Why?9:06 p.m.
I live in the Irvine/Tustin area where the Santiago Canyon fire is burning in close proximity. I was horrified to see our always blue horizon engulfed in black smoke and tinted in an angry red glow.
Although my home was not directly affected by the fire, much tension was felt through the many phone calls and IMs I received throughout the night. “Are you guys OK?” was the frequent question.
Some of my friends and their families, who live close to the 261 toll road, decided to evacuate. It was surreal to hear that many decided to evacuate, even though the evacutaion order was voluntary. Authorities revealed this morning that the fire was caused by an arson.
The question many are asking now is “why?”
– Ann Austria, Daily Forty-Niner features editor in Irvine resident
Sports updates6:44 p.m.
The daily men’s water polo practice did not happen today at the 49er Campus Pool – presumably because of air quality concerns. One women’s water polo player said she did not think her team’s practice tomorrow was cancelled. Women’s soccer head coach Mauricio Ingrassia said he is not sure whether or not his team will practice Wednesday.
Governor speaks in San Diego6:22 p.m.
Gov. Schwarzenegger gave a press conference earlier today in San Diego, saying “it’s a tragic day for San Diego County and for California.”
He also said in the conference that “anything the [San Diego] mayor needs, and anything San Diego needs, we are there. We are partners in this. The state and the federal government, everyone is coming together here to help.”
Disturbed cat6:20 p.m.
Like Stephen, I, too, am from Rancho Penasquitos in San Diego, a neighborhood that was evacuated earlier today but hasn’t received the worst effects of the fires – yet.
My mom and brother went west toward to the beach to Del Mar before the crowds and official evacuation announcements were made in our neighborhood and have stayed in a family friend’s condo ever since. They had less than two hours to get essential items from the house. My mom told me she grabbed by $5,000 French horn.
My mom was worried about the neighboring city of Solana Beach advising its residents to leave if necessary. She wasn’t sure where to go if she and my brother had to leave Del Mar, but figured north was the best option.
Our cat, like many animals around the fires today, is having a hard time. She wouldn’t stay in her portable box-thingy and howled to the point that my brother let her roam in the car freely. Last time I heard, she was asleep on its floor.
Out of the 20-some years my family has lived in that northern San Diego suburb, today was the first time we’ve ever had to evacuate.
– Bradley Zint, Daily Forty-Niner editor in chief and San Diego native
Bombarded with phone calls6:10 p.m.
I woke up this morning when my sister called. She asked me what I wanted her to grab from my room when she evacuated our house.
I would get two more phone calls before my alarm went off. One was just to ask if I was in San Diego or not, but the other was from a friend in New York who wanted to know everything I did. I lived up the street from her in high school and our parents still wave to each other when they drive by. Her parents had yet to heed the evacuation warnings and she didn’t know if the fire was breathing down on them.
At the same time, SignOnSanDiego, the website for The San Diego Union-Tribune, had breaking news that the area north of the 56 Freeway between interstates 5 and 15 was being evacuated. My neighborhood, Rancho Penasquitos, is just north of the 56 between the 5 and the 15.
For the rest of the day, my phone was flooded with text messages. I’ve sent and received about 50 today and it’s only 5 o’clock. Some were from people who live in San Diego but were nowhere near the fire, but some were to others whose houses are built right at the edge of dry brush. I feel weird when I take solace in knowing that the fire will have to jump over many other houses before it reaches mine.
– Stephen Sabetti, Daily Forty-Niner copy editor and San Diego native
Irvine campus closed4:51 p.m.The Cal State Fullerton Irvine campus has been closed and classes were cancelled “due to health concerns caused by the Irvine area fire and Santa Ana wind conditions,” according to Fullerton’s website. Fullerton’s main campus in Fullerton remains open and is operating as normal.
City issues air quality warning3:40 p.m.
The city of Long Beach health officer has issued a warning for people with breathing problems to take extra precautions outside because of the bad air quality caused by the fires throughout Southern California.
School’s out?1:50 p.m.
Magnolia Howell, a senior journalism major, said she felt school should have been cancelled today.
“The wind is picking up the ash from yesterday and the new ash from today. Starting at around 11, there’s a haze of ash that’s clouded over the sun, blocking it. If it’s that bad that it’s changing the lighting and blowing up in students’ faces, they should cancel school.”
Howell also pointed out potential respiratory problems that can happen from breathing the bad air, and also said children at the Isabel Patterson Child Development Center are still playing outside.
“They should be kept indoors,” Howell said.
Windiest Place on Earth?1:30 p.m.
ANAHEIM – Sunday’s violent Santa Ana winds didn’t deter tourists from visiting the Disneyland Resort. Angry guests were turned away from the Wine Country Trattoria in Disney’s California Adventure because at least 25 percent of the restaurant’s tables outside could not be used for dining.
“Sitting at a traffic light in Anaheim felt like something out of a horror movie,” said Colleen Donnelly, the city editor for the Daily Forty-Niner and a Disneyland Cast Member. “The wind was howling and the whole car was shaking like some demon was trying to get inside. I’m thankful for my car’s low center of gravity, otherwise I would have been afraid of being flipped.”
Tree branches also fell on to Ball Road, the street bordering the north end of Disneyland behind Mickey’s Toontown. However, the high winds didn’t reduce speeds of motorists on the 22 West Freeway.
