San Diego Fires

UPDATE: All is safe where I am now. So far, over 1,000 homes have been destroyed throughout the San Diego area from the fires this week, with 35 homes lost in Rancho Santa Fe (where I live). As you can see from this map of homes lost in Rancho Santa Fe, the wind stopped in the nick of time. The homes caught fire from the north east, heading south west. The last home lost in RSF was one block from my home. I was very fortunate. Thank you to everyone who called to make sure I was OK.

Many friends and family members have contacted me to find out if I'm OK. So far, over 350,000 homes have been evacuated, and over 1,000 destroyed.

As of Tuesday, Oct. 23, 1:00 PM, here's a quick update...

On Monday morning, around 10 AM, I received a "reverse 911" call at my home in Rancho Santa Fe, telling me I needed to immediately evacuate, as the fires were approaching. I proceeded to prepare my SUV with all the essentials, but stayed in my house. Throughout the day I kept an eye on the news and would hourly look out all the windows from my top floor. It was obvious most people had left Rancho Santa Fe. Around 10 PM, I could see the flames off in the distance, and it was clear they were getting closer, so I decided it was time to leave. I drove to our church's evacuation site, and Toby (my dog) and I spent the night there with about 100 others.

I awoke early this morning, around 5:30 AM. There are about three different ways to get to my house, so I decided to get in my SUV and survey things. I tried all three routes into my neighborhood, and all had police road blocks, preventing me from entering the area. From one of the road blocks you could see the fire burning the hillside (just north of San Dieguito Road), not far from my house (at the intersection of Camino Del Sur and San Dieguito Road). Around 6:00 I was able to take a hidden back road to get to my home. All was well with my house and my 14-home subdivision. Again, I have a sense I'm the only one here. For now, I am going to stay in the home and keep a close eye on things, again, ready to leave in a moments notice if needs be. I'm hopeful, however, that things will start to be contained soon. I'll keep you posted. Winds are mild here, but feel like they are picking up.

This map shows where my home is located, the fire area as of early this morning (and how close it got/is), along with the mandatory and advisory evacuation areas. Click image to enlarge.



So far, over 1,000 homes had been destroyed by the San Diego fires. Here is a Google Map I set up that shows my house and those homes in RSF which are close by, as reported destroyed on TV, so far. (Click on each marker to see the number of homes destroyed and their addresses. My home is the marker in the lower left side.) As you can see, a little close for comfort.

For a list of all destroyed homes, county wide, as verified by New 8, go here.

Updates on the situation can be found at http://www.sdcountyemergency.com

Kevin

Horizon "Christian Fellowship" in Rancho Santa Fe, CA - Bad Christians, Bad Neighbors

For the last 15 years or so, I've enjoyed running to help stay healthy. Presently, I live in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, and run a few miles in my neighborhood three days a week. This past week, I had something happen to me while on my run that I've never had happen in all my years of running.

Just down the road from my home is the Horizon Christian Fellowship church and school. On my runs for the past year or so, I've included running around the parking lot of Horizons. (Click here to get a satellite view of my running path and where the Horizon Christian Fellowship church and school are located along my run.) This week, while running through the parking lot of this "Christian fellowship," I was stopped by a man who worked at Horizon's who asked me if I ran there often. I told him I was a neighbor and ran three days a week, and sometimes took this route. He said I was not welcome to run through their parking lot, and if I did, he would call the police and file charges! He said it was "against the law" for me to run next to a school, and there was nothing he could do about it (a complete lie, because Horizon is a private church and school, and of course there is no "law" preventing them from allowing neighbors to run through their parking lot.) I talked to another neighbor who told me that he too was stopped when jogging there and given the same stern warning from Horizon's Head Master.

I've been a Christian my whole life, and I'm glad the church I go to ENCOURAGES staying physically fit, and would welcome any and all to use their property to stay fit and healthy.

Shame on the Horizon Christian Fellowship for telling lies, being bad Christians, bad neighbors, and poor advocates of good health.

Maybe next time I run through their parking lot, I'll bring along a video camera, tape them calling the police, and post it on You Tube. If I'm lucky, maybe they'll use a taser gun on me!

Hopefully the good people at Horizon will step up and see this policy gets changed. I've emailed several staff there with my story, and so far, none have replied.

Kevin

PS: I just noticed Horizon's is having Dinesh D'Souza speak there. I met Mr. D'Souza when I sat on a jury here in San Diego where he was found guilty of not paying a large bill to his lawyer.