San Diego Fires: Press Conference

From Ron Roberts:

34,000 customers are without power

194,000 households received reverse 911 calls.

Info hotline at 211. Calls take 3-5 minute wait time.

Road closure info by calling 511.

Murphy Canyon Chapel has information for families at 619-556-0603

2 helicopters are in the air and a 3rd Coast Guard chopper is available for emergency air support.

The mayor of Tijuana has called to offer assistance.


Jerry Sanders:

Governor plans to visit Qualcomm to check supplies and facilities.

US military is flying in supplies for evacuees.

Still many mandatory evacuation areas including Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch, Rancho Santa Fe, etc.

City of San Diego and County will get 1200 National Guard troops to augment police and fire services throughout the county.

Emergency responders need civilians to stay off cell phones.

Firefighting Liason Kim Radducks?:

Weather situation is still creating a volatile situation.

Helicopters and "fixed wing" aircraft have added to the fight. DC 10 Supertanker is in use. People need to stay away from evacuated areas.

Rice Fire 750 acres in Fallbrook. Zero containment. 45,000 are being evacuated. 6-10 structures lost.

Coronado Hills/San Marcos Fire 100% contained, 50% controlled. Unknown losses. No injuries reported.

Harris Fire 20k plus acre fire. Moving to Otay Mesa/Otay Lakes. Evacuation area is Steele Canyon High. Base camp was moved to Gillespie Field.

Witch Creek Fire: Most of the destruction. Worked by Cal Fire and SDFD. Containment is unknown. 20,000 plus acres are burned.

Chief Maynor SDFD:

Worst of the four fires. It moved quickly to San Pascual and Lake Hodges, hit Rancho Bernardo, jumped the 15 in two locations and moved west. The fire is dying down in RB, they believe the danger has passed in Rancho Bernardo, but now it's moving westward into Ranch Santa Fe. At least half the firefighters will stay on the fire overnight, though none will be sent home. So far, no damage to Scripps Ranch or the Black Mountain area. It has picked up a little and now Crest and Harbison Canyon are under voluntary evacuation.

Sheriff Bill Kolender:

Evacuations are having a positive effect. Security will be doing sweeps in evacuation areas to make sure people are not staying behind.

Ron Roberts:
A number of migrant workers have been injured from fires.

Another official:
Cedar Fire resulted in 50,000 evacuations. This fire has already forced the evacuation of 250,000 people. I-15 is still closed, I-5 is a parking lot. People should not clog major roads and arteries on Tuesday.

2 hospitals have been evacuated, with one more threatened.

4 cities and county have declared state of emergencies as well as areas that have activated their emergency response services.

Several shelters are available as well as several that are on standby if necessary.

Shelters at Poway Boys and Girls Club, Escondido High , Steele Canyon High and Del Mar Fairgrounds are all full.


Councilman Brian Manscheim:

Very significant fire damage in Rancho Bernardo. Staff is working on walking each street to create a list of homes that are destroyed. Should be posted on the website by earlier afternoon tomorrow. (hire a blogger and have it done NOW!) Neighborhoods are being shut down to prevent looters and "looky-loos".

From News 8 Crawl: At least 60 homes have burned in RB.

Duncan Hunter:
National Guard units are being sent to Point Magoo to hit fires in San Diego in LA. Should be staged by noon Tuesday. The National Incident Center hasn't yet sent request, but the planes are being activated in anticipation of the national request.