Mount Woodson, Santee Boulders and Dixon Lake are closed due to wildfires. Over 275,000 San Diego County residents have been asked to evacuate their residents. Very scary.

I've got a road trip planned for JTree the first weekend of November. Any access issues to be concerned about with the wildfires? Any beta you could spin my way would be great.

Thx

The main wildfire Adam is talking about is the Witch fire in San Diego County. This fire started in Ramona and has burned West towards the ocean burning 145,000 acres and 600 structures by now including portions of the cities of Ramona, Escondido, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, and Rancho Santa Fe. A far larger area has been evacuated, 300,000 people by latest count.

My mom lives in La Jolla, just outside of the evacuation area. Two of her friends have been evacuated (from Ramona) and are staying with her until they can return to see if their house is still standing. Many other people I know have also been evacuated. With luck their houses will be spared. This fire is perhaps even a bigger disaster than the Cedar Fire of 2003. I believe it has destroyed more structures already. No deaths from the Witch Fire, yet, although one person was killed and several more injured in the Harris Fire, also burning in southern San Diego County.

As far as I know, there are no wildfires in the Joshua Tree area. Even if you were going to San Diego in November you'd probably be OK. The wind-driven Santa Ana fires tend to burn like crazy for a few days until the weather changes, and then they calm down. Hopefully this will be the case in San Diego, as the weather is forecasted to change tomorrow from the pattern of Santa Ana winds that have dominated the weather for the last few days.

Best thoughts and wishes to everyone in San Diego, especially those who have had to leave their homes due to the evacuations.

-T

Google SDFire Map w/evacuation centers and detailed information:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=114250687465160386>>>>>