South California fire

[Guest guest]

Hello Mr. Choudhry and members,

 

 

I kept Thor's email about Important aspects in October which he send

on October 4th.

 

Below is one of that aspect date:

 

12 Oct.-6 Nov. Saturn-Ketu (exact at 11° Leo on 23 Oct)

 

 

I think South California fire is related to Saturn- Ketu aspect. The

Santa Ana hot wind cause fire in south California from last Friday,

Saturday, Sunday, Monday, today and maybe tomorrow or Wednesday.

Disaster situation. We had 12 large fire among 7 counties such as hell

yesterday. Today is worse than yesterday. The Santa Ana hot wind will

continue until tomorrow afternoon. The weather temp. is like summer

around 100F.

Saturn-Ketu exact at 11 Leo on 23 Oct is match with South California.

 

I send complete news for all of you.

 

Thank you. Helen from South California

 

SAN DIEGO - Wildfires blown by fierce desert winds Monday reduced

hundreds of Southern California homes to ashes, forced hundreds of

thousands of people to flee and laid a hellish, spidery pattern of

luminous orange over the drought-stricken region.

 

 

At least one person was killed and dozens were injured. At least 655

homes burned — about 130 in one mountain area alone — and 168

businesses and other structures were destroyed. Thousands of other

buildings were threatened by more than a dozen blazes covering at

least 240,000 acres, the equivalent of 374 square miles.

 

" The sky was just red. Everywhere I looked was red, glowing. Law

enforcement came barreling in with police cars with loudspeakers

telling everyone to get out now, " said Ronnie Leigh, 55, who fled her

mobile home in northern Los Angeles County as smoke darkened the sky

over the nearby ridge line.

 

Soon after nightfall, fire officials announced that 500 homes and 100

commercial properties had been destroyed by a fire in northern San

Diego County that exploded to 145,000 acres, said Roxanne Provaznik, a

spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry. The fire

injured seven firefighters and one civilian, and was spreading

unchecked.

 

A pair of wildfires consumed 133 homes in the Lake Arrowhead mountain

resort area in the San Bernardino National Forest east of Los Angeles,

authorities said. Hundreds of homes were lost in the same community

fours years ago.

 

Firefighters — who lost valuable time trying to persuade stubborn

homeowners to leave — had their work cut out for them as winds gusting

to 70 mph scattered embers onto dry brush, spawning spot fires.

California officials pleaded for help from fire departments in other

states.

 

" A lot of people are going to lose their homes today, " San Diego Fire

Capt. Lisa Blake predicted earlier.

 

At least 14 fires were burning in Southern California, said Patti

Roberts, a spokeswoman for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

 

From San Diego to Malibu, more than 150 miles up the coast, at least

265,000 people were warned to leave their homes. More than 250,000

were told to flee in San Diego County alone.

 

" It's probably closer to 300,000, " said County Supervisor Ron Roberts.

 

Hundreds of patients were moved by school bus and ambulance from a

hospital and nursing homes, some in hospital gowns and wheelchairs.

Some carried their medical records in clear plastic bags.

 

A 1,049-inmate jail in Orange County was evacuated because of heavy

smoke. The prisoners were bused to other lockups.

 

In San Diego County, where at least four fires burned, more than

200,000 reverse 911 calls — calls from county officials to residents —

alerted residents to evacuations, said County Supervisor Roberts.

 

About 10,000 of them ended up at Qualcomm Stadium, home to the NFL's

Chargers, where thousands of people huddled in eerie silence during

the day Monday, staring at muted TV news reports of the wildfires. A

lone concession stand served coffee and doughnuts. Many gathered in

the parking lot with their pets, which were banned from the stadium.

 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived later Monday to a more festive

evening atmosphere, with live music and mountains of catered food. The

crowd hooted and hollered as he passed through, and Schwarzenegger

later declared that the people of this makeshift city " are very happy. "

 

The sprawling Del Mar Fairgrounds on the coast was also turned into an

evacuation center, along with high schools and senior centers. Marine

officials at Camp Pendleton opened their base to residents.

 

At least one of the fires, in Orange County, was believed to have been

set. And a blaze threatening the homes of the rich and famous in

Malibu might have been caused by downed power lines, authorities said.

 

Mel Gibson, Kelsey Grammer and Victoria Principal were among the

celebrities forced to flee over the weekend, their publicists said.

 

Another blaze was started by a car fire. Flying embers started new

fires at every turn. One of the San Diego fires was burning so fast

that authorities did not have an accurate count of how many homes had

been destroyed.

 

" It was nuclear winter. It was like Armageddon. It looked like the end

of the world, " Mitch Mendler, a San Diego firefighter, said as he and

his crew stopped at a shopping center parking lot to refill their

water truck from a hydrant near a restaurant. Asked how many homes had

burned, he said, " I lost count. "

 

Tom Sollie, 49, ignored evacuation orders in Rancho Bernardo to help

his neighbors spray roofs on his street with water. His home was

untouched, but he watched a neighbor's house reduced to nothing but

the remnants of a brick chimney. " The house went up like a Roman

candle, " Sollie said.

 

He added: " If we weren't here, the whole neighborhood would go up.

There just aren't enough fire trucks around. "

 

Parts of seven California counties were ablaze. By nightfall, embers

had ignited spot fires in ultrawealthy Rancho Santa Fe, a suburb north

of San Diego. The fires burned in lemon orchards, their smoke choking

the air around gated mansions.

 

Firefighters complained that their efforts to stop the flames were

delayed when they were confronted by people who refused to leave their

homes.

 

" They didn't evacuate at all, or delayed until it was too late, " said

Bill Metcalf, a fire boss. " And those folks who are making those

decisions are actually stripping fire resources. "

 

As flames, thick smoke and choking ash filled the air around San Diego

County's Lake Hodges, Stan Smith ignored orders to evacuate and stayed

behind to help rescue the horses of his neighbor Ken Morris.

 

" It's hard to leave all your belongings and take off, and the bad

thing is you can't get back in once you leave, " Smith said.

 

" I heard the cops come by, and I just ducked, " Morris said.

 

Besides, said Smith, " Lots of time the fire doesn't ever come. It's

come really close before. I've seen it so bad you couldn't even hear

yourself talk over the flames and ash blowing everywhere. "

 

Black smoke blanketed much of northern San Diego and nearby suburbs as

flames hopscotched around homes in Rancho Bernardo, a community with

many elderly people, destroying one of every 10 homes on one busy

street.

 

Highways, canals and other features normally act as firebreaks. But

the towering flames and flying embers rendered them useless this time.

 

Dozens of motorists gathered on an Interstate 15 overpass in San Diego

to watch flames race up a hillside and engulf at least a half-dozen

homes. Witnesses said they watched flames jump west across the 10-lane

freeway.

 

" The flames were like 100 feet high and it moved up the hill in

seconds. It was at the bottom, it was in the middle, and then it was

at the top, " said Steve Jarrett, who helped a friend evacuate his home

in nearby Escondido.

 

Fire near the San Diego Wild Animal Park led authorities to move

condors, a cheetah, snakes and other animals to the fire-resistant

veterinary hospital on the grounds of the park. The large animals,

such as elephants, rhinos and antelope, were left in irrigated

enclosures.

 

The world-famous San Diego Zoo was not immediately threatened.

 

Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in the seven affected

counties, opening the way for government aid. He also made 1,500

California National Guardsmen available, and San Diego Mayor Jerry

Sanders said the troops' main focus would be to prevent looting and

help with evacuations.

 

" Its a tragic time for California, " the governor said in Malibu, where

a church, homes and a mansion resembling a medieval castle were

destroyed over the weekend.

 

White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel said in an e-mail

that President Bush called Schwarzenegger to make sure the state is

getting the help it needs.

 

One person died in one of the fires near San Diego. More than a dozen

people were hospitalized with burns and smoke inhalation, including

four firefighters, three of whom were listed in critical condition,

officials said. Some of the injured were hikers, while others may be

illegal immigrants.

 

Among the evacuees were members of a National Guard unit that had to

flee its barracks, officials said.

 

Flames forced the evacuation of the San Diego community of Ramona,

which has a population of about 36,000.

 

Christine Baird, 42, was ordered to evacuate her apartment in the

Rancho Bernardo area at 5:30 a.m. She moved to California from Canada

earlier this year.

 

" Instead of snow we had ash all over the car, " she said. " This is all

new for me. We've got no family in the area, so there's really nowhere

else to go. "

 

___

 

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Chelsea J.

Carter and Jeremiah Marquez in Los Angeles, Jacob Adelman in Santa

Clarita, and Elliot Spagat and Scott Lindlaw in San Diego; and

National Writer Martha Mendoza in Lake Arrowhead.