Ellen, I'm glad to hear you still have power and that the fire is miles away.

I'm hoping that it will stay that way, just know that I'm thinking about you, even if I'm powerless to do anything to help.

Annie

Many thanks Annie! Hugs!

Oh yeah. A bunch of PG&E muckymucks were having a wine tasting fancy party as the blackouts were going on causing millions in losses to local businesses!

Busted! They have also admitted to mismanaging the outage.

We're supposed to have Santa Ana winds starting Sunday again, and so the temperatures will rise. I hate these winds, as they bring positive ions, which cause me depression. The native people here called them "devil winds" and also experienced depression when they occurred. Joan Didion wrote about them in her book Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

For me, going to the beach and being close the waves helped me feel better, which is partly why I stayed in Venice for 15 years.

I wonder if electronic negative ion generator can be of benefit to you.

dcarch

Dcarch, yes it can, and I used to have one in Venice, but it stopped working after a while. I should look into getting another one.

ETA: I looked into getting one, but none of the ones I found will ship to California, as they do not meet California standards for safety.

I finally found this one, which will ship to California, and I bought it. I'll have to see how it works. I'm not sure it will generate much in the way of negative ions, but it should at least help keep my air clean. The one I had in Venice worked very well, and I had to clean the filters about once a week, but I had open windows there, and I do not here.

Lars, that unit does not look like a negative ion generator to me.

It is what I think just an electrostatic air cleaner. (or know as electrostatic precipitater).

It does generate negative ions, but it also has a positively charged component which draws and neutralizes all the negative ions generated.

You need to get one that is not for air cleaning. Sometimes it is called electrostatic discharge generator.

dcarch

I don't think it is possible to get a negative ion generator in California. The one I ordered has this spec:

• Electrostatic Ionizer Purification - Negative
  ions (O1) remove airborne pollutants as small as .01 micron such as
  allergens, pollen, mold, smoke, pet dander, unpleasant odors, dust, and
  other airborne irritants.
  

This might work well enough. If not, I would have to order one and have it sent to my sister in Texas, and then she could forward it to me here. However, I would prefer to have something that is considered safe by California standards.

This might be simplistic, but perhaps a water feature where the water is in motion would help--I have a couple tabletop waterfalls and a larger outdoor fountain. Water in motion produces negative ions.

Lars, as I said, an electrostatic air cleaner does generate negative ions, the issue here is that it also has built-in positive charged terminals to completely neutralized all the generated negative ions before they leave the cleaner.

I don't want to advice you on how to cut off the positive wire to turn it into a negative ion generator because I don't know how things are connected inside yours. There is a high voltage generator inside that generates the negative ions. Not really dangerous, but can give you a big shock.

Negative ion generators are not unsafe, just make sure that you read the specs that it also does not generate ozone. California is very touchy about ozone, which is responsible for smog.

dcarch

New fire in So Cal in Valley Center area/San Deigo County now (3:00 pm Oct 25, 2019). Lots of brush there. Evacuations are in place, including info about places to go as people evacuate themselves and their animals. Warnings have been issued in certain areas, i.e. do NOT stay in place, and if you can see smoke, get out.

I'm in East County and am watching the constant coverage as we have friends close to that area and they can evacuate to our place. The fire seems to be still blazing but with containment in sight, thanks to air drops and ground crew and the expectation this would happen and the preparation therein.

Sooz, I hadn't heard yet about that one. Good to at least hear containment's in sight already. We're about 18 miles east of Pasadena. I check our foothills several times a day for signs of any smoke.

The fires are miles away and not likely to come here, but the smoke sure has. Fire season started so mild, and now this.

Be careful, everyone! There was one year in the past where our evac bags were packed and we thought the fires would burn all the way to the Pacific.

Sounds like the Southern California fire (s) were started by homeless cooking fires in our hot, high winds.

I'm still keeping you all in my thoughts, and I read today that PG&E has admitted that "they could have" caused some of those fires.

Stay safe, everyone.

Annie

I hope all have safety in the fire zones. There are still people displaced from last year's fires. In my area, we are free and clear and have had power, as it is a public utility. Our biggest risk are fires started by transients, almost a daily occurrence (and it's not cold yet, it's been 80s during the day.).

Been watching this thread, and glad to see some friends piping up, letting us know that they are safe. Keeping you all in my thoughts, and agree with others here, stay alert, stay safe.

Very unsettling to think a fire can start a mile away, a block away, or even next door.

Take the bull by the horns and prep your family, check in on elderly neighbors. Have a plan like those of us that prep for storms. Power outages we deal with all the time. Inconvenient when skies are clear and calm. Research and learn the best prep for your situation.

My car boot has a weekend bag 24/7 365. (work, not for storm or disaster) but some may not have time. Seems power outages are imminent and random. Don't complain what you have no control over. Prep for it.

High value fridge and freezer foods can last easily 5-7 days. Planned and prepped properly.

Being misplaced due to fire losing everything is tragic. Loss of life is inconceivable.

Be safe. I worry.

The main thing is keeping wildfires out of the built-up areas. The firefighters have done a valiant job, and have saved a lot of neighborhoods. Once it starts going from house to house, there's a lot less they can do to stop it.

They're talking power outages for 2,000,000. Somehow, we are just a few houses out of the outage area.

We have our go bags, art and important papers ready to go, froze several jugs in the freezer, I prepped everything to make a hash for tonight (don't want to do a lot of chopping by flashlight!), did the laundry and dishes, made coffee to heat up in the morning if needed. We have a gas stove and a BBQ so we can cook.

The evacuation areas are about 20 miles to the north of us. They are being extra careful cause the 2017 fires people had NO notice!

Many of the evacuations were to get people out before dark. Hwy 101 was at 5PM at a crawl.

I remember 45 years ago going to school about this time of year and the fog was so thick you couldn't see the end of the block! And I'm now just about a mile from where I grew up.

What climate change?!?!?

The reports on TV are horrendous. Prayers and hugs for all you concerned.

The winds are especially fierce today. I hope all are safe in the danger zones. Any spark or small fire will quickly grow out of control.

ETA... just read that they've closed down I-80, in the East Bay, for a growing vegetation fire. They say the winds are peaking. Gusts are exceeding 100mph in the mountains.

I hope everyone stays safe.

This is supposed to be an update from PG&E on power outages, but it does not work for my address, even though we use PG&E. In Cathedral City, we have SoCal Edison (SCE), but there are seldom outages there. Anyway, we have solar panels there and would not be out of power while the sun is shining.

ETA: Found out we have LADWP instead of PG&E.

I’m in El Dorado County, just East of Sacramento, in the foothills. We’ve been without power for two days. The winds are really gusting now here. This is our 2nd outage in two weeks. I just heard that although power is expected to be turned on sometime tomorrow, Tuesday is expected to bring another wind event. So, there’s a possibility of yet another outage. Luckily, for us, we got a standby generator about 10 years ago, so we’re OK for now. We’ve done our defensible space, but the fires are horrendous and scary.

Oh Shambo, I hope those predicted winds don't develop and the ones you are getting let up soon. I'm happy that you have a generator, and I know you'll be watchful for danger with fires coming closer.

Annie

Terrible fire in California. Property lost, life lost, major inconvenience with power outages.

But that's not all. I have not seem information regarding other concerns with major forest fire.

Each tree can sequester 48 lbs of CO2 per year. If each acre has 100 trees, that would be about at least 2,000,000 trees perished so far this year. That would be 96,000,000 lbs of CO2 of additional greenhouse gas added to the global warming each year !

Stay safe.

dcarch

.

We had a fairly wind free day here in Santa Rosa, but they're supposed to ramp up again tomorrow night. That made for an extra smokey day!

The temps have thankfully dropped which helps some. The layer of smoke blocked the sun which made it even cooler than was predicted, so we pretended it was a cool fall day and had soup and grilled cheese for lunch!

Tomorrow when the winds kick up I'll be making muffins (again pretending it's winter) and sewing on buttons!

We are, luckily, in a little safe area of downtown that hasn't had any evacuation warnings or loss of power!

I haven't heard of any loss of life at this point, and homes lost rest at about 40 (as apposed to 5% of our population in '17! 5,000+!)

Hangin in! Nancy

The fires are getting closer. My house isn't likely to be in danger, but if the current fire jumps a topographical fire bread, I'm going to have to pull my mother out of her house and not wait to hear if the call for evacuation. She's very old and delicate. Please keep a good thought.

Awakened at 4am with an automated warning call from the Fire Department. A fire had sprung up way too close for comfort. I jumped into action roused DH and pulled a car out of the garage and backed it up the driveway. I feel terrible for the people who lost their homes or sustained such damage, but thankfully our fire fighting team only lost 8 houses and had 6 damaged. If you knew the terrain, you'd understand how amazing that is.

The fire was being pushed towards the ocean in south west direction and away from our area. I've been watching and waiting all day, but it's quiet now- no helicopters or fixed wing aircraft tonight. But it's a wait and see-- worse winds predicted for tomorrow night into Thursday.

Just getting back to this thread......not feeling so good about the grandson and VERY VERY pregnant wife in Laguna beach. He mentioned a week or so ago about the goats in the hills....but seeing pictures of that fire 10 years ago is very concerning.
She is due a week from today...I don't even want to think of trying to get to the hospital with fire danger around....don't know what hospital they will be using.

Stay safe everyone....think rain!!

Just want to continue my thoughts and support... Please all, do not take risks. Mementos are precious, but human life, yours and your loved ones, your friends and neighbors, moreso. High winds can send a spark, fuel a fire, spread a fire, in the blink of an eye (been there, have seen it). Keep alert, go outside and check your perimeters on occasion. Stay safe : )

nancyjane, I'm glad you are in a safe-for-now area, but stay watchful.

Ellen, I've been watching and Elery has been updating me, so I've just been praying that your winds subside and you'll be OK. Be careful!

Plllog, definitely be watchful of your Mom, she's probably very worried and possibly terrified. At least she has you to watch out for her.

LindaC, you know Elery has a son near Laguna Beach, so we've been watching and hoping. Good luck to your grandson and his wife and that soon-to-arrive little one. I'll be thinking "rain" right along with you.

Annie

We were lucky just here. The local fire hasn't spread. Over where my mother grew up, there are a bunch of new fires. Mother is okay, and dealing pretty well with it. When I was a kid, she'd get nearly hysterical when the winds came up and she could smell or see the smoke. In the country, where she was from, when she was young, the fires just ran. They did today, but the fire service are so good, and there's air support and other tech, that they still managed to save most of the structures. Getting the animals out was the biggest issue. Some of the evacuation centers for the horses were over capacity and had to turn people (with more horses) away. I'm not exactly sure where they moved other livestock to. There were also a lot of small fires (under 30 acres, some under 10). The big fire in Sonoma County is only half contained.

Linda, so far, from what I can tell, the area around Laguna is doing okay. I hope it continues that way and all goes well for your grandson's family.

Compumom, Lars, Chloebud, Shambo, Nancyjane and all the other Californians, I hope everything is all right where you are.

I've been keeping quiet and trying not to breathe.

I live south of Laguna Beach, and we did not have the kinds of winds they predicted today. It was rather tame here, with a healthy breeze for a couple of hours only. But the humidity is low, and anyone with outdoor cooking fires or cigarettes could change all that quickly.

I've been quite safe here in Fresno, but soon I'm heading down to LA and right in the middle of the mess..... so to speak. This is sort of de je vous for me because I was down there last year with the fires just over the ridge; cars were all packed and ready to head out if needed. Off-and-on some of the Interstates down there have been closed, so I hope my journey will be uneventful. There are suppose to be high winds this weekend again. Not fun for anyone!

Just wanted to thank those who checked in... for checking in. Have read your posts with great relief. Thank you for keeping us informed.

There's supposed to be some marine layer by the end of the weekend, thank goodness.

Chloebud and Sheilajoyce, they showed a wind map on the news which had the "extreme" in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, kind of arching up and blowing through Ventura County. It wasn't bad for my friends in Santa Maria, either, so it was kind of a channeled thing. Really bad with fires in Moorpark, and through that whole area, as well as Jurupa Valley. It will probably pick up as the sun goes down, but the Santa Ana reported as likely for the weekend seems, at least by the report I just saw, not to be much of a thing.

It's harder to find info on wine country and Northern California because so much is happening here.

I had to go out today, and breathing is still not good. My eyes have burned since I woke up, but the fires here are mostly controlled. Containment didn't progress much since yesterday to the latest update on the one near my mother, but that's itself a victory given the conditions.

Mudslides next. Sigh.

We're safe and sound over here-- all except one of the main roads is still cordoned off, but we can work with it. Yesterday taking DH to an eye procedure at UCLA was a bit of a nightmare, but we managed. today is much better. Have to agree with Chloebud- the winds definitely weren't historic around our area. Hoping and praying that things calm down-- it's SO DRY! Los Angeles hasn't had any rain since May when we received 4/10ths of an inch!

LindaC-- a great grand baby!! So exciting! Things are much calmer and I wouldn't worry too much! Update us when the big event occurs!

Much better starting late yesterday. We could slightly smell smoke from the San Bernardino fire, but this morning is fine. Wish I could hug every one of those firefighters. Truly the best on the planet.

ETA - Still Red Flag Warnings through tomorrow.

These were what I suggested to my friends and relatives in California. I will also post those suggestions here: Depends on what area you are in, may not be of use to you:

1. Buy a fireproof safe to store your important documents, in case you can't evacuate fast enough.

2. If you have a ton of stuff you want to keep, it's cheap and quick and easy to make a big fireproof box. Make a box with two layers of 5/8" Sheetrock using metal studs. No need to make box with hinged door. 2 layers of Sheetrock cover is heavy enough to stay in place.

dcarch

Wind events (as they now call them) are over, the fire is 70% contained and we are down to only one evacuation location.

I don't have a count, but loss of homes was around 100 as opposed to over 5,000 in 2017!

PG&E had all of these power shut downs, but it was still their equipment that started the fire!

The governor came down really hard on them and basically said they'd better fly right or be taken over in the public interest.

" The governor came down really hard on them and basically said they'd better fly right or be taken over in the public interest. "

Sure. Yeah. Our government always watches out for public's interest. No quid pro quo, or bribery in our country. That only happens in other countries.

Have you ever wonder who are those people in Super Bowl box suites totaling over $20,000 per person (with traveling)? Restaurants $1000 per meal? Special events you get to mingle with move stars? -------

Book deals, "Charitable" foundations, paid speeches ------

Have you ever wonder how all those politicians, public works inspectors, make millions and millions while in office? regardless of political party? All perfectly legal?

How is it possible that suppliers and contractors for government work get paid for 100% over contracts?

Simple answer, voters (both sides) don't know and don't care.

Sorry, plllog, I am very negative with our government.

dcarch

tRump told our governor after the last fires to "rake our forests"! Um.....the fires weren't IN the forests!

Now he's saying that he's going to cut us off from federal help (damn! We forgot to rake our forests!) All while cutting anything that has to do with our environment!!

We'll just have to hold our taxes here, then. ;)

Dcarch, I understand the attitude, but we likely have less graft than most countries, and for all their faults, the public utilities aren't having this problem. Exposed power lines did contribute to the fire near Compumom, but it was the wind that took the tree branch off of the tree and threw it into well maintained lines, not the fault of the power company.

My father once was in charge of a small private utility. He was so thrilled when the local government took it over! Utilities are natural monopolies, and part of the public infrastructure. While quasi-governmental entities have lots of issues, at least they answer to constituant rate-payers/taxpayers, rather than far away shareholders who want disbursements rather than reinvestment.

plllog , not to make this the "Hot Topics" forum, I will not name names.

No one seems to care, for instance, a daughter of a famous politician made $600,000 for a few hours of "work", and somehow ended up being a $6.5 million shareholder of a company. All legal!!!

There are so many other much worse examples.

dcarch

No power outages here - we have a well run municipal utility, SMUD for electricity. PG&E only supplies the natural gas.

Our area is well away from direct danger of fires. Last year, we were hit hard with the smoke from all the fires - there were so many and so big that a large part of Northern California had terrible air - some days we were maxed out on the index. It wasn't bearable to be outside at all; a lot less hardship than the people in the fire areas so it felt bad to complain about it, but being house bound was getting pretty old. So far this year, our air has been okay.