I hope that all the bigsoccer folks in the San Diego area are safe and sound. How close is the damage to the Chula Vista OTC?
Thanks for your concern. Fortunately all of my friends and family here in the San Diego area are safe and sound. However, the air quality throughout most of San Diego County is quite bad and even though I live a good 5 miles from where the nearest fire was burning, I still have a fair amount of ash in my yard. There have been three main fires in San Diego county and the one that is the farthest south, the Otay Fire, never threatened the OTC as far as I know. The Cedar fire ended up destroying about 150 homes in the Scripps Ranch area, which is approximately 10 miles northeast of Torero Stadium. On a personal note for me, one of my clients lives in the Scripps Ranch neighborhood that was hardest hit by the fire on Sunday. This was the area where the mayor and the governor held their main press conference this afternoon. The last time I went to that neighborhood was about 30 minutes after the Spirit's 2-1 victory over the CyberRays when it was Aly Wagner bobblehead night.
Otay Fire I just heard on the local news that the Otay Fire is now 17% contained and is expected to be fully contained by Thursday. Fortunately no one has been killed and no homes have been lost because of the Otay Fire.
Cedar Fire I just heard that it now looks like over 300 homes were destroyed in the Scripps Ranch area by the Cedar Fire and sadly the final number will probably be even higher. It does however look like my client's house survived the fire. I just found a list of the homes that were destroyed in Scripps Ranch and none were listed on their street. Two blocks away almost every single home on that street was gone.
Re: Cedar Fire All on the whim of the wind. I hope that the silence from other SD folk doesn't mean they've had trouble.
nsa, Thanks for thinking of us. The Cedar fire that burned thru Scripps Ranch missed us in Poway by about 2 miles. Other friends in Poway weren't so lucky. We've lost 30 + homes in Poway and many more in Ramona. My folks live in Escondido, near the Paradise fire burning in Valley Center. They evacuated Sunday night, but returned to their home yesterday. Other friends in Scripps Ranch were spared, so no one we know lost a home there. Every school in the county including the colleges are still closed and many companies have tolld their employees to stay home. I went back to work today. Needless to say, but our men's game was cancelled on Sunday so I did not see Dave Presher (he plays CM for our over-30 team), and I assume he is OK.
Are the colleges so far safe from fire? I'm praying for all you guys, Fire is my biggest fear and I know I was planing on living out there this year so you guys are hugely on my heart!!!
As far as I know, none of the colleges/universities are near the fires (I may be wrong as far as community colleges are concerned.) But that doesn't mean that they aren't affected. UCSD has postponed its game against Pomona - that was supposed to be this afternoon. It has been over 3 weeks since they last played... None of the soccer supporters that I know of have had to vacate their homes, but there have been some from my work that have.
thanks for all the concern and glad to hear most people are doing okay. i'm a few miles away from the nearest fire so i'm doing okay but the ashes were everywhere, the smoke in the air yesterday was horrible and my girlfriend is suffering from a severe headache which is keeping her bedridden, but of course we're much more fortunate than many, many people and are counting our blessings. unfrotunately, i'm also experiencing a family medical emergency with my stepdad at the same time so when it rains, it pours. i will say the outpouring of support from everyone in san diego is inspiring.
This morning's U-T has a series of articles, including a picture, a map graphic that can be clicked on, and a few short video clips. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/fires/20031029-003-main.html#
Question for nordby1 Does anyone know Aly Wagners' host family when she first came to SD? I consider them to be my friends, Karen, Rick and their 2 daughters Katie and Sara. We sat together at Spirit games, and for the life of me, I can't remember their last name. I am really worried about them, as they lived in one of the "Ranch" areas. I have left emails for them to let me know that they're ok, and have not received a response. Is there a list somewhere of the family names of those who've been displaced? I would appreciate ANY help. Thanks.
Support From Around the World The support received from everyone during this extremely difficult time is greatly appreciated. I have personally received e-mails from all over the world during the past several days, some from people I met through these boards and other soccer message boards.
Re: Question for nordby1 I know several people I can check with who will probably have an answer for you about the status of Aly Wagner's host family. I haven't heard anything about any of the Spirit staff members or any of the Spirit players who are still living in the area, but when I get some news I'll post an update. I did find out this evening that the Norwegian woman who helped me organize a welcoming party for Bente Nordby after she was traded to the Spirit, is fortunately safe and sound. I hadn't heard from her since the fire started because she has been without power and telephone service since the start of the Otay Fire. I also found out that the Tierrasanta home where my local Norwegian group had a party for some of the WUSA Norwegians, including Bente , had been fortunately spared by the Cedar Fire while other homes nearby that had wood shingle roofs were destroyed. .
Xtra Prayers For the Firefighters It was really sad to find out that a firefighter from Northern California died today trying to save the historic town of Julian. I hope everyone will say an extra prayer for all of these brave firefighters who are doing the best they can against extremely difficult odds to get these fires under control.
This little item was in the 'Trophies' section of today's "GOAL!" Another reason why San Diego is called America's Finest City... "PWSL, SDWSL, Prime of Life: Three local adult women's leagues unite to raise $6,000 to aid two players (one from Scripps Ranch, one from Crest) who lost their homes in the October fires."