2007-12-29T16:52:00.000-08:00

The following writings are those of my students, published with their permission and with "warts" as semi-revised journals.

Section 01
Farhea
It was a fateful Sunday, it seemed like not other, we ate, laughed, went shopping and the day rolled by like any other. The only hint of a fire was the dense smog in Poway, the yellow colored thicket of smog and ash that loomed above the city. Even then we paid no heed to our indirect warning, our foreshadowing of the night to come the night that awaited us ever so quietly. Instead we went to the mall and even ate out. Around 11:30 I watched a live news feed on, 10.news.com, they claimed that the winds were blowing southwest, which meant there was absolutely no chance that San Marcos would be threatened. After convincing one of my other friends that it was okay and that she shouldn’t be afraid of the fires but should instead go to sleep, I collapsed into my bed and fell asleep at once thinking that the next time I would wake up would be to my annoying bleeping alarm, blaring at me to wake up for my class, instead I woke up to the knocking of my neighbor. My mom came in weary and tired and slowly mumbled that I should go check who it is and what they wanted, at this point in time, I had completely expelled the fires from my mind. As the door slowly creaked open in the dead of night, I laid my eyes on my neighbor, who politely greeted me, my first thought was “?!?!!” or utter disbelief if one wishes to put into exact words, it seemed very early to come around knocking on your neighbors doors at two in the morning for a simple conversation, but at that moment in time I started to realize something was wrong, the wind howled, my nose filled up with the unruly scent of ash and burned timber, the sky had an ominous orange glow and there was a firefighter running to every other house. I looked back at the my neighbor in anticipation and he told me a fire had started up in San Marcos, all of the Discovery Hills and San Elijo Hills area had now been initiated as a mandatory evacuation area. I gazed back at him dumbfounded yet at the same time feeling nothing. He pointed to my left and the plumes of smoke that I had not seen before I now saw. The fire cast a disillusionment that it was in my neighbor’s backyard in reality it was a bout one and half miles away. I thanked our neighbor and went to go tell my parents, they looked at me completely bewildered, my mother panicked and kept asking me what we should do, we had never faced a firestorm before, I gazed at her and calmly told her to get whatever irreplaceable items we had in our possession, but her mind still wouldn’t click to the events that were unraveling, perhaps it was to early for her to realize it. Meanwhile I decided to quietly walk into my sibling’s room and awaken my fourteen-year-old sister while leaving my younger brother to sleep soundly. I then slowly walked to my own room and sadly gazed at it, realizing that this maybe the last time I stood in my intact bedroom, but there was not time to become emotional. I quickly gathered my stuff stacked it in my car and told my parents I was going to see where the fire was. I drove out and saw the hills behind CSUSM, Coronado Hills, ablaze. The apartments on Twin Oaks Valley Road were in full evacuation at this point, and CSUSM had been barricaded shut. I drove back home and informed my parents and they relaxed upon hearing that the fire was not really as close as it seemed. After it seemed like no one in our neighborhood had evacuated we changed our clothes and went back to sleep for perhaps another hour before we received our final knock on the door and a telephone call both telling us that our areas were now being evacuated because the winds had shifted their directions towards us, this time it meant that there was literally a ten minutes time period for the fire to be at our doorsteps. We awoke my seven-year-old brother and told him to use the bathroom and settle himself into the van, being as innocent as he is, he thought we were going on a vacation but soon my mother told him what was really happening and his face turned to a completely shocked and aghast look. He seemed panic stricken and so again we explained to him that everything was going to be okay and he seemed a little relieved. Heading off to Mission Hills the nearest evacuation center, my father received a call and told me to drive over instead to a family friends house, when we arrived at our family friends house we discovered that we weren’t the only ones arriving there. We stayed at their house till one in the afternoon and thanked them for their hospitality and returned home. Around four o clock in the afternoon the fire had been completely contained and the mandatory evacuation had been lifted. Upon hearing this good news we settled into our our lives before the fire had come to visit us.

Rasheed
My wildfire story is not as exciting or dramatic as others. This wasn’t like the hurricanes when I lived in New Orleans just before Katrina. A story is a story, though, and I have one. I live in northwestern San Marcos. My neighborhood can only burn if a fire starts there and has some very fast wind. The fires never got within five miles from my house, which was the Coronado hills fire. My emotions never got past bored. It seems heartless, but I been through enough to know if this will destroy my house.
My family back east was worried, so I received many calls Monday and Tuesday. I am now 20 minutes over my cell phone contract with 10 days to go. After that, I just basically kept myself occupied, or sleep. The only issue was that I lost satellite connection with my tv. I had to watch either FOX 6, or the Hallmark Channel. So, I didn’t bother watching the apocalypse happen to many, or pseudo-Christian
programming.
My family didn’t have to cope with this event. My uncle and aunt lived in Encinitas, which was near the Coronado hills fire. They were in Africa last week, so they didn’t even know this happened for 4 days. The rest of my family here was either at home or downtown for the time. This fire just strengthened my resolve to take more action in my life, because you don’t know when the world around you can end. Unfortunately, seven people’s lives did so last week.

Ayron
On Monday, October 22, 2007, all of the dormitory residents were woken up at two in the morning and told to pack because the hill directly above us was on fire. The Coronado Hills fire brought the true dread that a wildfire could affect me. When I realized that it wasn't a joke, that we could actually lose our school and homes, I was terrified; we had been watching all these other fires, feeling sorry for all of the victims when suddenly we were only a couple hundred yards from being those victims. Thankfully, after creeping to within a few feet from the buildings on campus, the fire switched directions, and began to burn away from school. School was canceled for the week, the dormitory staff fed the residents who stayed dinner every night. All week long, we were waiting for the orders to evacuate, but they never came.

Amy
On October 22, I woke up at my regular time with my cell phone screaming at me in the dark. The surprising part was, it was not my alarm that went off, but my phone alerted me of a text message I had received. My friend Brian, who lives in Prominence Apartments right near campus, was frantically telling me not to come to school today because there was a fire on the hills behind school. He likes to joke so, naturally, I called him and almost screamed at him for joking about a situation as serious as that; he was not kidding this time.
Brian had been evacuated because this fire was literally blazing toward his apartment. I told him to call me back whenever he could, because he sounded scared and tired, two things that he almost never seemed to be.
I then called my friend Joselyn, who lives in the dorms on campus. She was thankfully safe, though she could see flames from her bedroom window.
By this point, it was about 6:30 in the morning. I decided to turn on the local news channel to see if anyone were covering the story. The Santa Ana winds had fueled flames all over San Diego County. My city, Temecula, is north of the area, so we seemed to be safe for the time being from the grips of what was now being called the Witch Fire.
As the day progressed, more and more fires developed and worsened. The winds wouldn’t die down and the dry, smoky air made the entire area feel like an oven. My friends all over San Diego County had been evacuated. Some were heading to Qualcomm stadium in the city; others were going north to avoid the smoke.

Kenny
I live in Valley Center, so the fire that threatened me was the Rice Fire or the fire in Fallbrook. Then later in the week the Palomar fire was threatening Valley Center. When I woke up on Monday morning it was the same as any other day, I took a shower, ate breakfast and turned on the news. The first thing I saw was a shot of a fire burning in the hills right next to Cal State San Marcos. At first I childishly thought, “Awesome, maybe the school will burn down.” Then I realized if the school burned down, what would happen to my education, would I just have to take the rest of the year off? Would they transfer me to another school? All these possibilities would only make things more complicated for me. Then the television switched to a map showing nine different fires. When I saw where the Rice fire was I got very concerned, I have some very close friends who live right next to where the fires were.
Throughout the day we received many phone calls. Some people just checking if we were ok, others telling us that the Rice fire was moving toward Valley Center and that they were evacuating. After hearing this, my father had our family pack some of our clothes just in case. The rest of the day we sat and watched the fires progress and the damage they caused. At about ten O’clock I went to bed. I was awoken at around five forty-five the next morning by a phone call. Our friend who lives about a mile away had received a reverse 911 call and was leaving. After that we started packing our belongings into our trailer. First came the pictures and photo albums, then tax, insurance, and medical papers. Then things we “couldn’t” live with out such as my x-box 360. Around eight O’clock we received a reverse 911 call saying there was a mandatory evacuation for all of Valley Center. We left for my uncle’s house in Escondido away from where the Escondido fire was. When we reached my uncles house, I remember feeling mad that I had to run away and could do nothing to save my house if the fire got to it. My first worry was I would return home to a pile of ashes, my second worry was about my friends, so I called them and found they were all ok and spread throughout San Diego County after being evacuated. That day was the worst for me. We had nothing to do except wait and watch the news.
To help get our minds off the fire, my family went to the movies and saw 30 Days of night. This helped us to relax and helped me realize that what matters most is that your family is safe. You can always rebuild a house but never a family. In reality the fire was no where near my house. The smoke was just so bad that it seemed like it was. Our evacuation had just been precautionary. I realize now just how important my home is to me. I can’t imagine what the people feel that have lost their home. I feel so very sorry for them.

Natalie
Living in the border of Vista and San Marcos I was affected yet unaffected by the Witch Creek Fire. It was Monday morning around four or five when my father came into my room, telling me that my brother’s high school, San Marcos High School, had called to inform the parents and students that classes had been canceled due to the wildfires. At first I thought that my father was making a joke, but not only was it too early in the morning for that sort of joke, but this had happened in our area back in 2003. He told me to check the Cal State website to see if my classes had also been canceled. I went to my computer to check; after all, what would be the point of waking up in another hour to get ready for school if I didn’t have to. I went to the website and classes were in fact canceled. Thank Goodness, I thought. I was scheduled to take a Calculus test that morning. Felling content and not thinking much more about the fires I went back to bed and went back to sleep. No more than five minutes later I had a feeling in my stomach that I should check my phone. I opened it up, only to read “Text message from Katherine Black.” Katherine is one of my best friends. She lives along Craven Drive, the street that leads directly to Cal State. I opened the message and read “I can see the fire from my house. Watch out if theres any around ur place..i effin scared.” The message was sent at 2:45 in the morning. I was shocked. Could she really see the fires? Was it only the smoke she could see? The red lights? Or could she literally see the fires? I quickly called Katherine to see if she was alright, but she didn’t answer. I left a message hoping that she was alright. Fifteen minutes later another friend called to say that a friend of hers was evacuating and how she was sacred because her friend lived a couple of streets away. That’s not possible, I thought. Where this friend lives are a couple of blocks away from my house, but a mile or two away from Katherine’s house. There was no possible way that the fires could have reached from where I assumed Katherine could closely see them to where my other friend lived. Could there? What if there was another fire? Sure enough I would have heard ambulances or something… I told my friend to not overreact on something her friend was not sure about. I told her to go check the news, because if there were an emergency, it would surely be televised. After she hung up I started to text and call other friends. They all soon contacted me back informing me that their classes were canceled and that they were all fine. It was at around 6:22 in the morning that I received a call back from Katherine. That hour or so seemed longer than it actually was. She told me that everything was alright, and told me how she was awoken by her neighbor who was running around the cul-de-sac waking all of her neighbors. I told her to check the news to see if she and her family were to be evacuated and that my house was open to her if she and her family did have to evacuate. After the call I went back to sleep. Only for fifteen minutes though; so much for my oversleeping. By the time I woke up at quarter to seven my parents had the television on in the kitchen and we watched as neither my mother nor father went to work after learning of the conditions that our county was in. There were a total of four fires in the beginning of the week that I could remember were in our area. At least, in the areas we were familiar with. Throughout the week these fires would separate and combine, forcing us to pack our belongings in the event that we were evacuated. I believe that my neighborhood was in the “voluntary evacuation” mode, but nothing directly threatened my family. In the end, none of my friend were evacuated or affected in any other way by the fires, other than the allergies that came with the high levels of ashes in the air. Even though I had experienced a week off of school due to wildfires back in 2003, this was the first time that the fires were that close to home. The high school that my brother goes to, San Marcos High School was not used as an evacuation refuge four years ago as it was last week. It shocked me to experience something that I had never felt before: the fear and question of what would happen if the fires came to my area. Where would my family go? All the shelters were reaching their limits. And if the fires reached us, what would happen to our house? If I lost everything, what would I do? Would I be able to continue going to school? Had I really, in fact, had been glad when I learned about the fires that early Monday morning just because it canceled a Calculus Test. It made me realize that there were much more important things to worry about, and much more powerful things that could endanger my way of living.

Chantell
On Sunday I was in Orange County with family for my cousin’s birthday. I hadn’t heard anything about huge wildfires besides a little concerning the Malibu fire, which didn’t effect me no matter which house I was going to be at. That night, while I was sitting at my Aunt’s house, we decided to turn on the evening news and saw that there were three fires burning in the Orange County area. There was nothing about any San Diego fires on their news station, but when we were driving home there was ash and a smoke smell surrounding the air. I was visiting my friend in the hospital and turned on the news to see the Witch Creek fire and all of the coverage of the other fires. I was going to drive back up to Escondido that night to go to school Monday and didn’t think the fire would come anywhere near where I lived let alone San Marcos and continued to go home and go to bed despite my mother’s worries.
I got a call early Monday morning around 5:30 from my roommate who wasn’t home telling me that me and our other roommate should leave and come home because the school was evacuated. I was still asleep and now at this point I was confused. I wake up everyone at my house and turn on the news to see that there was a separate San Marcos fire burning near the school and the Witch Creek fire coming up towards us from the Wild Animal Park. By that time there were seven fires burning in San Diego county area. This was all too familiar to the scene 4 years ago almost exactly to the day of the Cedar fires where many of my friends who lived in the Crest area lived. This time though it was coming towards me and it was time to think of what to bring. In my mind I never thought I would reach my actual apartment and I just wanted to go home and get away from any threat of fires. But in actuality there was no getting away form these fires, they were surrounding everywhere that I could go. The drive away from home was a little terrifying because everywhere around us besides the coast was just a big black wall of smoke. It seemed to be a lot closer than I thought. At least we were safe and everyone from school was safe and out of danger.
Coming down to my mom’s house in Santee I thought was going to be a relief, but watching the news it seemed to be getting close to there too. This was more of a scary situation because no matter where we seemed to go the fires were surrounding and closing in and I began to think where we would go if everything burns up. Scary thought, but luckily we never had to evacuate even though Tuesday night I could see the orange glow in the distance and got my stuff back together. Wednesday was when I saw that my house was under mandatory evacuation but the fire had still not reached and they had opened up the 15 freeway so I made the trek to get more stuff just in case something horrible happened.
After a week off of school nothing of mine burned but the fire did get close. It did destroy one of my friends house and it gave me a new sense of respect towards nature. I’m grateful I was safe and grateful that everyone I know is safe and that now we might be hurt but we are safe and out of harms way.

Section 06
Lavinna
I was out with my family having some fun at an arcade in Carmel Mountain on Suday the 21st. It was very smoky outside and kind of an orange color. After we ate dinner we were on the way home and you could smell the smoke. We knew there was a fire, but we didn't think it was a big deal. When I got home in Escondido I relaxed for awhile and got prepared for school. However, that night my friend called me and notified me about the fire. I was kind of nervous and a little scared, but I happened to fall asleep. That morning around 4:00 my friend called me and told me about the coronado hills fire. I was really surprised and shocked, I didn't even know what to think about anymore. My brother then called me and said that the fire was near him. We rushed out to see if he's okay. Turned out that he was far away from the fire. I stayed with him to keep him company and we stayed up all night watching the news. I was worried about my other friends and family. However, every time I watched the news, I watched it with fear and hope. Hoping that this horrible disaster will all end soon.

Nikki
Emotions behind the WildfireWaking up to an immediate evacuation, prying your eyes to the updated news, while watching your roommate shriek because her town has caught on fire, aren’t the ideal college stories you brag to your friends about. Living in the University Village Apartments, the pink and orange flames burned less than three miles away. At this point, the UVA was in complete shock, the air smelled of bonfire and fear. The resident advisors could only handle so much, while they were in alarm with the situation themselves, others packed every material item they owned and evacuated to a somewhat safer area. Standing in the parking lot, gazing into the cloud of orange smoke, with the sound of sirens at every which angle, I couldn’t think of the right answer of where I should set out. My roommates and I were mind-boggled, the discussion of leaving to Temecula was introduced, while the others figured if we had to evacuate there would be an immediate call. Truly, cliché or not, I realized, there’s no place like home. Regardless my house is in Long Beach, driving an hour and a half away in heavy Smokey winds, was not only dangerous, but impossible because the freeways were closed. Therefore we came to an agreement to stay the night in our apartment until further notice.The next morning we decided not to spend another night in San Marcos because the air was horrific to breathe. The San Marcos scene was eerie, the parking lot consisted of less than fifteen cars, and it was as if we were the only ones here. Seeing that school was cancelled we fled to Temecula, where many of our homes were. We all stayed together in distraught to this surreal trauma. Finally, Fallbrook began to die down in flames, and unfortunately so did my roommates childhood home. I was no longer in panic, my instincts told me to aid to my roommate and friend. Many homes were destroyed by the fire, but several hearts sincerely burned into flames.

Anthony
Well, first off, my parents are divorced so my dad lives in Ramona and my mom lives in Rancho Bernardo. Being as these are the two areas that were hit worst by the Witch Creek Fire, I was very worried about both of my homes. The day the fire started, I was at my mom’s house watching T.V. I saw smoke coming out from the Ramona area and my mom’s boyfriend Mike told me there was a fire close to Ramona, so I called my dad to see what was going on. He said that there was a small fire that was towards Julian, so I didn’t really worry about it. This was about two or three o’clock on Sunday. Then around five or six my girlfriend Kayla who lives in Ramona called me and told me the fire was getting bad and was closing in on her house, which was about one mile away from my dad’s house. I then called my dad and he said that the cops were going around issuing mandatory evacuations, but he was going to stay since he was here for the Cedar Fire and thought it wouldn’t be that bad. My girlfriend Kayla was then prompted to evacuate, but the traffic to get from the San Diego Country Estates into town was taking about three hours, which usually takes about 10-15 minutes. She and her family then turned around and went home and figured that it wouldn’t come too close to them. My dad said he was staying, but he had his truck packed up just in case the fire did come close. I went to bed at about 1:40 because I kept talking to my girlfriend and watching the news, but I knew I had to get to bed for school the next day.
I woke up late the next morning because I have a radio alarm clock, but all there was only static so it didn’t wake me up in time. I rushed to get ready for school and started to head for the door when my sister told me I was crazy to go to school right now. Still disoriented from waking up about five minutes earlier, I asked her why. She told me the fire had gotten out of control and was now making its way into Rancho Bernardo, where we lived. I then turned on my computer and went to the CSUSM home page, and sure enough, it was closed. I then immediately called my dad and asked what was going on. He said he could see the fire, but it was on the mountain in front of us, so he wasn’t going to leave. I called Kayla and she said it was on the mountain behind her backyard, but it wasn’t coming down, so she and her family were staying as well. I watched the news for a little while and saw the fire was coming towards my mom’s house, where I was at. We then got the reverse 911 call at about 8:15 and we left. My sister called my Uncle Rick who lives in Pacific Beach and asked if we could go there, and he said it was ok. As we were leaving, I could see the flames coming down the hills directly next to our housing area, so I was a little worried about it reaching our home.
We then got to my uncle’s house at about 9:30 or so. We stayed there for until Wednesday, where I then tried to come back up to Ramona. We got there and came to a road block at Scripps Poway Parkway and 67. I then called my dad’s friend who is a Sgt. in Ramona, and he escorted us to Ramona. When I got home, we had no water, so we had a little trouble with the cooking and bathroom situation, but we had a lot of drinking water so we got through with very little problems. Later that day my mom was able to get back home, and everything was fine over there. Today is Sunday and we now have water in Ramona, but we can’t drink it yet. I am going down to my mom’s tonight in order to get ready for school tomorrow.
Some of my friend’s homes got destroyed in the fires, and I am very sympathetic for them. I know people that lost their homes in the Cedar fire about four years ago, and some still haven’t gotten their homes rebuilt. I even know that some people that got their homes rebuilt after the Cedar Fire got their homes burnt down again by this fire. It is a very rough time for these people, but I know they will get through it just like they did before.

Holly
When the fires started Sunday I was not worried at all. They seemed far away, even though our relatives were calling saying that all San Diego was on fire. When I woke up Monday morning @ 4:45, I was informed that the fire had jumped the freeway I take to get to school. I was determined to get to school though because I wanted to get perfect attendance so I wouldn't have to take the mid-term in my history class. So while I got dressed I figured out a different way to get to school. When I came back out to watch the news, it said that my school will be closed. For the rest of the day I watched the news, kept the windows shut, and emailed some of my professors. On Tuesday I began to pack my belongings as did the rest of my family, just in case we would be evacuated. We continued to watch the news, I listened to the radio though because it seemed to have more recent news. When Wednesday came the fires were still far away from my house. My brother and I drove up the freeway by my house to see if the fires were near and we could see orange spots on the hill in the same place the 03 fire was. We finished the day by watching the news. On Thursday I wanted to volunteer at Qualcomm Stadium to help the evacuees. But my mom wouldn't let me because I have asthma. So I continued to be stuck in the house and watched the news, it was the only thing on. On Friday The fires seemed in control and I was glad they didn't get close to where I live.

Taylor
I woke up to my cell phone going off as it received a text message at 6:30 Monday morning. Groggily I looked to see it was from Jane in my Chemistry class and wondered what she could possibly want when I would be seeing her in a few hours. Annoyed, I stuffed the phone beneath the pillows to stifle the sound.
Ashley rose from the bed across from me and asked if she could turn my TV on to watch the news since mine was the only one that worked in the whole apartment. Frustrated and forced from my sleep I sat up and decided to look at the text that couldn’t seem to wait as the TV roared in the background.
“Hey Taylor, did you have to be evacuated?” I read it again as my heart began to race knowing she wouldn’t have asked unless she had to and something was wrong. Jane’s text and the morning news revealed that situations hadn’t gotten any better over night. As realization and panic set in, I decided it would be best if I gathered my things and left before having to deal with the chaos that would ensue had I actually been forced to evacuate. My eyes darted across the room, scanning my belongings as I surveyed which things were deemed more valuable to take and which could be left behind.
I paused to think if there was the slightest chance I was overreacting. I shook it off as recalling just the night before how I laughed at my roommates as they said they would pack a bag just in case. Assuredly I told them they had nothing to worry about; it would never get that close. Now six and a half hours later, it had gotten that close, close enough. I decided that I would rather look like a fool and take my things and leave now, than stick around and find out what happened.
My other two roommates came into the room and we stood in a circle and prayed. Prayed for the families that were already affected by the fires. Prayed for the families that would be affected. Prayed that the Lord would make the fires cease and not cause any more damage, while trusting His will in this all. We released our hands and our arms dropped to our sides. We immediately scattered and gathered our things.
As I began to calmly but hurriedly gather my things.

Janna
The day that I had to evacuate I remember clearly. It as a windy Sunday afternoon,as windy as I had ever seen and I was just finishing up giving my last riding lesson of the day. After my last lesson me and my friend Audrey decided to go to Costco and have some of their awesome pizza and frozen yogurt. While we ate, we discussed how the anniversary of the cedar fires was coming up soon and how much it would suck if we ever had another fire…ironic no? Anyways when we came back, I noticed that it smelled faintly of smoke and as I looked off into the distance, I noticed a huge black cloud coming our way. Naturally we started freaking out, calling barn friends and asking where the fire was. The story that we were given was that there was a fire outside the skirts of Ramona and that it definitely wouldn’t reach Poway, so we had nothing to worry about. I didn’t believe it however because that’s what they said about the last fire and it ended up at our back door step. So I called my mom and told her that we might have to evacuate and she told me that it didn’t matter anyways because I was going back to school. I was heartbroken, I couldn’t believe my mom was making me go back to school and leave my horse when there was a huge fire going on. So I made the necessary phone calls and ensured a person that my horse would trailer with if they had to evacuate. My next task was to unload my tack shed and take all of my most valuable tack with me. Now in my tack shed I have about $5000 worth of tack and to loose it would set me back quite a bit, so naturally I took all of it. When I got home I put my tack in the garage and made my mom promise that if they had to evacuate that she would put my stuff back in the truck and not leave it in the garage. Then I said my goodbyes and my dad drove me back to school. It was smoky and gross on the campus and when I got to my room I immediately turned on the news and watched about the fire. I was shocked to find out that the fire had already burned down ½ of Ramona and was headed to Poway. I called my mom and she told me not to worry about it….yea right. So I stayed up till about 2 in the morning watching the news until I fell asleep. I was woken up by my phone ringing, it was my friend Lindsay and she told me that they were now evacuating the barns because of the fire. I told her thank you and went to wake up my roommate when I saw on the news that there was another fire near San Marcos. We woke up all of our roommates an went to ask our RA’s if there was going to be an evacuation of the dorms, they told us not to worry about it and we decided to leave anyways. So we packed up all our stuff and headed over to my roommates house in Oceanside. As we drove away we could see flames on top of the mountain next to our school. We spent the night at my roommate’s house and in the morning everyone left the house except me and my roommate’s family. It was very awkward. My parents evacuated and were now in Del Mar and they refused to come get me saying that would be safer there than at Del mar with them. I got several phone calls that day asking if I was ok and if I needed anything to which I replied “yea I need a ride” but no one came and got me. Later on in the day my mom called me and told me that the fire was on the mountain near our house and that our house was probably a goner, so I started crying and begging for her to come and get me, but again she refused. I felt so useless I just couldn’t take it. My roommates family was very nice to me and comforted me, but I wanted comfort from my family, not people I barley knew although the gesture was greatly appreciated, I still wanted my family.
Then the next day my dad finally agreed to come and get me and brought m my car that I had just recently gotten. I was a little mad to see that a taillight had been broken but my dad claimed that someone ran into him not the other way around….riiiight. Anyways we got to the hotel and stayed there for 2 days surviving off of horrid McDonald’s food. I personally am a health nut so it was hard to force the stuff down. Finally we got word that our house actually didn’t burn down and that it was ok for us to go ahead and come back, which we quickly did. It turns out that the tack I put in the garage was left there and not taken with as I had planned, so I reprimanded my mom for that. Parts of our front yard were burned and almost all of our backyard was burned, but at least our house was ok. My horse came home safe and sound and now everything is ok. I feel bad for our neighbors whose houses were burned, and I am thankful that they are safe.

Grant
Almost the whole day I was at my aunts house in Pacific Beach. I had heard of the fires and thought really nothing of it. I noticed lots of ash in the air and when i went to pick my cousin up from one of his friends house that night at around 8 P.M. and there was tons of smoke in the air around the community. But when I came back to my dorm, there was no smoke or ash in the air and none of my roommates knew anything about the fires. For some of the night I kept my eye on the news and what the fires were doing. The winds picked up tremendously and I had a feeling the worse was yet to come. My roommates and I were all getting ready for bed when all the sudden someone started pounding on our door. I thought that someone was being attacked in the hallway, but when I opened the door it was our neighbor from across the way. She simply uttered, "The fire is coming over the hill, we might be evacuated."
Instantly I felt compelled to go and look at the hills, and it was all too surreal. The sky was all black, with hills engulfed with huge orange flames and plumes of smoke. I went back into our apartment and started to gather my important documents, and items that I knew could not be replaced. Than I went where everyone else was, outside just watching the fire. The fire eventually took a turn away from the dorms and across the other side of the hills. I kept my eye on the news well into the morning, while all my other roommates slept. We waited and waited to see what was going on. The fires kept raging out of control. Finally we decided to leave because we did not have school for the rest of the week. We gathered all of the stuff and set off. When we walked outside the wind was howling and the sky was completely orange and hazy. We finally got on to the freeway to find the I-5 completely packed with cars and barely moving. When we finally made it home we found out the I-5 was closed not too long after we had left. We waited out the fire storm from the safety of our hometown.

Michael
The wildfires in southern California were horrific things, and they affected many people in many different ways. Although they affected many, because I live in Murrieta, the fires didn’t directly affect me. The wild fire which affected me was the Poomacha fire.
I had woken up at six that Monday morning after my sister had gone into my room. She came in and told me that school was going to be cancelled, due to the severity of the fires. Once I was able to gather my thoughts together, I turned on my radio to listen to the news out of San Diego. One of the first things that they mentioned was how many fires had started over night all over the San Diego County. A few minutes later my dad called to tell me to move our cars onto the street, so just in case, no palm leaves would fall on them. When I went outside it was quite strange. Even though there were many fires, the sky at my house was perfectly clear and the smell of smoke was quite minimal; though, there was ash everywhere. Due to the fact that my dad was at work, I was worried if he was going to get stuck at Camp Pendleton.
I was able to go back to sleep for a while longer, when I was awaken by my mom talking to an elderly family friend who was going to have to be evacuated. Because the freeways were quickly closing my dad was the only one who was going to be able to pick her up. I was concerned for the two hours it took them to get home, but was then relieve once they finally arrived. Due to the fact that my family and I were not threatened by the fires, we had no reason to do any sort of packing. Although the thought was constantly in our minds.

Katlyn
I think it was Sunday night when the fires started happening everywhere, but I didn’t really know where they were or where they were heading. I woke up early Monday morning so I could get some work done in the library before class. I guess I should have slept in that day. On my way to school I passed a city named Rainbow, which was about a half hour from my house and my school. There was a fire right off of the exit which was right by my friend’s house. It was early so I didn’t call until a little later when I realized how serious it may have been, and sure enough she did evacuate to her dad’s house in Temecula. It was about 7:15 am and at this time I would normally be in Temecula about fifteen minutes away from my house, but since I left early I was about five minutes away from the school when Maria called me telling me that school was closed because of the fire. There was a lot of smoke down there but I did not see any flames, but since I was down there I decided that I would go to Oceanside and go shopping at this store I really like but never get the chance to go to. I got to Oceanside and the store did not open for another two hours so I thought I would kill some time at the beach. I was only at the beach for ten minutes when one of my co-workers called me and told me that she was stuck in San Diego because of the fires and the I-15 was closed. A little later I got another phone call from a friend telling me that not only was the 15 freeway closed but so was the 78 and the 76. I had no idea how was going to get home besides to take the 5 freeway to the 74 (also known as the Ortega Highway) and I had never driven the Ortega before so I was a little scared because it is very windy. I eventually got home and two hours later my mom called me and told me that the Ortega was closed because a fire just hit it. I had just made it.A few days later I was on my way to Temecula, when I went outside my house and saw a fire on the mountain right across the street. That got my heart racing a little bit because I could actually see flames and it became more real to me. I knew the fire was not going to reach my house but I did go home and get my camera to take pictures to show my mom.
Chris
The wildfire that happened in October was the first disaster to have an affect on me directly. Of course, disasters in the past have always been on t.v. and I can see the destruction and devestation that it caused but it was always from a safe view. With the fires happening just miles away I was able to see first hand what this force could do. I evacuated from my dorm the day that school was cancelled and I was forced to go back to home. On my way up I was forced to take several detours and it was quite a hassel, but at least I was going somewhere. I never really understood how bad it actually was until I had to run an errond for my work about a week after returning to San Marcos. I had to deliver a package to a person living in Rancho Bernardo and had I not accidently taken a wrong turn I would have never seen what I did. Absolute destruction. Everything was burned. Houses, tree, property, everything. I could not believe that nature could destroy itself to this degree. It realy opened my eyes and showed me how lucky I was and how unfortunate those peole who lost there houses were.
Two days after driving through Rancho Bernardo I took a few of my friends to see what I had seen. After they had taken it in we went to the local fire department there and gave them our names and phone numbers telling them that we would like to volunteer to help out in anyway that we could. This fire diaster has made me appreciate the things that I have and to realize that nothing is ever for certain or safe.

Marisella
It was fire “deja-vu.” This is how it happened to me; like the fire 4 years ago was coming home from the desert, except this time my parents weren’t with me. I get a call from my mom and my boyfriend’s, Alex, mom. They said that there are two fires and one of them, the Witch Creek Fire, was in Santa Ysabel, which is where we pass through to get to my house in Ramona and Alex’s house in Poway. I didn’t mind having to take a different route, even thought it took longer. I also didn’t think the fires was that big and that they will be contained fast; however, once we got on the 15 freeway, which was part of our detour, we couldn’t see anything because the ash was so thick. Just then I realized it was bigger than I thought. This fire “deja-vu” was way more intense than 4 years ago. Alex and I went to his house so we could unpack from the trip. I called my dad and he told me to get home just in case we needed to evacuate. It was pretty far from my house but fires move fast and the winds made them more dangerous. So I went home and Alex cam with. My mom made everyone dinner and we just sat around watching the new. Later that night I took Alex home and then just sat around at my house. Many people called to offer help but we didn’t need it, but as the night continued my family and I started to get worried. So I called some friends and Alex and they came up to my house just incase we needed to evacuate so they could help us get all our vehicles out. We ended up having to evacuate and the highway 67 was top and go all the way down to Poway. I got stuck driving our big truck with our toy hauler, which didn’t have its own set of brakes, which was a pain in the butt, but I made it down okay. MY parents then went to my grandparent’s house and I went to stay at Alex’s house. I barely got sleep and we kept waking up throughout the night. It was about 4 in the morning and Alex went out to check his house. It was very windy and he has many trees around his house and trees have fallen on his house before, so he was worried. After checking his house he found a huge branch that fell into his dog’s yard. His mom started getting scared so we packed up and left to my grandparent’s house which was more in the center of Poway. We also drove around Poway helping our friends pack and went back to his house to water everything down. We found the canopy in his pool because the wind blew it in there. Then everyone got evacuated from Poway, so we took our boat and toy hauler to my mom’s work and headed to Campland on the Bay, and Alex and his mom went to her office in downtown. We were at Campland all week. Eventually everyone was allowed back into their homes except Ramona because there was no water. After some work we were finally aloud back in but the water wasn’t safe to drink. Finally, we have save water and everything is back to normal.
After a night of work, homework, and various friendly conversations, I was ready to head up to bed. It was about two in the morning and the street was relatively quiet outside. After a short time of contemplation in bed, I seemed to hear a bounty of pattering feet from the apartment above me. I was rather frustrated with lousy students trying to throw a party on a Sunday night at such a late hour. I had never really considered putting in a noise complaint before, but this disturbance had continued for about a half hour.
As I was starting to get some shut-eye, I heard persistent knocking on my door. I was summoned in only a pair of shorts to the door by the two girls across the hall who wanted to inform my house of the encroaching fire. I was surprised, in all honesty, that something this dangerous could happen. I awoke my roommates and informed them of our situation. We proceeded to pack up a small bag each of clothes. There was a large chance we would be evacuated in the night. We decided to watch some TV and mess around; no one was extremely serious about the matter.
I went outside to check on the situation and it had been made apparent that the Coronado Hills fire near us had been contained and had in fact slightly changed direction. The immediate danger of the fire had only lasted about two days, luckily enough. The cops had rolled around and announced that school would be cancelled for the next few days. We proceeded to stay up all night and mess around. The rest of the week consisted of sleeping in and staying up terribly late, every night.
I continued to work my five days a week. In-n-out was rather busy Monday night, but as the week progressed, business slowed down. The fires left ashes all over my home and truck. My lungs suffered the consequences too. I had suffered from a dry, soar, and scratchy throat for several days, but those sorts of things occur from time to time in nature. Overall I was very fortunate to be hardly threatened or damaged by the firestorm. I feel terrible for those who were extremely affected, though. No one really deserves to lose everything due to the stupidity of a highway smoker.

Tim
I spent the majority of Sunday on the couch, paying close attention to game seven of the American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians. Little did I know, that eight hours later I would be awakened by a reverse-911 call to evacuate my house.
The game went on, and throughout the night it would get preempted by coverage of a wildfire burning east of Ramona... The Witch Creek Fire; some 30 miles away from my house. While I felt slightly threatened by the potential that the hurricane-force winds held, I was frankly more concerned with the baseball game. The breaking news interruptions became a nuisance by the 7th inning. It really isn't the same watching the game in a little square in the upper right quadrant of the screen with the whiny voice of a newscaster overwhelming the sound waves. Little did I know, I would be listening to that same whiny voice nearly non-stop for the next 48 hours.
The game soon ended; the Red Sox had won, but by this time, the winds had heavily picked up. Trash cans were gracefully gliding down the street, car alarms were going off, and for sale signs that graced the front yards of the houses on my street were beginning to uproot. I assured myself that the fires were still well east of my house, but with such strong winds blowing westward out to sea, my concern rose, as I continued to watch the news coverage of the uncontrollable and unpredictable wind driven fire.
I guess it is the journalist in me, but I have always had a knack for knowing, gathering, and sharing information. I was glued to CNN for two weeks following the September 11th terrorist attacks; and likewise following Hurricane Katrina.
I watched the fire coverage until 1:00am that night, somewhat shaken by the mandatory evacuations of the city of Ramona. The winds continued through the night. I heard the malicious noises of mother nature banging and whistling . I though to myself about how much I love abnormal weather; closed my eyes and dozed off.
I awoke to a phone call at 5:06 a.m. the next morning. I glanced at the caller ID, hoping it wasn't a family emergency. The caller ID read: 1-858-211-2111. The recorded voice said that our residence was threatened by fire, and that it would be recommended that we evacuate as soon as possible. It took a second after hanging up the phone to realize what was going on. THE FIRE.
I immediately jumped toward the window to get a bearing on where the fire was located. It was dark. I saw nothing. Nothing but wind... and lots of it. My next reaction was to grab the remote and turn on the news.
RANCHO BERNARDO? The fire had traveled around 20 miles in a matter of hours? I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, and booted up my computer to check google maps. For two hours, I tracked the locations, down to the street, of places being reported on the news, and plotted them on a map I had printed out of northern San Diego County.
When the sun came up, I took a walk around the block, to get an Idea of where the smoke was coming from. From a plateau in my neighborhood, I could faintly see flames coming over the top of a ridge. On the walk back to the house, I stopped to chat with some of the neighbors who were frantically packing up the trunks of their cars. When I told them I wasn't going anywhere yet, one of them hit me in the arm and said, "Dude, pack up your s--t, we gotta get out of here." I kept my cool. I wasn't going anywhere.
I later set out into town to get a closer view on the scope of the fire, and discovered that the there was very few people out and about. Schools were closed throughout the county, and a large number of businesses had closed. I returned home with some sunflower seeds and soda; ready for a day of doing nothing but watching fire coverage on the news.
The fire came closer and closer throughout the day, and after awhile, I couldn't stand sitting in the house anymore. As the online editor for the school newspaper I, along with the editor-in-chief, decided on the fly that we should integrate a slideshow into the front page of the website. I set out to take pictures.
I entered San Elijo Hills, a sprawling manufactured city in the hills above the university. The neighborhood was under a mandatory evacuations at the time, and after about two minutes of taking pictures of the smoke that was billowing from the nearby hills, I was approached by a police officer, who escorted me out of the development.
When I returned home, I found out I received yet another reverse-911 call. It was going to be a long night. I decided that I was going to stay put at the house, and only leave if I was directly affected by the fire. That decision turned into an all night affair. I was awake until 4:00 a.m. watching the news, checking maps, listening to the radio, and hoping the flames wouldn't come any closer.
I awoke around 11:00 a.m. to find that the fires, though having ripped through the wealthiest neighborhood in the nation, had primarily stayed put. I set out to attempt to cover governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger's press conference. Unfortunately, I ran into some traffic going south on interstate 5, and diverted my route to check out the evacuation effort at Qualcomm stadium.
Tuesday came and went in a flash, and the fire, though still raging, had calmed down and was no longer threatening our house.
Over the next few days, I surveyed some of the burn areas, and managed to get an up close and personal look at the horno fire burning at the Camp Pendalton military base.

Kirsten
It was Sunday night, the night of the Malibu and Pertrero fire. My sister was over for her weekend visit. She said she wasn’t going to come that day because she said, “It was scary outside.” The Santa Ana winds were so strong that the trees on the side of my house were bending so far back that I could see and here them knocking at my window. It was so dark and eerie outside as if one big murky cloud covered the entire sky. The scent of burning paper throughout the air had made its way inside the house and jus seemed as if it were following you. There was so much ash flying in the air that it was making its way into the house and the cars even with all the windows and doors closed. My mom came into my room and told my sister that she should sleep here tonight because she had a bad feeling about the fire. My sister literally laughed a little and told my mom to relax, that the fire was miles and miles away and that its not like she lived far from here anyways. So my sister left and I got my things ready for school the next day because as far as I knew, everybody else had school off except me. I went to sleep around twelve only to wake up at 2AM because my phone was ringing, my friend from San Marcos was calling to tell me that at that moment she was packing her things because she was being evacuated. I turned on my t.v. to the watch the news and find that the 3 fires that were going on about 2 hours ago had just about doubled and that the Witch fire was the fire closest to me. Then all of a sudden I get all these text messages from people asking if I was alright and safe. A couple of hours go by and my mom tells me to start packing my things, she had been up the whole night watching the news and had already begun to pack up the house. She sent my dad off to go help my brother and sister evacuate from the fires behind their condo in 4s Ranch. If you took a back road from their condo to our house, it would normally take you about five minutes. It took them more than two hours to get back because everybody else in 4s and Rancho Bernardo were trying to leave their home too. I had to go get gas so that I was ready for a drive if we had to leave and I felt like I was in a movie where there was some big crises and everyone was going crazy about what to do. I walked out of my house and everybody had their cars in their driveways with the trunk open and being loaded up with paper work, photos, and clothes. The streets were crowded with debre and backed up with cars all trying to get gas as well or take out cash from the bank. I got back home an finished putting my things into my car and waited for my brother, sister, and dad to get back. Then my mom calls me upstairs to play the message on the answer machine telling us to prepare for a evacuation. My siblings and dad finally got the house and all we did from there on was sit in front of the t.v. watching the news. By around 11:00 PM from our backyard we could see the blaze of the Santa Fe fire and were waiting to see if it was going to jump the mountain in our direction or if the RB fire was going to catch on to Black Mountain and work its way right to our house. Everybody was tired from being up for so long because of all the commotion and so we agreed that we would take turns staying awake in case something happened. I was the one awake when I heard sirens from my backyard and then my sister woke up to check it out with me. But everything seemed the same. Then we got another call telling specific locations that this was a mandatory evacuation. From our backyard we could hear and see the truck with bright lights, a siren, and a man on a loudspeaker-telling people to leave. Overall, we decided not to leave our house just then, that we would wait it out a little bit longer. For three days we all stayed inside our house doing nothing but eat, sleep, and watch the news. It was hard to see the footage of all the houses being burned to the ground and difficult to understand how one house could be totally destroyed and the one next to it, hardly touched. The amount of fires there were, house burned, and people evacuated seemed so surreal. It was strange watching all of it happen and be apart of it at the same time.

Jennifer
These fires were an alarm for all of us in Southern California. The Santa Ana wind took its toll for the worst when just a spark started a wildfire. The winds were at hurricane speed, up to 80 MPH, which carried embers from fire to other target areas. One ember could be carried a mile away into brush, a house, or just happen to hit that dead grass on a hill or in a field.
I got a call Monday morning at 2:30 am from my cousin, informing me that there was a fire behind CSU San Marcos. This news frightened me so I went to tell all of my roommates in my dorm about the terrible news I had just heard. All were asleep, except one who was up late finishing an essay at the last minute (which turned out to be pointless because we had no school the following week.) We all packed out bags, trying to grab everything of importance. I carried one suitcase consisting of my new jacket, boots, my nice jeans, important papers, my lap top, some underwear, and a few shirts. Obviously a college student’s biggest priority is anything that cost money. In my purse I threw in my wallet, cell phone, camera, keys and jewelry. We were packed within 20 minutes, still trying to wake up from our slumber, and packed our cars. We waited another 30 minutes for our last roommate to finish packing.
After all was packed, we drove to our cousin’s apartment off of Nordahl, where we found no parking spot; others had gone to the same place for escape. Once parked, we walked to my cousins apartment carrying our blankets, pillows, and laptops. Entering the apartment, we noticed there were many other people there; my cousin, his ex-girlfriend, his roommates, his roommate’s girlfriend (and her dog), and a few friends. I brought an additional 4 girls.
We made our sleeping arrangements on the floor of his living room, watching the news in aw. Everyone was asleep by 4:30 am; I could not sleep on the other hand. I could hear the dog whimper, a few people whispering, the newscasters reporting the fire as it got worse. I opened my laptop and began to research information on our school. Was I really going to have to go to class in a few hours? I looked at NBC.com under school closures; CSU San Marcos was not listed. I was rather disappointed; not that I wanted the school to burn down, but with all of this excitement how could I concentrate in class? So I continued my sleeplessness on Myspace and Facebook to kill some time.
It was now 5:30 and I still couldn’t sleep. More people came into the apartment, carrying Jack in the Box, they laughed at the sight of 5 girls cuddled up on the hard living room floor, most of them dead asleep. When they continued into a bedroom, shutting the door, I decided to check information on our school again. I went on to NBC.com, I looked under school closures, and scrolled down. CSU San Marcos was closed for the day! Yes! Finally I could sleep, knowing I didn’t have to wake up anytime soon, I planned on sleeping in. Yet, at 7:00 am everyone was awake; I got 1 ½ hours of sleep! Exhausted but hungry, we made a big breakfast.
We decided to go back to the dorms, shower, clean up, and maybe unpack. One girl went home, and 2 others were thinking it wasn’t a bad idea. By 5:00 on Tuesday I was all alone in the dorm. I left to go home to Ventura County on Thursday night. We all returned to the dorms Sunday night, to see it in place and see each other.

Chelsea
When the fires sparked I was in San Diego. I was on the computer checking my e-mail on Yahoo!. In the news section of Yahoo! A headline that read “Latest news on Malibu Fires” caught my eye. I read the article and said to myself “I’m glad those fires are nowhere around me.” I was staying in San Diego with my boyfriend. His mother had called him panicked. She wanted him down in the Imperial Valley where he would be safe. As soon as he ended the conversation with his mother, my mother calls, panicked as well. She was asking me if I was anywhere near the fires, since the news was covering a fire in Rancho Bernardo and Escondido. I relieved my mother of her worries and said I was fine.
After the weekend my plans were to return back to San Marcos on Monday morning in time for my classes. Well that plan was not executed. I receive a phone call from one of my roommates at around six o’clock in the morning. She was asking me if I was planning to go back to San Marcos. I had told her that I was planning to in a couple of hours and asked her why she had called me so early in the morning. She warned me not to return. She explained to me that Prominence Apartments (some apartments on the other side of the campus) and two blocks east of the University Village Apartments were on mandatory evacuation. She also offered to bring me with her to her home in Murieta. I denied her offer, stayed in San Diego and told her to be careful and stay safe.
At that moment, I woke up to walk outside and then I realized how bad the situation really was. To the slight right of me, miles away, I can see the black smoke of a fire in Tecate, Mexico. Then to my left, I could see the smoke rising from the north county area fires.
At this time I checked the CSUSM website to see if there was any news on campus. Well enough there was a red alert area that announced that the campus was closed and that classes were cancelled for Monday and Tuesday. So as the day continued all I saw on the television was fires, Santa Ana winds, more fires, home being burned to a crisp, firefighters, and evacuations. I was starting to get nervous because these fires were spreading fast and getting wilder.
My boyfriend and I decided that we were not safe in San Diego. We left San Diego at around 7 PM and headed to the Imperial Valley (where we both live) on the Interstate 8. Right before we got into the mountains on the I-8, we saw about ten miles of semi-trucks parked along the road because they were not allowed to drive because of the strong winds. The winds were so strong that the car was like being slapped around by the wind.
Once we got home, we were relieved that we made it home safely and our families were happy to see us out of danger. I knew that I was safe in the Valley because the only way that the fire could have reached was to get through the mountains.
On Wednesday, I was looking towards the mountains at the sunset and saw smoke creeping over the mountains. My family and I kept watching the news, on Wednesday or Thursday the Santa Ana winds had calmed down. The wind is what kept the fires spreading, so when the winds were calmed it was easier for the firefighters to be able to contain the fires. Since the fires were not directly affecting me I stopped watching the news because I just kept seeing the same thing over and over again on every news channel.
On Friday I found out that one of my friends had to be evacuated and lost her house to a fire. She had just moved to San Bernardino with her cousin to attend Cal State University San Bernardino. She said that one day she just saw an ominous glow over the hilltop. The next thing she knew she had to pack everything up and evacuate immediately. The fire had attacked her house and burnt it down to a smoldering pile of ash. She had just moved in about a month ago. Now she is back in the Valley safely.
When I came back into San Diego on late Saturday night/early Sunday morning I saw a huge cloud of smoke throughout the entire city. The fires did affect many people, acres of land, the quality of our air and had over $1 billion damage alone in San Diego County. I am thankful enough that I was indirectly affected by the fire. Now I am safely back in my dorm in San Marcos.

THE AFTERMATH
Section 01
Ayron
The fire didn't really have an affect on me. The entire week that class was canceled, I made a new friend that I hung out with literally all week. Some of my friends did evacuate from the dorm because that was what they felt was in their best interest. My family lives in Orange County, where they were not affected by the fires. There were dozens of evacuation sights setup throughout San Diego County for the thousands of people displaced by the fires, and even for their animals such as dogs, cats, and houses. Emergency blood drives were setup to stock the nearly empty blood banks. Firefighters from all over southern California were helping put out fires even from Los Angeles. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency and President George Walker Bush also declared a state of Disaster in southern California, which enabled us to receive help from federal resources such as F.E.M.A. (Federal Emergency Management Association) and National Guard aid for putting out the fires. A week after the fires, my life has gone completely back to normal. I don't know of anything that has changed permanently

Stephanie
The wild fires were unexpected and affected many peoples’ lives. I was fortunate to not have had anything burned down and nobody that I know lost anything due to the fires. My apartment is still standing, my friends and family are safe, and school is back in session. I feel so bad for the people who lost loved ones, their homes, and lots of memories. Those fires took away a lot from some families that can never be replaced. Not having school for a week seemed great at first, but we suffer for it now. I now have a lot of work to catch up on. My work was closed for that week too, but luckily I work for the San Marcos Unified School District so I still get paid. Some people I know missed work and they don’t get paid at all. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to lose a home, lose a job, then have to try to put your life back together after losing so much. The one thing that affected me most from the fires was the smoke. I ended up getting really sick. I had to stay indoors for that whole week to avoid the smoke. These fires affected out communities because they burned a lot of beautiful land and real estate. From Malibu to San Diego people have been affected by these fires. My life seems to be going back to normal this week, I just have a lot of homework to do.

Farhea
The Witch Creek fire cast such a deadly spell on San Diego County that even one week later some of its reminiscence still flare among us. Destroyed homes lay crumbled and burned to a crisp where they once magnificently stood. Possessions lay in heaps of ash completely unidentifiable. Entire streets have burned down, causing them to look like ghost towns with only the ruins of the houses that once stood there in either an eerie skeletal form or not there at all. There are also streets where only a couple of scattered houses burned, making it seem like a smile with a few lost teeth. Thankfully this was not the scene for my family or any family friends; even the San Marcos community did not lose any houses. Our region and county however were immediately declared as in a state of emergency. The president, governor, lieutenant governor, a few house representatives and senators even came to visit the area and expressed they’re views on the fire. Although it seems like this fire has bought nothing but despair, there is one thing that it did bring to Southern California, it showed us how caring and giving we really can be in moments of crisis and peril, just as many had donated to Hurricane Katrina, and her victims, many gave to the victims of the various fires that had been spreading in Southern California. People donated so many things it was quite outstanding to be a volunteer at an evacuation center, we received items from sofas to beds to diapers and even pet food. One thing that these disasters teach us is how important it is to be there for each other, and exactly how much your family and friends really mean to you.

Marie
After the Witch Fire
After the fires I grew as a person. I learned that things and costly positions do not matter when an event such as the fire in San Marcos. What does matter is that we come together as a community, a state, a city and even dorm room mates. I saw all of those things happen during the after math of all twenty fires. Many people lent out their homes and hearts to help people in need. This experience is one that will leave a scare but this scare brought everyone closer. The generosity was enormous. Being able to encounter this experience has made me a grateful for my life and all the love I receive.
The most shocking part for me was the drive back home to San Marcos. As I came back from my hometown I drove by land that was now black because of the fires. As I drove through this freeway I felt sad and upset by this sight. Again I was thankful for my life and love. The sight was upsetting because the land was once green and alive but now black and dead. The land no longer had that full of life sight and that was heartbreaking. I am sure that every person that drove by or even saw the sight would be upset by it.
One must not only look at the negative pert of the fire. The positive part is now it is burned it give room for new life. This means simply a new beginning. My heart goes out to the people who lost their home. All I can say is stay positive.
Kenny
Now that the danger from the recent firestorm has passed we all have had a chance to stop and reflect on what we have seen and endured. When I look at how the fires have affected me and the people close to me I only see a lot of stress, fear, and frustration. I know a few people who have lost their home, but no one really close to me. Since all of Valley Center was under evacuation, my friends were scattered throughout San Diego County. When I called them many did not know if Valley Center was safe, on fire, or the status of their homes. All were stressed out after having to leave their home and frustrated at the lack of coverage of the fires affecting our area. In the end Valley Center was generally safe, there was a fire that sprang up but did not cause any damage. The Palomar came within 200 yards of my friend Trevor’s house but the firemen made a stand there and stopped it.
One lasting change to our community is that there is a huge base camp for firefighters from San Diego, Oceanside, Oregon and from everywhere else. The scene is quite amazing, so many people putting their lives on the line to save our homes. Yet because of this, the traffic out of Valley Center is pretty bad sometimes. A small price to pay for their protection. I think everyone now realizes that the first fire was not just a one time thing, and that we all need to be prepared no matter what. Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, but fires obviously do.
I work for a company that replaces windows. On the Friday of the fires I went to a job in Rancho Bernardo where the fires wreaked havoc. The fire came within 30 feet of the house I was working at. At the end of the day we drove through the most affected part of RB. The neighborhoods were devastated. The destruction was random; some houses were saved while their neighbors were burnt to the ground. I was surprised that people were already cleaning up the rubble and remains of their houses. I was inspired by this. I realized there are worst things that could happen than simply losing something that could be rebuilt.

Alex
As far as I know, the fires are under control, but there are still "hot spots". Personally, I feel bad for those who have lost, but my family and myself are fine and back to the normal routine. My house was not damaged, my family didn't have to pack up and hang out at Qualcomm, nothing changed dramatically. One week later, the only differences are my view of natural disasters and how destructive they can be in a very small amount of time. My truck will have ash on my seats and all over the inside forever, it will take several washings and vacuumings to clean it. My neighborhood still looks a bit dirty and dark because of all the ash and where it accumilates. Family friends are in a predicament because they need to decide if they will rebuild their home or sell the land. This "firestorm" messed up many lives in what seemed like and instant and my condolences go out to them. I don't think it's right how our media sensationalizes the fires and continues to talk about it and report on it for weeks. They take advantage of a terrible situation, but that is just my opinion.

Amy
The biggest affect the fires had on me was the way it trapped me in my house. I felt so restless by the end of the week, and the air quality was so bad that it would be genuinely crazy to be outdoors for any length of time. In Temecula, the smoke seemed to settle in the valley and accumulate toward the southern end of town, exactly where I live. The pool in our home’s backyard became dark and murky like a lake, and the endless winds uprooted some of our trees and broke some pottery my mother and I made.
Since school was canceled, it would seem like this little surprise vacation we had would be fun and enjoyable. Boredom sets in quick in situations like this, and things like going to class seem quite appealing when you cannot leave your house. The only thoughts I had during the whole week were flying to my friends whom I could not contact because the authorities told the public to limit mobile use. A friend of mine from Ramona tried to call me several times, but when I would answer, the line would be air on the other end.
No permanent changes really happened to me, except for the loss of a few trees around our yard. Emotionally, however, I learned to appreciate and respect the kind of power nature has over even the most organized effort to control the situation.
Natalie
Materialistically, the wildfires hardly had an effect in my life. I did not lose a house, nor did any of my friends. The only ways in which the fires affected me were that: 1. I became sick due to all the ash in the air, and 2. My room became messy because I had packed my essentials in case of an evacuation. The whole week Cal State San Marcos was closed, I had stayed cooped up in my house, only seeing the outside world through my television. My mother and father were the only ones that went out, but that was during the second half of the week, when the firefighters began to gain control over the fires. My mother especially, who cleans houses for a living, was who was most affected by the fires. She had days worth of houses canceled, and that was a lot of money lost due to the fact that many of those houses were in Rancho Bernardo, Escondido, and Del Mar. However, my mother was not interested in the money. She is friends with many of her clients, and became very concerned for their safety.
Compared to the 2003 fires, these fires hit close to home for Southern California. I am glad that California has learned from the fires four years ago, but I hope that we can improve. What I mean by that is that we, as Californians, have to learn the value of water. We go to the beach in the year-round beautiful weather without fully realizing/caring that we are in constant drought. Conservation of water and further support for our firefighters and policemen could further improve response time in another emergency.

SECTION 06
Lavinna
“Are the fires really over?” That was the last thing I thought of before I started school. I became glad that almost all the fires have ended. When I think something so horrific, I know that I and many others have been seriously affected from the fires. My personal life has been impacted so much causing me to struggle even more and go through many hardships in life. For one thing, my family is okay, but my mom has been affected by the fires. The poor air pollution caused her to become very sick and weak. Somehow the ashes and the smoke from the fires have reached her lungs causing her to wheeze and having trouble breathing. I’ve been taking care of her and I make sure that my family is okay. I know many others have lost their homes, valuable things, and maybe loved ones, so my sympathy remains with those people. In my church, my family and I have been taught to be alert and to become prepared when something like this happens. The people in our congregation have encouraged one another and help each other out on our problems from the fires. After one week, my world has remained stressful, fearful, and hopeful. I have fear that if something like this happens, I cannot imagine what else can happen. I try my best not to think about it, but it is always on the back of my mind. Sometimes I get stressed because of everything that is going on from the fires and in my life. I feel that I have changed from the impact. I hope that everyone is okay and handling their problems well. The memory of the fires is permanent at this point and the fear and shock I went through still remains in me.
Nikki
The Fire Still BurnsLiving in Long Beach my family fortunately wasn’t affected by this surreal wildfire. When it all began I wasn’t sure if I should tell my parents that the fire was less than three miles away from the dorms, knowing my mother, I would expect her to worry for the rest of the night. While the situation calmed down the next day, I finally broke the news to her and her voice reached a different level of fear. She wanted me home that instant, but the winds were too strong, for my Toyota Corolla (1994). Until I reached home, Wednesday night, my full attention was drawn to my roommate Katelyn. Her home town, Fallbrook, became solid memories once the flames began to burn. I felt like I was in a painful dream because bad things simply don’t happen to good people. That night she gathered together with her ten other, newly homeless, friends, it was the hardest scene to watch. I didn’t know what to say or do. Nothing I offered could possibly make their situation disappear. As the fire decreased into its own damage, lives are still distraught, hundreds of families are homeless, but attitudes are rising, at least from Katelyn’s perspective. Her tears were drying and she realized life has to go on. While staying in Long Beach I managed to dodge the storm in general and material wise I was content. However my mind was still very much set on Katelyn and everyone else who was left in the smoky brown air. I felt guilty for having a bed big enough for only one person. I couldn’t get over the image of losing your home. Where will college students go when they are craving family time, in their own house? What is their definition of home? Yes my body was now safe from the heat, but my heart was burning along with the others.
Anthony
Since I live in both Ramona and Rancho Bernardo, I was greatly changed by the fires. For one, I had to evacuate for about three days from my home in Rancho Bernardo, where my mom lives. This was rough because there were seven of us that lived in my Uncle Rick’s living room for three days and two nights. On Wednesday I went back up to my dad’s house where we were out of water and continued to be until late Saturday night. We were without running water for a little over four days, which doesn’t seem like a bad until you have actually lived it. I never knew how much of an impact and convenience water would have on me until it was gone. Like the saying goes, “you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone,” you really don’t. We were doing many things differently, from cooking to going to the bathroom, even to washing up. Since Ramona was still closed off, my family and I were one of the few families that were still in town. It was eerie driving around with no one on the road, especially at night. Although running out of water is bad, it still isn’t comparable to those that lost their homes. I knew many people that I went to high school with that lost their homes, a majority of them which I knew personally. I just can’t believe how bad it must be to have your home destroyed by a fire, completely burned to a single pile of rubble. It must be very hard and I would take any hardship of a convenience in my home in order to save any of those houses.

Taylor
To say that the effects of the fires in Southern California are minimal and already comprehensible is an understatement. The effects are catastrophic and will be felt by millions all across Southern California and the nation for years to come. Though to some the fires rolled into their lives just as quickly as they rolled out, to most the firestorm will remain an ever lingering moment in their lives that will burn in their memories for years to come.
I finally returned to San Marcos on Thursday afternoon. Driving down the 15 freeway through the Fallbrook area was mind blowing. I have seen the aftermath of fires and what they left behind but what met my eye was a scorched black, desolate landscape. The charred hillside was all that was left by the fire’s hungry flames. I found it amazing the way the fires seemed to pick and choose what to destroy and what was blessed enough to be left behind as one home would be in ashes and the one next door untouched. My heart ached for the families who had lost everything to the unrelenting, vindictive wildfires. The numbers of homes consumed by the fire’s hungry belly had steadily increased throughout the week and all I could do was be thankful that my family’s houses weren’t among those numbers; be thankful that more weren’t injured than could’ve been.
I solemnly put my belongings away, wondering how many more people would be at loss before the fires were extinguished.

Janna
The affect of the wildfires on me and my family was a major one. Since we had to evacuate and half of our neighborhood burned down, we were extreemly lucky. However, we were not untouvhed by the fire, as it turned out, our backyard was burned down and so was a tree in our front yard. My family and I changed for the better in my opinion because now we are much more thankful to even have a house and our family with us. After the fire I saw our neighbors whose houses had burnt down, sorting throught the wreckage, looking for any valuables tha that might have been spared. It was a heart breaking sight. We have feelings of sorrow towards our neighbors whose houses had burnt down. Overall, I think that the fire helped our neighborhood commmunity grow stronger, because everyone was helping eah other out. My world after the firestorm was full of relief as well as pity and sadness for those whose houses had gotten torched.
Grant
Ultimately i was relatively unaffected by the fires. I had experienced no property loss and thankfully none of my close friends or family were hurt. The short term immediate effects were to try and minimize the loss of life and property around the community. Many shelters were set up to help people who were evacuated or who had loss their homes. One week after the fires i was leaving to come back to the dorms. When we reached the San Onfre/Camp Pendleton i noticed all the charred areas. The electrical company was already out re-setting electrical poles to restore power. I realize how lucky I was to have been so relatively unaffected by the fires. This opened my eyes to a true lesson that anything can happen at any moment in time, and that I need to be prepared for anything, at anytime.

Michael
After a week of strong winds, intense ash, and constant smoke inhalation, the southern California fires were finally contained. Many citizens were able to return to their homes. Well, those who still had them. Luckily for my family and me, the fires never reached anywhere close to my house. None of our property was affected, except for the great amount of ash, and other debris that was blown throughout the air.
Although, we were not affected, many others were. Many there are many who are never going to be able to go home and sleep in the same bed because of the fires. They flattened many, many homes. All over southern California is going to be scarred. One week after the fires, the landscape surrounding the freeway is burned. Where there were once nurseries, all of the trees are gone. The entire San Diego County will be blackened for quite a while. The smell of smoldering brush will remain in the air.
Even though the wildfires were horrific, they did actually have some benefits. Due to the severity, they brought entire communities together to help one another out. Those who weren’t affected were able to send supplies and other essentials to help out those in need. In given time the southern California area will soon forget about the fires. That is at least until the next set of horrific blazes.

Katlyn
It seemed cloudy and smoky for days. The weird thing about all these fires going on was that where I lived you couldn’t really smell the fire, a little in Temecula but nothing where I lived, even when that fire was on the hill. Our driveways are still all dusty though because of the winds the first few days. My co-worker lost her cabin in Big Bear, which was heart breaking to her, she lost all her pictures of when she and her children were babies, which she can never get back. The main effect that it had on me and probably most of people that were not directly affected by the fires is the fact that most of these fires were started by people that live here. That blows my mind that someone can be so selfish that they feel the need to destroy people’s lives. People’s lives were destroyed by this. Homes were burnt to the ground, never to be seen again. As a community it is just really heart breaking. I wouldn’t even be able to start describing what people must have felt because I have no idea. Me, I am just worried about going back to school because I have a lot of work to do and it was closed for one week but for others, their lives were torn apart, even if their house did not get burnt down some had to stay in shelters for days because they were evacuated. I was one of the lucky ones.

SECTION 25
Marisella
After the fire happened life was pretty hectic for some and more relaxed for others. I know that once my family was back in the home and our water was back on that we got back to normal routine; however, for others it a start to a whole new life. Many people have to figure out if they are going to look for a new house or rebuild theirs. They need to figure out how to replace the things they lost, how to get clothes, food, and all the supplies they need. I feel bad for those who lost their homes because they first had to go through so much stress trying to figure out if their home was burned down or not, then they have to go through the whole recovery stage. I have heard from people from past fires that it took three years till they got back to normal, and that is a very long time. Even though the people that were mostly affected by the fires seem to be so alone in this time of need, there are many others that are willing to help. I think that now people know what to do and the state and the city know from the last fire what to do and what not to do, and I think that really helped people this time. When I drive around and see all the burnt hills and homes it takes my breath away and I am really thankful that my house was okay and also really felt for those who lost theirs. I think that it is times like these that really bring people together.

Jordan
The recent firestorm most definitely altered southern California in a great way. The damage reigned beyond the region, however. I was told by a friend that the ashes had spread to Arizona as well. The storm depleted large amounts of the local greenery. This will harm the appearance of our community for quite a long time. Although my environment was not damaged that badly, I know the surrounding cities have suffered gravely. The community had suffered during the storm with increased winds and heat. The atmosphere was intolerable.
Some short term effects that we all suffered as a collective group included a power outage. The local internet had crashed. Many small businesses had closed down for some amount of time. Everyone’s body was subjected to increased smoke and toxin intake. Many people had to flock to local high schools and evacuation centers. The increase in local evacuees and the displacement of many city folk to other places altered the population and traffic flow. Many roads were closed or severely halted.
Now that the whole mess is pretty much behind me, I’m glad. There was very little effect to me, in all reality. The main change to me after the week was said and done has to do with academics. I am a week behind in school now, and struggling to catch up again. I’m sure that after this weekend I will be back in shape and everything shall be worked out.
I was fortunate enough not to have to worry about any permanent changes. I was completely safe. Everyone I know in the area was completely safe as well. Hopefully everyone who has been permanently affected will be able to recover in reasonable time.

Tim
At the time, the fires seemed like a catastrophic event. Now, well, things are getting back to normal in San Diego. The thing is... it was a catastrophic event.
San Diego, in all of its glory, is back on its feet again. People are back to work, students are back in school, and the news is done with their 24/7 coverage of the wildfires. The suburban lifestyle is back, and with yesterday being halloween, there are no apparent signs of of the catastrophe just one week prior.
I took a drive through the effected areas today, to get a better idea of the impact that these fires had. Within a mile down West Bernardo Dr. in Ranco Bernardo, the devastation was visible. Between the off-ramp and beginning of the Westwood area, I counted seven houses that were completely destroyed. Entire streets were closed off, modern plastic fencing was eerily melted, and destroyed cars were being town away. The construction companies had taken over the area, posting their banners along the backs of houses, facing the street... Anything for business.
My experiences living in the Carlsbad area, and traveling to the actual burn site were chilling. How can a community no further than 10 miles from such devastation be be so unaffected, so unshaken, so festive?
I guess it's good that people are moving on, but there is still a sense of ignorance in my neighborhood; ignorance for what lies just over the hills.

Kirsten
Like any other tragedy, the only good thing that comes from it is the strength and unit that family, friends, and the community show. It was a terrible thing to happen to San Diego. Numerous amounts of people lost their homes, and valuables within it and for some, it even too their lives. Mass amounts of stress and heartache filled many San Diegans and in the end we still managed to prevail. It was comforting to see how many people wan to help. He amount of money, supplies, food, service, and time that people willingly have is amazing. I was lucky enough to still have house to go home to, but still, like everybody else, the fire found a way to affect my family. My grandma lives in a nursing hoe n Poway because she has Alzheimer’s, and that entire home had to be evacuated quickly. Because they were so busy there, we couldn’t get into contact with her or the staff to find out what was going on. Luckily she was, and still is safe. However now, she is even more confused because she had to make that big move. Everybody is just expected to go about their normal day and resume life after the fire. Its something that is not easy to do, but lucky for San Diego and the people who live and love it, it’s not bad because of all the support that everyone is giving.

Wildfire!