San Diego Fires - Updated 24 Oct

Update 24 Oct: OMG... Seeing this AP photo from Rancho Bernardo, I felt like someone just socked me in the gut. Those used to be peoples' houses. This area is just north of Mirimar in San Diego County.

It breaks my heart to think what those families must be going through. I mean, as an adult and as a Christian (and sitting here in the comfort of my la-z-boy recliner), I can (theoretically or philosophically) put the material loss aside and be thankful for my health, but how do you ever explain that to your kids?

I remember shortly after my family moved to Northern Virginia, there was a tornado warning and my wife and kids had to hide in the basement for an evening. Even though nothing happened, my ES was terrified at the mention of the word "tornado" or of strong winds howling around the outside of our house. Can you imagine how much worse it would be if something HAD happened to our house then? The kids who lost their homes in the fires will be traumatized for some time to come.

To everyone in San Diego County, you continue to be in my thoughts and prayers.

Looking at the maps of the fire boundaries and the evacuation areas, the northern fire is very close to the homes of some close friends of mine. Chris & Cath, Dave & Kate, Dave & Eva - I hope you have safely evacuated from your homes, and I pray you're safe and sound. The southern fire is approaching my mom and grandpa's place, but it's still a safe enough distance away that they're not in the evacuation area (yet).

Update 23 Oct 2007 at 1747 Hawaii time: My mom sent me this website for a really good map of the fire boundaries and evacuation areas.