I flew back home early Friday. On the approach to San Diego I saw the fire that was still burning closest to my house. There were tall blooms of smoke and you could see the tiny tongues of flame licking up the hills. Luckily, the fire was now 10-20 miles east of my home in sparsely populated areas which made me feel safer.
After they picked me up from the airport I took my family out to dinner at a restaurant near our home. In the restaurant there was a palpable atmosphere of relief and celebration. People were swapping stories and friends of ours came in and told us what they had gone through. During the fires my family had gone to the evacuation center at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. I found out my son had volunteered to help care for the evacuated horses. There were about 2,300 in the stables there.
My wife had been helping with the elderly that were brought to evacuation centers from nursing homes. Some of the elderly were forced to sit in wheelchairs for 16-18 hours and then sleep on uncomfortable cots. When ash got into their eyes they couldn't remove it easily themselves, they needed someone to administer eye drops. Many could not breathe without oxygen masks, or turn over in the cots without assistance. My wife helped do these things for them, and also helped organize and distribute the donated food.
After dinner my family drove me around the local shopping center which became a makeshift evacuation center when the local high school overflowed. Most had left, but there were still many RVs and mobile homes in the parking lot and tents pitched on the grounds around the shopping center. I spotted a man in a wheelchair being helped into one of the RVs. A YMCA athletic field behind the center had been turned into a horse corral. The heavy smell of smoke everywhere hung in the air, like a massive campfire. Evacuation workers were still on duty. You could see the food and water lined up in neat rows on the tables and message boards. Everything seemed very well organized.
The next morning I went back to the shopping center, which is about 1.5 miles from my home. I saw the fire had stopped across the street from the YMCA. At that moment I realized how close the flames had been to our home and I had a great sense of appreciation for the firefighters and other first responders. I also understood my family and the many others who helped at the evacuation centers had risen above the flames.
After they picked me up from the airport I took my family out to dinner at a restaurant near our home. In the restaurant there was a palpable atmosphere of relief and celebration. People were swapping stories and friends of ours came in and told us what they had gone through. During the fires my family had gone to the evacuation center at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. I found out my son had volunteered to help care for the evacuated horses. There were about 2,300 in the stables there.
My wife had been helping with the elderly that were brought to evacuation centers from nursing homes. Some of the elderly were forced to sit in wheelchairs for 16-18 hours and then sleep on uncomfortable cots. When ash got into their eyes they couldn't remove it easily themselves, they needed someone to administer eye drops. Many could not breathe without oxygen masks, or turn over in the cots without assistance. My wife helped do these things for them, and also helped organize and distribute the donated food.
After dinner my family drove me around the local shopping center which became a makeshift evacuation center when the local high school overflowed. Most had left, but there were still many RVs and mobile homes in the parking lot and tents pitched on the grounds around the shopping center. I spotted a man in a wheelchair being helped into one of the RVs. A YMCA athletic field behind the center had been turned into a horse corral. The heavy smell of smoke everywhere hung in the air, like a massive campfire. Evacuation workers were still on duty. You could see the food and water lined up in neat rows on the tables and message boards. Everything seemed very well organized.
The next morning I went back to the shopping center, which is about 1.5 miles from my home. I saw the fire had stopped across the street from the YMCA. At that moment I realized how close the flames had been to our home and I had a great sense of appreciation for the firefighters and other first responders. I also understood my family and the many others who helped at the evacuation centers had risen above the flames.
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