Doug Reese

Due to lack of water pressure, a full evacuation of Ramona is still in effect. No word on when we will be able to return. If you didn’t know devastating wild fires were still burning in San Diego, you would think it’s a normal beautiful fall day. The ash level is very low, at least in the San Diego Country Estates, since the winds pushed everything west. Compared to the Cedar fire, our area is essentially untouched.

Police and National Guard are actively patrolling Ramona and the Estates. No looting has been reported in the Estates.

President Bush just arrived at MCAS Miramar, which is only a couple miles away from my evacuation location in Mira Mesa.

On a more personal note: Suzanne is on a flight right now heading toward the U.S. She will be back in San Diego later this evening.

Just heard a fireman being interviewed by phone on the news say there may be a new flare up on Old Julian Highway. This is due north of the San Diego Country Estates, and is the general area where the Witch fire started. Unconfirmed information at this point, but doesn’t bode well for being able to return to Ramona very soon.

Additionally, water has been turned off again. Seems people who ignored the mandatory evacuation were starting to wash cars and houses, which was taking away from the ability to use water for fighting fires.

Less water + more fire != good time

Hmm, I’m starting to use pseudocode in posts. I really need more sleep.

From the Ramona Sentinal:

No homes in San Diego Country Estates or the Ryland development have burned. Residents of those areas and throughout Ramona have been calling the Sentinel because they have heard no official reports.

Also, some good NASA satellite photos of the fires.

I have had no real information to add over what is available in the media until recently. Water is slowly being restored to Ramona, and I have heard unconfirmed reports that San Diego Country Estates residents might be allowed back in once water service is fully restored. Apparently some grocery stores in town are open for people who did not evacuate, and highway 67 into Ramona is not in the middle of fire activity. All this is not confirmed, though.

No new information on any houses burned in the Estates. The east end still appears to be unaffected.

Some Ramona specific resources:

Ramona Sentinal web site
www.ramonarelief.com

A lot of progress was made by fire fighting teams today. Winds are not as strong, and the satellite map shows fire areas are much smaller. I’ve captured the current National Weather Service image below.

Several areas that had previously been evacuated are now being repopulated. However, the winds have shifted and the fires are moving east again. As a result, the Julian area east of Ramona has been evacuated — see the fire map link for more detail. Eastern Poway is also still evacuated, and there are active fires in that area. This means Ramona is sandwiched between two dangerous areas. The San Diego Country Estates is still pretty quiet with no fire activity, but there is really no way to get there right now. All roads in are still closed. Additionally, all water is shut off in Ramona, but this should be remedied early Wednesday morning. It is unclear when we might be able to re-enter Ramona.

The general consensus is that the worst is over, but not all areas are yet safe. The heavy Santa Ana winds are supposed to die off Wednesday, which should allow the air drops to continue unheeded.