Here is a link to a Flickr photostream of the fires.
Link to list of homes destroyed by fire in San Diego County.
Some specific things to keep in your thoughts and prayers today:
The Steele Canyon High School was designated an evacuation shelter when the Harris fire came over Mt. Miguel. Several hundred people are sheltering there now; however, yesterday when the fire’s direction shifted, it headed toward the high school. Because the school is surrounded by a lot of asphalt, authorities decided the best option was to "shelter in place" rather than move those evacuees. Firefighters are surrounding the school, hosed everything down, and taken other precautions to ensure that fire will not threaten the evacuees. But still it must be awfully scary to be stuck inside that building with fire so close by. I would not want to be there!
The Catholic Church on the Rincon Indian Reservation has burned down. I think it is this small mission church, St. Bartholomew’s. (I haven’t confirmed that yet, though.)
As reported on the SignonSanDiego fireblog:
The church on the Rincon Indian reservation burned early [yesterday] morning as the Poomacha fire roared through the Pauma Valley.
Several homes also burned, said tribal councilman Bo Mazzetti.
"We’ve
lost a lot of our older buildings we had, that have been here for years
and years," he said about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday. "Our church, our Catholic
church, we lost that."The loss is a spiritual blow to the tribe, he said.
"That’s something we’ve all attended, that church, it’s devastating to see that," he said.
Oh, my heart goes out to them!
I hope you and all of your friends and family ride this out safely. I’ve got some good fire maps from colleagues at SDSU that I’m posting and updating on my blog if you’re interested.
http://ktcatspost.blogspot.com/
That is sad. I also heard three or four nursing home evacuee deaths were confirmed down there. Praying.
Your air quality must be terrible. I can’t walk outside without my eyes burning. We’re homebound for a few more days, I think.