Doug Reese

Mira Mesa has not been evacuated. The mandatory evacuations north of 56 have not been extended down through Los Pe�asquitos Canyon. There have been great efforts to keep the fires out of the canyon, as it has not burned in 90 years.

More than 346,000 homes have been evacuated throughout San Diego county. At this point most of the new evacuations are happening in northern and southern parts of the county. There is not as much ash on the ground here in Mira Mesa as yesterday morning. This indicates to me most of the fire activity is to the north of us rather than to the east as it was yesterday.

Wildcat Canyon Road has been evacuated, near the Baron Casino (see map on that page), as well as the Lakeside area. This area burned pretty bad in the Cedar fires, resulting in a some deaths.

Winds in Ramona are kicking up again, although other areas are getting a bit of reprieve from the winds. Sources inside the San Diego Country Estates report that there are no known fires in the west end of the Estates, even though the KPBS fire map shows that area as having been covered by the Witch fire. Power and water are still available in the Estates, although I have seen reports that Ramona proper does not have good water, possibly due to lack of power. I am not sure how the west side of the Estates is fairing. This area is closer to the fire. The east end is separated from the fires to the north by Mount Gower, which burned fairly clean in the Cedar fires. The main concern is fire activity in the Wildcat Canyon Road area. If the winds shift it could send the fire back toward the southeast part of the Estates. There are more than 5,000 homes in the Estates.

Some good news: In addition to the winds decreasing around San Diego, there is a lot of support pouring in from around the country. I’m looking at helicopters dropping water on some areas right now. Air National Guard units from CO, WY and NC are on the the way, with the first units scheduled to arrive in Southern California around 2:30pm. These units will bring six C-130 air tankers, which can cover a half mile wide area with one drop of fire retardant — 3,000 gallons at a time.

At this point the Witch fire is only 1% contained. See sidebar links for more information on other areas of San Diego County.

I updated the site theme to one that allows more flexibility in organizing sidebar content. For those not in the San Diego area, take note of the new fire links section to the right. KPBS is a local public radio station that is doing a great job covering the fires and keeping people informed.

As of right now, it looks like we will not have to leave Mira Mesa tonight. The evacuations directly to the north of us are not mandatory, so that area is not in immediate danger.

Inspired by the KPBS Twitter feed, I’ve set my phone up to be able to send updates via my twitter feed, just in case I have to evacuate again: twitter.com/getjazzed

Air National Guard is sending fire fighting teams from Wyoming and North Carolina to Southern California. The official request paperwork will not be officially official until Tuesday, but they are en route now, calling it a training exercise until that happens.

Navy helicopters are now dropping water on some parts of the fire.

For the benefit of those we know in other parts of the country and other parts of the world, we are still safe. Areas of San Diego that were previously thought safe are now being evacuated. Specifically, Scripts Ranch (where a lot of homes burned during the Cedar fire) is being evacuated. This area was thought to be safe earlier today. If the fire goes through Scripts Ranch, there is a good chance we will have to leave Mira Mesa. Just heard on the news that two thirds of the population of San Diego county has now been evacuated.

Right now there is a good breeze here in Mira Mesa, but no really strong winds at the moment. Near us, there is not as much ash in the air as there was this morning. Currently the fires are north of us in Del Dios, where a mandatory evacuation is underway, and east of us in Poway (the east side near Ramona), where evacuations have started. There are a few more photos taken from Mira Mesa earlier today now on Flickr:

Winds are expected to decrease a bit overnight, but remain strong. Here are a couple more local references sites, for those outside the area:

• KBPS Twitter feed
• KPBS temporary site home page

I have spoken to Suzanne in Belarus. She has no access to mass media, so didn’t know anything about the fires here. She is doing okay there, and is anxious to get home later this week. Thanks for all the calls. I even received a call from family in France a little while ago. Wish we were famous for another reason right now.