Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Firestorm 2007

(entry ricH)

It's been a rough couple of days here in San Diego and today is really going to dictate how a lot of this whole wildfire thing is going to play out. For many people's homes today is going to be the make or break as the fires move west. About 4 years ago we had a fire that they say was smaller than this and it was the worst thing I'd ever been through in terms of a natural disaster. Smoke slowly filled my house as ash rained down everywhere, it was dark at about 2 PM, my carbon monoxide detectors started going off (which really freaked me out because where the hell was I going to go, it was even worse outside)...and then the power went out. It was just this weird silence as you tried to figure out what to do next.

They can't even really fight the fire at this point. The weather conditions are too extreme. The winds have really kicked up in the last hour which is bad news. The fire fighters basically have to wait until it threatens enough homes and then they make a 'last stand' to try and save as many homes as they can, then they move on to a new neighborhood. 1,250 homes have been lost already.

I know several Wildstormers have been evacuated from their homes, and many other friends and families have been or are being affected by this as well. They are saying all total right now 513,000 people(as of 2:30 PM) have been evacuated from their homes in San Diego county.

So please keep everyone in San Diego in your thoughts. Especially all the fire fighters, military and police trying to help with saving peoples homes and their lives.

ricH.

UPDATE 5:30pm 10/23 on Comic Book Resources:
CBR News spoke with three more members of the San Diego comics community Tuesday evening. Wildstorm founder and Editorial Director Jim Lee wrote to say that their offices aren't at risk and while about 15% of the company's employees have been forced to evacuate, everyone is safe and accounted for. "There was a big, but smaller fire, back in 2003 and the city and county learned from their mistakes and the evacs have gone pretty smoothly as the 911 reverse calling system calls people at their homes with notifications to move out as the fires change direction and threatens new neighborhoods," Lee told CBR News. "Shelters are well run. I saw on the news that there were as many volunteers at Qualcomm stadium as there were displaced people. I'm actually buying supplies to take down to the shelter. Apparently handi-wipes are a needed item as people don't have access to showers and need to clean off. Tons of people were forced out of their homes, but the losses have been primarily property with about 1000 homes destroyed. But estimates are still vague.

19 comments:

seban said...

my thoughts r with all of U there!!

s.

John Learned said...

good luck, guys. be safe

COMIKXGUY said...

wow

hey rich,
if any of your wildstormers get caught in it, you have a roof over your heads in yuma if you want it

3 hours away

my thoughts deffinately go out to san diego right now since i no longer live there, its now been 2 -3 months here

here's to you all :)

Blasterkid said...

I was wondering if you did end up moving. Chula Vista has been evacuated since last night. That's just so crazy. There are SO many people who live down there that I know. I hope everyones houses make it through. They have been able to use the drop helicopters today which is pretty huge. I haven't been able to see much news today so it's been hard to keep up with everything.

Good call on Yuma maybe now./..right?

ricH.

Unknown said...

I hope you guys at Wildstorm and your families are safe my prayers are with you all.

SedatOezgen said...

man,
while watching the news and seeing this i thought about you guys and what a wonderfulplace SD is and that it hopefully wont burn down!
I hope all you guys are safe and that the fires wont come to close so that any further people get hurt or their houses burnt down!

I hope everyone will be able to get back to their places soon. this is really sad:(

All the best wishes,
Sedat

Ashigaru said...

May God be with all of you. I'm in Mira Mesa, sitting with a lot of important papers and stuff ready to go in case they call an evac. Scripps Ranch was evac'd yesterday, right across the I-15 from me.

mic? said...

My thoughts and prayers go out to SoCal folks.

Thanks for the update, ricH.

Please take care, WildStormers.

Peace...

COMIKXGUY said...

it looks like i got out just in time :\

yep rich, its different out here in yuma but its not too bad

like i said man, you WSers have a roof over your head if it comes down to that

it would be kind of cool to have a full studio in our house (which is a big house) wouldn't mind the help on rent, i'll take 2 to 3 of ya :)

think about it rich, really

3 - hours - away

the cost of living is lower here but minimum is 6.25 to 6.75 but there's places as low as 500 bucks a month!

we're thinking of getting an small rv, ya know for con

my sister is still in CV, so i guess it hasn't hit my old place or i'd deff'nitly hear about it now

yeah man, there alot of artists there

i'd like to give a shout-out to ROGER ROBINSON(ya know him from batman:gotham nights)

i'd run into him all the time like at the local target, ampm or the comic shop which moved to 3rd ave which is at

3rd AVE NEWS!

say hi to

sean, shawnee, and some of balam's crue

and

"onesickindividual", even though i don't know him, if i knew he was there i soooo would have bugged him

go check out his blog (plug)

and if your in CV, go to cotijas, roberto's, good cheapness and some good eats on highland too(plug)


hey ashigaru,

i used to live there too

i miss it big time like mira mesa mall(my first comic shop was inside NEWBERRY'S, where i came to know comics, alot of the early IMAGE BOYS were there too but i didn't know it until later, they worked up on the hill on camino ruiz and of course UTC!

i used to live on miramar, ya know "top gun"

near the freeway when there was mobile homes there, in fact i'm looking at an old picture of myself and 2 of my friends on bikes when we were boy scouts

"the boy scout biker gang" :)
(btw, the idea has been taken already by a friend of mine for his book)

even has an old tree where we used to use as a base for when we would play war, even used batteries for granades

you 2 totally blew my mind about CV AND MIRAMESA, news about the outside world is not prevailent here as there, ya know not bombarded by it

kind of like it, don't need the stress

well again, heres to everyone there


that damn mountain - every few years (shakes head)

COMIKXGUY said...

SOMETIMES THERE IS MORE IMPORTANT THINGS THAN LUXURIES LIKE COMIC BOOKS

ITS NOT

HOW MUCH OR WHAT YOU HAVE

THAT MATTERS THE MOST


THINK OUTSIDE OF YOUR OWN BOX

Jason Embury said...

dude. Heartfelt prayers and well wishes for safety to everyone of you guys out there (not to mention all the residents of Cali dealing with this now) It's been bad up by LA as well from what I hear from some guys I know up there and have seen on the news. Hopefully everyone comes through this fine though. It's an unreal type of disaster that's for sure.

Ashigaru said...

@comikxguy: Yeah, I remember the store over in Newberry's too. I used to hang out at Comic Gallery near the Ralphs; I'm really close friends with Sara, who used to manage the place. (Too bad it's closed now).

Sara and I are looking to put together a graphic novel of her written stuff and get it published.

Jason Truong said...

Stay safe, and hopefully, this fire doesn't get to you or anyone else.

Jamie Snell said...

Thoughts and prayers are with you all.

COMIKXGUY said...

ashigaru:
(btw that's a cool avatar, reminds me of ninja scroll :)

i miss that place at newberry's too, it was my first comic shop but jet mart on miramar was where i discovered them

that sukx about sara's place, btw i don't know her

comic gallery, was that the one by best buy?

i know i went to some shop and bought whilce portacio's x-factor run there

good luck with the graphic novel
let us know here when its ready or just look for me on the blogs

too bad you don't have one, yet

put one up and pimp that book!

another comic shop bites the dust :/

well, i came back to cheack up on rich, i guess he hasn't shown up yet

i'll come back later

Blasterkid said...

my house is fine. I am really far from the hot spots. I did see a huge fire though Monday night that scared the crap out of me. It's a long story but I guess there were other fires not related to the wild fires and this one was a big one. I couldn't believe they had gotten into the University Fairmont area and I was just in awe thinking. "ok the ash is falling and lighting stuff on fire several miles from the blazes.

My big worry was a couple of friends and some family who lived a couple miles from the fires. Some were evacuated and that's pretty scary.

on a side note. I have also been to that old Newberrys to buy comics. Never lived up there but I did go there I think 2 or 3 times.

thanks everyone for the nice words I know a lot of people besides the few of us that post here from Wildstorm read the posts. It means a lot to know people care.

:)

thanks.

ricH

Fabrizio said...

Ciao Rich!
Looking at the TV news, i was very worried about the studio. I'm happy you're all ok!

Fab

COMIKXGUY said...

"I have also been to that old Newberrys to buy comics."

cool richie, glad you and everyone is safe

i couldn't even imagine a wildstormers charity event or a san diego equilvilant to new orleans

just thought of a new book for ya:

wildstormers

kind of reminds me of transformers

like a avengers team made up of all ws characters

so, are you coming to yuma ?

Remi said...

wow...