<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; = charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)"> <style>  </style> </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=blue> <div class=Section1> I’m not directly affected by = the fires here in San = Diego, but I know at least one tech that lives in the Scripps = Ranch area.  He’s former chapter president John Evans.  = Several hundred homes were lost in Scripps Ranch, an exclusive wooded = area.  The fires are burning in 5 or 6 = areas of San Diego.  With the = Santa Ana winds blowing = from the desert, the flames spread quickly, and no one knows when the fires may = be under control.  Sometimes the wind dies down, but still the fires seem to generate their own winds and spread in any direction they like.  =  The store where I work is = closed, and some of the employees have had to evacuate their homes.  I = don’t know when it will open again, probably tomorrow or Thursday.  The = whole city of San = Diego is covered with smoke and haze, and the cars have soot all = over them.  There isn’t any area of San Diego not affected by the = fires. Most of the areas affected by the = fires are still evacuated, and I don’t know if his home has been = burned.    It seems most of the back country is on fire, and whole towns are in the = path of the fire.  Many people live in the rural = areas, so when there’s fire, they are the first to have trouble.  The = remote areas are not well served by the fire departments because of the = difficulty of getting fire crews into the area.  Water tables are very low, and = wells are running dry in some areas.  There’s a local drought in = Southern California, and then there’s the jerks who like to start fires for fun.  I = would guess that at least 50% of the fires are set by arsonists.  = Ironically, there are some fire = tanker planes and helicopters which haven’t been deployed by the Air = National Guard because of bureaucracy by the (lame duck) governor.  If these = planes had been utilized earlier, many of the fires could have been knocked = down days ago.  Any news regarding local techs = I’ll post as soon as I know anything.  Meanwhile, we need your = prayers.       =       Paul McCloud           &nbsp= ; San Diego </div> </body> </html>