Karen, are you ok?

Reading about the fires and we are very worried about you. Please respond, so we know you are ok.

Hi Cat,
I had emailed her last night and have not heard anything yet. If I do I will let you know.

I haven't seen her check in on the thread about the fires on the CA gardening forum either. They're evacuating tons of people, my guess is she got evacuated and doesn't have computer access. If anyone over on the CA forum hears from her I'll post over here and let you know. Karen--hope you're OK!

Been thinking about Karen and others out there who are members here. I hope they are all okay as well as all their neighbors, firemen, etc. What a horrible disaster.

I hope Charles & Cindy from HVH are OK too--I don't know where they live, but I think HVH is in Fallbrook, and the other DG'er I know from Fallbrook had to evacuate yesterday because the fires were in that area.

I just called Karen and had to leave a message. Hopefuppy she will call back. If she does I will let everyone know. Also I have not heard anything on Charles & Cindy either. I did see where all of fallbrook had been evacuated as well. Camp Pendleton has essential personnel alert only. If I am not mistaken they are not far from there but I really do not know. Someone from around there may have a better Idea of the area.

Hi guys, so far we're okay. We had fire on three sides of us last night and other blocks in the area were evacuated, but we weren't. I actually went to work this morning (I work pretty close to home) and took DD with me, until they said there were more fires breaking out in the Devore and University area - I came back home around lunch and am staying at home just in case now. All schools and most offices in the San Bernardino area are closed, with either people evacuated or at home staying watch. My car is already loaded with our pictures and papers as a precaution if we get evacuated. I think our block will be okay, but still unsure. The smoke and ash here is terrible, and my voice is pretty blown out, and I have a horrible headache. The wind and fire induced weather pattern are horrible for anyone to breathe, let alone people like me with asthma and immune system disorders. I'm going to try and sleep a couple hours now. At least we've got some power back, temporarily, it's been more off than on for the last several days. DD and I tried to play cards by flashlight last night to calm her nerves while DH was out surveying the area fire on foot. I'll post more, and some pictures too, when I get up if we still have power. My garden is just wasted from the extreme winds, but despite that, I've had some flowers try to bloom - the power of plants to make me feel better is comforting...

Thanks SO much for all of your concern and well wishes - it truly mean a lot to me to be a part of such a warm and loving community :-)

karen

Here's a picture from last night...

I'm glad you are okay and hope it remains that way. That picture is sure eerie looking. Stay safe and well, Karen.

Good gracious, that fire is close. So glad to hear you are OK and praying things stay that way. Your daughter must be frightened; tell her all mommy's DG friends are sending hugs.

Oh, Karen.. glad you're all safe.

Karen, I'm so glad to hear you're OK! That must be so scary having those fires so close but as long as you and your family are OK that's the most important thing. I'll keep praying that the fires don't get any closer!

Karen,
Will the cement wall help to distract the fire from your house? I can't even imagine what the rest of your yard looks like.
My main concern (prissy missy nurse here) is that you should NOT be home. The fires can cause your lungs to become even more inflamed, causing actelectasis, or worse, chf or emphysema. Please, please, please be careful!
Cathy

I don't think the cement will help at all. Right now, most of the fires right near us are slowed down or stopped. What we have to worry about now is the fire coming down the mountain from Arrowhead and Running Springs. That's the situation that caused our fires and week long evacuation three years ago. It's weird to say that I'm glad our area burned so recently, but honestly, I think that is what has saved us so far. We still have power, which I'm surprised and excited about :-) A couple of my sticks formerly known as hibiscus have bloomed - it just seems crazy and I'll post pictures, probably once I get to my hotel on Thursday...

Schools are closed again tomorrow, but unless something more happens tonight or if we get evacuated out, I've got to go into work (with DD in tow). We've got a huge conference in Anaheim this weekend, and I'll be there right next to Disneyland Thursday through Sunday. Thank goodness Dave will be home with Alyssa - I know she's almost grown up being a high school senior, but when stuff like this happens, they're still little kids, ya know?

Cat, I didn't know you were a nurse! So, you probably understand about primary immune disorders and weekly immunoglobulin infusions and stuff, even if you haven't heard of my disease. I saw my regular Dr. yesterday and he has warned me to absolutely stay inside and away from all the smoke and ash (our area is just covered with both). I see my immunologist as soon as I return from conference. But, I've got to go out at least in the mornings to water what's left of my formely beautiful plants. Some of them have been sorta spared due to their grouping, fortunately. All are damaged, but some are much more than others. As you can see from the picture I posted on my previous post, my bananas are totally trashed and all the wonderful buds & blooms that were on my brugs are long gone :-( Hopefully, eventually, most things will come back.

Alyssa took this picture out of our car window on the way home today - this is about a mile away...

Thanks so much for all the well wishes, and Cat and Robert, thanks for the nice phone calls! I showed Alyssa this thread and told Dave about it, and they've both commented "wow & thanks" about people clear across the country caring - it really means so much :-)

Take care,

karen

Karen, so glad to hear that you are okay. I am trying to get through to my brother who lives in San Bernadino, and so far no luck....you stay safe!

I'm sick from looking at these pictures! My heart is breaking for you.
Yep, know all about immune disorders...if not from nursing, then certainly from my mother's medical history. I never wanted to intrude, but now I will...I will dmail you.
Cathy

Hi All,

HVH was lucky this time. In 2003 we lost power for several days and fires rages on all 4 adjoining properties. This time we are in the area south of the Fallbrook fire and north of the big Witch Creek fire so just have a little smoke to deal with and the concern the fires will spread. Doesn't seem like they will now, since the wind is very calm and even showing signs of starting to blow off the ocean which will really help. We are on the edge of Fallbrook's southern border but way out of town and as far from the fire as you can be (3 miles) so did not evacuate. I will be watering at the greenhouse tomorrow and all is fine so far.

Karen, if you need more protection from the smoke I recommend wearing a pesticide respirator. I wore mine when I went to the greenhouse today and it gave me some welcome relief from the constant smoke. Unfortunately I don't know where you can get one right now but if you can they work great - much better than those little white masks you see the reporters wearing on tv.

By the way, people can be great at a time like this. One of our older customers wrote from Penn to offer a place to stay and even plane tickets to get there! Really nice.

Stay safe!

Charles and Cindy

Charles and Cindy, so glad you are also safe.

I'm glad to hear that too, that's great news that you're OK!

Whew, good to hear you area all safe. Praying things stay that way.

Please add my sincere sympathy and prayers for your continued safety and welfare. This thread makes the devastation I see on the news much more personal. Stay safe and strong you Californians.

Cindy, I'm SO glad to hear you are both safe! Both mom and I send our best wishes, as we've been very concerned...

Thanks for the mask info :-)

karen

This fire has really been something and I'm so glad that most lives have been spared. I'm sure it is hard to see a home gone up in smoke, or your neighbor's/friends losses, but everyone seems to have pulled together to make the most of a really bad situation. Thank God.....our DG family is still intact. You are all special people and no one deserves to have to go through something like these fires and even more so if they were intentionally set.

I'm glad you are safe too, Karen! I could just hug you!!!!!!!!!! I was afraid all this smoke would be LETHAL for you! We still can't get out of HVH and no one else can get in. We were supposed to evacuate apparently, but no one came and told us. We're down in this little hollow and I guess the police didn't know we were here, and we couldn't hear the bullhorns from down here. So now we're stuck here until the evacuation lifts. I'm glad we're here though because the hibiscus would have been in terrible shape after this many days without water. It's so much better that we're here with them.

Charlie is making us wear his pesticide masks every time we go outside, but now I'm afraid we need them inside too. Hopefully tomorrow the ash and smoke will start to go away.

We had to reschedule the HVH Open House for a week from this Saturday, so it will be Nov. 2 now. It will probably be as much a celebration of surviving these fires as an Open House! I'm probably going to cry out of sheer relief when every person we've become close to arrives! If I make a fool of myself, I hope nobody minds.

I've felt kind of shy about posting here because I'm so new to the hibiscus world. But I can't tell you how much all these kind wishes have meant to both Charles and me this week.

A big giant bear hug to all of you!!!
Cindy

God bless you and keep you safe.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

LouC

No one is shy around here for long. :-)))

So glad you were able to safely hunker down. The masks were a good idea and don't you wish everyone had them. Here on the east coast we all have hurricane boxes where we keep the things we would need in an emergency/evacuation. You guys in CA need masks on hand.

I'm sure it had to be scary being that close to the fires. But it must be a huge relief that you were able to take care of your hibiscus, I can't even imagine how heartbreaking that would have been if you lost them!

I need to get myself one of those masks--we don't tend to get as many of the really big fires around here like you get in SoCal, but even little ones if they're close enough can make it hard to breathe. I'll add it to my earthquake box!

Ardesia, I think I'll pick up the type of masks that Cindy mentioned and keep them with my medical supplies, this is a great idea.

Cindy, it's good for the plants that you're both there, but you better stay inside. The air outside is SO unhealthy, I think it's probably good I'm in Anaheim for a few days, as the air is certainly better here than at home. Now that you've changed the open house until next weekend, hopefully mom and I will be able to come :-)

Don't ever be shy about posting here on the crazy Hibiscus forum, you couldn't ask for nicer bunch of folks!

karen

I hope this will all be over soon for those of you having to deal with it. I don't know if what I heard was right or not, but last night on one of the TV stations, they said it could be three weeks before all the fires are contained. Boy, that is a long time for some people, I'm sure. Stay safe!

Thanks so much for your well wishes, Brugie :-)

Karen and Cindy,
Are you sure those winds were only 65 mph? The damage it caused looks more like a Cat2 hurricane wind, which is over 100 mph.
At 65 mph, I wouldn't even bother bringing in anything over a 12" inch pot. I wouldn't even take my wind chimes down.
I can't believe the devastation these winds caused. Or is it the smoke?
I am also posting this on Karen's thread.
Just glad everyone is safe, and your houses are fine. Everything else will grow back, with time.

Cindy - I'm so sorry to hear that you're trapped (good for the hibiscus plants though). Thank God you're in that bubble that the fire avoided! Stay safe - we would'nt want anything to happen to any of you. Charles is right - you need to wear those masks for protection. It'll eventually affect you if you don't. I waited a bit before posting here also - until I realised that these are truly a bunch of great people! It's definately an online family! Wish I could make it to your last open house - It's definately worth a toast! But alas it's too far - post pictures when you do - but until then stay safe!

Oh, Cindy, don't be shy... we love hearing from you.. it's JUST us. Some of us are beginners and some are professional growers, there's room for everyone. And we learn from beginners as well. We can be serious and we get silly, crazy sometimes, it's all part of the fun ;) I anxiously await some relief for you poor people, I can only imagine what it's like. My boss's son lives out there, he said he took the car out of the garage and it was covered with ash in minutes... DO wear masks, like Ultimateshopper said, you won't notice any problems now but in years to come. You can cry as much as you want, it will be a special open house this year, a time to celebrate and rejoice! Take care of yourselves, watch your backs and have an escape route planned... We adore your hibiscus, but we want you guys to stay safe, first.

I agree with AuntB. Take care of yourselves. The plants can be replaced but you two cannot! Dotti

OK, now I DO have to hug all you guys!!!!!!! This really is a GREAT forum! So many really nice, nice people here. It seems like people who love plants are like people who love kids and animals - especially nice and understanding. :-)

The fires are almost contained now and the smoke is slowly getting better every day. Our hibiscus look pretty bad, both in the yard and the greenhouse. But they're still flowering, so they can't be too damaged. We just need to baby them now before winter hits.

I think the highest winds in S. Cal were 80 mph, Cat. That probably doesn't seem that bad to you in Florida though. I guess maybe it's how hot and dry the winds are that does the damage, and how much dust blows with it here in dry Calif. It definitely stressed our hibiscus badly. I can't imagine going through a hurricane! Yikes!