Fire in the Valley
 

I will tell you this. Halx was on the verge of evacuation last time we spoke. The sky was red, there were flames visible from his house, and the cars were packed - ready to go. The plan was to stay in close touch. I haven't been able to reach him since yesterday and the news is not good. We are all wishing and hoping for the best.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr...re&sa=N&tab=wn

I hope hes okay.... As well as everyone else in So. California at the moment :(

In times like these it's best to keep faith in those that inspire.

Know what it's like.

Been there,done that,and my friend I will put faith in fate.

Hal! We're wishing you the best!

http://www.boomspeed.com/mrcactus/simi.jpg

His house is in the red, circled area, and the fire jumped the freeway at the top of the picture about three hours ago.

I hope they got out safely. If you're the religiouis type, say a prayer for his family, if not, wish them good luck.

Damn.... That puts it into perspective.

/me prays for Halx :(

i hope we hear he and his family is safe soon.

Updated info:

http://www.nbc4.tv/index.html

http://ktla.trb.com/

http://www.fox11la.com/home/

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/

Hal -- Our thoughts and prayers are with you... Good Luck!

It's bad, but not terribly so.

Simi Valley is a /fairly/ new community. 99% of all the houses are up to code; stucco walls, tiled roofs, etc.

Not to mention that this is nothing new for Simi Valley residents (such as myself). Almost exactly 10 years ago Simi was in the same situation. I had a girlfriend who lived in Box Canyon who woke up to what she thought was sunrise, only to step outside and see a wall of flame. It was interesting because I was at home sleeping with the TV turned on. I heard a familiar voice saying 'yeah it was really wicked' which was enough to get me to look up at the TV, and sure enough, my girlfriend was on the news.

The scary part is the mandatory evacuations in Box Canyon. Simi Valley isn't especially populated with trees, although it has a fair amount, it's nothing like all the brush you see on the outskirts. Simi Valley will weather well and will stay safe... but Box Canyon, Santa Susana, and a couple other small areas are in for a tough fight. Once the fire hits box canyon, it will do exactly like it did 10 years ago, and jump across to Malibu Canyon, Calabasas and Agoura which are canyon communities and will be hit really hard.

As for Simi Valley, like I said, we're used to it. The only thing we have that can really burn is structures, which are 100 times easier to protect than a damn forest full of dead trees.

Halx doesn't appear to live in area of Simi that is paricularly prone to fires (no fields of trees or dried grass, apparently mid-central Simi) and appears to be far away from the ... 'epicenter' of where the current mandatory evacuations are. The f118 freeway (seen on the map above) runs through the middle of Simi. The part of the 118 where the fire jumped the freeway was not in Simi Valley, it was between Simi Valley and Moorpark.

We'll lose a few houses, the ones built up in the hills, but Simi Valley itself won't be hurt bad. We're used to seeing burnt hills once every few years.

well, we don't have actual reliable information right now.
that's the truth.
it would be nice to know.
but we don't.

http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/g...9.1840.1km.jpg

Im just above the fire on the border. Another Fire sprung up in El Cajon (for those of you familiar with the area). As the crow flies, about 3 miles from me. I have fires on the south and east. Last two days i haven't really seen the sun. The sky is bright orange, and it looks really eerie. The ground is covered in ash, you can see tire marks from whenever a car drives on teh road. If you can spot the sun, it is a bright pink or dark red. Yesterday winds were at 25mph with 50-60mpg gusts. Today is has calmed down.

From teh middle of the county, roads are closed north, east, and west, and a lot of southern roads as well. All schools were closed today, and almost all businesses. County officials are telling people to stay inside at all costs, and not breathe the air. Several cities need to boil their water from contamination. The smoke is so thick i cant see the hill a mile or so from my house. Several of freinds/family/church member have been evacuated.

Its not a pretty picture in Souther California. The San Diego fire cheif say just our fires aren't ecpected to be contained or under control for another 4 or 5 days. I have no idea about teh LA fires. Also, another 2 or more fires have sprung up from the last time the naitonal media wrote their articles... on a very unsettling note, i heard a disturbing story on the news. The military has equipment ready and sitting still. They are not allowed to interevene until they get Mr Gray Davis approval, and official say so. The governor was not returning calls from the southern california officials or military. We had support, vehicles, and military personelle parked and ready to go....and he wouldn't return our calls.


[personal theory] I personally think that this is an Arson campaign. Or possible a new form of terrorism (and very effective). Looking on a sattilite photo, there is no way hot embers travelled far enough to set some of these fires. The only explanation for this many fires in these locations, appears to me, that it could only be deliberate. I also think that this has the capability to be a horribly effective form of terrorism. The whole southern CA region is in no way prepared for this, and the destruction is horrible. Just thinkin about the potential destruction this could cause from terrorism is crazy. A few key people, and organized countrywide light-off could send the country into a major disaster with incredible ease....maybe im paranoid, but there could be a huge problem if this start hapenning in other states....[/end personal paranoid observations]


Sorry if im rambling, but it really is not looking pretty down here....

Just spoke with Hal.
He's fine and staying in another town.
He has what he needs with him.
His home is within a three-block area that is surrounded by the fires. This is how it looked before he left:

He said, " From the looks of it, it's like - "Oh shit, we're doomed" - but apparently they have been able to protect the houses, so far".

His sister's ranch where she worked is burned down. He believes his school is partially gone now too.

The good news is that they believe the wind is subsiding - which should allow firefighters to get control of the spreading inferno...

Hope everything is okay and they put out this fire.

i just heard about this & was wondering about Hal.

glad he's safe.

Thanks for the update art. Good to know that someone is keeping in touch to make sure he's okay.

Actually I am having a hard time placing where exactly in Simi that is on the map above. I might be able to paint a better picture if someone could tell me the name of the road running north and south under the freeway... it doesn't look like any road in Simi to me for some reason. Keuhner, Stearns, Tapo Canyon, Sycamore, Erringer, First St, Madera. Doesn't look like any of those and those are all the streets with exits on the 118.

My thoughts go out to Hal and the people of Southern California threatened by these fires.

Some pictures so people can get a better idea.

http://pwned.inf7.net/viewtopic.php?t=11948

Prayers are with you, man.
It's a shame about the ranch and school.

Thank you guys for the updates and personal views of the area.
It helps me understand the situation more clearly.

Glad to hear he is safe, and i hope his house is left untouched.

We're not going to put out exact identifiers for obvious reasons.

Good reason too ART, people like me will start stealing Hal's mail.

All kidding aside, best of luck to Hal's homestead.

I cannot believe how extensive those fires are. That is amazing. I had no idea it was that bad.

Thanks for the updates and pics everyone......

Halx ALWAY is in the middle of the most fun!!!!

It's just not fair!!!

Good luck, bro...

If it gets bad, you know how to find me..

Been trying to get you east coast for SO long, it takes an act of God to give you a hint to move...

just out of curiosity, now that we know that halx is ok, are the servers that run this site safe from the firey mennace ?

I think it's ironic that Peryn mentions his thoughts of terrorism. San Diego's mayor had similiar sentiments in a statement grouping arsonists, if that is the case here, with terrorists. I agree, too.

Prayers are with you Halx that you and yours are safe.


My brother just lost his home down in San Diego due to the fires down there, the REALLY SAD part is he moved there after he lost his home in the 93 Laguna fires that destroyed his whole neighborhood.

He did everything this time to make sure his property was protected but I guess no matter how safe you think you are if it wants you it will get you.

My thoughts and prayers are with you Halx, just as they are with several others in the affected region.

Ok guys, I'm checking in from my house. Looks like the fire got to the end of the cul de sac, which is about 5 houses.. and burnt out. The air is thick here and I've got a bit of a headache. The fire has moved over the mountain to the east of the house, I live on the north east ridge of Simi, (to those local, I live up Yosemite, along Flanagan... yeah.. that close) and is bearing down fiercely on Box Canyon and Porter Ranch. The freeway is actually closed up to my house.

I am fine and thanks for your support.

Cool man, good to hear your alright!

Me and some friends went up to see how it looked up on Flanagan tonight, and there was still a nice large red glow behind the mountains there.
Nothing quite like seeing fire racing down a hill to you (or your friend's house) in 15 minutes at 4:30 in the morning. I hope it leaves us alone. I'm sick of inhaling so much ash every time I want to step outside.

Clarkster- your sig line is somehow sarcasticly amusing right now- hope all of you get to go back to boring soon....

5 houses?! oh man im happy to hear that nothing of yours was taken from you. be safe all who are affected by this, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

hope all is well.. i know some people over there, nad i am hoping they dont get evacuated

I am glad to hear everyone is doing ok, I myself got out ok. I am staying with some friends until the smoke dies down a lot. Everyone be safe, and Halx be careful that smoke is really bad. I don't recommend sitting around there breathing in all that smoke.

Wow Hal, that's a damn close call. So how much of that picture with your house circled was damaged? It seems to be fairly densely populated, and if it got so close to your house, it seems like that means there was a lot of property that got hit by the fire. Is a lot of your neighborhood destroyed, and just your immediate area was spared? or was most of it saved...?

I'm glad to hear youre okay for now. Stay safe!

Glad to hear you're ok, Halx. It must have been quite an experience. I hope none of us, including you, ever have to experience watching our neighborhood get consumed by fire, building by building (again). Fire is really up there on my list of fears

Wow. Sounds like all that good karma you've been building up came in handy!