The L.A. Times reports on several wildfires in Southern California that have destroyed an estimated 1,000 homes in San Diego. Per the Times, “at least 15,000 people spent the night in shelters, and the number of evacuees could exceed half a million.” The site also has set up an interactive Google map that details where fires are burning.

Several comic pros and bloggers have posted on how they’ve been affected, including former Wildstorm editor Scott Dunbier:

So far we’ve been lucky. 4000 homes in San Marcos, our town, have been evacuated, including a couple occupied by friends. I don’t believe any have burned. As of right now the fire is not coming closer to us; we’ve gotten no reverse 911 call that instructs residents to get out fast. The smoke is getting closer but the news says the fire in our area has “calmed down.” We’ve packed up important papers, photo albums, artwork, external hard-drive, trying to figure out what are the most important to us. It’s a very slow Sophie’s Choice, picking out what we love and need the most. One I hope we don’t have to make.

Beanworld creator Larry Marder:

It’s an eerie day here in Orange County, CA. The atmosphere is smoky and dark.
Small, gritty ashes are falling from the not-so-friendly skies–but they are ashes, not burning embers.
The closest fire is in Irvine, which is alarmingly close to where we dwell.
But so far (knock on wood!) we are okay.

Mark Evanier:

A couple of folks ‘n’ friends have written to ask if my home is at all threatened by any of the fires raging around the Southland. I appreciate the concern and I even more appreciate that the nearest fire is at least eighteen miles from me. Sadly, I know folks whose homes are in danger, including one in San Diego who’s lost his.

Retailer Mike Sterling:

So as you may have heard, big chunks of Southern California are ablaze, driven by strong winds. Most of that activity is quite a bit south of the store, so we’re not in danger, though I’m surprised we haven’t yet had our semi-annual brushfire just over the hills behind us yet.

However, on Monday I’d gone to a grocery store very near my house, and between going in the store and coming out of the store, a grassy embankment on the other side of the parking lot had caught on fire. It’s right there next to a freeway offramp, and I’m guessing the culprit was “tossed out cigarette butt.” Thankfully, the fire department was right on top of it and took care of the fire in short order.

Employees Jeff and Aaron live much closer to the Piru and Fillmore events, so think kind thoughts for them, as well as for everyone else affected by these fires.

Blogger/journalist Chris Allen:

Apparently over 300,000 people have been evacuated so far, but fortunately I’m not one of them. According to my company hotline, work is open on a limited capacity, but I’m not going in. I don’t want to be too far from home in case anything takes a turn for the worse. I’m also really tired and stiff–that stress really makes you tight. I’ll probably head out shortly for a coffee, presuming it’s open. It’s weird what your body gets used to. I had my air purifier on in my room last night, and immediately noticed the smoky smell of the air once I went downstairs to the rest of the house, but now I don’t smell it. I suppose it’s no different for people who smoke.

And Variety reports on how the fires are affecting the entertainment industry:

Malibu residents like Jeffrey Katzenberg were covering homes with fire-retardant foam to fight off the flames, while David Geffen opened up his recently renovated Malibu Beach Inn to firefighters and rescue workers for free.

–snip–

Fox’s “24″ was shooting in Irvine Monday morning, at a former naval station, but had to stop because the production was downwind of blazes in that area. Crews had to abandon gear after authorities blocked access to the roads leading to the station.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 at 1:41 pm and is filed under Creators, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.