Wednesday Noon Update

Smoke rolling in on Monday.

I just had a surreal moment this morning when I received an e-mail from "Hilltop Rescue" - the group I worked with in New Orleans - saying they were mobilizing to head to San Diego and would be looking for people to come help. Never did I think that *we* would be the ones in need of rescue.

Overnight, two more fires were started on Camp Pendleton. One was an intentional back-fire, the other was started by embers from the back-fire. Both are right near the border checkpoint on the 5 freeway.

As of 11:00 this morning, the 5 freeway is closed, so I have not been able to get home or to school...but none of the fires are any closer to my house....I don't think. Everyone is doing their best to share news, but fast news usually means innacurate news.

What I know for now:

The rescue shelter at the OC Fairgrounds is full, and people are being diverted to the Victorville Fairgrounds. Now, for those of you unfamiliar with our area, Victorville is a town that's almost half-way to Las Vegas..probably 2 and 1/2 hours away.

Our rescue shelter at MiraCosta, after being told that there would only be a handful of residents and that things were well taken care of, 100 people showed up overnight. While they have supplies for those there right now, it could baloon really quickly....particularly since the main freeway out of town is currently closed.

I have one friend in LA who has confirmed that her home was lost. My family in Fallbrook is still under an evacuation order and are staying at their business in Lake Elsinore. Kristin's brother's family has evacuated their kids and dogs to their sister's family. No word on Carol's Aunt's Cabin in Running Springs, but she said last night that things did not look good.

The smoke is awful....falling in big black flakes. People are told to wear masks and stay inside with the doors and windows closed. It's tough to do when there's no AC but the temps are in the 90's. I took this photo from my driveway yesterday at 4pm....that's the sun, not the moon in the photo.

So for now, we wait. Cats are still traumatized, and Dad and I are watching Melissa Etheridge on the Tyra Banks show. Pray for us all. :)

More later.

K