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Trick or Treat -- For Real This Time.
Mexicans all over Tijuana loading up their vans with kids and bringing them northward.........they're smart enough to bypass imperial beach and head straight for Coronado!— October 29, 2007 11:07 p.m.
Wildfire Hits Potrero
How did the fires in Potrero start? And, just wondering, - has Blackwater gained any advantage with the burning of the land near where it hopes to build its base? linda krausen [email protected]— October 28, 2007 10:41 p.m.
In June '07, Sanders Said San Diego Had an Anti-Fire Program "That Works"
Don, it's just like the helo pilots that claim that they could've stopped the Cedar Fire and saved San Diego.Basically, the 90 gallon bucket that ASTREA carried on their Hughes helos back then (before the Sheriff firefighting helo program) would be like a squirt gun in a campfire.Frankly, air programs are great.But without the ground troops to back them up, the fire eventually burns through and wins.I'm sure the military pilots could tell you that.Remember that San Diego should have about 66 engine companies, but only has 46.Think more homes could've been saved with 20 more engines?I'm not saying that the military ships wouldn't have helped -- they would have.But they aren't the savior that everyone thinks they are.Not by a long shot.— October 28, 2007 9:06 p.m.
Three RB Neighborhoods Didn't Get Warnings
Why would you feel safe in those neighborhoods with a fire just over the ridge and a 50 MPH wind blowing it right towards you? I've also heard that there was no reverse 911. Perhaps the phone lines were already burned out. I don't know. I do know that the city has a way to tie your cell phone to your address so that they can more easily reach you.— October 28, 2007 8:58 p.m.
In June '07, Sanders Said San Diego Had an Anti-Fire Program "That Works"
Don, I was at the Harris Fire within an hour of the start. There was no stopping it. To whoever commented that the military is already trained... not true.Even if we did train the military, they'd rotate folks and we'd train them again. And then they'd get killed because a bunch of fresh troops have no business being around a wildland fire of this magnitude. Look at what happened to a seasoned CAL FIRE crew!— October 28, 2007 7:54 p.m.
Watch for Fire Hoopla at Chargers Game Sunday
Well I was right...The Chargers via Alex and Dean Spanos just announced a 1 Million gift for victims of the fires. Additionally, the Chargers will be accepting cash donations from fans which will be given directly to the Salvation Army. In 2003 the Chargers gave a similar gift of a million... Not that I and others are ungreatful, but its too bad they didn't add alittle for inflation. You know a million does buy as much as it use to.— October 27, 2007 4:31 p.m.
In June '07, Sanders Said San Diego Had an Anti-Fire Program "That Works"
http://www.kpbs.org/tv/full_focus;id=8555#— October 27, 2007 3:37 p.m.
In June '07, Sanders Said San Diego Had an Anti-Fire Program "That Works"
Guess he thought wrong. Have you heard Rep. Duncan Hunter's idea of using overwhelming force in the first few hours, rather than the ramp-it-up practices of 2003/2007. None of this wait for the private contractors...get the already trained Military personnel in first then let CAL-FIRE and private contractors mop up... This deserves some serious thought!— October 27, 2007 1:38 p.m.
Were Rancho Bernardo Residents Warned in Timely Way?
SECOND POST 3. As to field reporters, those from KUSI and 7/39 stand out. At KUSI, Steve Bosch, Doug Curley, Ed Lenderman, Sasha Foo, etc. have been in SD long enuf to have lots of local contacts & an affinity for the area. They know facts, they know sources, and they take calculated risks. Ditto to those at 7/39: Rory Devine, Artie Ojeda, Ken Cramer, etc. At 10, Bob Lawrence & Steve Fiorina showed the depth of longtime San Diego coverage but several others came across as almost lost. Channel 8 reporters were frequently overemotional, unsure of facts, and appeared poorly briefed by those serving as field producers. The one exception was Larry Himmel, whose vast storehouse of SD knowledge unfortunately ended up largely untapped because his story became the tragic tale of his own house up in flames, which he told with calm that belied anguish. For KUSI, its big drawback was the station's usual screw-up, Rod Luck, who is the reporting disgrace to match anchor idiot Dan Plante. Luck actually stumbled upon the first stirrings of the Witch Fire backdrafts that led to destruction in Del Dios. But because he is such a blowhard, he talked about himself during the live shots, had no idea where he was along the highway or the fire's path, and visibly resented interruptions from Paul Bloom, who attempted to get the info into perspective. As a result, you needed to be on Channel 10 at that moment to understand what was going on. 4. KUSI weathermen John Coleman and Joe Lizura were way beyond weather people at the other stations. If you only listened to Coleman & Lizura during the fires, and turned off the TV at all other times, you still wud have gotten a great capsulized summary of everything going on & how the weather played its role. 5. Pictures. All stations had great live shots at time & great video at times. You could not get a comprehensive sense of all the fires from any one station--at least not until they began sharing helicopter feeds. None had enough crews to be everywhere, and once a crew came upon a live situation, the station usually stuck with it even if the specific scene was less important than other things going on simultaneously. 7/39 had great exclusive of the DC-10 dropping fire retardant live on the Harris fire. 10 was early into Fallbrook. KUSI had great early shots from Ramona. All stations were sloppy, or worse, in not clearly labeling scenes as "live" or "recorded earlier" until the 3rd day of coverage. An anchor would be talking about current conditions of say, the Witch fire, while day-earlier scenes would be on screen, leading you to think that you were viewing the present situation live. It got to be more than annoying. If you had to be stuck with only one station, I'd say you would have been best off with either 10 or 7/39. KUSI had some great moments, with Bloom, Turko and several of its reporters, but also some of the worst periods, with its daytime anchors, Rod Luck and its newest "reporter" Duncan Hunter.— October 27, 2007 9:58 a.m.
Were Rancho Bernardo Residents Warned in Timely Way?
FIRST OF TWO POSTS Recuperating from a wrist injury, I had a lot of time to sample the media during the wildfires. First, the U-T coverage definitely reflected the cutbacks the paper has endured during the past four years. It was far less comprehensive than the U-T coverage during the Cedar fire, even down to the less-detailed maps. Three telling examples: 1. The LA Times had a great story on former chief Bowman's refusal to evacuate his Poway home on Wednesday. The U-T followed up on the story and put it on the front page on Thursday. 2. The LA Times had a story on the concept of "shelter in place" on Wednesday. The U-T followed up and put it on the front page on Thursday. 3. The LA Times had a story on Friday about the Bielasz family of Poway getting caught in their home and saving themselves in their pool. The U-T followed up and put it on their front page on Saturday. And it wasn't just out-of-town media beating the U-T brains out. The U-T was also beaten to the punch initially by Michael Turko of KUSI regarding Duncan Hunter's complaints about possible delays in getting sufficient military firefighting aircraft into service. And I suspect there are probably more examples of the laggardness of the U-T. As a former U-T worker, you'd be the best judge of whether that reflects a breakdown in the quality of assignment editors or increased numbers of inexperienced reporters, or both, or in conjunction with other facts. As for TV stations: 1. During daylight=hour coverage, I'd give equal kudos to the 7/39 anchoring team of Bill Menish and Maryanne Kushi and to Channel 10 team led by Bill Griffith. They clearly know about San Diego and were able to identify locations, provide accurate background, cogently summarize information and conduct spot-on interviews. The Channel 8 anchors were willing and personable but clearly befuddled at times, not identifying locations accurately and the like. KUSI's Dan Plante was his usual disaster, with his unfocused comments, inappropriate laughter and off-point verbosity. 2. During the afternoon and evening, however, KUSI's Paul Boom and Kimberly Hunt really stood out as the top anchors, parlaying their years of service in San Diego into strong commentary about communities being burned, terse insights into key players and simplification of firefighter jargon. Unfortunately, as the days passed, the station gave so much time to Duncan Hunter that he probably will have to list it as a major campaign contributor to his silly campaign to be president. Other strong anchor teams were Hal Clement and Carol LeBeau on 10 and Marty Levine and Susan Taylor on 7/39. Those with longstanding roots in San Diego clearly were able to take advantage of them to provide better coverage. GO TO SECOND POST— October 27, 2007 9:45 a.m.