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Ranger Al Updates

Current Updates
Week of November 17: Mon-Sun
Week of November 10: Mon-Sun
Week of November 4: Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat, Sun
Week of October 27: Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat, Sun
 

Visit the Old Fireupdate.com Site  |  Visit Floyd's TV News Reports

Sunday-Monday, November 2-3, 2003

   
Mon, 2:45am- K, I'm done.  I'm going home.  G'nite.
 
Mon, 2:00am- I'm going to call this the Law Enforcement Post

One of the questions I get asked most often is the question about looting.  I just wanted to post some information here to inform you about the preventative measures that are being taken to prevent it.  There are 30 active law enforcement vehicles patrolling the mountain areas.  Any vehicle seen traveling in a mandatory evacuation area is immediately pulled over and searched.  There has been 1 arrest so far and it had harsh punishment- Instant Remand - $500,000 Bail  Ouch!

Great Job everyone!  Just a little known fact about the evacuation.  We successfully evacuated the whole mountain last week without 1 injury or accident.

A couple more arrests were made on Sunday Night.  LOL.  Sorry I'm laughing but you'll see why in a second. 

One person was arrested after trying to run the barricade on Highway 18 at Waterman Canyon.  Comment- Where did this guy think he was going?  Its not like he would be hard to find if he would have made it through the barricade.  The only car on the highway!  LOL.

Another person was arrested stealing fire equipment.  This is the funny part.  He brought his own personal fire truck up the mountain and proceeded to fill the truck with any fire equipment he could find.  LOL.  I hope the cops that arrested him weren't normal guys driving around in their own personal police cars. 

It's 2 in the morning and I'm sitting in a quiet room by myself laughing my head off.  I hope this is as funny for you as it was for me.

Ranger Al should just drive his personal fire truck around.  There we go!  :)
 

Mon, 12:00am- I only have about 50 emails left for the night.  I'm going to finish those, give a final update for the night and then go to bed.  I am extremely tired.
 
 

 

Thank you to the hard working people of ESRI and the USDA Forest Service for this image.

 

Sun, 10:20pm- Wow, thank you everyone, the last hour I have receive many emails for people wanting to be involved in the project.  I can tell this will be a great thing.  I am going to put up a whole new fundraising section in the next few days.  Thank you for your support in this idea.
 
Sun, 9:00pm- I've been thinking of ways I can help these families as I get email after email from people needing confirmation of their homes in the Cedar Glen area.  I have had to personally tell a dozen or so people just today that they lost their homes and then mail them the photo proof.  I want to have a fund raiser.  I want to find what these people need the most and help supply them with it.  There are over 15,000 of you who get your news from this webpage.  Let's all join together and have a giant fund raising dinner.  Maybe we can organize service projects to help with the clean up.  I'm not sure exactly how to go about such an endeavor but we need to do it.  I am going to be thinking about how to organize such projects.  If any of you have any experience in this, please let me know.  Let's make a difference.

I'm hoping Ranger Al can go about his business tomorrow without being stopped again.  How many people had to live another 24 hours without knowing their fate because of the restrictions?
 

Sun, 7:30pm- I'm sitting here thinking about what it must feel like to be one of the thousands of people who don't have a home tonight because it burned down.  I'm imagining driving up to my street with my kids in my car and seeing for the first time the hole that used to be my families house.  I can't imagine how that must feel.  I read something today of some renters that lost their home.  Being renters they had no insurance to cover the loss of all their furniture and personal belongings.  Another family emailed me. They were out of town when the evacuation was ordered.  They didn't have a chance to pack up any special items, pictures or memories.

All over Southern California there are newly homeless people.  Well over 3000 homes.  That could be well over 10,000 people figuring that each home could have some children.  The thought saddens my heart that you can lose your whole life like that.  I am very sorry for everyone's losses tonight.
 

Sun, 7:00pm- Current Old Fire Stats:

Total area: 91,281 acres
Containment: 78% contained
Expected Containment- 11/8/03  6:00pm 
Total Cost to date- $24,036,743 
Total Homes Lost- 810
Total Homes Damages- 35
Commercial Properties Lost- 10

Lake Arrowhead and surrounding communities are still threatened.

 

Sun, 6:45pm- I just got off the phone with George Jubile from the Running Springs Fire Department and he reports that the fire continues to burn in the area but is still being kept low due to really low temperatures.  He suggests that residents might be able to come back into the area sometime in the next few days if things go well.

More info in a bit.
 

Sun, 4:45pm- About a 1 hour wait at the bottom of 138 right now.  Too bad we didn't have fireupdate radio.  Hey, that's an idea.  :)

Reports say that if you don't have a pass you can be issued one on the spot, but it takes more time and slows up the line.  So, go get a pass from an evacuation center so the rest of the mountain doesn't have to wait behind you.

Thanks to whoever just delivered me a pizza.  As soon as I saw it I realized I haven't eaten all day and I'm starving.  Good timing.  hey wait, who knows where I am?  hmmm.  Interesting.
 

Sun, 4:25pm- By the way it is very cold in Crestline 30° and if you have no lights and no heat you'll want warm clothes or bring someone to cuddle with.  :)

7-11 is open for gas at this point
 

Sun, 3:55pm- It doesn't look like Ranger Al will be reporting on any news today in Lake Arrowhead Area or RS, GVL or Arrowbear like we had planned.  We only have a couple hours of light left and he is still stuck.

Status of the Road Block- (The Sheriff's at the Road Block have been really cooperative and nice.)  But, they can't let us through without permission.  When calling in, they were first told that we needed to get that permission from the CHP who actually closed the road, but when we gave them the name and number of the responsible CHP office to call for approval they wouldn't make the call and denied us at the Sheriff's Level.  Multiple calls to the command posts have turned up nothing.  We cannot get through from the operators to the people who make the decisions.

We've been told there is a lot of "politics" happening from people who don't like our site for some reason.  We are not "official" and therefore shouldn't have any special rights.  Again we are asking if there is anyone out there who can help us.  We have well over 10,000 unique visitors to our site every day, they call me to give me information to post because they know it is a good way to communicate with the evacuees, but they are stopping our ability to gather our own information.

Help is needed.  Give a call to someone and let them know that we are doing good stuff. Is there any media out there that can help us?
 

Sun, 2:55pm- I'm getting hundreds of emails again.  Please read this info first.  If you don't see any evacuation status change info about your area its because I don't have any info on that.  Please don't ask me.  I will post it when I do know.

I have not heard anything about opening any more of the mountain for now.  For now it looks like from the Cliffhanger to the west.

We have some information about the slop-over that was mentioned in my post at noon.  It only burned about 1-2 acres.

A firefighter was injured today by a falling tree and was evacuated to a hospital.  Extent of the injuries are unknown at this point but he was conscious and stable.

New pictures were posted of the Cedar Pines Park area were posted in our pictures area.
 

Sun, 2:10pm- Crestline Area Residents- Goodwin's Market is now open for business.  Limited product such as dry groceries, wood and good cheer!
 
Sun, 2:00pm- I just realized that the week is over.  Everything's been a big blur this week.  A quick note to my friends and acquaintances that I may have flaked on this week.  I had a lunch appointment with someone, a couple other appointments and lots of things on my to do list that I completely missed.  Sorry about that I will get to it soon.

We are still trying to get Ranger Al through the road blocks.  We are actively working with one new friend that might have some pull in this area.

Those who are going back home-  If you have a way to get pictures of damaged areas or homes to me (dacy@fireupdate.com) please send them to me and I will post them.  There are still thousands of people who need information about their homes who wont be able to get there today.
 

Sun, 1:45pm- I'd like to thank the information agencies that have been cooperating with me and my drive to get information out to the evacuees.  They have been really cooperative with me recently. 

Still trying to get Ranger Al through the road blocks.
 

Sun, 1:30pm- Reports that Answering Machines are working in areas of Crestline and even one in Angelus Oaks.  Thank you Edison!
 
Sun, 1:15pm- Restrictions Lifted-  Mandatory Evacuation status changed to Voluntary in Lake Gregory and Parts of Crestline, (West of 189 at North Road extending along Highway 189 to Highway 18 at Lake Gregory Dr.)  - Residents Only

No fuel stations are available.  Come with a full tank of Gas.

Grocery services not available or limited.  Bring your own food.

You still need to get a pass from any Evacuation Center and go up the back side of the Mountain on Highway 138.

Food Disposal Centers -
Mountain Disposal Yard- 988 Old Waterman Canyon Rd in Crestline.
VOE Elementary School- 22836 Fir Lane in Valley of Enchantment.  
South shore Lake Gregory parking lot- Lake Gregory Dr and San Moritz
Lake Gregory Elementary- 24689 San Moritz.
 

Sun, 1:00pm- Emails are piling in.  Wow.  Just to let you know our status.  I am really excited right now.  I have been that way since my 3am post when I announced that there was a high probability that areas would start opening up on the west side of the mountain.  I could hardly sleep thinking about it.  I know its not over.  There are still thousands and thousands of people that can't go home.  But this is a great start.

I got some interesting comments when I posted the 3am post and was told by some that I shouldn't have posted it that early, but It was exciting to me and I wanted to share the news with you at that time.  I'm not used to how all this "Press" stuff works.  I've had a crash course in a lot of things during the last few days.  If you would have asked me last week if I thought I'd be running a website with over a million server hits per day and acting as a Press-type reporter, I'd say you were crazy.

To all those who I told that we'd be visiting your area today: Ranger Al is still stuck West of all the Road Blocks.  If anyone knows any body who can approve his movement into the Eastern areas, it would be helpful to many if we can make it happen.
 

Sun, 12:30pm- Nearly 261,000 Edison customers have had their power interrupted during the fires.  Approximately 28,000 customers are still without electricity with nearly 90% of those in Lake Arrowhead.  First Priority for power goes to "essential customers," who provide critical public health and safety services. (which undoubtedly is not me, its never me)  200 crews are working to replace 1,270 felled poles, rewire 330 locations and replace 200 failed transformers.

Message from Edison
 

Sun, 12:00pm- Be Prepared to not have electricity when you arrive in the mountains.  I am trying to get word on when it will be restored.  I will post information here.  Note:  There may be electricity in some locations either now or soon.  More info to come.

Maybe a small slop over (fire jumps over a fire break) in the fire NNE of Arrowhead.  We are told it is nothing major.
 

Sun, 11:45am- Ranger Al were stopped at the corner of Lake Gregory and North Rd and told they couldn't enter the Lake Arrowhead Area by the Deputy Sheriffs at the road block.  Since they are opening up the area to select residents the road blocks getting into Lake Arrowhead area are very strict.  Anyone that can help Ranger Al get through, please contact me.  Ranger Al was going to get more info on areas in Rim Forest, Cedar Glen and Running Springs, GVL and AB this afternoon.
 
Sun, 11:20am- We heard that a greater area of Crestline may be opening very soon.  Keep watching.

Highway 18 is still closed.  You must use Highway 138 only to get to any VOE, CPP and Crestline Areas that have mandatory evacuation orders lifted.

Data: Acres 91,281,  72% Contained.  Expected Containment- Nov 8.  4,211 firefighters currently on incident.
 

   
Sun, 10:35am- Good news for Residents of the Western part of the mountain.  Reduced from Mandatory to voluntary evacuation- Valley of Enchantment, Cedar Pines Park and the Crest Forest Area. West of state highway 138, West of Old Mill road and the Western portion of Lake Dr that is south of Knapps Cuttoff.  Residents only.  You need a pass issued by the SB county Sheriff's Dept.  Obtain them at any Evacuation center. 

They are checking your address's with maps so only go if you are really in those areas.
 

Sun, 10:30am- K,  I may have said some confusing things in my emails and I've had some replies about it.  I am actually not Ranger Al.  I am his son.  I am not making tours of the mountain.  I am stuck down the mountain like most of you.  I am  gathering information, answering emails and updating the website.  Ranger Al only uses the computer to send me information and pictures, he doesn't reply.  Sometimes I answer your questions and say "I will visit a certain place today" or something like that.  I basically am talking for my dad in these cases.  A lot of times I am on the phone with him when I ask him a question and I just type what he says.  Sorry if this is confusing. 

There is no new information about when areas like Crestline and Lake Arrowhead will be open.  The information that was posted that it might not be 4-7 days before some areas can return to their homes is all that I have on the subject.  Please do not contact the Authorities about when it might be.  They are busy trying to help us return.  We will post it when the decision is made.  They are actively cutting dangerously burnt trees, rebuilding guard rails and preparing the mountain for our return.  Returning too early before these precautions are finished could result in injuries or hazardous conditions.  Keep watching, we will notify you as soon as we know.
 

Sun, 10:00am- I just got an email from someone that said they have been logging onto the site, closing the window and retyping in "http://fireupdate.com."  I just had to come on here and tell people that they can just press F5 on your windows keyboard and the page will automatically refresh.  :) Helping out when I can.
 
Sun, 9:15am- It sounds like the OES will be trying to issue Ranger Al a Pass today.  It still needs approved by a few individuals.  I will let you know more when I have it.  By the way, thank you all who acted on that issue and contacted the authorities.  We have had positive reassurances from a lot of agencies that Ranger Al will have their support.  Thanks again.

I have some emails saying that I didn't reply to them.  The only ones I didn't reply to were the ones that didn't seem like they needed it at the time. (ie, thank you for your information emails)  I do have an anti spam program running and I have not checked my Junk Email folder for Spam errors.  I've answered 1567 emails since Thursday.  and my wrists know it.

The status on the fires remains similar to what was posted in the 3 am post.
 

Sun, 9:00am- I'm back.  I had to take my sister to the airport this morning and thus couldn't be here too early.  She came down to spend a week with my parents.  What a week to be here!  By the way- Ontario Airport looked Normal so flights must be not backed up anymore.

Wow,  you people have been busy, My inbox that was empty just a few hours ago has now 150 messages.  I'll begin reading through them as soon as I check for updates to the status of the area.
 

   

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 

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