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Friday, October 26. 2007
The Aftermath Begins
The fire in the coastal areas of San Diego County is now history and the impression, for many of us, is that the fires are over. Well, that’s not true. Evacuation orders are still being issued to our East as the wind shifts to blow in an easterly direction.
A Link to Thursday’s fire map.
Fires still rage around the Lake Arrowhead area of Riverside County; there are three fires in Orange County, at least two of which were started by arsonists, and the Harris and Witch fires are still far from contained, the actual flames just the beginning of the damage and destruction.
The thick layers of smoke generated by the fires will linger. A friend and I went atop Mount Soledad in La Jolla, just about the only peak in San Diego County we could access since the others are in burn or potential burn areas. We could see the thick smoke lingering over the North side of the county: Carlsbad, Oceanside and Camp Pendleton. Couldn’t see any of the fires in the North due to the layer of smoke and from that distance, it merely looks like your average L.A. smog.Earlier this evening I spoke with a friend who lives in Oceanside and he said the smoke was insufferable up there. He usually rides his Triumph crotch rocket but tonight he was driving his Toyota.
The smoke is affecting me now. I’m so congested it’s difficult to breathe and according to health officials, those paper masks we’ve been so fond of wearing will do little to stop the smoke particles from invading our lungs and other organs. Makes me wonder if there will be a spike in cancer victims in the next few years.
Besides the usual toxins associated with smoke, there are chemicals released into the air from burning rubber, plastic, metals of all types and human and animal flesh. We are breathing it all in.
This is the driest year on record, with an accumulated rainfall of just two inches. On Monday the relative humidity was 1% — ONE PER CENT! and it doesn’t feel much better at the moment. There may be a sense of it being all over for us in this part of Southern California, but fire could flare up anywhere at any time. Until we get substantial rains, fire is still a threat in San Diego County.
In one small moment of gratitude, as my friend Dan and I passed our local fire station, we saw all four engines in the firehouse. They were getting a much-needed break from the fire.
On the tube for the past two hours has been CNN and for the past 45 minutes Larry King Live with Rick Sanchez filling in for the octogenarian. So, Sanchez has been doing all these human interest stories, talking to people who lost their homes to the fires, most of those interviewed being from San Diego. I had to turn it off when Sanchez was interviewing a distraught mother as she surveyed the wreckage that was once her house and then he bends down to speaks to the young son and says, “Your mom needs you to go give her a big hug.”
Just report the fuckin’ news.
One million displaced by the fires, nearly 2,000 homes destroyed, over half a million acres up in smoke and possibly a dozen people dead, some aliens caught in the fire as they entered the U.S. illegally. A married couple was found burned in their home because they refused to leave with the mandatory evacuation of Poway.For every story we hear of people who survived despite being caught by the fire before they could leave — or like the Poway couple, they refused to leave — there is a story or two of people who didn’t survive. Evacuation is hard. I didn’t want to leave, although Tuesday Morning it appeared to be a certainty. Just pack up what you can and go, saying goodbye to everything else, hoping, but the scope of reality, it would still be here when it was all over. Actually, just from judging the various burn maps, most people were able to return to homes still intact, although they will be paying thousands to have their homes cleaned of the smoke damage.
The fires may have passed us now in this small part of Southern California, but the aftermath will take months—and for some years—to overcome. For me, the lost income from being out of work will be tough, but that will pass before the month of November is over. For those who return to torched property, it will be as long as a year or more. I’m one of the lucky ones and maybe I have a moral duty to be available to those who weren’t so lucky. One of the enduring and positive qualities found in most religions and most of us who aren’t religious
is the notion that we are responsible for the welfare of those in need so, in the coming months, what role I play, beyond the personal note, will be interesting. Maybe it won’t be more than just lending a sympathetic ear.I will be moving shortly, so might not be posting anything here for a week, or maybe two. Stop in anyway; click a few of the Ads by Google. I could use the extra income at this time. Chat later.
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