Getting Smoky Around Here

[Don Baer]

Good Luck Vaughn. Let us know when you are safe.

 

[Wes Bischel]

Good luck Vaughn. Keep safe - the "stuff" can be replaced! Just hope that isn't necessary!

Wes

 

[Jeff Bower]

Good Luck Vaughn, praying for a safe return to a untouched house.

 

[Steve Schlumpf]

I second Jeff's comment - praying for a safe return to an untouched house!

 

[tod evans]

good luck vaughn!

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

So far so good. I'm waiting at a local park to meet up with LOML...she has been out shopping with a friend. We've got friends we can stay with. Should be an interesting weekend.

 

[Stuart Ablett]

Best of luck Vaughn!

 

[allen levine]

this is crap news Im sorry to hear. I was also just packing up but for other reasons. I hope that range stops it and your property is safe.

 

[Ned Bulken]

Stay safe buddy.

 

[Garry Foster]

Vaughn

As Ned said stay safe......!

That one shot you sent was downright scary!

Garry

 

[Jonathan Shively]

Dang gone Vaughn, here I open this post thinking you had something on the cooker making me hungry late at night. Be safe, will put you in my prayers. I cannot imagine living amongst that year in and year out.

 

[allen levine]

with this delay, you might be building viking furniture long into the xmas season.

 

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

My thoughts are with you, Vaughn. Hope it misses you.

Bruce

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

with this delay, you might be building viking furniture long into the xmas season.

You are a cruel man, Mr. Levine.

We're split up tonight at two different friends' houses in the area. (When you have three big dogs it's easier to divide and conquer.) I spoke to some cops at dinner and they were not sure when the evacuation would be lifted. Until then, we're just hanging loose.

More later...

 

[Wes Bischel]

Vaughn,
Thanks for keeping us in the loop. I hope everyone gets some sleep tonight. We're all thinking of you.

Wes

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

I went out to go get a Coke a while ago and on a whim, I decided to see if there were any police or fire crews blocking our street. There were none, so I'm back home for now with two of the dogs. LOML is staying a bit farther away, so she and the third dog are staying there overnight. The fire has laid down somewhat with the cooler evening temps, and it's still two ridges away. If it hops the ridge I won't waste any time leaving. For now, I can do things like run the sprinklers and just keep any eye open for any immediate
problems. Trust me, I won't be trying anything heroic.

My computer's offsite now...I'm limited to the cell phone so I can't post pics right now. I'll keep you all posted as I get a chance.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Ah, the joys of having a spare computer. I'm back online for now.

Here are a few more pics from today. The red arrow shows the approximate location of our house...

At this point, late afternoon, the fire was still mostly up the canyon from our house, with a few spot fires moving closer...

This pic shows the remnants of a spot fire, and the arrows show the ridge that separates our house from the fire. This is "The Ridge". Our house is just to the left of the frame at the base of the mountain. So far no flames have shown up on our side of the ridge. If they do, I'm outa here.

We stopped at Jack In The Box for burgers and drinks (a Saturday Night Date for us), and I'd say that's the safest I've felt in a while. I counted over 20 police officers inside the restaurant, from departments all over the area. I walked in and yelled "FREEZE, THIS IS A STICKUP!" Man, those Taser things really leave a mark. We all had a good laugh after I regained consciousness.

Seriously, in our couple hours at the park, we saw 30+ fire trucks from all over SoCal heading to the hills. Probably about as many cop cars, too, and that was just one route into the area.

By nightfall, the flames were working their way slowly down the #2 ridge, but still hadn't made it to "The Ridge". This is a horrible picture, but it's the best I've got for now...

So, I'm hanging loose and keeping my eye on things, but so far everything's fine, just real smoky. As I said earlier, no heroic efforts.

 

[Frank Fusco]

Good report, Vaughn. Good news for you, bad news for lots of others. Glad you are alright so far. The 6 a.m. (here, CST) was not encouraging at all.
How far are you, and the fire, from Home Gardens and Corona? My cousin lives there.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Frank, I'm about 60 miles west and north, and the fire I'm watching is between us. I don't remember or not, but your cousin might be watching a different one. There's been one out by Hemet and Idylwild. That's out Glenn Bradley's direction.

So far, there has been relatively little property loss (three houses and 20 to 30 cabins, some of which were peoples' sole residence). That's pretty low for a 20,000+ acre fire.

Things have seemed quiet all night. I'm hoping it stays that way. I'm about tired of breathing the smoke. It looks like London fog at night out there right now. Smells like a cross between camp fire and house fire, both inside and outside the house. (Where's a coughing smiley when you need one?)

 

[Dale Johnson]

Stay safe. I talked to my son last night. He is about 140 miles away and has been smelling smoke for a couple days. He says there is about 5 trees within eyesight and the rest desert so he feels safe.