BinaryWolf

Last week’s wildfires displaced thousands of Southern California residents. People are looking for long term rentals. Apartments.com has created a Southern California Wildfires Resource Center, to help people find housing and other resources.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development () is also helping .

HUD News Release

Using housing information from various Internet and Government Data providers, such as SocialServ.Com, Apartment.Com, HomeSales.Gov, and Rent.Com, the NHL allows users to set a number of search criteria to locate available housing in a one-stop-shop forum. Search criteria include the desired location, by city, area code; price range; acceptance of housing vouchers; accessibility; assisted and elderly accommodations; and number of bedrooms. Once the criteria are set, a rapid search is conducted nationwide with designated partners, and the information about available housing is presented in a report format. In most cases, the housing photos and contact information are also provided.

System Home Page

The NHL is a searchable, web-based clearinghouse of available rental housing nation-wide. It allows HUD and its business partners, in particular State Housing Authorities, Public Housing Authorities, and other critical First Responders, to deliver housing assistance by rapidly locating rental housing and available government-owned single family homes for sale during an emergency. The NHL uses a rental housing industry standard for requesting data, and collects available responses to a housing request from private and public housing locators across the country. A selected housing query through a web site sends the requester to the private or public housing locator providing the data. The original data provider provides the details on the rental, points of contact and other value added resources.

The system is available to states and public housing authorities, and other first responders at this time. It may be opened to the general public at a later date. (NHL link from Rentlinx)

Wildland Fire –Any nonstructure fire, other than prescribed fire, that occurs in the wildland.

I discovered an excellent wildland fire reporting site.

InciWeb is an interagency wildland fire incident information management system. The system was developed with two primary missions: The first was to provide a standardized reporting tool for the Public Affairs community during the course of wildland fire incidents. The second was to provide the public a single source of information related to active wildland fire information.

A number of supporting systems automate the delivery of incident information to remote sources. This ensures that the information on active is consistent, and the delivery is timely.

At the time of this post 911 homes, 30 commercial properties, and 175 outbuildings have been destroyed. 62 homes, 10 commercial properties and 50 outbuildings have been damaged. 1,000 residences, 100 commercial properties, and 300 outbuildings are still threatened. 239 vehicles have been destroyed, in the incident alone!

Witch Fire
Date of Origin –10/21/2007 at 1235 hrs.
Location –Witch Creek area, East of Ramona, California

Fires continue to burn, however with the weather getting better, the humidity going up and additional resources being brought in to help, the overall situation is improving. People are being allowed back into previously evacuated areas. Here is some useful information for all San Diego County residents:

Information on air quality is available from the county Air Pollution Control District at (858) 586-2800, press 2, and sdapcd.org/air/forecasts/otoday.html. The telephone recording is updated daily at 4:30 p.m.

To minimize problems:

• Stay indoors.
• Keep physical activity to a minimum.
• Drink plenty of fluids to moisten the respiratory tract.
• If you have one, wear a filter mask that covers your nose and mouth.
• Keep windows and doors closed.
• Keep particle levels lower indoors by not using anything that burns, such as wood stoves, gas stoves and candles.

American Red Cross Tips for Returning Home

Do not cut or walk past colored tape over doors or windows unless authorities advise it is safe.

Check outside and inside for loose power lines, broken or damaged gas lines, foundation cracks or other damage. Find another way to enter if door is jammed, as it may be providing support.

If you detect the odor of natural or propane gas, or hear a hissing noise, leave the property immediately and call the fire department.

Open windows and doors for ventilation.

If you see sparks, broken or frayed wires, turn off the electricity at the main fuse box or circuit breaker.

SDG&E cautions residents not to handle downed lines of any kind.

Residents should also call the utility if they smell gas near their property and before connecting any electric generators. Generators plugged into home outlets can cause hazards for crews working to restore power to nearby homes and businesses.

SDG&E recommends calling (800) 411-7343 to have natural gas lines turned back on if you shut them off yourself. The company shut off service to about 1,600 gas customers in affected areas and will restore it automatically.

For more information call (800) 411-SDGE.

For updates, call 511 or go to dot.ca.gov/sdtraffic or 511sd.com

City of San Diego residents can register their cell phones to receive emergency alerts – such as an evacuation notice – from the city’s Reverse 911 system. Go to sandiego.gov/ohs/reverse911. Residents will need to provide their cell number, address and e-mail.

Donations

American Red Cross

Online at sdarc.org/donate; choose Option 2, San Diego/Imperial Counties local disaster fund
By phone: (858) 309-1200
By mail: American Red Cross, 3950 Calle Fortunada, San Diego, CA, 92123

Donors who wish their money to be used locally should specify the funds are for the San Diego local disaster fund to support the Harris/Witch Creek response operations.

To make a donation of clothing or household goods, please inquire with the following organizations:

St. Vincent De Paul: (619) 446-2100

Goodwill: (888) 446-6394

Salvation Army: (619) 231-6000, or donate online at sandiego.salvationarmy.org

To donate food, please contact the San Diego Food Bank at (866) 340-3663.

Individuals are asked not to make donations at Qualcomm stadium. Corporate and bulk donations can be coordinated by calling (619) 236-6175.

Wildfires ignited the paper-dry, drought-stricken vegetation of Southern California over the weekend of October 20, 2007, and exploded into massive infernos that forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their communities. Driven by Santa Ana winds, fires grew thousands of acres in just one to two days. The fires sped down from the mountains into the outskirts of coastal cities, including .

Public Numbers for Fire Areas and Public inquiries

San Diego
211 or cell users
858-300-1211

Los Angeles
800-980-4990

San Diego County Emergency
http://www.sdcountyemergency.com

CA OES Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
http://www.oes.ca.gov

Cal Fire
http://www.fire.ca.gov

CalTrans Highway Conditions
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/

San Diego Humane Society & SPCA
http://www.sdhumane.org

Firefighting Resources of California Organized for Potential Emergencies – FIRESCOPE
http://www.firescope.org

National Interagency Fire Center
http://www.nifc.gov

Fire weather from the National Weather Service
http://fire.boi.noaa.gov/

NOAAWatch page for weather, fire and other information
http://www.noaawatch.gov

Fire information and links from the US Forest Service
http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/reports.shtml

Largest San Diego Fires

Witch Fire
Witch Creek Area East of Ramona
San Diego County
Witch Fire Information Line (619) 590-3160.

Harris Fire
Harris Ranch Road & Hwy 94
San Diego County
Harris Fire Information Line (619) 590-3160.

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