San Diego Fires

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Prayers and best thoughts out to all of you who have homes or family in danger. Please let us know if we can help.

[Ponine]

Fire in sight of Pomerado Hospital

11:26 a.m. POWAY –Fire and smoke crested the hills immediately east of Villa Pomerado here at 11 a.m. today, and mechanic and service workers for the hospital complex were manning hoses the defend the facility.
All workers were being told at 11:15 to evacuate Pomerado Hospital and Villa Pomerado. Fire appeared to be coming over the hills from the east. Mechanics had gone to fire extinguisher boxes on the roof of the parking structure to pull hoses and fighting equipment. Smoke was thick.

No fire trucks could be seen in the area of the hospital complex.

Meanwhile, a long line of Villa Pomerado patients in wheelchairs were quickly being moved onto school buses lined up to evacuate patients from the nursing facility. More than 120 patients from Pomerado Hospital were evacuated earlier this morning and 75 patients from the adjoining Villa Pomerado were now being taken to other sites.

Each Villa Pomerado patient was holding a large ziplock bag carrying confidential patient information and transfer documents as they were being loaded onto the buses.

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for Rancho Santa Fe and portions of Lakeside /h3> 11:00 a.m.
Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for Rancho Santa Fe, as well as the Olivenhain Dam area. Mandatory evacuations have also been ordered for Lakeside at 13100 Willow Rd.

A report that portions of Leucadia are being evacuated has not been confirmed at this time.

The Del Mar Fairgrounds are open and ready to receive evacuees. Evacuation points have been established at San Marcos High School at 1615 W. San Marcos Blvd. and Poway Civic Center at 13325 Civic Center Drive. Mira Mesa High School is now closed as it has reached capacity.

Some in Escondido get incorrect notice to evacuate
10:20 a.m.
Erroneous evacuation notices were sent out to some residents in Escondido, according to a fire department official.
Residents around the heart of Escondido may have been contacted in error by a reverse 911 system and told to evacuate to the Del Mar Fairgrounds, said Carol Rea of the Escondid Fire Department.

As of 9 a.m., the latest area added to the evacuation orders is a triangle of land bordered by Bear Valley Parkway, San Pasqual Valley Road, and San Pasqual Road.

Rancho Santa Fe ordered emptied
10:26 a.m.
County spokesman Mike Workman says that all of Rancho Santa Fe in now under mandatory evacaution orders.

[Ponine]

I'm back...

Wild Animal Park evacuated
11:56 a.m.
The San Diego Wild Animal Park was evacuated at 5 a.m Monday, with a selected group of smaller and endangered animals taken to a veterinary hospital on site. By late morning, the park was enveloped in a blanket of ash and smoke, charred pieces of Lord-knows-what falling on the nearly deserted tourist attraction like snowflakes.

Crews were dousing small spot fires and removing trees downed by ferocious wind gusts.

Just 30 employees deemed essential were left behind, including keepers, veterinarians and operations staff, a spokeswoman said. On a typical day this time of year, up to 500 people are at work at the site, the spokeswoman said.

Officials did not venture a guess as to when the park might reopen.

Race track's 1,800 horse stalls are full
11:57 a.m.
The Del Mar Racetrack's 1,800 horse stalls are full and it's unclear where any more horses will be held.

Del Mar started taking horses in last night, but there had already been animals there due to a jumping competition that had run from Wednesday to Sunday.

As of 9:45 this morning, there were only 100 stalls left and by 11 a.m., people were told they were full.

Officials were bringing horses to the Scream Zone area temporarily and were also considering double-stalling the horses, housing two horses per stall.

Earlier today, horse owners were told they could bring their horses to The Oaks horse facility in Orange County, but that option was called off, reportedly due to winds and possible fire threat in that area.

In additions to horses at Del Mar, the track facility is also housing dogs, litters of puppies and goats.

Feed, hay and water was being provided.

People were being housed separately, being sent over to the fair facilities.

Navy wants only "essential personnel" to report to work
12:17 p.m.
The Navy is asking only essential personnel to report to duty Monday, while personnel at Camp Pendleton are serving a normal duty day, military spokesmen said.

All Solana Beach residents told be ready to evacuate
12:19 p.m.
All Solana Beach residents are advised to plan, pack and be prepared to evacuate because current wild fires may spread.

A city emergency operations director, John Traylor, said residents on 12 streets close to Holmwood Canyon , which extends from San Elijo Lagoon south into a neighborhood west of Interstate 5, are advised to voluntarily evacuate. The rest of the city may be asked to do so if the fire danger spreads.The lagoon extends east into Rancho Santa Fe, where a mandatory evacuation has been instituted.

Right now, Solana Beach fire officials are going door to door on those 12 streets to advice residents to leave. Those streets are: 700 Seabright Lane; 200 Patty Hill Drive; 600 Barbara Ave.; 700 Rios Ave.; 700 Granados Ave.; 600 Holmwood Lane; 700 Rawl Place; 600 Canyon Place; 400-600 Canyon Drive; 600 Ridgeline Place; 600 Glencrest Place; and 400-500 Glencrest Drive.

Traylor said the canyon rim is the city's highest fire danger zone because of an abundance of vegetation. "We are trying to be ahead of the curve," he said.