POOMACHA FIRE MAY BE CONTAINED BY SATURDAY

The following update was issued today by Palomar Fire Dept. Chief George Lucia:

Poomacha Fire Update – Wednesday, November 07, 2007 @ 0900 hours.

The Fire remains 95% contained and at 49,410 Acres.
100 % containment is expected by Saturday, November 10.

The erosion problem is a priority for Palomar Local residents,
Please take advantage of the free sandbag at the summit heliport and
Work around your homes to slow drainage down during future rains.

The Summit Heliport will be converted to a SDGE staging area today, allowing
The final repairs to the grids to be competed at a rapid pace.

Palomar Residents have much to be thankful about.
The fire was weather driven, but much of the treatment and clearing that has been
Done in recent years gave all firefighters an advantage to save neighborhood.
We need to revisit our priorities and get moving again.
Our legislators have toured the mountain and are committing to
Millions of dollars to fund many fire safety and health forest project.
We need to get the Fire Safe Council very active again and set some goals
For continued clearing and chipping programs.

The FDNY DART RED CROSS group is leaving today.
We helped deliver all our extra supplies down to the LaJolla Reservation last night.
They received serious damage from the fire and will need our help to get back on their feet.

We are giving them a send off at 12 Noon at the Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Station.
Anyone available, Please come over and help express our thanks.

The next serious area to be looked at is the backside of Crestline and Birch hill to the North down into Mendenhall Valley. A lighting strike in that area during a Santa Ana weather event would threaten the local neighborhood.
Lets put our thoughts together and encourage our community leaders to take an aggressive stand on continued fire safety programs.

Thank you everyone for your continued cooperation and support.