Shout out to those in the fire zones . . .

I wanted to express what I am sure is on everyone's mind right now - the hope that all of our Southern California members are safe and that they are in our thoughts and prayers.

Indeed! You're in our thoughts and prayers. What a dreadful fire. Let us know how you're doing. Linda

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We are ok here in Menifee. Nearest fire to us was in Corona area. Hope everyone checks in. Maybe we can help those burned out replant, like they are doing for the folk in Texas that lost their gardens to Hurricaine Ike. What do you say people?
WIB,
SW

I say now we've just had an earthquake on top of the fires and I think we should all pool our money for gas and get the h*** outta California........I never used to take any of these things seriously......

Lots of room for you in Arizona....

My prayers are with those that in harms way. Jo

Yes--definitely saying prayers for anyone in that area, hope everyone is alright!

We've been having shakers last night and again this morning.
wcgypsy, just be prepared, you probably won't be hurt. It can be scary when the earth quakes, just remember to take cover and start counting. Most quakes only last for a couple of seconds. A really big one would last for more than a minute. I'd still rather live with earthquakes than with tornados or hurricaines. I usually don't bother taking cover unless it lasts more than thirty seconds. But then again, I've been going through and taking down my breakables for the last year and packing them to prepare for the big one. I keep a sturdy pair of shoes and a flashlight next to my bed. I know where the wrench is for turning off the propane. Do not do this unless you smell the gas. It may take the gas/propane people a while to get back to turn it back on for you after a large quake.
Here is a weird fact for you: After the Northridge quake, it was found that in mobile homes, that while the rest of the building fell, the plumbing was still in place. The toilet would remain where it was (usually about 6 feet above the ground) but the house went down around it. It didn't give me much comfort this morning when I was sitting on the "throne" and the house started shaking.
Note: Never hold a cat during an earthquake. You will be scarred for life. No, I wasn't holding a cat while on the throne. LOL! That happened during the Northridge quake.
It is more scary to look at the devastation left by the fires. Whole blocks just reduced to black ash.
My prayers are with the firefighters and the people whose homes are/may be lost to the fires.
WIB,
SW

I KNEW it. Darn thing woke me, but no one else in the house felt it. Also felt a tremor later in the morning.

Our relatives left Santa Barbara the day the fire started and were so saddened to see the pictures later. They drove through Montecito and the surrounding area, so they knew just what was burning. Do hope the winds die down today so they can kill it.

Anyone heard from Weegy? I guess she won't be getting too much smoke, since the wind has been going the other way. Hope they weren't in Carpenteria over the weekend.

k

Me too! No I haven't heard from Weegy either. I hope she is okay. Seems like she has been out of touch this last week.
My family just takes the shakes for granted. I wonder if the LA news will have anything on it?!
Will check back later to see if anyone knows what happened to Weegy.
WIB,
SW

Louise is fine. She is off visiting friends. She was here this past weekend!! ( we wanted to keep her but she said something about liking California)

I imagine weege's Mom is getting smoke at her place, but maybe not if the wind is an offshore. The quakes have never bothered me until this a.m. and then it was a combination of worrying about having another fire and evacuating again...then an earthquake on top of that. We have a propane tank and can take care of that ourselves, but I do need to take a good look at the fire hydrant and be familiar with it in case we have fire and Jer's not here. No, I've never bothered to take cover in a quake, 'cause I never took them seriously. I was sitting there contemplating whether or not I should start taking them seriously...lol...

DH said he heard it coming at 4 am. Just grateful he let me sleep through it! Once he yanked me out of bed because, (get this) he dreamed we were having an earthquake. LOL! He didn't feel the second one. You should start taking them seriously. Those of us with a more rural life style should be prepared to sit it out. The folks in the cities are going to be the hardest hit. Also the cities are where the majority of the help afterwards will go. I was a good girl scout. I should go get a few more things just in case.
A NEWS FLASH! NEW FIRE JUST STARTED ON THE ORTEGA HWY WEST OF LAKE ELSINORE. BE READY!
WIND IS BLOWING OFFSHORE.
WIB!
SW

Sure and one in San Diego/ City Heights area this afternoon...one in San Diego this last week that they've already arrested 3 people in connection with.....

We won't hear about the Ortega fire down here until and unless it gets quite large. Same problem when we evacuated last year...stayed in a motel in Elsinore and could only get L.A stations/ news, nothing about the huge San Diego fires. I will once again rave about Country Kennel in Murrieta that met us there at night and took our 6 cats in for 5 days and wouldn't charge us anything. They're on my See's candy list every Christmas now....lol....
I find nothing online re: Ortega fire, so hoping they got it out right away.

erm . . .

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Brush-Fire-Prompts-Closure-of-Ortega-Highway.html

Thanks for that....I'm very glad to hear they got it right away.

Me too! Ligers, Tions, and Pears Oh my! Another fall in CA.
Good of you to share the link with us Jungleman. I get so upset about not getting better news from San Diego County when we are more affected by what goes on there than in LA. At least they know Menifee is a city now.
Any one hear from weegy yet?
WIB,
SW

My daughter is in Chino but so far the fire is not going her way as long as the wind doesn't change direction. The Riverside Frwy 91 was closed due to the fire. Also have friends in Diamond Bar - Phillips Ranch that I am wondering about.

Hopefully they will be able to get a handle on the fires still burning/smoldering and life will get back to normal. What happened to weegy? Do we need to send out a search party?
Keeping all of them in my prayers.
WIB,
SW

SW I think she (weegy) is still on the road.

Ok. I will quit worrying about her then, and concentrate on tagging the xmas trees and getting the house cleaned. Thanks for letting me know, marieortiz.
WIB,
SW

Where else would one ask about a friend living in Rancho Cucamonga, California and get a response from Tolleson, Arizona? Dave's is great. :-)

How awesome is that Kathleen. I have got to meet some great people that I otherwise would not count as friends through Dave's. She is on her way home I believe :o)

Ya know, I was on the phone today, ordering supplies from a place in WI, and the lady who took my order has a brother living here in Menifee. It really is a small world. She said it was really cold there today. We are so lucky to be able to live here! I was just relieved that weegy's whereabout's were known, but not surprised that answer came from AZ. After all, weegy has roadrunner as an example! LOL! : } Besides, AZ is not that far away from us. Hope weegy's journey home is safe.

Back on topic. Is there any thing we can do to help our fellow CA who lost their homes and/or gardens, due to the wild fires? Any ideas J.man?

WIB,
SW

OHHHHH....I don't think I should be an "example" to anyone!! Well....not until they are OLD like me...then we can get by with a lot that you younger ones can't!! I aspire to be just like Maxine....do you like my new hat?? Jo

Love the hat and boa too!
WIB,
SW

It's so YOU, Jo!
Sorry you won't make it to the RU. :-(

Since I have joined the Red Hat Society....and my Senior's group at Church was having a Craft Fair...I bought the hat for future use....as you can see it did not go well with what I had on....my Pastor came by while I was modeling the hat for everyone and said I needed the Boa also...I didn't buy it though....the feathers kept getting into my mouth when I talked...so it was either...wear the boa...or be quiet....being quiet will never happen to me as long as I can still draw breath!! LOL Jo

What has been done in the past for those folks who survived wildfires? I am relatively new here, so it would be interesting to have folks recount their experiences and we could direct people to resources or places to contribute. Post it here!

The first thing would be to figure out who from DG was affected--from what's been posted here so far it doesn't seem like we know of any of our regulars who was affected--there may be some people who don't spend as much time on here who were in that area but we need to find out who they are before we can really do anything. If we do find out someone was affected then what to do depends a lot on what the person lost--if their whole house is gone then they could probably use household necessities more than seeds, but if it's just their garden that was damaged then sending seeds, cuttings, etc would probably be appreciated. If it does turn out that we have a lot of people to help, we can probably go look at what the TX folks did this year after the hurricane.

We tried this after the big fires last year, too. There is always a gap between the disaster and the time for rebuilding/replanting - and we lose track.
We need some kind of buddy system.

Would be nice to have more of our CA members posting here, too - there are tons. Each time I see a new member in our area, I invite them over to this forum, but don't see any posting. :-(