Fires

[Guest guest]

Dear Emmanuel,

I've never breathed such thick air before. All the schools are

closed (except PCOM), and it is quite chaotic. My son Raphael was

driving east today on Interstate 8 and had to turn around to avoid

fires that consumed a resort up in our mountains, so he is taking a

northern route.

 

Some of my friends were evacuated, two may have lost their homes.

 

I think things should be straightened out by next week.

 

If not, I may fly up with the family to the Bay Area this weekend to

'chill out'.

 

Otherwise, I am doing well. New inspiration towards writing.

 

Take care,

 

 

On Oct 28, 2003, at 3:20 PM, Emmanuel Segmen wrote:

 

> Thanks, Ken, I really enjoyed this post.

>

> I hope we've still got some trees to talk to when you get down here

> next week. I'm breathing in their corpses right now.

>

>

>

> Hey, Z'ev,

>

> Are you and your family along with other CHA-San Diego folks okay?

> This morning's paper said that the San Diego fires still have 0%

> containment. Let us know what's up with you guys.

>

> Hoping for the Best,

> Emmanuel Segmen

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

The fires are basically isolated to the mountains at this point, but

still vastly destructive. The winds are shifted to a westerly

direction today, humidity rising, so the air should clear.

 

Z'ev

On Oct 29, 2003, at 12:53 AM, Emmanuel Segmen wrote:

 

> Thanks, Z'ev. There's so many of us planning on heading pretty nearly

> into ground zero next week. I hope the mighty forces of both nature

> and the Calif. Dept. of Forestry bring things to a place of greater

> harmony.

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

The skies are deceivingly blue over the coastal area in San Diego today. From

where I sit (Mission Hills, near Hillcrest), you wouldn't know there are still

fires raging, unless you turn on the TV. Today I can't smell smoke, for the

first time since Sunday. We are advised to wear air filter masks for at least

one week after the fires are put out, and they are estimating the largest fire

won't be totally contained until November 16th - that is contained, folks, not

extinguished... People are still being advised to stay indoors, with windows

closed. I visited Kaiser Monday, and it was desolate - specialty departments

were closed, with only emergency and urgent care were open. All routine

appointments were cancelled. Staff was a skeleton crew, with few patients on

site.

 

We lost some small towns entirely last night, places I have visited on vacation

and day trips - areas about an hour east of the city of San Diego - totally

decimated. Other historic areas are threatened. I have a friend whose house

was spared, while those across the street from her are leveled. I have friends

in areas where the fires are still raging, who have horses and cattle, and I

have not been able to contact them. I used to live in an area bordering Mission

Trails Park, which itself was pretty badly burned - I went to check on my former

landlady on Monday, only to discover the area was closed off and evacuated.

This was less than 2 miles from the largest Kaiser facility in San Diego.

 

Today I feel blessed that I do not live in one of the more remote areas, which

is where I usually wish I did live. I have been working with PCOM and some

local TCM folks to try to set up acupuncture support for evacuees, emergency

workers and volunteers, at Red Cross shelters and fire staging areas. We have

been looking for donations of needles and other supplies. So far, we have 9

acupuncturists who want to volunteer their time. I hope we will have at least

one site set up by the end of this week.

 

UCSD's burn center has requested that PCOM send massage therapists. I am

looking into whether they would also welcome acupuncturists. The email I

received from UCSD described the burn unit as looking and feeling like a " war

zone " . By day I work at the church across the street from UCSD (at night, I

turn into " AcuDoc " ... just kidding, but first year of practice is requiring

somewhat of a double life for me). In the church parking lot, we are hosting

the family of one of the severely burned patients - their RV is in our lot and

they are using it as a temporary home base while supporting their family member.

 

There are many ranches in the fire areas. I heard on the news that there are

now 10 distinct fires burning in San Diego County, about half small and half

huge. On TV, we see many rescued horses, some goats, but no cattle. I am

wondering what has become of all the cattle.

 

The sky is now becoming greyish yellow again, meaning that more smoke is now

blowing this way. The fires are so hot, they create their own wind patterns,

and this is what makes them so unpredictable. Add to this all the beetles that

have destroyed so many of the tall trees in southern California that they are

just dead tinder, plus years of accumulated underbrush, high temperatures, and

changing weather patterns, and we have a recipe for disaster.

 

I was in Long Beach this past weekend, and we had smoke there from the San

Bernardino fires. On the news, there were absolutely no reports about the San

Diego fires, so I had no knowledge of them until Sunday night when I was on my

way home and got a call from a friend notifying me that the only road in and out

of town was I-5! So much destruction is such a short time. Since you asked, I

thought I'd provide a few snapshots of what I've seen, and what is being done.

 

Today I shed tears for the forests.

 

 

 

 

On Oct 29, 2003, at 12:53 AM, Emmanuel Segmen wrote:

 

>There's so many of us planning on heading pretty nearly

> into ground zero next week. I hope the mighty forces of both nature

> and the Calif. Dept. of Forestry bring things to a place of greater

> harmony.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Andrea Beth,

 

This morning the redwoods were particularly

quiet, perhaps they were listening to the

sound of your tears dropping through those

clear blue skies.

 

The Zen roshi told me that death is a

great teacher, so we can study the agony

of burning trees and learn...

 

something.

 

I will be at Z'ev's place Monday, the

3rd and would be willing to come and

volunteer some time in the burn ward

if additional hands are needed. Who

is coordinating?

 

In the Chinese burn units, they use

di yu a lot. It can help deal with

superating burn wounds.

 

Thanks for the weather report.

 

Ken

[Guest guest]

> In the Chinese burn units, they use

> di yu a lot. It can help deal with

> superating burn wounds.

 

Blue Poppy Herbs would be willing to donate some of its Burn Ointment

to whatever clinic is helping treat the SD burn victims with CM. Our

Rx has Di Yu as a main ingredient. The Rx comes from a Chinese burn

unit and has been the subject of at least one RCT.

 

Bob

[Guest guest]

Hi Ken,

 

I will forward to you the emails I have received about where help is needed.

What is set up is changing on a daily basis. If you want the latest update when

you get here, you can call Rebecca Wilkowski at PCOM (619) 574-6909.

Unfortunately, I got an email today saying that it did not work out to have

volunteers at the Burn Center at UCSD, due to liability issues. Volunteers are

still being sought for Gillespie Field in El Cajon, and at Viejas Casino. I

have been feeling rather exhausted this week, and so it is unlikely I will be

personally volunteering at any of the sites in the next several days.

 

Thank you for participating. I'd like to hear about your experience.

 

Andrea Beth

kenrose2008 <kenrose2008 wrote:

Andrea Beth,

 

This morning the redwoods were particularly

quiet, perhaps they were listening to the

sound of your tears dropping through those

clear blue skies.

 

The Zen roshi told me that death is a

great teacher, so we can study the agony

of burning trees and learn...

 

something.

 

I will be at Z'ev's place Monday, the

3rd and would be willing to come and

volunteer some time in the burn ward

if additional hands are needed. Who

is coordinating?

 

In the Chinese burn units, they use

di yu a lot. It can help deal with

superating burn wounds.

 

Thanks for the weather report.

 

Ken