Special Report November 2007

A firefighting helicopter makes a water drop near residential homes as smoke rises from a wildfire over Malibu Calif., Monday, Oct. 22, 2007. About 700 firefighters worked to protect hundreds of homes in several upscale communities nestled in the hills. About 1,500 people were evacuated.
(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Houses burn on Camp Plenty Road in Canyon Country, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007. Nearly a dozen wildfires driven by powerful Santa Ana winds spread across Southern California, killing one person near San Diego, destroying several homes and a church in Malibu, and forcing hundreds from their homes.
(AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

Readers in Southern California evaded the fires that raged there in October. Several who witnessed the fires shared their real-time experiences with Print Solutions. For more first-hand accounts, visit www.printsolutionsmag.com/news.cfm and look under Headlines for Oct. 26, 2007. These accounts were gathered between Oct. 22 and Oct. 26.

“The whole sky is kind of a dirty gray. They air quality is not great. There’s ash falling outside my office now. Not a lot, but it looks like the sky is snowing in summer. I’ve got several customers I haven’t heard from. I’m going to see a customer who was right in the middle of Rancho Bernardo—in the north county, the fire is still going. I’m pretty sure they’re okay, but the CEO lost his house. One of the engineers lost his house.

"I think everybody is a little shell-shocked, like there’s no safe place, but the community really pulled together. Everyone has kept their spirits up. We brought family in for a day when they were evacuated. Everyone is helping everyone else out, helping people they don’t even know."

"There are some areas still in danger, but the Santa Ana winds have died, and the firefighters have been able to bring in some really big air tankers. San Diego is a desert: There’s a lot of sagebrush and canyons. This thing hit those damn canyons and exploded. I got back from the Print Solutions Show on Sunday and all hell was breaking loose."

“We had one client evacuated from his home, spent the night at his business, but the house is safe so far. Many clients are short-handed as their employees cannot get to work, or are choosing to stay put to protect their home. One vendor (a small local lettershop) was told to be ready to evacuate but fire crews turned the fire back. God bless our firemen and women!”

“The fire started off being quite far (60-70 miles) from here, but ended up being quite near (15-20 miles) on Oct. 23. It appears that the fire is under control now. We saw heavy black smoke yesterday. Now it’s much lighter. The wind is just a breeze. We have reason to be optimistic today.

On Oct. 22, we heard that the fire was moving closer. I cancelled my trip to New York. The roads were closed and I could not even get close to the San Diego airport. I also wanted to be here in case there were problems. My plant is in Camarillo, Calif., and I work out of Murrieta. The plant was not in any danger.

We happen to live in a high fire-risk area. It’s a kind of a rural section that we live in. These are the kinds of areas that are hard to protect. One of the employees had to vacate his home, but it was just a precaution, and he was able to go back home. Everything is okay.”

Printing Companies Weather Calif. Fires