Saturday, January 26, 2008
FIREFIGHTERS EXTINGUISH STRUCTURE FIRE
Structure Fire in Valley Center, Ca Saturday, January 26, 2008 Reported at 0712 hours this morning Occupied Single Family Dwelling MVU # 00861 This morning at 0712, a 911 emergency call was received reporting a residential Structure Fire in the area of Rancho Valencia Road in Valley Center. A full first alarm structure assignment was dispatched by CALFIRE to the reported location. Responding fire equipment reported smoke showing while in route. First on scene Firefighters reported flames and smoke coming from an attached garage of a single family home in the 29000 block of Rancho Valencia Road. Firefighters conducted a primary search of the home to insure all the occupants had escaped the fire. The fire in the garage included all the contents and a passenger vehicle. One firefighter suffered burns to the face and taken to UCSD Medical Center fore treatment and was released. There were no civilian injuries. Fire Units from Valley Center, Rincon, Pala and Palomar Mountain were on scene extinguishing the fire. The initial garage fire was extinguished within 30 minutes but the fire had extended up the inside of walls and into the open attic area causing additional overall and salvage efforts by firefighters for more than 3 hours. Investigation found that the fire was discovered by the homeowners who were home and awake. The cause of the fire continues to under investigation but the origin of the fire was in the area of an electrical power cord in the garage and is considered accidental in nature. Damage was estimated at $250,000 in structural damage with another $100,000 in contents damage. The damage included the family car that was in the garage at the time of the fire. The Dwelling was posted as unsafe for occupancy due to structural damage and the occupants have been relocated. Firefighter cut ventilation hole in the roof to allow Hot gasses and smoke to escape during this fire. Fire crews get a break and hydration after the fire is brought Under control. This passenger car was destroyed in the fire. George E. Lucia Sr. Fire Marshal VCFPD cell 24/7 @ 760.644.9933 glucia@vcfpd.org
COUNTY PREPARES FOR BIG STORM/ HWY 76 MAY BE CLOSED
The Roadrunner received the following bulletin from Sheriff's Lt. Sean Gerrity Friday:
Based upon weather predictions for tomorrow's storm event, the County Office of Emergency Services will be staffing their Emergency Operations Center tomorrow evening through at least Sunday noon (depending on the weather and its impact). I will be opening the Poomacha Burn Area command post no later than 6:00 PM tomorrow night, here at the Valley Center Sheriff's Substation (yes, another weekend away from home - sigh).
This afternoon, my deputies delivered the attached warnings to the 100 or so homes we believe to be at highest risk in the area (Note: I removed the County and Sheriff seals from these copies, otherwise you'd be getting an 8MB e-mail).
As in the past, the Highway 76 corridor between Lake Henshaw and Valley Center Road will be at highest risk, with debris flow potential at about 16 different points along this portion of Highway 76. If it becomes necessary to close this portion of the road, Palomar Mountain residents and business employees will be allowed access via East Grade Road, via Highway 76 at Lake Henshaw once again. They will be allowed through at the Lake Henshaw resort checkpoint, but should only go to and from East Grade Road, and not any further west on Highway 76. As before, Nate Harrison Grade is not suggested, and likely would be unsafe. Residents and business employees should not access Highway 76 via South Grade Road during such closure, as the risk of large and potentially lethal debris flows (including, after they have happened, crashing into them or losing vehicle control because of them) is simply too high.
CalTrans will have crews patrolling Highway 76 through the night (they have actually been out there all week), and County Roads will also be out.
For Palomar Mountain, this next storm set is expected to pull in warmer moisture from the more subtropical regions of the Pacific, raising the snow level to above 7,000 feet. It is expected to melt and "wash away" the snow on Palomar Mountain tomorrow night. Rain levels may reach between 4" to 8" on Palomar Mountain during this storm, with the most significant rain potentially occurring between tomorrow night at midnight and 4:00 AM Sunday morning, perhaps at a rate of about 1" per hour (or more) at times.
Enjoy the snow while you can...
Lt. Gerrity
CORRECTION:
The quote we have in our Web news article posted yesterday is not quite correct. We thought we were quoting Chief George Lucia as being the one who hiked into the canyons of the La Jolla Reservation to look at possible debris flows. It was actually
George Wilkins, who is a private hydrologist currently working for the La Jolla Band of Mission Indians, and also working with the the BAER Team (Burn Area Emergency Response Team), which is comprised of many different government agencies including the USGS. George Wilkins went up in the helicopter with Lt. Gerrity, and he is the one who has hiked some of the canyons to get a closer look.
Based upon weather predictions for tomorrow's storm event, the County Office of Emergency Services will be staffing their Emergency Operations Center tomorrow evening through at least Sunday noon (depending on the weather and its impact). I will be opening the Poomacha Burn Area command post no later than 6:00 PM tomorrow night, here at the Valley Center Sheriff's Substation (yes, another weekend away from home - sigh).
This afternoon, my deputies delivered the attached warnings to the 100 or so homes we believe to be at highest risk in the area (Note: I removed the County and Sheriff seals from these copies, otherwise you'd be getting an 8MB e-mail).
As in the past, the Highway 76 corridor between Lake Henshaw and Valley Center Road will be at highest risk, with debris flow potential at about 16 different points along this portion of Highway 76. If it becomes necessary to close this portion of the road, Palomar Mountain residents and business employees will be allowed access via East Grade Road, via Highway 76 at Lake Henshaw once again. They will be allowed through at the Lake Henshaw resort checkpoint, but should only go to and from East Grade Road, and not any further west on Highway 76. As before, Nate Harrison Grade is not suggested, and likely would be unsafe. Residents and business employees should not access Highway 76 via South Grade Road during such closure, as the risk of large and potentially lethal debris flows (including, after they have happened, crashing into them or losing vehicle control because of them) is simply too high.
CalTrans will have crews patrolling Highway 76 through the night (they have actually been out there all week), and County Roads will also be out.
For Palomar Mountain, this next storm set is expected to pull in warmer moisture from the more subtropical regions of the Pacific, raising the snow level to above 7,000 feet. It is expected to melt and "wash away" the snow on Palomar Mountain tomorrow night. Rain levels may reach between 4" to 8" on Palomar Mountain during this storm, with the most significant rain potentially occurring between tomorrow night at midnight and 4:00 AM Sunday morning, perhaps at a rate of about 1" per hour (or more) at times.
Enjoy the snow while you can...
Lt. Gerrity
CORRECTION:
The quote we have in our Web news article posted yesterday is not quite correct. We thought we were quoting Chief George Lucia as being the one who hiked into the canyons of the La Jolla Reservation to look at possible debris flows. It was actually
George Wilkins, who is a private hydrologist currently working for the La Jolla Band of Mission Indians, and also working with the the BAER Team (Burn Area Emergency Response Team), which is comprised of many different government agencies including the USGS. George Wilkins went up in the helicopter with Lt. Gerrity, and he is the one who has hiked some of the canyons to get a closer look.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
YOU MAY SEE SMOKE
Prescribed burn to begin in Cleveland National Forest
PALOMAR MOUNTAIN -- Fire officials today will begin a prescribed burn of about 630 acres in the Cleveland National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service announced Wednesday.
The burn, expected to continue through May, will remove vegetation to maintain fuel breaks and improve forest health, Forest Service officials said. Locations of the burn will be: 75 acres in the Fry Creek Campground area, 55 acres near the six-mile marker along East Grade Road south of Palomar Divide and 175 acres on the North Slope of Aguanga Ridge. Columns of smoke may be visible near these sites during the burn.
PALOMAR MOUNTAIN -- Fire officials today will begin a prescribed burn of about 630 acres in the Cleveland National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service announced Wednesday.
The burn, expected to continue through May, will remove vegetation to maintain fuel breaks and improve forest health, Forest Service officials said. Locations of the burn will be: 75 acres in the Fry Creek Campground area, 55 acres near the six-mile marker along East Grade Road south of Palomar Divide and 175 acres on the North Slope of Aguanga Ridge. Columns of smoke may be visible near these sites during the burn.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
SHOOTING TURNS OUT TO BE HOAX
Twelve hours after the drama began, it turned out that the story of a woman who claimed to have shot her husband at Harrah's Rincon Casino was a hoax! At 2:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon authorities received a cell phone call from a woman claiming that she had shot her husband. SWAT conducted a search of the third floor of Harrah's Rincon Casino's west tower, all 55 rooms and failed to find anyone.
Here's the Sheriff's Dept report on the incident:
On January 8, 2008, at about 2:20 p.m. the Sheriff's Communications Center received a call from Security at the Harrah's
Rincon Hotel/Casino (777 Harrah's Rincon Way, Valley) of a shooting. Hotel Security reported that a female had just
called the Front Desk and said she had shot her husband in one of the rooms.
In response to the report, deputies from the Valley Center Substation, the San Marcos Station, the Sheriff's Special
Enforcement Detail (SED - the Sheriff's SWAT Team) along with officers from the California Highway Patrol (CHP)
proceeded to the scene to evacuate uninvolved persons from the Hotel and to conduct a search for the potential victim
and suspect.
Further investigation led to the possibility that the incident may have occurred on the 3rd Floor of the Garden Tower. An
extensive search was conducted by SED; however, neither a victim nor a suspect was located. No other reports of
injured persons or gunshots were made to either Hotel Security or law enforcement officials following the search.
At about 12:45 a.m. on January 9, 2008, the search was discontinued and the incident was turned over to Sheriff's
investigators to determine the actual origin and source of the call. No one is currently in custody; however, the
investigation is ongoing.
Here's the Sheriff's Dept report on the incident:
On January 8, 2008, at about 2:20 p.m. the Sheriff's Communications Center received a call from Security at the Harrah's
Rincon Hotel/Casino (777 Harrah's Rincon Way, Valley) of a shooting. Hotel Security reported that a female had just
called the Front Desk and said she had shot her husband in one of the rooms.
In response to the report, deputies from the Valley Center Substation, the San Marcos Station, the Sheriff's Special
Enforcement Detail (SED - the Sheriff's SWAT Team) along with officers from the California Highway Patrol (CHP)
proceeded to the scene to evacuate uninvolved persons from the Hotel and to conduct a search for the potential victim
and suspect.
Further investigation led to the possibility that the incident may have occurred on the 3rd Floor of the Garden Tower. An
extensive search was conducted by SED; however, neither a victim nor a suspect was located. No other reports of
injured persons or gunshots were made to either Hotel Security or law enforcement officials following the search.
At about 12:45 a.m. on January 9, 2008, the search was discontinued and the incident was turned over to Sheriff's
investigators to determine the actual origin and source of the call. No one is currently in custody; however, the
investigation is ongoing.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
ONE STORM LEFT TO GO
The area has made it through two storms without any major debris flows or mud slides, with one storm that will hit either late tonight or early tomorrow.
Below is Sheriff’s Sgt. Sean Gerrity’s update this morning on the situation:
“We made it through yesterday without any debris flows, without the need to close Highway 76 (although we had some ‘close calls’ based upon very significant rain activity at times). This morning, between 4:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., we again had significant rain activity on Birch Hill [on Palomar Mountain], which raised some concern.
“As of this time, there hasn't been any known significant debris flow activity, though it is always possible there was some deeper inside the inaccessible portions of watersheds on the south face of Palomar Mountain.
“There have been some instances of relatively minor roadway rock and soil debris typical of heavy rains around here. CalTrans has, around the clock, been closely monitoring and patrolling the culverts and creeks along Highway 76, with equipment ‘ready to go’ in the event a debris flow either breached Highway 76 or clogged one of the many culverts/creeks intersecting with Highway 76. The County's Department of Public Works - Road Department has been doing the same for other areas.
“ After this morning's more significant rain event, it is my guess that Highway 76 will remain open throughout the day, and hopefully through the final significant portion of this storm expected to arrive late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
“Of course, as we've already discovered, predictions versus actual occurrences that happen with weather don't always match up. We've already had significantly more precipitation activity locally than what was predicted as of last Friday.
“Below are statistics from our very own local range gauges which the County has been monitoring closely throughout the weekend. These statistics are as of 5:30 AM this morning:
Birch Hill (Palomar Mountain): 12.5" storm total, 1.65" in the last three hours, 0.75" in the last hour (before 5:30 AM)
Palomar Observatory: 6.25" storm total
La Jolla Amago: 2.75" storm total, 0.39" last three hours (before 5;30 AM)
Rincon Springs: 1.33" storm total
Cole Grade Road: 1.18" storm total
Oak Flats: 3.5" storm total
(The Oak Flats gauge is about 1/4 mile east of northern Pala Temecula Road, on the ridgeline west of the Poomacha Fire burn area, at an elevation of 3,068 feet).
Below is Sheriff’s Sgt. Sean Gerrity’s update this morning on the situation:
“We made it through yesterday without any debris flows, without the need to close Highway 76 (although we had some ‘close calls’ based upon very significant rain activity at times). This morning, between 4:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., we again had significant rain activity on Birch Hill [on Palomar Mountain], which raised some concern.
“As of this time, there hasn't been any known significant debris flow activity, though it is always possible there was some deeper inside the inaccessible portions of watersheds on the south face of Palomar Mountain.
“There have been some instances of relatively minor roadway rock and soil debris typical of heavy rains around here. CalTrans has, around the clock, been closely monitoring and patrolling the culverts and creeks along Highway 76, with equipment ‘ready to go’ in the event a debris flow either breached Highway 76 or clogged one of the many culverts/creeks intersecting with Highway 76. The County's Department of Public Works - Road Department has been doing the same for other areas.
“ After this morning's more significant rain event, it is my guess that Highway 76 will remain open throughout the day, and hopefully through the final significant portion of this storm expected to arrive late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
“Of course, as we've already discovered, predictions versus actual occurrences that happen with weather don't always match up. We've already had significantly more precipitation activity locally than what was predicted as of last Friday.
“Below are statistics from our very own local range gauges which the County has been monitoring closely throughout the weekend. These statistics are as of 5:30 AM this morning:
Birch Hill (Palomar Mountain): 12.5" storm total, 1.65" in the last three hours, 0.75" in the last hour (before 5:30 AM)
Palomar Observatory: 6.25" storm total
La Jolla Amago: 2.75" storm total, 0.39" last three hours (before 5;30 AM)
Rincon Springs: 1.33" storm total
Cole Grade Road: 1.18" storm total
Oak Flats: 3.5" storm total
(The Oak Flats gauge is about 1/4 mile east of northern Pala Temecula Road, on the ridgeline west of the Poomacha Fire burn area, at an elevation of 3,068 feet).
Saturday, January 5, 2008
NO ROAD CLOSURES SO FAR
RAINS PRODUCE NO DEBRIS FLOW SO FAR
“We dodged a bullet,” Sheriff’s Lt. Sean Gerrity told The Roadrunner Saturday around 1 p.m.
Although up to 8 inches of rain have fallen in some places (4 inches were measured at Palomar Observatory) there have been no debris flows, and nothing more serious than the usual small rock slides that accompany rains in the mountains.
There had been some anticipation that Hwy 76 might have to be closed between VC Road and Lake Henshaw as it was a month ago. That could still happen, but hasn’t happened yet.
CalTrans crews have been very proactive about the patroling the roads to look for potential problems. They also have heavy equipment with them to deal with any problems that they encounter.
“Their intention is to keep the roads open,” Lt. Gerrity said.
He and his emergency response crew at the Sheriff’s substation were getting ready to go home and get some sleep before returning to duty when the next storm is set to hit, about sunrise on Sunday.
Then, another storm will pile up on top of that one about 10 p.m. Sunday night.
“Looks like we got through the worst of it without having to shut any roads,” Gerrity said.
“We dodged a bullet,” Sheriff’s Lt. Sean Gerrity told The Roadrunner Saturday around 1 p.m.
Although up to 8 inches of rain have fallen in some places (4 inches were measured at Palomar Observatory) there have been no debris flows, and nothing more serious than the usual small rock slides that accompany rains in the mountains.
There had been some anticipation that Hwy 76 might have to be closed between VC Road and Lake Henshaw as it was a month ago. That could still happen, but hasn’t happened yet.
CalTrans crews have been very proactive about the patroling the roads to look for potential problems. They also have heavy equipment with them to deal with any problems that they encounter.
“Their intention is to keep the roads open,” Lt. Gerrity said.
He and his emergency response crew at the Sheriff’s substation were getting ready to go home and get some sleep before returning to duty when the next storm is set to hit, about sunrise on Sunday.
Then, another storm will pile up on top of that one about 10 p.m. Sunday night.
“Looks like we got through the worst of it without having to shut any roads,” Gerrity said.
Friday, January 4, 2008
THE APPROACHING STORM
COUNTY URGES RESIDENTS TO PREPARE FOR APPROACHING STORMS
Many residents in the fire burn areas are warned of the potential for flooding and debris flows
Using the AlertSanDiego mass notification system, the County of San Diego is warning residents, by phone, of the potential for debris flow and flooding associated with the approaching storms. The County Office of Emergency Services recommends that residents living in the Witch Creek, Rice, Poomacha and Harris fire burn areas make all necessary preparations to protect their homes and, should damaging conditions develop, seek safe shelter away from the fire burn area until the storm passes.
Sheriff’s Department deputies, Department of Public Works road crews, local police departments and County Flood Control personnel will monitor conditions in the affected areas throughout the weekend. Additionally, there are more than one hundred stream and rain gauges throughout the county; the Office of Emergency Services is prepared to issue additional phone advisories to residents if rain gauges indicate the need for additional warnings.
Holly R. Crawford
Public Information Specialist
County of San Diego
Office of Emergency Services
858-565-5592
Many residents in the fire burn areas are warned of the potential for flooding and debris flows
Using the AlertSanDiego mass notification system, the County of San Diego is warning residents, by phone, of the potential for debris flow and flooding associated with the approaching storms. The County Office of Emergency Services recommends that residents living in the Witch Creek, Rice, Poomacha and Harris fire burn areas make all necessary preparations to protect their homes and, should damaging conditions develop, seek safe shelter away from the fire burn area until the storm passes.
Sheriff’s Department deputies, Department of Public Works road crews, local police departments and County Flood Control personnel will monitor conditions in the affected areas throughout the weekend. Additionally, there are more than one hundred stream and rain gauges throughout the county; the Office of Emergency Services is prepared to issue additional phone advisories to residents if rain gauges indicate the need for additional warnings.
Holly R. Crawford
Public Information Specialist
County of San Diego
Office of Emergency Services
858-565-5592
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