very smokey today all over down here (like a camp ground at night), but as the evening came the humidity has picked up and it's feeling more like normal...as well as less smokey.   They are forecasting a high of 78 tomorrow and low 80's for the weekend so it should be nice with a mix of reasonable sized surf tomorrow!!!

I'm in another newly redone unit on the lower floor here and I think it's even nicer than our unit earlier in the week.   The biggest difference is this unit has a large flat screen TV in the living room where the other unit has a standard TV.  As these aren't the largest units around, the flat screen lower profile makes a difference and is on an arm so it can be positioned to be viewed from anywhere in the living room.

The only other side effect is the pool and hot tubs are closed due to all the ash which blew into them.  I'm told they expect them to be cleaned and back up for the weekend.

I'm back!


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## Jestjoan (Oct 26, 2007)

*Free household inventory*

http://www.knowyourstuff.org/


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## ava (Oct 26, 2007)

Just a little advance warning to anyone traveling to San Diego or Los Angeles in general. The air quality is really bad. You can smell it in the air all day and all evening. They are saying it will remain bad for at least another of couple of weeks. We have soot all over the ground and on the plants and so on. If you have any kind of breathing problems I would check with my doctor.


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## John Cummings (Oct 26, 2007)

If possible, I would stay away from Southern California for the next few weeks.

Since the winds shifted back to the normal on-shore it has become very smoky here in the Temecula Valley. All of the schools are closed.


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## ava (Oct 26, 2007)

The schools are closed in the area of Orange County that I live. I wouldn't visit So. California if I didn't have to either.


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## Bill4728 (Oct 26, 2007)

Hope you all came thru the fires in good shape. I'm glad to hear that they seem to have a handle on most of them now. 

Good luck and we'll keep you all in our prayers.


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## angel72 (Oct 26, 2007)

I know some of you said it's probably not a good idea to visit for several weeks.  do you think it would be ok to visit by Thanksgiving week?


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## xyl22xya (Oct 26, 2007)

Even after the fires are out, until we get some rain (which might not happen before Thanksgiving), its going to be dusty any time the winds pick up.  Its probably not a great idea to make new plans to visit soon, but unless you are highly sensitive to particulate, or expect outdoor activity to be a big part of your vacation, its probably not necessary to cancel.


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## ricoba (Oct 26, 2007)

Visiting here is all going to depend upon date and location.

Here near the coast we have had smoke all week (and we are quite far from the fires), because the Santa Ana winds were blowing out to sea.  

Now that the winds have subsided, today has been much much clearer, due to the onshore flow.

So I guess it really depends on what area you will be visiting.

Now that the winds have begun to change, I bet that Vegas will be a place affected by the smoke.


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## Fern Modena (Oct 26, 2007)

It was gray and overcast down in the valley this morning...it was smoke from the California fires.  Up here on the hill it wasn't so bad, but if we don't get wind in a few days we'll really feel it.

Many folks don't realize that Vegas is shaped like a basin. We're at one of the high points.  We're at about 3,200 ft.

Fern



ricoba said:


> Now that the winds have begun to change, I bet that Vegas will be a place affected by the smoke.


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## Liz Wolf-Spada (Oct 26, 2007)

Our area of Wrightwood is very smoky. I teach in Phelan (Snowline not Rim of the World) and we started off Thursday with an "inclement weather day" ie no outdoor recess and ended up with school closed today due to unhealthy air quality. We are in the San Gabriel Mountains which run east and west and are OK, as opposed to the San Bernardino Mountains that run north and south. Four of the new teachers at our school live near Arrowhead and have been evacuated. The loss of life and property and memories, as well as I'm sure the loss of many animals' lives and homes has been unbelievable.
Thanks everyone for all continued prayer and support for victims of this ongoing disaster out here.
Liz


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## taffy19 (Oct 27, 2007)

Bill4728 said:


> Hope you all came thru the fires in good shape. I'm glad to hear that they seem to have a handle on most of them now.
> 
> Good luck and we'll keep you all in our prayers.


Thank you Bill.  As long as we don't get another Santa Ana, we should be OK.  If we only would get rain!

The air was decent today on the coast but ashes and soot are everywhere even inside our home and it was closed up for a week.  I feel for the people who lost their home and everything in it too.  I hope that everyone is safe who belongs to this forum.


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## angel72 (Oct 27, 2007)

We have reservations at the Riviera resort at Capistrano Beach the week of Thanksgiving.  Do you guys think it will be clear by then?  Most of the things we planned to do would be outside.  Thanks for your input.


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## UWSurfer (Oct 27, 2007)

You'll be fine by Thanksgiving.  Frankly you'd be fine there right now. 

I drove past the Rivera Thursday and Friday as I went to and from Laguna Beach.   Thursday it was pretty smokey here as the winds had basically stopped in both directions.  Friday the normal ocean breezes kicked in and we had good air at the coast. 

Barring another fire closer in, you'll have no problem.


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## Northeast (Oct 27, 2007)

*Newport Coast Villas*

How did NCV villas come through the fires?  Headed there for Thanksgiving.  I wish I could send some of this pounding rain from NJ to So Cal.  We are under water here!!


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## Fisch (Oct 27, 2007)

*Photo taken from friends house*






That is a photo taken of the fires here in North County SD.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fischproductions/1776688710/


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## ricoba (Oct 27, 2007)

Northeast said:


> How did NCV villas come through the fires?  Headed there for Thanksgiving.  I wish I could send some of this pounding rain from NJ to So Cal.  We are under water here!!



NCV is not near the fires.  Could you please bring some rain when you do come?


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## luv2vacation (Oct 27, 2007)

ricoba said:


> NCV is not near the fires.  Could you please bring some rain when you do come?



Someone on another post reported it being smokey last week.  I am coming next Saturday (10/3) and planning 2 days in Disneyland.  Anyone know if the smoke in that area has cleared?  I know it's too late to cancel but my sister, who is coming with me, is asthmatic and just want to know what to expect!

I feel so bad for the people that have lost their homes, I wish that I *could* bring NJ's rain with me (at least for a day or 2 - it is a *soaking* rain)!!


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## taffy19 (Oct 27, 2007)

luv2vacation said:


> Someone on another post reported it being smokey last week.  I am coming next Saturday (10/3) and planning 2 days in Disneyland.  Anyone know if the smoke in that area has cleared?  I know it's too late to cancel but my sister, who is coming with me, is asthmatic and just want to know what to expect!
> 
> I feel so bad for the people that have lost their homes, I wish that I *could* bring NJ's rain with me (at least for a day or 2 - it is a *soaking* rain)!!


We would love your rain!     The coast is clear and we have the marine layer the last two days until later in the day.  It's OK at Disneyland too.  We even had a little drizzle this morning so hopefully the extreme fire danger is gone until the Santa Ana winds come up again.  They are the cause of our fires because the wind is very strong and the humidity goes way down.  

The Orange County fire was started by an arsonist who knew what he was doing.  If they catch him, they should set him on fire too and let him burn to death but that won't happen.  He killed a few people and what pain he caused to many.


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## luv2vacation (Oct 27, 2007)

iconnections said:


> The Orange County fire was started by an arsonist who knew what he was doing.



I had heard that on the news - I will never understand such terrible people!

Thanks so much for taking the time to share the information on the conditions.  I really appreciate it.

As for the rain, it has finally stopped here.  The sun is even out.  It has rained non-stop (some drizzle, some soaking) since Tuesday!  I usually don't like rain but we really needed it also (had only rained once - lightly -since early September), so it didn't bother me much.  Amazing how differently you view the rain when you know that it is much needed!!


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## John Cummings (Oct 27, 2007)

angel72 said:


> I know some of you said it's probably not a good idea to visit for several weeks.  do you think it would be ok to visit by Thanksgiving week?



Thanksgiving week should be just fine. There is a light rain right now which will clear things up in a hurry if it lasts.


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