San Diego Area Fastpitch Players Among Evacuees
Thanks to all of those who have written to see how we’re doing amidst the So Cal fires. We’re fine, thanks for asking, more fortunate than those north and south of us. San Diego appears to be getting the worst of it, as can be seen by this map.. Lots of smoke in the air on Sunday and Monday, from the Irvine fire half hour south of us, but nothing like our counterparts to the north and south. At this point, things seem to be improving. Let’s hope so, for everyone in the fire ravaged areas.
One area that many fastpitch fans are familiar with is the ARCO Olympic Training facility, in Chula Vista, which is home to Team USA and the USA Jr. Men. Chula Vista is located south/east of San Diego, right near the border with Mexico.
The map linked above shows the Olympic training facility in the (yellow) evacuation area, but just (barely) outside the fire zone for the Harris fire, one of the largest fires. (You have to zoom in on the map once it loads to see the Olympic Training facility. ) If you’re looking on the map, it’s not where the words “Chula Vista” appear, but quite a bit east, over by the Otay Reservoir. (If the little fire diagrams and icons don’t load at first, click refresh.)
The town of Ramona, which hosted the USA Jr. Men and So Cal Travel league in the summer of 2005 just before they went to Prince Edward Island for the ISF Jr’s. is right in the heart of the Harris Fire (east of Escondido) and well in side the evacuation area, as is the Barona Indian Reservation, which was the longtime home of the old So Cal Fastpitch league of the 1980’s.
Here is a NASA photo taken on Monday from space., which explains why we had smoke filled skies here for a couple of days. The top two islands are the Channel Islands near Santa Barbara, the lower one, Catalina, directly across from us. (click the photo to enlarge)The top plume of smoke is coming from Irvine fire, the larger ones from San Diego.
We’re checking on friends in San Diego, including members of the San Diego Fastpitch team, as well as members of the Deadwood and United Sports Academy 50+ teams. Drop us a line if you hear from anyone affected by the fires, or if you are. The fastpitch community has been asking about you….
See below the jump for more and some player updates….
Deadwood teammate Dean Bettencourt is in San Diego proper, and reports that there are fires to the north, northwest and southeast, and that the evacuation area was about 5-8 miles from him, but so far, has not had to evacuate. Some of the other Deadwood guys are in El Cajon, which appears to be a staging area for relief, just beyond the perimeter set up for the large Harris fire.
Pitchers Cary Weiler and Russ Snow of the United Sports Academy are in the Escondido area. The map shows Escondido in the evacuation area, with following information for Escondido as of this afternoon (Wed/Oct 24).
Escondido has reopened two of its evacuated neighborhoods: Sonata and Sierra Linda, both east of Interstate 15 and south of Bear Valley Parkway.
Be prepared to show ID. 10/24 2:44 p.m.
Escondido is under a mandatory evacuation in the Bear Valley / 78 area.
The San Diego Union Tribune has a lot of coverage, including some home videos that are startling, if not downright scary, when you see the speed at which the fires moved, leaving many residents little, if any time to scramble for an escape route. If you’re looking for location specific info, try the Union Tribune’s Fire Blog.
A remarkable fact:
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender says more people have been evacuated because the county’s wildfires than were evacuated from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
Wednesday night update: Got a report from and about a number of the San Diego fastpitch players tonight. Everyone’s ok, but many have been evacuated. Property damage unknown at this point.
One player was evacuated from his home, and headed to the beach camp ground with his family for a couple of days, only to be evacuated from that spot a day later, when the fires moved west towards the ocean. LA is home for him now while things calm down. Another San Diego area player reports that his father in Oceanside (halfway from LA to San Diego) cannot walk across the driveway without leaving footprints in the ash.
The news reports indicate that some peopole are being permitted to return to some of the earlier evacuated areas, to see what damage the fire has wrought. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of them.
Update, Thursday: Some San Diego area players advise that they have been allowed to return, while a couple more, not yet. One clever player called his answering machine to see if his house was still there. It was….