While most of the fires have been put down, the Witch Creek fire continues to burn in the east on Palomar MT. and nearby areas. It is anticipated that all fires will be in the mop up stage on Halloween, one cannot ignore the irony of Halloween and the Witch Creek fire colliding in San Diego this week.
Thousands have lost their homes. More have been injured, or displaced by one of the many fires in San Diego County. And then there are the victims of Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura. Truly a ghoulish coincidence.
Between now and Thanksgiving, let's focus on coming together and healing. No we can't rebuild the homes that fast, but we can start rebuilding our lives. We can reconnect with family and friends and strengthen those bonds with love. We can put this behind us and focus on a time of Thanksgiving, followed by a season of joy and a Happy & Prosperous New Year.
I have heard some compare San Diego's Disaster Response to the response in New Orleans. While some comparisons are valid (most notably the difference in Federal Response) most are not fair to compare. Why? We, San Diego, did NOT have EVERY major road destroyed; ALL WATER gone; ALL SEWER gone; ALL ELECTRICAL gone; ALL GAS gone; ALMOST ALL INFRASTRUCTURE gone. Yes we had a major disaster, "A" major disaster. But we still had all the other resources to respond to the disaster.
I am so proud of how the emergency was handled. How the citizens of San Diego responded. How the inter agency efforts worked. How musicians and entertainers just showed up at shelters and entertained. That's the San Diego spirit!!!
Now if we can only get CalFire to get off their high horse and work with the Military, everyone in California would be safer.
Bob
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