Orange County/Corona fire

[85 SA Toy]

The dealership I work at was evacuated at 1 pm today smoke was super thick and the fire was just half a mile away..... Luckily I wasn't at work but my brother said the smoke was thick it was hard to breath and your eyes would water..... Dave said his grandfather lived in that area and I know he lives in Corona... Hopefully everyone is safe!!!! Man a thanks to all those firefighters that put their lifes on the line to save the lifes and propertie of others!!!!

 

[bluto]

Ditto.

Yeah. When I saw Corona on the tube I immediately thought of Dave. Hope his family is alright. Maybe he took off for the weekend overlanding with the SMB and where he lives is not affected...

 

[Slomo]

Yeah the firefighters are studs.

Hope all is well with Dave and others in the affected areas.

 

[SOCALFJ]

Im up and watching.

Today went like this..

I blew by the fire this AM... in Corona when it first started heading into OC.
I knew it wasn't going to be good, but had obligation to work a friends Jeep.
OCFA had to helo's and some ground crews on the scene, but it wasn't enough.
They would drop water on the fire (that was 30 feet high) and the fire would laugh.
I knew they would need tankers to make any headway. It was just too windy.

I headed to work anyways.
Yorba linda broke out only about 2 hours into wrenching process. I called it and
told my buddy, some other time i need to get home or at least try too.

I tried to head home through Carbon Canyon.. no dice.

After that ...

Grandpa has been evacuated.
Aunt has been evacuated.
Cousins house (he just moved last week) burned down.
My buddies M37 Army truck may be burned to the ground.
The 91 is closed.
The 57 is closed.
The 241 and 261 are closed.

I had to head home (Corona) via Ortega Highway with millions of others it seemed like. Took 3 hours.

Im home in Corona now, watching the fire burn in Chino Hills State Park out the backyard and hoping the wind doesnt change directions. The Sportsmobile is loaded and ready to go. Clothes and important papers are too.

Here are my pics from our patio..

 

[PabloVTA]

keep us posted dave when you can, let us know how we can help.

 

[LandCrusher'70]

Wow, those pictures are scary.

Stay safe Dave.

 

[Slomo]

Sorry to hear Dave hope all is as well as can be expected. x2 let us know if you need anything.

 

[85 SA Toy]

Very glad to hear you are ok Dave.... Hopefully the winds die down today as they said they would... At the Honda dealer I work at one of the walls was slightly charred, the trash dumpsters were on fire, the 20 + palm trees looked like swaying torches in the 50 mph + winds they were having, and one lucky S2000 owner now has a custom soft top (embers burned thru it)... But I can't say it is nearly as bad as those who lost their homes!!!! My thoughts go out to all of you!!!!

 

[SOCALFJ]

We are all fine and back to normal. Another October-November for the record books. Thanks to all that wished us best. Happens every year. Goes with living the hills.

 

[Brentbba]

We are all fine and back to normal. Another October-November for the record books. Thanks to all that wished us best. Happens every year. Goes with living the hills.

Glad to know Dave. We've got an extra bedroom for you guys if the emergency ever arises!

Had a chance while out driving around in the cruiser on Saturday to listen to all the emergency nets that were buzzing with activity on the 2M bands. Good to know that one of the basic tenents of a amateur radio licensee is actually being practiced and put to good use - providing communications in an emergency.

There's a meeting of SOARA - South Orange Amateur Radio Association this evening over in Mission Viejo I'd planned on attending before the fires this weekend and just reinforces my desire to check them out. Already participated in one net and talked to one other guy via phone about Echolink on their repeaters. Seem like a good group - about 180 strong I'm told.

 

[SOCALFJ]

Yeah i was listening in on the hospital NET. It was crazy busy.

 

[Brentbba]

Yeah i was listening in on the hospital NET. It was crazy busy.

Yep - that was one of them. CLARA was busy as well. Only private repeater I've got programmed. Very active group that also includes Gordon West. $75 a year to join. I think the group I'm looking at is $50. The $75 at CLARA doesn't even get you access to their 2M repeaters!

Repeater labeled Fullerton from the TASMA list was very active!