And in whatever looters news...

Looters, what a sissy word any way (I'm travelling and getting ready for a mini vacation so posts might be a little "vacation minded" at this point). Sounds like hooters, act like asses (yeah I said it!). And now here we find out the looters of the wildfires went and targeted... wait for it... school.

According to MSNBC two San Diego area schools which were shut down during recovery from the wild fires had their computer labs looted:

The crooks made off with nearly $100,000 worth of equipment while the schools shut down for the week. The lab at James Madison Senior High School in Clairemont looks like a regular classroom now that it has been denuded of the iMacs that used to sit atop the desks. Officials believe thieves snuck in a door and stole 28 brand-new computers valued at $52,000. The break-in at Madison occurred a day after a burglary at Kearny High School, where 22 computers worth $44,000 were stolen.

Boo on you looters. Boo.

Yay Mayor Jerry Sanders!

*Confession* Not that political (but I remember the whole Donna Frye write in campaign thing because I'm cool like that, did you know she has her own Wikipedia entry?). Chalk it up to being in my early 20's in San Diego with really important stuff on my mind, like first dates and the best place to get breakfast after a long night out. But I do know that San Diego has been mired in political and financial controversy and the current Mayor, not so universally adored, or what not (is there any politician who is UNIVERSALLY adored?).

But Mayor Sanders has been surprising lately (what with the whole "oh yeah, I support Gay marriage, deal with it" thing) and now, according to The LA Times, because of the fires, he's GOLDEN.

George Mitrovich, president of the City Club of San Diego, said he's been
disappointed with other aspects of Sanders' performance as mayor but was
impressed with how he became "the face of leadership" during the fire,
calming fears and projecting strength and confidence.

Watch out Arnold, WATCH OUT.

There's a breath of fresh air on the way...

There was a lot of fire last week, not only in the San Diego area but all over the news, the news updates, the news papers, the magazines. You couldn't even look up a good "what crazy thing is Britney doing" without hearing about how her favorite Starbucks was in harms way of the Malibu fires. But the truth is that there were a lot of San Diegans who were lucky enough to get out of last weeks firestorm without any serious long term damage. There were many that didn't have to evacuate or sit and wait to find out about the state of their houses. So now what? Is a week long enough to "get back to normal?"

Ask The Union Tribune:

Weird, even though many of us desperately crave a return to normal life. But is it possible to slip back into workaday rhythms when so many lives have been hit so hard?

Apparently it's the guilt. The guilt at returning to the routine of life in this great city while there are others who cannot. The push is to get back to normal, with a twist. Take some time to nod at the person next to you. Take some time to talk about things with your friends, but get out there.

We're nothing if not active.

This week was...

This week it was all about fire, fire, fire, Katrina, fire, fire, Katrina, Anderson Cooper, fire, fire, football, fire, fire that's bad but not that bad, fire, Katrina, Hollywood, fire, Anderson Cooper, fire, fire, AND Abbie.

Enjoy your weekend San Diego... you deserve it.

I know it's San Diego and it's California and people have their "ideas" about California but this is getting ridiculous

As homes burn, the evacuees of San Diego lap up the good life


Oh yeah and the UK confirms it... SOOO much better than Katrina.

People are strong, they want to rebuild, lets hope the Government is strong and wants to rebuild also.

I know the government has a job to do and that job usually involves a lot of paper work. I know that in times of crisis it probably feels like things can't happen fast enough. "I don't have a home, can you just get on with it already?" So the two sides are at odds, the side that has a lot of paper work to do and the side that, wants a place to live. I am hoping for the best when it comes to rebuilding in San Diego.

The Chicago Tribune today focused on a family that hopes to rebuild. In fact while looking through the ashes of what was previously their home, their future is what's on their mind.

Lyons and his wife, Lynn, even managed a hearty laugh at the fact that a wooden picnic table that the couple had long fought about had survived."I hated that table," Lynn Lyons said. "He bought it even when I said no, that I hated it, and it's been a source of contention ever since. Now look at it -- the one thing to survive."David Lyons looked triumphant. "And you know it has to be a centerpiece in the new house now," he said.

It looks like most of the San Diego fire "victims" are proving they are not victims at all. Here's hoping the government is ready.

Citizens, politicians, News reporters question air support

Criticism is building and questions are being asked about the actions and decision making process when it came to calling in air support for the San Diego Wildfires.

Various reports have called in to question the use of aircraft during the first few days of fighting the fires. From The Union Tribune:

A drumbeat of criticism, fanned in part by talk radio, TV news and the Internet, appeared to build during the day over whether the firefighting fleet was fully mobilized. Those concerns may have been heightened by an announcement late yesterday afternoon that the arrival of a giant Canadian seaplane – the privately owned Martin Mars – called in to join the fight had been delayed.

Was it bueraucracy that delayed the air support or was it executive decisions about flying safety? According to the LA times it was a confounding on all sides, delay due to decision making and delay due to the weather.

The NFL shows that ultimately they care about... the NFL

The question for Sunday isn't, "Will San Diego recover quickly and start back to it's normal routine?" "Will the air quality clear up?" "Will the weekend after the wildfires be a time of healing?"

No, apparently the question for Sunday is "will The Chargers be able to play?" Reports are varying, Qualcomm is being closed and the evacuees will be moved to the Del Mar Fairgrounds but it seems that nobody is ready to commit to a game being played on Sunday. From the Houston Chronicle:

Texans owner Bob McNair said ideally the teams will play Sunday. However, there still are concerns about the air quality in San Diego because of the wildfires.

Of course with the craziness of this national disaster it is understandable that there would need to be room for flexibility. The Chargers have been training in Arizona, weather reports are still unsure of how the wind will blow for the rest of this week and there are still fires that are not contained. Perhaps we can look to the Texans to be a little flexible with their time.

There were reports Thursday the game would be played Monday night at Qualcomm, which would shorten the amount of time the Texans would have to prepare for their next game at Oakland the following weekend. "If this game were played Monday night, we wouldn't get back to Houston until early Tuesday morning," McNair said. "That would make it more difficult for our coaches to prepare for our next game."

Oh, sorry, we'd hate for you to be inconvenienced. Good thing we're moving all the evacuees to new location, cleaning up the stadium, and preparing for your arrival.

David Sedaris is waiting to visit good old San Diego.

David Sedaris is postponing his engagement in San Diego originally set for Halloween (October 31). As of today it's simply "postponed due to fires", new information is not available. Check the site for more information.

Sign on San Diego's Fire Blog has a break down of fire related info:

The general feeling seems to be that things are "winding down", what with Qualcomm being shut down and evacuees moved to Del Mar. The Mayor is asking for people to get back to their regular activties and encouraging reestablishment of the tourist industry and city activities. 1/2 of the fires have been contained (14/23 according to CNN) and the outlook is positive.

For the complete listing of stats from the Sign on Fire Blog click here.

California wildfire overall statistics:
Acreage: Nearly 493,000 (about 770 square miles).
Homes destroyed: More than 1,780, according to authorities.
Deaths: Three confirmed fire deaths, seven fire-related deaths. Authorities were investigating whether four burned bodies found Thursday east of San Diego were fire victims.
Injuries: About 30 civilians, 52 firefighters.

Major wildfires burning in California, by county:
San Diego County:

Witch Fire: Nearly than 198,000 acres (more than 309 square miles) in northern San Diego County from Witch Creek to Rancho Santa Fe. 30 percent contained. 1,061 homes and 30 commercial properties destroyed. Two burned bodies found in a charred home. Two civilians and 12 firefighters injured. Containment expected Sunday.

Poomacha Fire: About 38,500 acres (more than 60 square miles) on the La Jolla Indian Reservation and in northeastern San Diego County. 30 percent contained. 60 homes destroyed. Twelve firefighters injured.

Horno/Ammo Fire: About 20,000 acres (more than 31 square miles) on the Camp Pendleton Marine base. 80 percent contained.

Harris Fire: About 84,000 acres (more than 131 square miles) north of the border town of Tecate, about 70 miles southeast of San Diego. 20 percent contained. Ninety-seven homes, 17 outbuildings and two commercial buildings destroyed. One civilian killed, 21 injured civilians and seven injured firefighters. Containment expected Nov. 4.

Rice Fire: About 9,000 acres (more than 10 square miles) in Fallbrook in northern San Diego County. 30 percent contained. 206 homes and two commercial properties destroyed. One firefighter injured.

Et tu New York Times?

From The New York Times: With Katrina Fresh, Bush Moves Briskly

For a presidency still haunted by memories of Hurricane Katrina, the forceful round-the-clock response was a political no-brainer — the “anti-Katrina,” in the words of Peter Wehner, a former domestic policy adviser to Mr. Bush.

Then "Man you totally f'd up that whole Katrina thing, sir."
"I sure did, didn't I? Man, when are they gonna forget about that?"

And now... "So remember how you f'd up Katrina?"
"No, I do remember we did so well in San Diego."
"But you really f'd up Katrina..."
"No, no, San Diego... SAN DIEGO. We rocked San Diego."

Arson? Are we looking at arson?

Looks like more and more news outlets are picking up on the arson investigation story. The FBI has joined the investigation which is concentrating it's efforts on pinning down any arson related information.

In Riverside County, officials said that investigators had determined that the 411-acre Rosa blaze in Temecula was intentionally set. Authorities already had said that a nearly 20,000-acre fire in Orange County was set by an arsonist.
“It’s definitely arson, and it’s been deemed a crime scene,” said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

There are also reports about the shooting death of a man in San Bernardino County. According to reports from various outlets, a man was shot to death by police after officers approached him to see if he was setting a fire.

For more information about arson investigations click here.

I personally like Sign On San Diego for their less doomsday coverage

There is still cautious optimism in the San Diego area. While winds have died down and thousands have been allowed back to their homes to survey the damage, others are still in shelters and there are still some fires burning completely unchecked.

Since Sunday, the wildfires in San Diego County have forced about 560,000 people to flee their homes. The fires also have caused more than $1 billion in property damage, disaster-relief experts said yesterday.

As of early last night, fire officials reported that five blazes had burned more than 327,000 acres and destroyed at least 1,100 homes.

Although some critics (online bloggers are mentioned!) voiced concern over the original lack of help from the air, Governor Schwarzenegger refutes such claims saying that aircrafts could not fly because of high winds at the start of the week.

“Anyone complaining about the planes just wants to complain because that's a bunch of nonsense,” Schwarzenegger told ABC News during a morning interview.

The calmer conditions are a great help to firefighters trying to get blazes under control but they will not help improve air quality in and around San Diego.

President Bush is expected to speak in California later this afternoon.

Just saw Bush walking off the plane.

"Why hello Arnold, good to see you, did you hear how good of a job we're doing on this whole thing, he he. We're such good aid hander outers aren't we."

"Cali-four-nia needs much more help. Cali-four-nia needs more assistance."

"Chill out man. You shoulda seen those other guys that the news media keep talking about, that whole pesky tornado thing, water man, ain't my favorite. But this fire thing, we're doing such a good job."

"Cali-four-nia has been doing such a good job."

"California, federal government, FEMA, it's all the same. We should all pat ourselves on the back and think about how good we are at our jobs because now they totally can't bug me about that whole city that was underwater that I ignored. Go Chargers! Wait, huh, they left, oh, okay."

The President is approaching. Air Force One is landing. The Press is waiting.

I haven't waited for a GW press conference since... well since... well I don't know. I remember waiting for Bill Clinton to be on David Letterman.

CNN promises it really is coming up, because they just had footage of Air Force One landing. Patience.

The Coop is still in the building! (Alternative headline, The Coop hasn't flown the coop.)

The Coop is in Rancho Bernardo! He's rocking that "in the field with my safari looking jacket and my mussed hair from my serious in the field reporting because I'm a field reporter damn it" look. *Drool*

According to The Coop (who is never wrong, look at that face, that face is RIGHT). "California has maxed out it's firefighting resources and is asking the Federal Government for help."

There are at least 15 active fires tonight, statewide nearly a million have had to flee. San Diego county came within minutes of a major power outage but managed to clear a threat before it took out the last major power line.

Now back to his planet in peril.

I find this headline... what's the word... eerie? bemusing? head shakingly hrmmm?

NFL WAITS, WHILE SAN DIEGO BURNS


San Diego throws up the finger and tells the NFL to wait all they want but they are taking their time, considering it's a DISASTER and all, so quit staring and help already or go back to your little NFL cave and BROOOOD.

It's time to conserve power!

Turn off all your lights, read this blog, quit with the cooking and dishwashing and hair straghtening (but keep the blog, cause, come on you don't want to fall behind).

Fires have created a "power island" surrounding one of the last major power sources in San Diego, threatening to consume it. It looks like they may have to shut it down and they are asking for San Diegans to conserve power.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders implored residents to cut power use.
"You've got to conserve today. You have no choice," Sanders said.

You heard me (or Mayor Jerry Sanders rather) shut off that TV already and get your kicks, well not outside cause air quality is so bad, or at restaurants cause they should have to conserve power too, or... well, how about you just stay in with a good blog (ahem) and a cup o' joe (cold joe of course cause you don't want to use that microwave now do you).

But *and say it with me now folks* we're still doing SO MUCH BETTER than Katrina! (Apples, I thought I told you to play nice with oranges!)

National News Roundup: TTTTtime Magazine is in the hizouse!

Time Magazine issued it's report on all things fire related and guess what, it's not the worst fire in the San Diego area. (Or as CNN would say, it's bad but not that bad just a little bad)

Fire authorities in San Diego say they have never seen a fire quite like the one they are facing. But for all its fury, the fire as yet is not the worst the county has experienced. This week's fires have burned more than 263,000 acres, destroyed or damaged 1,750 homes and businesses and killed at least one person. Just four years ago, the Cedar fire, the largest in the state's history based on structures destroyed, burned 273,246 acres in San Diego County, destroyed 2,847 structures and killed 15 people. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, San Diego had three of the 20 largest fires in the state's history, including the 1970 Laguna fire that burned 175,425 acres and killed five, and the 2003 Paradise fire, which burned 56,700 acres and killed two.

And of course, we're doing so much better than Katrina.

National News Roundup: According to CNN it's bad, but not that bad...

Things look good, but not too good, but pretty good. There's a very long fight ahead, but the firefighters are on top of it, but they are still having trouble containing the fires, but the winds are better, but not perfect and they can change at any time, or they couldn't. Damage could top 1 billion, or less, or more. The weather has been dicey, but is improving, but it could get worse, or better, or stay the same.

I quite liked this exchange between two of the reporters:

"How bad is it?"
"It's bad."
"It's bad?"
"So bad."
"Bad, bad?"
"Bad."
"That's too bad."
"But it's not all bad."

CNN, reporting from the front lines.


Oh yeah, and in case you were wondering CNN says this is so much better than Katrina. (Apples, meet oranges.)