| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"johac" |
| Date: |
25 Oct 2007 12:51:55 AM |
| Object: |
Chased out of my house by the Witch |
That's the San Diego Witch Fire, or more properly the Witch Creek Fire
after it's point of origin.
Sunday we had a fierce Santa Ana. For those who don't know, that's a
condition where winds whip in off the deserts to the East and descend
through the mountain passes where pick up velocity and due to
compression heat up. It was well over 90° F when I went out in the early
afternoon.
Remembering the Cedar fire four years ago, I said to my self: "I hope we
don't have a repeat." I got home and sure enough the sky darkened and I
began to smell smoke. I turned on the TV, and sure enough there were
several fires reported in the East County, miles away from me. That
night the wind blew so hard, I thought that the roof was going to blow
off of my place. Later I learned that some gusts had reached almost 70
mph, which is near hurricane strength.
Next morning, I'm just starting to make breakfast, when my neighbor is
ringing my doorbell and banging on my door. "John!, John! We've got to
get out!" The city had just ordered a mandatory evacuation order for our
community. I pulled my car around and started loading it with my more
valuable stuff, documents, papers, checkbooks, my backup hard drive, and
the like. Just then another neighbor on the way out pulls up and tell me
that all the roads out are jammed and traffic is not moving.
Not wanting to be caught in standstill traffic in a wildfire, I went
back inside and turned on the TV again. The flames were still about 8 to
10 miles away so I decided to wait awhile and hope that the traffic
would die down a bit.
Sometime later, I get a call from a friend wanting to know if I would
like to stay with him. I said, I'll call you back in a little while. Not
too long after that I get another call from our 'reverse 911' system.
That's where the local police notify you of an emergency. It said
"Evacuate immediately!" I told my friend that I was coming and off I
went.
So I spent the next two nights with my buddy, his wife, his two kids,
and a very yappy little dog. My fried and his wife were very nice. The
kids were OK. The dog, however, took a dislike to me and barked at me
the whole time. Other than that things were fine.
We were told we could go back today. My place was untouched. The fire
never got to more than about 4-5 miles away. Too close for comfort, but
I was spared.
I was lucky but a lot of people here weren't. It's estimated that over
1500 homes may have been destroyed. No one knows for sure since the
fires are still burning. At one point, over 5000 people were evacuated.
Most, unlike me, ended up at various shelters, including the football
stadium. One commentator said that America had seen nothing like this
and so many people displaced since the Civil War.
The fires are still burning but in many places they are dying down. The
winds have shifted and are now blowing in from the ocean which is
blowing the fires away from the areas of high density population.
That's about all I have to say. I'm fine. My condo is fine. I'm sorry if
I missed any replies to my posts, but I'll try to catch up.
--
John #1782
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| User: "Matt Silberstein" |
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| Title: Re: Chased out of my house by the Witch |
30 Oct 2007 10:08:48 AM |
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On Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:01:14 -0400, in alt.atheism , "Robibnikoff"
<witchypoo@broomstick.com> in <5oorlpFmrvguU1@mid.individual.net>
wrote:
"Mark K. Bilbo" <gmail@com.mkbilbo> wrote in message
news:hNydnXdgDr5Wk7vanZ2dnUVZ_rHinZ2d@giganews.com...
On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:39:02 -0400, Robibnikoff wrote:
"Mark K. Bilbo" <gmail@com.mkbilbo> wrote in message
news:Z7GdnXa2W-gN0L7anZ2dnUVZ_s_inZ2d@giganews.com...
[snip]
GIRL SCOUT?
Tell me it isn't so!
You didn't know? Oh dear ;)
Yep, this is her 4th year. Would you like to buy some cookies? ;)
Are they made out of real girl scouts?
Why, yes. Yes they are.
The pecan Sandys are very popular! :)
And why does everyone pick on Sandy?
--
Matt Silberstein
Do something today about the Darfur Genocide
http://www.beawitness.org
http://www.darfurgenocide.org
http://www.savedarfur.org
"Darfur: A Genocide We can Stop"
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: Chased out of my house by the Witch |
25 Oct 2007 10:26:44 AM |
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On Thu, 25 Oct 2007 09:42:08 -0500, "Mark K. Bilbo"
<gmail@com.mkbilbo> wrote:
On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:51:55 -0700, johac wrote:
That's the San Diego Witch Fire, or more properly the Witch Creek Fire
after it's point of origin.
Good to hear you're one of the lucky ones.
Though, for a moment there, I thought, "What's Robyn doing in California?"
Toasting marshmallows?
Glad to hear that you're okay, John.
--
Al at Webdingers dot com
"The United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion"
- Treaty with Tripoli, 1797, ratified by Congress, signed by John Adams
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| User: "Uncle Vic" |
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| Title: Re: Chased out of my house by the Witch |
26 Oct 2007 12:37:39 AM |
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One fine day in alt.atheism, johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net>
bloodied us up with this:
That's about all I have to say. I'm fine. My condo is fine. I'm sorry if
I missed any replies to my posts, but I'll try to catch up.
Glad to hear you're OK. We were spared, too, up in the Magic Mountain area
north of LA. Not so lucky were our neighbors in Canyon Country, and
especially Lake Arrowhead. That beautiful and affluent place will never be
the same.
It still smells like wet brush fire here. I imagine it will for weeks to
come.
--
Uncle Vic
aa Atheist #2011
Supervisor, EAC Department of little adhesive-backed "L" shaped
chrome-plastic doo-dads to add feet to Jesus fish department.
Convicted by Earthquack.
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Chased out of my house by the Witch |
27 Oct 2007 12:44:47 AM |
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In article <Xns99D4E63FAC942vicman@216.196.97.142>,
Uncle Vic <address@withheld.com> wrote:
One fine day in alt.atheism, johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net>
bloodied us up with this:
That's about all I have to say. I'm fine. My condo is fine. I'm sorry if
I missed any replies to my posts, but I'll try to catch up.
Glad to hear you're OK.
Thanks!
We were spared, too, up in the Magic Mountain area
north of LA. Not so lucky were our neighbors in Canyon Country, and
especially Lake Arrowhead. That beautiful and affluent place will never be
the same.
I heard. I have a nephew who live in LA. He's fine too.
It still smells like wet brush fire here. I imagine it will for weeks to
come.
Tell me about it. Many down here are having respiratory problems. I was
breathing a litle heavy today. I need one of those fine particle masks.
(Regular dust masks don't work.)
--
John #1782
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| User: "Doc Smartass" |
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| Title: Re: Chased out of my house by the Witch |
25 Oct 2007 07:13:56 PM |
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johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in news:jhachmann-
5EBA53.22515524102007@news.giganews.com:
<snippy>
We were told we could go back today. My place was untouched. The fire
never got to more than about 4-5 miles away. Too close for comfort, but
I was spared.
w0000000t!
Glad you're okay.
--
Doc Smartass, BAAWA Knight of Heckling
aa # 1939
No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices.
--Edward R. Murrow
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Chased out of my house by the Witch |
25 Oct 2007 11:25:46 PM |
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In article <Xns99D4C3B903C44askifyouwantit@216.77.188.18>,
Doc Smartass <gekido@astroskivviesboymail.com> wrote:
johac <jhachmann@remove.sbcglobal.net> wrote in news:jhachmann-
5EBA53.22515524102007@news.giganews.com:
<snippy>
We were told we could go back today. My place was untouched. The fire
never got to more than about 4-5 miles away. Too close for comfort, but
I was spared.
w0000000t!
Glad you're okay.
Thanks.
--
John #1782
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| User: "Rick Braun" |
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| Title: Re: Chased out of my house by the Witch |
25 Oct 2007 07:21:53 AM |
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johac wrote:
the whole time. Other than that things were fine.
We were told we could go back today. My place was untouched. The fire
never got to more than about 4-5 miles away. Too close for comfort, but
I was spared.
I was lucky but a lot of people here weren't. It's estimated that over
1500 homes may have been destroyed. No one knows for sure since the
fires are still burning. At one point, over 5000 people were evacuated.
Most, unlike me, ended up at various shelters, including the football
stadium. One commentator said that America had seen nothing like this
and so many people displaced since the Civil War.
The fires are still burning but in many places they are dying down. The
winds have shifted and are now blowing in from the ocean which is
blowing the fires away from the areas of high density population.
That's about all I have to say. I'm fine. My condo is fine. I'm sorry if
I missed any replies to my posts, but I'll try to catch up.
I am glad you made it through. I live north of New Orleans so I have
some idea what you went through.
.
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Chased out of my house by the Witch |
25 Oct 2007 11:43:49 PM |
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In article <9T%Ti.5899$b9.5009@bignews1.bellsouth.net>,
Rick Braun <rickbraun@bellsouth.net> wrote:
johac wrote:
the whole time. Other than that things were fine.
We were told we could go back today. My place was untouched. The fire
never got to more than about 4-5 miles away. Too close for comfort, but
I was spared.
I was lucky but a lot of people here weren't. It's estimated that over
1500 homes may have been destroyed. No one knows for sure since the
fires are still burning. At one point, over 5000 people were evacuated.
Most, unlike me, ended up at various shelters, including the football
stadium. One commentator said that America had seen nothing like this
and so many people displaced since the Civil War.
The fires are still burning but in many places they are dying down. The
winds have shifted and are now blowing in from the ocean which is
blowing the fires away from the areas of high density population.
That's about all I have to say. I'm fine. My condo is fine. I'm sorry if
I missed any replies to my posts, but I'll try to catch up.
I am glad you made it through. I live north of New Orleans so I have
some idea what you went through.
Thanks. At least if your house wasn't burned down, things will return to
normal pretty quickly. In New Orleans and surrounding areas they are
still cleaning up the mess.
--
John #1782
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| User: "Rick Braun" |
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| Title: Re: Chased out of my house by the Witch |
26 Oct 2007 07:07:32 AM |
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johac wrote:
In article <9T%Ti.5899$b9.5009@bignews1.bellsouth.net>,
Rick Braun <rickbraun@bellsouth.net> wrote:
johac wrote:
the whole time. Other than that things were fine.
We were told we could go back today. My place was untouched. The fire
never got to more than about 4-5 miles away. Too close for comfort, but
I was spared.
I was lucky but a lot of people here weren't. It's estimated that over
1500 homes may have been destroyed. No one knows for sure since the
fires are still burning. At one point, over 5000 people were evacuated.
Most, unlike me, ended up at various shelters, including the football
stadium. One commentator said that America had seen nothing like this
and so many people displaced since the Civil War.
The fires are still burning but in many places they are dying down. The
winds have shifted and are now blowing in from the ocean which is
blowing the fires away from the areas of high density population.
That's about all I have to say. I'm fine. My condo is fine. I'm sorry if
I missed any replies to my posts, but I'll try to catch up.
I am glad you made it through. I live north of New Orleans so I have
some idea what you went through.
Thanks. At least if your house wasn't burned down, things will return to
normal pretty quickly. In New Orleans and surrounding areas they are
still cleaning up the mess.
Your welcome. Yes, the lucky ones will be able to get back to normalcy
in short. But with natural mass destruction comes the problems of
dealing with the issues of returning to normal. Thousands of people
trying to get insurance and the insurance agencies incapable of meeting
the demands. I know some construction people here. They told me they had
to turn off their phones because they already had over a years worth of
work to do and the phone was still ringing every 5 minutes. And even
though there were hundreds of migrant construction workers ( No one was
concerned with legality ) that would sit at the home depots and loews
waiting to be picked for work, my minor damages took 8 months to get
fixed because of the waiting lists the construction workers had.
.
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: Chased out of my house by the Witch |
26 Oct 2007 05:51:09 PM |
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In article <FLkUi.6598$b9.5360@bignews1.bellsouth.net>,
Rick Braun <rickbraun@bellsouth.net> wrote:
johac wrote:
In article <9T%Ti.5899$b9.5009@bignews1.bellsouth.net>,
Rick Braun <rickbraun@bellsouth.net> wrote:
johac wrote:
the whole time. Other than that things were fine.
We were told we could go back today. My place was untouched. The fire
never got to more than about 4-5 miles away. Too close for comfort, but
I was spared.
I was lucky but a lot of people here weren't. It's estimated that over
1500 homes may have been destroyed. No one knows for sure since the
fires are still burning. At one point, over 5000 people were evacuated.
Most, unlike me, ended up at various shelters, including the football
stadium. One commentator said that America had seen nothing like this
and so many people displaced since the Civil War.
The fires are still burning but in many places they are dying down. The
winds have shifted and are now blowing in from the ocean which is
blowing the fires away from the areas of high density population.
That's about all I have to say. I'm fine. My condo is fine. I'm sorry if
I missed any replies to my posts, but I'll try to catch up.
I am glad you made it through. I live north of New Orleans so I have
some idea what you went through.
Thanks. At least if your house wasn't burned down, things will return to
normal pretty quickly. In New Orleans and surrounding areas they are
still cleaning up the mess.
Your welcome. Yes, the lucky ones will be able to get back to normalcy
in short. But with natural mass destruction comes the problems of
dealing with the issues of returning to normal. Thousands of people
trying to get insurance and the insurance agencies incapable of meeting
the demands. I know some construction people here. They told me they had
to turn off their phones because they already had over a years worth of
work to do and the phone was still ringing every 5 minutes. And even
though there were hundreds of migrant construction workers ( No one was
concerned with legality ) that would sit at the home depots and loews
waiting to be picked for work, my minor damages took 8 months to get
fixed because of the waiting lists the construction workers had.
I heard that there are still victims of the Cedar fire haggling with the
insurance companies and waiting for their houses to be rebuilt. I think,
sadly, that this will take even longer.
--
John #1782
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