I'd e'd some friends, but as more of the news reports are mentioning the San Bernardino Mountains, I figured I'd let the rest of y'all know that we, personally, are not in danger from the Grass Valley and Slide fires. In fact, the winds are blowing away from us such that, at 7000 feet, we're apparently the only ones with breathable air in all of SoCal.

It is pretty scary, though. My uncle lives in Crestline, which was evacuated today. He doesn't have a car (he bikes absolutely everywhere), so I told Mom that we'd do whatever we could to help him out -- except that the roads between Big Bear and Crestline had already been closed, so there wasn't a damn thing we could do from up here.

At least the Butler II fire last month had the courtesy to flare up in a solitary fashion; as the only major fire in the nation at the time, we had all sorts of cool helicopters and a gazillion vehicles and resources at our disposal. Now? Not so much individualized attention is available.

I'm trying to come to terms with Running Springs being, well, quite possibly not there any more. Earlier today, they were reporting structure after structure being lost, and winds gusting up to 50 mph. I don't really know anyone who lives there, personally, but I drive (drove?) through it whenever I'm on that side of the Valley and need to get to San Bernardino. It's just... weird.

I love the internet. Thanks to LiveJournal and MySpace, I've gotten updates from friends in San Diego and Santa Clarita, and it's a relief to know they're okay. I'd already e'd our friends up here and relatives contact info for my grandma's house in Riverside (our check in point -- if anyone else wants it, e me or leave a comment and I'll send it to you), and regardless of how insanely chaotic our house is, I always know exactly where the negatives to our wedding pictures are. (Which reminds me: I've still got a month or so left on my "freebie" Flickr pro account; I've been meaning to upload all my pix as a backup....)

I went to fill up the car tonight, just in case, but apparently everyone else on the mountain had the same idea, because the tank at the station barely coughed up a few gallons before throwing up its metaphorical hands and saying, "I've got nothing."

And, in case anyone is interested, here's some excellent resources on how to put together a jump bag and other prep stuff:

Real Emergency Preparedness

Tips for an Apocalypse

Jump kits (what you have in a bag to grab and go)


Be safe.