We are in the current evac zone. We got the notice at around 11:30 PM Monday, packed up our essentials strapped on the Rpod, and made our way to relatives (where we are now) in Portola Valley. We got to Saratoga at about 3:30 AM, and "set up camp" at the Chateau de CVS. We were immediately greeted by 3 squad cars and a half dozen officers who could see we were exhausted. They told us to make ourselves comfortable and get some rest. In the morning, employees from the shopping center Safeway store stopped by to give us a large bag of bottled water.
A friend told us last night that the visitor's center at Big Basin has been destroyed. The VC is in a relatively open area near the road, so if that's gone, I'm imagining the other structures in that area are destroyed as well.
We have many friends in Loma Mar, Pescadero, Boulder Creek, and so on, and so on. They are all under evac orders as far as we know. I have friends who operate communications facilities in Bonny Doon, and I'm pretty sure those are badly damaged if not destroyed.
The fires (there are dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of little fires created all over the area by lightning strikes mostly on Sunday morning) have conjoined into a large "complex", which is now called the "CZU August Lightning Complex". The body of the conflagration is moving generally in the south easterly direction. I think our area was evacuated out of an abundance of caution, as we are in the very northeast corner of the evac zone. The fact of the matter is that there are many, many fires all over the state. When the lightning storm hit our area, most of our local resources were elsewhere doing mutual aid. There was not much available in our local area to deal with this when it happened. The fires popped up as (probably) hundreds of little fires, and before you knew it, fire was everywhere.
The CZU Complex, was 1,000 acres on Monday morning, then 10,000 acres Tuesday morning. By yesterday morning it was over 25,000 acres. When fires grow that fast, there is not much humans can do. We were watching helicopters doing drops on Tuesday, and they were like tiny specks against a backdrop of flame and smoke.
Good news this morning is that temperatures have dropped significantly. Where yesterday we hit a high of around 97, the temp this morning is 60. It's likely cooler near the coast where the complex is. Don't know much more than that, will let y'all know after I've collected myself.
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2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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