Fire & Ice
The Santa Ana winds are driving wildfires through my old stomping ground in SoCal. The LAPD has issued a very SoCal warning:
So far, over 200,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes as the fires are spreading fast, helped by dry conditions and 80mph winds. With over 116,000 acres currently engulfed in flames, many residents fleeing have been loading up their possessions and bugging out, but navigation apps aren’t helping.
In a press conference on Wednesday, LAPD commander Blake Chow said that some navigation apps are correctly identifying traffic-free streets, but that the reason they were unjammed was because they happened to be on fire. He urged residents to use caution before trusting their navigation apps, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Meanwhile, a record low is being recorded – Trump’s approval rating:
Donald Trump’s approval rating has reached the lowest point of his 11-month-long presidency, dropping to 32 percent this week as his embattled White House administration has shrugged off allegations of sexual assault, collusion with Russia and ineffective leadership. The president’s disapproval rating was 63 percent in the Pew Research Center survey released Thursday, a new high for the survey.
Is that like 0%C? I’m experiencing 32°F and am going to hibernate.
6 comments
If you draw the shortest line between the lilac fire and the ocean I bet I’m within a football field of being on it.
Some really great heroics by fire fighters and the public. The burn area is festooned with thorough-bred horse farms and horse owners. People came from all over with horse trailers and loaded them up to take to Del Mar — It has a 1500 horse stable facility
(who knew!).
And the Media deserves a big hand for reporting on these heroics as well as keeping the public informed.
The fire ran down the San Luis Rey river valley and then stopped for Saturday. This time was spent gathering out of state resources and co-opting San Diego’s night vision helicopters to continue water drops over night. The wind is going to pick up to a gusty 45 MPH today but I’m less worried than I was Friday night. The resources are in place. Hope the other fires fare equally well!
I have family in Del Mar and am very familiar with the race track and facilities. In addition to the thoroughbreds several of my clients raised Arabians, so there are more facilities in Rancho Santa Fe and Fairbanks Ranch.
The San Diego county fire is in rugged country up around Fallbrook, so people up there will want to move horses too.
It’s pretty late for Santa Anas. I remember them in September and October back in the 1980s.
A hundred yards isn’t much of a buffer when the winds kick up. Stay safe,
Shirt.
Here in sunny California we deal with the winter chill by sitting out on our front porches and basking in the heat of our wildfires.
– Badtux the (sadly) Snarky Penguin
I went through droughts, Santa Anas, and wildfires when I was living in San Diego, but the frequency and intensity is magnified in the last decade. The damage in Ventura county alone has to be close to a major hurricane. Watching the fires approach the Getty Estate with its priceless art was bad, but just as bad, in many ways worse, was watching the lives of regular people go up in flames.
This is supposed to be the rainy season, not the fire season. 🙁
This is at least two months out of whack. Sled dog racing is going to disappear 🙁