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October 24. 2007
Southern California Fires Spreading
Flames near impossible to fight
(A P) — W alls o f w ind-w hipped
flam es c o n su m ed h u n d red s o f
hom es across tinder-dry Southern
C ali fom ia on T uesday, and authori -
ties ordered people in more than
350,000 hom es to flee the fires.
The blazes bedeviled firefighters
as fires roared from m ountain
passes to the edges o f the state's
celebrated coastline, spreading so
quickly that even hotels serving as
tem porary shelters for evacuees
had to be evacuated. T w o people
have been killed.
By day three, the dozen wildfires
had burned more than 1,300 homes
and businesses, and the destruc
tion may only be the start for the
region. W ith tem peratures rising
and wind gusts rem aining fierce,
the flam es were proving nearly im
possible to fight.
M a rilee B ishop o f R unning
Springs and her 10 year-old-daugh
ter, Erica, rubbed their red eyes
Tuesday m orning as they w oke up
in a W al-M art parking lot where
they spent the night after being
forced to leave their home.
"No one ever expects something
like this to happen to them." said
Bishop, as thick smoke rose in the
skies behind her.
Since they began Sunday, the
fires have burned at least 373,000
acres,or 583 square miles — an area
larger than New York City. Fully a
quarter o f the Cal ifornia coast was
ablaze. Flames climbed halfway to
w ard the N evada line, chew ing
through chunks o f seven counties
and devastating num erous co m
munities.
the region T hursday, W hite House
press secretary D ana Perino said.
"All o f us across this nation are
concerned for the families w ho have
lost their hom es and the many fam i
lies w ho have been evacuated from
their homes," Bush said. "W e send
the help of the federal government."
Fire crew s and fleeing residents
d escrib ed d esp erate co n d itio n s
that were sure to get worse. T em
peratures across Southern C alifor
nia were about 10 degrees above
average and were expected to ap
proach 100 degrees T uesday in
At least 3 4 6 ,0 0 0 h o m es —
roughly one in three, according to
census data — were ordered to
evacuate in San D iego C ounty
alone, sh eriff s officials said. State
officials were still struggling to es
tim ate how many people had tied.
As the fires spread, m ost out of
control, sm aller blazes m erged into
larger, more fearsome ones. Evacu
ations were being announced in
one com m unity after another as
firefighters found them selves over
w helm ed by gale-force Santa Ana
winds, som e gusting to 70 mph.
Firefighters b a ttle a wildfire in th e D el D ios a rea o f E scondido, Calif.
partm ent o f Forestry and Fire Pro
tection.
Thousands o f residents sought
shelter at fairgrounds, schools and
com m unity centers. T he largest
gathering was at Q ualcom m Sta
dium in San D iego, w here up to
10,000evacuees anxiously watched
the stadium 's television sets, hop
ing for a glim pse o f their neighbor
hood on the local news. San D iego
M ayor Jerry Sanders pleaded for
donations o f blankets, cots, pil
lows and food for the people stay
ing there, and officials said more
people were expected to arri ve Tues
day.
The w ildfires claim ed at least
two lives. An unidentified civilian
died o f burns in a fire in Santa
Clarita, in northern Los A ngeles
County, L'.S. Forest Service spokes
man Jay Nichols said. A nother man,
S m o k e billow s to th e s k y a b o v e w h ere fires are sp re a d in g n ea r h o u s e s in S te v e n s o n R anch, Calif.
M ore th a n 3 5 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p le w ere o rd e red to e v a c u a te a c r o s s California on T u e sd a y a s fero cio u s
w ildfires ra g ed u n c h e c k e d for a third day.
HOLIDAY BAZAAR
Church of the Good Shepherd, 4566 NE 87th
k (Comer of NE Going & S7th)
Saturday, N ovem ber 3,2007
10 a .m .- 6 p.m.
Sunday, N ovem ber4,2007
1 p .m .- 4 p.m.
Featured ite m so r a ttra c tio n s:
• Beautiful hom em ade îkm
k aittedaruR
ttei
rocheteiD tem s
items
• Variety of ethnic gift t it
• Fish Dinners
• Baked holiday pastries
A uthorities hadn't even begun
to estim ate the dollar value o f the
dam age in some o f the hardest-hit
areas. A fire that struck Ram ona, a
city outside San Diego, had de
stroyed 650 structures. A blaze near
Fallbrook, on the eastern edge o f
Cam p Pendleton, wiped out another
5(M), or three buildings for every
one firefighter allocated to it. And
200 more buildings bunted in a fire
just south o f Potrero, across from
the M exican city o f Tecate.
President Bush declared a fed
eral em ergency for seven counties,
a move that will speed disaster-
relief efforts, and planned to visit
O range and San D iego counties.
D eputies arrested two men for
looting in the community of Ramona,
and there w ere a handful o f other
looting cases reported, said San
D iego S h eriffs Lt. M ike M cClain.
The fires were exploding and
shooting em bers in all directions,
preventing crew s from form ing tra
ditional fire lines and severely lim
iting aerial bom bardm ent, officials
said.
"Lifesaving is our priority. G et
ting people out from in front o f the
fire — those have been our priori
ties," said C apt. D on C am p, a
spokesm an for the C alifornia D e
T hom as V arshock, 52, was found
dead Sunday.
O verall, 45 people have been
injured, 16 o f them firefighters.
A dozen firefig h ters battling
blazes in O range County had to
deploy em ergency shelters, a last
resort w hen they are surrounded
by flam es, O range County Fire
A uthority C h ief Chip Prather said.
"They should not have had to do
that," he said, com plaining that
quicker air support from the state
might have snuffed those blazes
before they blew up. "If we'd had the
resources earl ier to take care o f those
lines with hand crews, we wouldn't
have been in that situation."
In San D iego C ounty, public
schools w ere closed, as were cam
puses at the U niversity o f C alifor
nia, San D iego and San D iego State
University.
Money Wanted for College Expansion
For more infomiutimi pieuse
leave a message (503) 262-8201
PCC to prepare 2008 bond levy
Are You an Information
Technology Professional?
The Citv of Portland Bureau of Technology Sen ices
will announce and discuss the re-opening of the Flexible
Sendees contract for technology sendees. Come and
learn about contracting opportunities from bureau IT
project managers.
Faced with a rapidly growing
com m unity and increased dem and
for w ell-trained w orkers, the Port
land Com m unity C ollege Board o f
D ire c to rs on T h u rs d a y v o te d
unanim ously to consider a capital
im provem ent property tax for all
four main cam puses o f the college
system .
The board directed college staff
to prepare a bond proposal for the
November 2(X)8 General Election to
address the co lleg e 's grow th and
educational needs.
Preston Pulliam s, district presi
dent. explained the need for a bond
m easure now. "I, is P C C 's role to
serve the Portland area, to educate
students, to train the w orkforce, to
provide access to anyone w ho
wants the services we have to offer.
But as the com m unity grows, so
too must PCC,” Pulliam s said. “Ex-
P res to n P ulliam s
isting facilities and program s will
not be able to accom m odate the
influx o f students w ithout adding
to the services, the buildings and
the technology at our cam puses.”
He added that the Portland area
is expected to grow by an estim ated
369.1XX) people by 2020. M any o f
these new com ers will be college-
aged. in need o f professional train
3H
Oregon
D ep artm en t
o f Transportation
Thursday, November 15,2007
2 to 4 p.m.
ODOT IS KEEPING
OREGON ON THE MOVE
The Portland Building
1120 SW Fifth Avenue
Second Floor. Room C
Portland. Oregon
Interstate 5 is under construction!
Be safe, be prepared and be patient as the
Oregon Department of Transportation
repairs and modernizes our highways
and bridges.
Between Portland and Medford, drivers will
pass through 19 active construction zones
on 1-5 in 2007. In the Portland metro area,
Contact Greg Wolley at gwollcyfd ci.portland.or.us or
503.823.6860 for more information.
SLOW DOWN!
BETTER ROADS AHEAD
We will validate Smail Park parking.
Please notify the City of Portland no less than five (5)
business days prior to our event for ADA accommo
dations at 503.823.6860, by the City’s TTY at
503.823.6868, or by the Oregon Relay Sendee at
1.800.735.2900.
ing, seeking second careers or hop
ing to start a business: all o f which
are m issions perform ed by the co l
lege.
Pulliam s predicted the college
w ould add career-training classes
throughout the district which likely
w ould include w elding and first-
responder training, as well as ex
panding health care program s to
the Rock C reek C am pus in W ash
ington County.
PCC recently com pleted a m ajor
expansion o f its C ascade Cam pus
in north Portland that was autho
rized by a 2000 bond levy. It has
quietly been preparing for more
grow th since then, buying and tear
ing dow n a couple o f hom es, a
business and a church and setting
aside the land. T he Paragon Club
on North K illingsw orth Street was
purchased by PCC this sum m er and
w as closed. T he clu b ’s parking lot
was turned o ver to college use.
crews are currently replacing two highway
bridges outside Wilsonville, and a paving
project between Capitol Highway and the
Tualatin River will be complete this fall.
How can you prepare? Stay informed with
up-to-the-minute information about traffic
and construction byvisitingTripCheck.com
or calling 5-1-1.
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! Ç iih crrih p î 503-288-0033
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