Bonnie Phelps is keeping up a running e-mail narrative of her
personal observations and activities.
You can be added to her mailing list by e-mailing her your request, to
MountainNews@PalomarProperties.com.
Index:
Hello Mountain Friends,
As most of you know there is a fire on the mountain. Many of you have asked for info and updates. My husband Don is a Deputy Sheriff who works this area. He just arrived home so here is the latest:
It is believed the fire started near the gas station on Hwy 76 at the La Jolla Indian Reservation. It burned from there up the South side of the mountain about two miles east of the South Grade. It did not burn on the South Grade. As of midnight Thursday night, it is burning along the South side of the mountain below the Dyche Valley. To our knowledge, no homes have been burned. It did burn George Ravenscroft's property but his home was saved.
To our knowledge no one in Crestline or the rest of the mountain top has been asked to evacuate. (The County School camp did evacuate voluntarily.)
The South Grade and East Grade roads are closed except to residents.
As we have more information, we'll get it out to you.
~Bonnie (760) 742-1742 after 9 am
Memo from Deputy Sheriffs Kimball and Lopez
At this time Palomar Mountain and Crestline are not threatened by the fire. However, conditions/wind may change. Everyone should make initial preparations to evacuate. In the event of an evacuation you will be notified by the Sheriff's Department. The evacuation area will be the Education Center at the La Jolla Indian Reservation Tribal Hall and manned by the Red Cross.
Directions: Take the South Grade to east bound Hwy 76 to Sengme Oaks Road. The Tribal Hall is at the Water Park.
At this point the South Grade and East Grade roads leading to the mountain are open to residents ONLY. They are closed to non-residents.
Evacuations are NOT necessary at this time. We will notify you if necessary.
Deputy Sheriffs Kimball and Lopez
Evacuation Suggestions
Initial evacuation preparation is suggested by the Sheriff's Department. Based on our personal experience of evacuating in the past, your preparation might include the following:
If you know of anyone who is elderly or sick, it might be a good idea to check on them.
It looks as though the top of the mountain is out of danger at this time. The Sheriff's Department is still advising to have initial evacuation preparations. The South and East Grades are still closed to residents only. There will be a lot of stories from this fire, one of the blessings is that the man trapped on the lone caterpillar is out safely! The fire is now burning on the south side of East Grade Road on the Pine Hill area which is the east side of the Dyche Valley. This is behind and to the south of the Bergman, Haase (formerly Al and Sheri Andrews), Mendenhall and Druliner properties. Tomorrow morning dozers are scheduled to go in and clear around the Druliner's and have a back burn to hopefully protect their homes and further burning. There are a lot of fire trucks and several buses of fire crews on the scene. Of course the PMVFD and numerous mountain folks are there as well, assisting residents and helping protect this beautiful mountain that so many of us enjoy and call home.
As far as we know no homes have been lost. The fire burned completely around Ravenscroft's, Hasse's and Jim and Bonnie Mendenhall's. But their homes were saved! Unfortunately, we don't know for sure about the Druliner's. When I left the area about an hour ago, their homes were still in danger. I'm sad to report that the fire did jump the road and is now burning on the North side of the the East Grade in the Will Valley area. It is burning on the ridge at the east end of the Will.
Many thanks to the Christian Camp and Mother's Kitchen who have provided food for the residents in danger and the volunteers. We are planning to pick up dinner to take down tonight from Mother's Kitchen. Also thanks to residents have brownies and cookies in their ovens right now. :)
Many of you know Shraddha Knight who sent an email this morning. I share it
now with you:
I have been in constant touch with the Druliners....we'll see what
happens today...talked to both Abby and Meriah this morning..prayer is the
most powerful tool we have now along with the fire fighters tools...Love
Shraddha
Drueliner's homes are still in danger. A back burn was started in the past few hours to hopefully burn down to the area of their homes in the canyon to meet the fire coming toward the houses. It is really something to witness -- friend's property and our mountain, being torched -- but this same technique successfully saved Mendenhall and Haase's homes earlier today. (These torching pictures were also the last pictures that Mike Pique captured as we were leaving the fire area tonight... pretty amazing...)
The fire has burned Parayne Hill on the east end of the Will. There are several homes in that area including long time resident Nick Ricchiute family. In addition to what the fire fighters are doing, we are so glad that Dutch Bergman was allowed to take in his dozer. Dutch did a great job tonight cutting fire blocks hoping to help prevent the fire from spreading.
So many people have been a tremendous help to the property owners. The volunteers with the PMVFD truly saved the Ravenscroft home from what I hear -- covering it with foam, hauling hoses and working all through the fire. Of course, the PMVFD have been on the scene every minute.
In addition, mountain folk have helped in so many ways... Yesterday horses and a water buffalo were evacuated. (Loading that buffalo in a trailer was a site to see!) Trucks were offered for evacuations and loaded with keepsake furniture. Many hours have been spent with little sleep helping hose down, clear brush, haul water and shovel dirt to put out all the smoldering fires around the homes. Some will be down there again tonight - all night.
This afternoon we were driving out from Mendenhall's. A tree had just fallen across the road. We had to back up the driveway to their home to get a chain saw. Jay Whyte was prepared with a chain saw and other tools in the back of his truck. He took care of that tree in just a few minutes. I've been so impressed to see the mountain teenagers really pitching in. These kids really know how to work. Well, come to think of it, maybe that was Joel Mendenhall... Both guys have been down there working the entire time. Everyone is covered with soot and this guy had a damp bandana tied around his face to help with the smoke. So, I don't know. It was either Jay or Joel - I think you understand -and have a little more of a picture of the events of the day...
Roads are still closed to non-residents.
Sunday Evening
This afternoon there were approx 1300 people on the fire and 9 planes. It's burned over 3500 acres. Jim and Donna Billups just brought over 200 pounds of fresh fruit - peaches, plums, watermelon, etc on ice that will last a couple days. Mother's Kitchen has been so generous with many meals. Robert Carlyle and Anita Wade fixed an additional lunches today. We're heading down now with some of the fruit and Bernadette Madison's homemade meatloaf, potatoes and gravy. If you would like to help with making food or delivering over the next couple days, just let me know. The food is for the residents in danger or helping in the area. Another home was saved today. The Ricchiuti homes are threatened tonight. Keep praying. Winds are making it tough.
Sunday Midnight
Nothing new to report. Fifteen to twenty mountain folks loved the meatloaf and Janice Mendenhall's stroganoff. They've been working hard clearing the property around the Ricchiuti homes. A hot meal was very much appreciated. We took down a cooler of the fruit for tonight and some for breakfast in the morning along with muffins and cinnamon rolls from Mother's Kitchen.
Meals tomorrow (Monday) are taken care of. Many thanks to all.
Good night.
Monday Morning
We are now on a fax broadcast from the official command post. We will get them at least twice a day. The following was taken over the phone from Kathy Bacon:
Last night fire fighters were helped by cooler temp and higher humidity. The
cooler temperatures made much of the fire inactive during the night.
On the Southeast portion between Lake Henshaw and Hwy 76 the fire crews did
some burning out to hopefully prevent the fire from spreading.
5984 acres have burned as of this morning. It is now 30% contained. Full
containment is expected Tuesday, Oct 5th. This means that they plan to have a
line around the fire and that it should not be getting larger.
There are 944 people working on the fire.
Including 56 engines, 35 hand crews of 20 people each, 5 helicopters,
3 air tankers, 9 dozers.
The primary objective is protection of homes, property and livestock.
They have had some structures lost - a storage shed, construction type
trailer and a inhabited single wide storage trailer.
Some of the vegetation in the area is almost 50 years old. There are many
standing dead trees and bug kill trees and dead plant material so all of that
creates a very hot fire.
Some of the area is listed for endangered species -- spotted owl and
southwestern fly catcher. There are forest service rehabilitation specialists
that are addressing the issue.
Hwy 76 between South Grade Road and Lake Henshaw and the South Grade and the
East Grade - closed to the public. Open to residents only.
Kathy Bacon, Fire Information Officer
Assigned to the LaJolla (Palomar Mountain) Fire
Monday evening 7 pm
This is an official 'Smokey the Bon' update.
Sorry for the pun - that's how I feel and smell ;)
Everything on the top of the mountain is looking very good. Just back from the Ricchiuti's which is in the northern portion of the Will. The mountain folk and official fighfighter people did lots of work dozing to clear around the property so all appreciated another batch of "Official Fire of 1999 Boca Burgers" from Mother's Kitchen and iced cold watermelon etc, etc!
We're on our way back down tonight with Joan Whyte's homemede beef stew etc, etc! Unless things really change, this might be the last major food run.
Everyone has done a fabulous job. It was truly awesome to watch those helicopters and planes in action this afternoon. We looked out across the canyon and saw the big dozers crawling across the mountain and the strike crews watching and working. It's rough country out there. What a sight to see. We saw the flames crest a ridge and then planes swoop in low and score! Hooray! The huge red-orange flames became puffs of light gray smoke. Time after time. Hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate and the firefighters will be able to hold the line without further damage to our mountain.
We realize there are still other areas in danger and other fires. However, the way we see the fire from our perspective, many of us will sleep much better tonight.
~Bonnie and Celia (You know Celia - she's one of the smiling faces at The Store!)
PS - For those of you recently joining us on this broadcast, the history of the fire is on the mountain website: palomarmountain.com
10 pm Monday Night
Came home to a phone message update from Kathy Bacon. Here's the latest:
Kathy Bacon, Fire Information Officer Assigned to the LaJolla (Palomar Mountain) Fire
As of 6 pm tonight, Monday, October 4, 1999, there have been 7222 acres burned. It is now 40% contained with full containment expected by Wednesday at 6 pm. No additional structures verified as damaged. Road closures still in effect.
Tuesday Morning 11 am
Bill Peters of the Command Center came by to pick up the left over fruit that had been donated by the Billups. It will be much appreciated by the fire crews as they get the fire totally under control. He also dropped off a news release that I will have for you on the next message. In addition, he asked me to pass on the following information:
We should expect quite a bit of smoke in the fire zone for the next few WEEKS or until our first good rain. There is no wind expected today but even a few days down the road a strong breeze can stoke the fire back up. This is not a problem in the burn area and is to be expected.
So, this smokey air we now have on the mountain is a GOOD sign! We are so blessed!
Tuesday Evening 10 pm
I am so sorry to report the news of the death of Gregory Pacheco. Gregory was a 20 year old firefighter from Taos, New Mexico. He was injured on Parayne Hill during the night of Sunday, October 3rd, while fighting to protect our mountain.
If you would like to send condolences to his family, you may do so through the following address:
The Family of Gregory Pacheco
c/o Carson National Forest
208 Cruz Alta Road
Taos, NM 87571
As a mother of sons near Gregory's age, I cannot imagine the family's grief.
God Bless You All,
~Bonnie