Author Topic: Fire reaches Home  (Read 268 times)

M Dogg™

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Fire reaches Home
« on: October 26, 2003, 07:27:36 AM »
I really don't care what you think of me, but this is serious. The fire that was reaching Rancho Cucamunga has reached home for me, Northern San Bernardino. My family lives on 48th, which is in the danger zone, and my dad works as a janitor at Cal State University in San Bernardino, and I once attended Northpark Elementry, which is mentioned on the bottom. Please pray for my family, my neighborhood, and my city.

City Burns
Deadly, fast-moving fire levels at least 200 homes
By MATT BENDER and SELICIA KENNEDY-ROSS, Staff Writers
SAN BERNARDINO - A fierce wildfire swept across the city's northern limits and the hills above, killing two, destroying at least 200 homes, burning more than 10,000 acres, leaving more than 40,000 homes and businesses without power and threatening to reach the Crestline area.
San Bernardino police urged people not to enter the city.

Residents and fire officials immediately likened it to the Panorama Fire, the worst natural disaster in the city's history. The 1980 blaze killed four, destroyed more than 300 buildings and charred 23,000 acres.

"It is following the same plan and characteristics of the Panorama,' said incident commander Jess Campos, a battalion chief for the San Bernardino Fire Department. "The one thing that is different is the wind. In Panorama, it blew downwind. This is just gusts of wind. It has been very difficult.'

The Old Fire started around 9:17 a.m. near the Arrowhead Springs Resort, officials said. The cause was still under investigation Saturday night, according to officials.

Fanned by stiff Santa Ana winds, it spread quickly. By Saturday evening, it had spread east to the San Manuel Indian Reservation and west to Devil Canyon, north of Cal State San Bernardino. The reservation and the university were evacuated, along with numerous homes.

For much of the day, the fire was "hopscotching,' with embers blown over substantial distances and starting new patches of fire, Campos said. At 10 p.m., fire officials said they still had no control or containment.

Undermanned crews were overwhelmed by the fire's speed and devastation. Firefighters rushed to battle the blaze, but it took time to organize the effort.

An estimated 7,000 structures were threatened.

"That fire is going to make a beeline into Crest Forest,' Campos said Saturday afternoon.

Another fire, called the Playground Fire, had burned 20 acres west of Crestline by 9 p.m. Nearby neighborhoods were evacuated, fire officials said.

In the San Gabriel Mountains, the Grand Prix fire continued to burn, destroying nine structures Saturday and forcing evacuations in Rancho Cucamonga, Upland and the Mount Baldy area.

That fire started Tuesday. Fire officials said it has burned more than 27,000 acres and was 23 percent contained Saturday night. The fire was still threatening roughly 3,400 homes, 100 commercial buildings and 4,900 other buildings, officials said.

The Old Fire and the Grand Prix Fire in the Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana and Lytle Creek areas sparked a series of road closures. Highway 18 was closed north of 40th Street in San Bernardino. Highway 330 was closed north of Highway 30 above Highland. Highway 138 was closed from Highway 18 south of Crestline to Highway 173 in Hesperia.

Because of the Grand Prix Fire, Interstate 15 was closed between Interstate 215 in Devore and the Interstate 210 extension in Rancho Cucamonga. Traffic from the High Desert was diverted onto I-215, causing delays.

Two dead

Two San Bernardino men died during Saturday's fire.

James McDermith, 70, collapsed while evacuating his home in the 5800 block of Stanton Avenue. He was taken to St. Bernardine Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:24 p.m.

McDermith was known to have a heart condition.

Charles Cunningham, 93, was standing in the 25300 block of Toluca Drive watching his house burn when he collapsed.

He was taken to to St. Bernardine, where he was pronounced dead at 5:32 p.m.

Both deaths appear to been stress-induced stress brought on by the fire, coroner's officials said.

State of emergency

Mayor Judith Valles declared a state of emergency.

"We are experiencing a tragedy in our city,' she said. "We've put in a call to the governor and told him we need added resources.'

Board of Supervisors Chairman Dennis Hansberger also issued an emergency declaration for the Old Fire and any subsequent fires. He had issued a similar declaration for the Grand Prix fire Friday.

Denise Benson, manager of the county's Office of Emergency Services, said she was confident Gov. Gray Davis would also declare an emergency, freeing additional state resources to cope with the fire. The county is also seeking a federal declaration of emergency, she said.

Some won't go

On 42nd Street, Tony Pawlowicz's wife had already left their home with their cat and two dogs. He had the trailer hitched to the family truck and was ready to leave when ordered.

"They've had fires here before, but it's never been this close,' said Pawlowicz, who lived in Fontana during the Panorama Fire. "What's scary is the wind and the gusts. These trees here are dry. It would be like gasoline.'

Roy Griffen stood in a dirt lot at 40th Street and Waterman Avenue certain his house on Old Arrowhead Road had burned down.

It wouldn't be the first time, said Griffen. The house, which had been in his wife's family for years, had burned during the Panorama Fire in 1980.

Griffen noticed the fire around 9:30 a.m.

"We saw smoke up in the hill and three or four minutes later, all of a sudden it flared up,' said Griffen, who had family friends visiting. "We don't know (if it's destroyed), but the good Lord is looking after us, and we might just find it saved.'

Some north San Bernardino residents refused to leave their homes. On 44th Street, resident Eric Davis continued hosing down his roof, ignoring instructions from police.

"I'm not leaving,' he said. "I'm just going to stay here as long as I can.'

His section of 44th Street just off of Waterman had been evacuated earlier before he climbed onto his roof. He and friends Daniel and Eric Ybarra had helped several neighbors take items out of their homes.

Just on the other side of his home, on Waterman Avenue, the earth was scorched. Embers drifted across, carried by strong winds.

The wind shifted, Davis said. Had it not, the home he's been trying so hard to sell would be in ashes.

"I was praying to God to shift those winds,' he said.

Rose Rice stood in front of El Pollo Loco, trying to call family members on her cell phone.

Her house was burning down.

Her son had called to say the neighborhood was being evacuated. Rice, 45, got back from Calimesa in time to rescue her pets and some documents before the fire reached her home.

"I've lived there 12 years I watched it being built,' she said. "Now I can't even watch it burn.'

Reservation evacuated

Smoke filled the air outside at the San Manuel Indian Reservation at 9:15 p.m. Saturday, about 12 hours after the fire began.

Low-burning flames neared the casino as hundreds drove down Victoria Avenue to evacuate their neighborhoods on the reservation. Nearby Highland Avenue, too, was completely congested.

The casino was evacuated at 4 p.m. Thousands left, gaping at the flames in the hills and looking for their shuttle bus.

As valet parkers worked furiously to get all the cars out of the lots and the people on their way, members of the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians scrambled around the reservation to evacuate. Helicopters flew low over the casino and the reservation homes to dump water on the raging fire.

"I lost one house on Golden. I came home and got all my family out of here,' said Tom Ramos, a 32-year-old tribal member.

University scorched

At Cal State San Bernardino, a black cloud spread over the normally picturesque landscape as fire trucks and police scrambled to put out towering flames behind the university.

Smoke from the flames quickly engulfed Northpark Boulevard. Strong gusty winds blew soot and dirt, making it nearly impossible to see. Students scrambled on foot and by car from their university dorms with all their valuables.

Resident advisers were among the last students to leave the dorms. University Vice President David DeMauro also helped student residents evacuate and do a final check of the dorms.

Firefighters fought successfully to keep the flames away from the university. Three temporary buildings were damaged but not destroyed during Saturday's fire, including two temporary classrooms and the temporary student fitness and recreation center.

"The fire has pretty much blown past us,' DeMauro said. "We will remain closed until at least tomorrow morning, but we did not suffer any damage to any of our permanent buildings.'

Other people living in nearby homes packed their cars and stood by the roads, watching the flames inch across the hills.

"We got everything valuable. Everything else can go to hell,' said Dan Cerda, 26, who lives just northwest of the university. The flames were a quarter mile from his home in the early afternoon.

Israel Sierra, 31, had about five minutes to evacuate from his home on Dover Drive, near North Park Elementary School.

"I'm never going to buy a house again in this area,' he said.
 

The Big Bad Ass

Re:Fire reaches Home
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2003, 07:38:42 AM »
Hope everything turns out okay for you and yours Mdogg. I'll say a prayer.
 

M Dogg™

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Re:Fire reaches Home
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2003, 08:02:41 AM »
My sister send me e-mails. My dad and her went to my uncles, but then they were evacuated. So therefore, now both of them took their families to my aunts in Riverside, which is far away. I know they are safe. I pray.
 

Javier

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Re:Fire reaches Home
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2003, 01:51:25 PM »
i live 60-100 miles away from where all the wildfires are happening and everythng looks yellow and smells like smoke. imagine over there? damn
 

UnstoppableForce

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Re:Fire reaches Home
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2003, 02:06:15 PM »
Yea, in the San Fernando Valley we got some of the ashes n shit comin down. And there's another fire goin on in Simi Valley and the sky on the west was covered with a thick black clooud of smoke. I blame it on Arnold; ever since he got elected the supermarket employees went on strike, the MTA bus system is on strike, and now this. I think these are just signs from God telling us of what's to come. Or maybe God is telling us to get rid of Arnold as soon as possible with another recall. Trauma, he knows what's up with signs. These are not just coincidences. right Trauma? :D
 

M Dogg™

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Re:Fire reaches Home
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2003, 02:09:43 PM »
Yea, in the San Fernando Valley we got some of the ashes n shit comin down. And there's another fire goin on in Simi Valley and the sky on the west was covered with a thick black clooud of smoke. I blame it on Arnold; ever since he got elected the supermarket employees went on strike, the MTA bus system is on strike, and now this. I think these are just signs from God telling us of what's to come. Or maybe God is telling us to get rid of Arnold as soon as possible with another recall. Trauma, he knows what's up with signs. These are not just coincidences. right Trauma? :D

LOL... ok... fires always happen. Actually, the Department of Homeland Security is now respondsible for helping out, since now the fires go under this department. So they are suppose to provide some funds.
 

Hittman2001

Re:Fire reaches Home
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2003, 02:19:10 PM »
Hope everything turns out okay for you and yours Mdogg. I'll say a prayer.
 

M Dogg™

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Re:Fire reaches Home
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2003, 07:24:22 PM »
Latest word... our apartment is still standing... my sister send word that they can be home at the earliest Tuesday, so I'll get updated on that. A lot of homes around the area were not as lucky, as lots of homes were burned down, and right now the former San Bernardino Air Force Base is acting as a shelter. But my family is well, and I really wish I could go home and see them. I can at least sleep in peace tonight. I'll have a candle lit for them in prayer.
 

Lincoln

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Re:Fire reaches Home
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2003, 07:39:10 PM »
I'm getting ready to do my nightly prayer I'll give y'all a mention tonight and in a couple tommorrow.

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OpTiCaL

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Re:Fire reaches Home
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2003, 05:21:43 AM »
 

PinkTowelGirl

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Re:Fire reaches Home
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2003, 05:47:52 PM »

 well thanks for replying to this thread... it has been a long weekend for everyone here in san bernardino... and i just want everyone to keep those who have lost there homes in prayer.... this has just been a difficult thing to deal with.. seeing neighborhoods.. wiped out... the panic one goes though.. the not knowing once you leave... if you have a house or not... i really cant express much right now... we are very upset... at this