This pic is unreal , very frightening for all. Please stay safe we care about you and all , Cathie

Glad to hear it is somewhat better this morning! But, that is one eerie picture! I can only imagine the apprehension some of the homeowners must feel while standing on their decks peering across the smoldering hillsides.

I’m watching the morning footage of the firestorm and it is extremely hard to comprehend what those people are going through. That sight would have to cause a sudden outbreak of religion.

How can they possibly know how many have died at this point?

This fire is crazy.
Thanks for this blog. It is really helpful.
Is there a death count?

Any word on how the people that evacuated are fairing? Some reports are saying that people are having to go as far as Phoenix to find hotel rooms.

It really looked like even before sunrise the wind had kicked up a lot!

Are any of these fires near Claremont, California?

Does anyone know how these fires started? There are 4 of them in the LA/San Diego area and in all different spots….

They are saying people with pets cannot get into the evacuation center. THIS IS AGAINST THE LAW. After Katrina a federal law was past – The Pet Evacuation Act – FEMA and Homeland Security are aware of this law. The law requires states to provide evacuation shelters FOR BOTH PEOPLE AND THEIR PETS. This law was past because people will not evacuate without their animals.

Reporters should be questioning officials as to why evacuation shelters for pets are not being organized where owners and pets can stay together. This is required by federal law. Many of us want the states to be organized to do this and unless you start asking the questions, this country will never get organized as the law requires for evacuations with our companion animals. People should be bringing animal food to the stadium as well as people food. Cover this aspect of the situation for all our sakes. Cats, dogs, horses, bears, deers, all are burning alive out there.

California deserves all this. They keep electing these environmental wackos who won’t let you clear cut, remove the dry debris, even cut a tree down on your own property. I hope the whol;e state burns so maybe they’ll wake up.

Adam, your coverage has been as incredible as it has been brave. With temperatures possibly heading into the 90’s here in our seaside Oxnard today, we’re worrying about the Magic and Ranch fires which look to be heading into Ventura County today. Will you be covering those or any of the others from San Luis Obispo down? Thanks to you and your great team.

-Fires burn overnight in the hills above Malibu; President Bush declares a federal emergency-

This is the first thing I read this morning- Your post was a bit more comforting- I heard last night before I went to sleep, there are about 500 homes lost to this horrendous fire?

Well Adam, if you know of anyone, personally, who needs a place here in Phx. they can stay with me- and if they have pets, tell them to bring them too-

Please say a prayer to all of the firefighters and thier families. As a wife of a volunteer firefighter in Minnesota when the pager goes off you never know what it will bring and all you can do is pray. Whenever anyone is running away from the fire they are running towards it. I pray for the families that are at home watching this all unfold on the news worried not knowing where their husbands, wives, moms or dads are but they are still beaming with pride. This is a truely unfortunate and steps should be made to prevent this from being an “anticipated” event.

Hi, Adam.

Your reports from Malibu have kept all of us informed about what’s going on there. Having lived on the west side since 1990, I know Malibu quite well. I was saddened when you reported the Presbyterian church on Malibu Canyon Road burned down on Sunday.

The enormity of this inferno from Santa Barbara to San Diego is overwhelming. My roommate and I drove down to Tijuana and back on Friday, once again enthralled by the beauty of Southern California. Now, five days later, it is horrifying to read that nearly 500,000 people have been forced from their homes and so many homes have been destroyed.

I want to thank you and your crew, Adam, for your dedication and hard work.

George Spink
Los Angeles

The state of California has imposed laws which prohibit the introduction of non-native species on public lands. However, other states throughout the intermountain west have deployed a plant known as Kochia prostrata, principally the BLM, which stops wildfire dead in its tracks. Please see Salt Lake City Tribune article of August of this year on Millford Flat Fire. The Agricultural Research Service has done extensive testing over two decades on this plant to establish that it is non-invasive, it is not a weed. The plant is extremely drought tolerant and offers very high protein levels as a browse for wildlife. It is also a C4 photosynthesizer, which means its about three times more efficient at converting Carbon Dioxide to Oxygen and sugar.
The most interesting part of this story is that the US Forest Service was one of the principle agents taking taxpayer money to introduce the specie to the United States, not knowing that it was a non-fuel. When they discovered that it would not burn, they dropped it like a hot potato. With the help of the extreme environmental element, they very easily removed it from the forefront with the explanation that it was a non-native. This makes no sense because they knew this to begin with.
There is a very interesting story here which should be exposed to the general public and one which the USDA should be held accountable for. What is required is that all home insurers oull out of California completely until some of these rediculous laws are overturned. Otherwise home insurers throughout the region are going to be paying for California’s sublime ignorance.

Of course firewife, I do pray for the people with pets and livestock. There is nothing like trying to find a place to stay and nobody willing to take you in.

Sad situation for all the people involved. It must be so frustrating to try to stop a fire that is unstoppable.

To Eric and all those who blame environmentalists for fires: It is not because of environmental wacko that these fires are increasing.

These are arson fires. Follow the money – who profits from these fires? Logging companies who clean up afterward, coyotes who bring illegal immigrants across the border (the gov. takes border patrol off line to fight fires leaving the border unprotected), temp workers hired to fight fires, agribusiness who need illegals to farm and the building contractors who hire them to rebuild homes after fires. All the companies who are employed by those who lost everything in the fire and even those who will get big insurance pay-offs. These all have big money reasons to set arson fires on windy days.

You are very quick to blame environmentalists – so are the people who actually set these fires. They want to point fingers so no one looks at them. There are people who profit from these fires – people who do not care about the animals burning alive and the devastation to the earth. Do not blame the environmentalist who love these animals and love these green spaces – blame those who are too politically correct to ask the right questions, blame the people who use fires to further their own economic welfare, blame the politicians and investigators who will do nothing to prevent fires but only respond to “emergencies” when it is too late.

The picture is eerie… an amazing shot! Tornados touch down and cause damage, lives are lost and destroyed… but a few minutes and it goes away… hurricanes, a few hours, same type of damage…. but fire spreading through a state with a constant repeat of devastation?? I hope we’re on the down side now and getting the fires under control.

I don’t know how the people who are still in the area of the fires can sleep at night. I understand how Adam explained the people were looking at the flames in a distance, but still, if you can see the flames…

Adam, I admire you and your teams bravery. There is no way I would be covering a fire of this enormity but I know someone has to do it. I’ve been looking at the news coverage and pictures and it seems like I’m watching a horror movie. I am praying for each and every fireman and their families and the families who are left homeless. Please watch your back and stay out of harm’s way. The country is watching and praying.

Adam…I know you are swamped…but I have family there that you might know.
Spencer Thornburg @ San Diego NBC…. I was curious if you knew him.

Green, Eric, & Greg, do you guys know “mellisa”!?

(sorry, being a little sarcastic)

The bantering back and forth won’t help anyone at this point. Save it for the bar.

Green… I think you’re right that there will be a monetary gain as a result of these fires… that’s obvious… but for the arsonist to start the fires with that intention in mind.. I can’t swallow that one.

I hope the State of California does look at ways to help prevent this kind of devastation in the future. If there are any logical precautions to take. We got lucky this time (so far), the amount of injured and dead, in comparrison to the amount of devastaion, is low. Next time we may not be this lucky (for lack of a better word).

Patty

If more people did our kind of banter, there would be less fire.

Why do people like you always try to cut off substantive discussion of the whys of fire ? I don’t go to bars. I don’t make frivolous comments. I am talking about pet evacuation shelters, the law and the fact that these fires are arson. Arson has just been confirmed by the Malibu fire chief.

I and others are saying let’s talk about prevention before the next fire. You, on the other hand, are asking if a guy knows another guy – that sounds more like bar talk than posts suggesting the media ask important questions.

In fact, I urge everyone who has a question they want the officials to answer, to post it on this blog and maybe FOX will get the answers for us before the next fire. We can prevent these fires. We do not have to accept them as a fact of life.

Greg,

Many of us environmentalists feel the “invasive” plant and animal theorists have become unreasonable and counterproductive. In Wisconsin, the DNR is shooting swans because they are not native under this philosophy. There is a movement of outraged Wisconsin town people and green people who are opposed to this carnage. Any extreme becomes a religion not a sound environmental practice. Keep asking your question. Many environmentalists, such as myself will support you. Stopping fire is more important then limiting vegetation to native species.

duplicate
Thank you for being out there reporting what’s really happening. I believe this is a picture of my son that you captured. Glen (Cal Fire SLO) is a 4rth generation, first year fire fighter and I have been chasing fire stories for 20 years as a fire fighters wife. I can’t tell you the thrill and relief and pride I got when I came across this pic and video (submitted 10/22/2007). This is truly an amazing as well as tragic event. There are not words to express my gratitude.

Any word on how bad Carlsbad has been hit and if it has gone past? This was the Witch fire. My son and family evacuated from there yesterday.

Does any one know how bad Carlsbad was hit? This was the Witch Fire.
My son and family evacuated form there yesterday.

Arsonists come out of the woodwork during times like this so that they can indulge in their aberation and count on the wind/weather to take the blame.

Additionally, I’m hearing that representatives from SoCal communities are complaining that the state did not respond with air tanker fire suppression in a timely manner and they feel it is a punitive measure on the part of the state.

It would be premature to say that the fires would NOT have gotten this bad b/c of the absence of air suppression, but you cannot send up an air tanker in 50-60 mph gusts, and expect them to fly low into these canyons, and not have serious consequences. California has a very lengthy list of pilots who have died while flying tankers and trying to lay down fire breaks. And many of those accidents were caused by the fire-created winds. In this situation, it would be completely irresponsible to send fire fighters up, risking their lives, to save a house.

This is a tragedy……losing one’s anchor, one’s existance, is beyond most people’s comprehension. But to imply that firefighters should fly in totally unsafe conditions is beyond my comprehension.

Eric-

Your comment knocked me down- No one deserves to go through this harrowing experience!

Green-

I am not very bright- so maybe you can explain this one to me- How do you detect if one is an arsonist? Do you spot check on people who have a lighter or matches or carry gasoline on them?
How does one get into the mind of a madman?

I think the objective in California is to control the fires and then the problem solving will fall into place.

Cathleen,
What a proud moment for you, you raised him right.

Green, the time to discuss that is later when people, dogs, livestock and homes are safe. I hear your frustration but right now there are priorities.

bill (ohio)… I am sorry to hear about your family being evacuated… I wish I was able to get you information on that area… our prayers are with you and your family

BILL FROM OHIO

you can get ingormation about the area where your family was here http://calfire.org/

Lets not get in to the “who’s to blame” game. At least wait until after the fires are all out, ok guys.

Something has to be done to reduce the risk of fires. All solutions should be considered.
Everything that has been done up until this point has not worked, so a new solution needs to be put in to action. I am sure it will be one that makes no one happy.

Thanks for the info Karen. They are safe but still not sure what they have to come back to. Thanks again.

Well now that they are capturing the arsonist because they LOOKED, I hope all you people who told me to shut up will apologize. You don’t find the arsonists AFTER the fires are out and everyone is rebuilding. You look for them while they are driving around setting fires. Good job investigators and keep going.

Californians need to understand that these are not just guys acting out their sexual fixations. These are fire profiteers and maybe terrorists. Homeland Security needs to be in on the interrogations as does the FBI. Find out who is paying the arsonists and who else is involved. I am sorry to be so heavy but I have nightmares about animals screaming as they burn. I have been watching over six years as this situation with fires got out of hand in CA and no one was concentrating on investigation and prevention. You all say we will think about that tomorrow, but tomorrow you think about something else. You need to discover the source while it is happening.

With global warming and terrorism CA must become pro-active and believe they can stop these fires. They must make examples of those who set them. CA must hire fire wardens to keep watch in towers as we used to do before the budget cuts. Greg had ideas for vegetation covers. But the logging companies must not be allowed to profit from fires. Fire profiteering must be eliminated.

Wonder if this is what judgement looks like???