Among the many horrible fires affecting Southern California, the Witch Creek fire engulfing much of "north county inland" San Diego County began in a small area, called Witch Creek, east of the town Ramona, home of the tiny, but engaging Congregation Etz Chaim (a URJ affiliate). As of late Monday evening nearly everyone in the congregation had been accounted for including our 94 year-old retired cantor and his wife who would not evacuate the area, and some members who remained in the high valley to do volunteer work for those who could not evacuate.
Those unfamiliar with the topography and the weather conditions that enable these fires to burn the way they do can check this photo (thank you Google Maps) that shows the location of Witch Creek (the green arrow) in relation to Ramona (click the photos for larger views),
and this zoomed out version that shows the mountains to the east of San Diego County. (Route 79 runs along the ridge.)
Damp winds usually blow in from the ocean making San Diego a delightful place to be. Periodically, different winds (called Santa Ana, similar to a hamsin) "swoop" down and blow westward toward the ocean. Most of the area consists of shrub-covered rolling hills (called chaparral) and mesas ("tables" plateaus) which offer perfect fuel for fires. The area is not terribly unlike the Land of Israel where the seacoast has marshes and beaches. The land rises up to soft hills (Poway, then a bit higher Ramona). The hills become steeper as they climb further to the mountains (Julian).
Also in the area is Temple Adat Shalom of Poway. As of Tuesday (October 23), we do not have detailed information as to the situation there.
Though we are in New York City for the time being, our home is in Poway.
We are beginning to get reports on the situation in the area. This is the best information I've found. Getting news from the area is difficult because everyone's been evacuated.
Fire in sight of Pomerado Hospital
11:26 a.m. [Monday, October 22] POWAY –Fire and smoke crested the hills immediately east of Villa Pomerado here at 11 a.m. today, and mechanic and service workers for the hospital complex were manning hoses to defend the facility.
All workers were being told at 11:15 to evacuate Pomerado Hospital and Villa Pomerado at 15600 block of Pomerado Road. Fire appeared to be coming over the hills from the east. Mechanics had gone to fire extinguisher boxes on the roof of the parking structure to pull hoses and fighting equipment. Smoke was thick.
No fire trucks could be seen in the area of the hospital complex.
Meanwhile, a long line of Villa Pomerado patients in wheelchairs were quickly being moved onto school buses lined up to evacuate patients from the nursing facility. More than 120 patients from Pomerado Hospital were evacuated earlier this morning and 75 patients from the adjoining Villa Pomerado were now being taken to other sites.
Each Villa Pomerado patient was holding a large ziplock bag carrying confidential patient information and transfer documents as they were being loaded onto the buses.
The hospital is about 200 meters from Temple Adat Shalom and 100 meters from the local Jewish independent living center Seacrest Village. The Seacrest residents were evacuated to the coastal facility in Encinitas, but were then evacuated from there later in the day. The good news about the Pomerado Hospital story is that when it was reported on CNN on Tuesday morning, the hospital spokesman spoke about trying to find out when they can go back… which implies that there's something to go back to (as contrasted with "assessing the damage" or discussing when they can "rebuild".)
We know that our neighboring colleagues and their young family evacuated Sunday night. Our immediate neighbors evacuated to be with a daughter in Claremont Mesa early Monday morning. We don't have any information about our house.
On Monday afternoon I saw a report of houses burning by the green arrow at the upper left on this map. Monday night as we went to bed we heard and read reports about homes burnt in the Maderas Golf Club area (where we have friends who have lived in the canyon long before it became a resort, as well as along the north-east side of St. Andrews Drive. This morning (Tuesday) I read on a San Diego area fire blog about a house that was reported to have burnt where (by chance) the hand is on this map.
Our house is on the bottom of the map just above the double "l" of Valle in "Valle Verde Park".
We know of some congregants whose homes have been destroyed. We also know of some others who, when they called home this morning, the answer machine picked up. The local and other offices of the URJ have been attentive to our plight.
My current favorite source for information on the fire.
This amazing story (link above) is about a beloved couple in Temple Adat Shalom.
The Jewish Community Disaster Fund has been established by the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County, and Jewish Family Service of San Diego. The Fund's objectives are to provide assistance to Jewish families and others in need who have been affected by the fires as well as any rebuilding to the communal infrastructure that will be needed. Funds will be held by the Jewish Community Foundation and administered by a committee representing the three organizations and the Jewish community at large. No overhead costs will be taken from the fund, and all dollars raised will help those in need. To make a donation, please go directly to their Website.
Good News (of a personal nature)
Most of Poway open to residents
Our immediate neighbor to the west called from their home and told us that our neighborhood, though filthy with ash, leaves, and some fallen trees, had not burnt.
© Mark Hurvitz
Last modified October 24, 2007