WITCH CREEK FIRE OVERTAKES RANCHO BERNARDO

    First off, let me tell you all that I am okay.  I really appreciate all of you that have called, text, or emailed me, it means so much!  The last few days have been long and tiring, and I still haven’t been able to see my house, but I’ll recap just a bit so you can get the idea.

    The fire started sunday morning, but was dismissed by most until mid afternoon.  Once the word was out that the fire was out of control I headed up to Ramona to help get people out, mainly getting personal property and horses loaded up.  The Ramona mandatory evacuation came through at about 8:00pm and we left by 9:30pm.  The evacuation was tedious due to 36,000 people trying to leave town on the one road that leads out, and I didn’t arrive to Rancho Bernardo until 1:00 in the morning.  Getting to sleep, my room mate asked, “Hey, what do we do if the fire gets here in the middle of the night?”  I pretty much disregarded this because RB is so far from Ramona.

    Just three short hours of sleep later two squad cars drove up our street blazing their loud speaker, demanding that everyone evacuate immediately.  So at 4:30am and with just ten minutes to gather up valued possessions, which is very difficult to decide on, we were in two more hours of traffic to make it the half mile to the freeway and safety.  With camera in hand, I spent most of monday capturing images from hilltops and private roads that were very tricky to get to.  

    From atop an evacuated hilltop over Westwood in Rancho Bernardo, I joined some residents that had not evacuated and began shooting.  Suddenly, a sliver of flame crawled up the very same hilltop and within moments the palm trees dangerously close to a home were in flames.  Looking down on the fire fighters well below, the guy next to me said very calmly, “Hey, should we grab a hose?”  I agreed and we ran to the other side of the house.  Not putting the fire out, but keeping the house wet and the flames contained, we fought it back for about ten minutes before a fire truck came screaming down the street.  The next moment, the fire fighters had hose in hand, and I again had camera in hand as they soaked the charred house and extinguished the flames.

    Being thanked then escorted out of the area, I again tried to get in to my house, but was still turned away.  I headed back to the house that I’m staying at in Rancho Penasquitos, and found two hours of well needed sleep.  Unfortunately, as the fire swept through the massive canyon, I was evacuated for the third time at around 8:00pm.  After a few hours in a parking lot in La Jolla, I headed back to Rancho Penasquitos, but stayed awake much of the night to keep an eye on where the fire was at.

    Now it is Tuesday night, and I am in Rancho Penasquitos posting all of this to the site.  I’m hoping that tomorrow morning I will be able to get back into my house.  From all reports that I’ve heard, my house is still there, but some of my neighbors have not been so fortunate.  I will keep posting pictures to this album each day, so if you keep checking back, you will more than likely find more images.

    Thank you again for all of you that have been checking in with me!