The California Highway Patrol has closed Interstate 5 in both directions between state Route 76 and Cristianitos Road because of a fire at Camp Pendleton.
Northbound traffic is being sent back to state Route 78 and then east to north Interstate 15.
I-15 has some off-ramps that are closed, CHP Officer Larry Landeros said, but is otherwise wide open.
San Diego County Wildfires 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
I-5 closed near Camp Pendleton
Posted @ 1:57 AM
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87 comments:
Soo... why is it that the backfires have gotten out of control and forced the closure of the I-5? You know, people are really going to freak out now about having the main path back home to L.A. county closed down... even if there are alternate routes, college kids are going to be in a real pickle.
The backfires got out of control, yes. There are cars on fire at the rest area in Pendleton, the fire jumped Highway 5 (!), and yeah, you guys are stuck in SD County. Have fun? Thinking of fleeing south to Tijuana? Maybe not. There are fires burning in Tijuana right now. Morro Hills in Oceanside is now on voluntary evac.
Well, hopefully it will be back open by sunrise.
I know this much: Robert Lindsay is a jackass.
Yeah, what would be the best route out of SD from the La Jolla area now that 5 is closed? I know that 15 keeps being opened and closed and I have no idea its current status, and the only other thing I can think of would be county highways, but I have no which are safe and which are unsafe or closed.
Do you have to be so cruel, Robert? I was going to go back home to Oceanside tomorrow evening, but now I think I'm better off staying here in the UCSD dorms after all. A lot of kids have already left, but some don't know for sure what to do yet, and now they're kind of stuck... lots of these kids aren't from around here, they've never experienced fires before. They're going to freak out knowing their "one route home" is shut down. They can't afford plane tickets and they're not going to take back roads that are unfamiliar to them. This is a serious issue and I don't know why it isn't all over the news yet...
You'll take your car to work, and i'll take my board... we'll always have the ocean.
Oh, and I second what Patrick said... YOU'RE A JACKASS!!! We don't all drink, do drugs, run down to Tijuana... some of us actually abstain from it all, study, and get degrees, thank you very much.
Sorry, not trying to be mean. Must have been interpreted the wrong way. It's just a bad situation and I feel sorry for anyone in it. There are still other ways out of SD and anyway, they whole place is not going to burn down. I apologize if I hurt anyone's feelings. I did not mean to make fun of anyone suffering down there. No one going to die cuz they can't get out anyway. I was just trying to convey how scary it was, that's all...
I don't understand why the poor UCSD students will be freaking out because "their one route home is blocked." Boo hoo! Why do they all of a sudden need to drive home? The fire is nowhere near their campus, nor the UTC area where most of them live. The air quality here is not perfect, but not that bad either. I honestly feel like a lot of people are "freaking out" just so that they can feel like they are part of the disaster, too. Sorry, but UCSD is not in danger, and never was in danger. I work at UCSD, by the way!
nmd nice weezer reference
silver: on the chp site they were diverting traffic (in orange county) to ortega highway. maybe the 15 is open then since it would be the only way from orange county to san diego?
ucsd students (and other college students) don't have school for the rest of the week. maybe they would like to be with their families...
Oh really? Where @ UCSD do you work? I'll be sure to give you a tour... of roommates who live in Fresno and further, who can't be calmed down no matter what you say, who insist on wanting to be with family and to just get away from it all. No matter what I say, that Rancho Santa Fe is still a good distance away, they believe it's still too close, the winds are too unpredictable, etc. etc... so whoever you are, how about you walk a mile in THEIR shoes? See how you would feel, freshmen with no familiarity with the area, honestly believing your life is in danger. Or that you at least wanted to see your family, for some comfort during this harrowing time, and now you can't get there as easily as you could have before... taking new and unfamiliar routes... you know what? I'm not wasting my breath on you. :D If you choose to be stubborn, then nothing I can say will appeal to you anyway.
2:21AM 1039 OCSO - COPIES 0% VIS AND CAN GET THRU UNESCORTED, COPIES WE SUGGEST USING THE 15 TO GET THRU
I go to Tijuana myself sometimes.
And if it was a way out of San Diego, I might go there for sure. It's still probably a good idea. I don't think all of Tijuana is going to burn down...SD State students should sit tight. No way is all San Diego going to burn down. They're better off at the university than running around on these roads anyway, esp with fires jumping 8 line highways and all.
It is a serious situation and I was trying to convey that. Once again, I am sorry if my post was misinterpreted...
Best wishes to all of you down there. I give you my prayers...
I do agree with anon 2:22 though. Better off on campus than trying to run insane highways with fires on both sides of them.
part of the "freak out" probably stems more from panicky students then the need to feel like part of the disaster. it seems quite a bit of them are thriving too much on peers' hearsay. i live in the utc area w/ my family in orange county, so it is a little disconcerting that i couldn't get home, god forbid, if the fire decided to turn south.
but it will all get figured out. i wager that the fire crews will try their damnedest to open the 5 and make sure its clean.
OMG, I was driving south on the 5 when the fires were still east of the freeway. So many cars were pulled over on the side of the freeway to watch the blaze. The real scary thing was the fire being pretty damn close to the nuclear plant, I mean really close, about a 1/4 to half a mile.
Not sure why the news isn't mentioning this, probably to prevent a mass panic.
Which brings me to my other question... why the heck are classes cancelled for the entire week? If professors need to cancel classes due to their own personal emergency I have no problem with that, but I don't see why every class should be cancelled. I went to college several thousand miles from my family so I cannot really relate to this "running home to be with the parents whenever there is free time" mentality. Can't you all just study, hang out, maybe VOLUNTEER a little? Do you really need to run home just because you have 4.5 days off of school? Are you that fragile? I feel like everyone wants to be a part of the drama... wants to say, "YES, I WAS EVACUATED AND FACED HORRIBLE DANGER!" But the truth is, you didn't face the danger and you weren't really affected. Neither was I... and I am THANKFUL for that. Calm down... the I-5 being closed for a few hours does not need to cause widespread panic among UCSD students. It will likely cause major inconvenience for many other people however. Let's just hope it opens up again soon.
The wind has died down, but the highways are best left clear for firetrucks and police, and emergency vehicles. I understand kids feeling lost and scared away from home in a disaster (that is being fully covered worldwide by the way. I am currently in my office in New Zealand). Dont underestimate the sheer magnitude of the situation there. I am a growbn woman and I would be freaking out if I was frm LA County and couldnt get home myself. Cut the poor kids some slack would ya?
I guess Highway 15 is ok? There are some fires in Fallbrook again now and there is a fire in Temecula. Poway and S Escondido burned earlier. I dunno what to say. Your chances of being burned to death on a major 8 lane highway are awfully remote...
UCSD classes are cancelled because of the air quality. Duh.
And to answer Silver, I work at multiple locations on campus. In one of the labs on Gilman, at the VA, at Thornton Hospital, and also at UCSD-Hillcrest downtown. I'm going to bed now, BTW, so you can have the last word if you want. :>
Well, in all fairness, they're probably not all fragile, rather viewing this whole event as "fall break." It makes sense to cancel classes if no other reason than because of the air quality (a bit better now, but was atrocious earlier today) and, since State and USD cancelled too, you know, we gotta keep up with the jones'.
But yes, people should sit tight and chill out. We're have no clue of all the info and shouldn't rush to judgements. Hopefully the mess on the 5 is cleaned and reopened.
Anon, the fire is burning near San Onofre?!
I don't need the last word... I'm just asking that you think with the mindset of a freshman who lives more than a few hours from here, who is scared because of all these rumors floating about and because of their unfamiliarity with the area, etc. etc. Or maybe all the crazy students are MY suitemates, and they don't exist anywhere else on campus... which I doubt. I mean, when the Muir RA's start telling people to go home... what are you going to say to that? No, you don't know what you're talking about? As far as some students are concerned, the RA's know everything. :P Thankfully, things are calm over @ Marshall.
Oh, I couldn't resist replying to one last thing. OK... the air quality isn't great. Yeah, I noticed that. But it's not THAT bad at UCSD, though. I've been here all day and all night. How is it different to be in your apartment/condo versus in a lecture hall? You're still breathing in particles and crap. Are people working at UTC mall? YES. The VA? YES. Any hospital? YES. Your favorite restaurants, grocery stores, etc? Any other normal business, non-governmental in nature? MOSTLY, YES. Life can go on in the UCSD area if you choose to let it happen.
Kids have asthma. They can't walk up and down the hills from their dorms to class, to another class, to another class... they'll pass out, then the school gets sued by hundreds of angry parents, and next thing you know, all 2 billion of the budget is gone. :P Exaggerated, but only by a bit.
OK, Silver. Good night. I hope that you and your suitemates make it home and have a nice relaxing October break. :) And I highly recommend http://maps.google.com if you want to get a sense of where various streets, neighborhoods, etc are located.
robert:
yeah, san onofre, pretty close. That was at about 10:30pm. Well, actually thinking about it, I was driving fast, so it may be farther than it seemed, I do remember seeing flames right above the weigh station and slightly north. Not sure what the exact distance between the nuclear boobies and the w-station is, but I gather it must be much close now than it was at 10pm
back to things:
2:35AM CT 12T11 ADV PUT IN HARD CLSR SB 5 ONR FROM CHRISTIANITOS, ALSO MANNED BY CHP
Anyone know what 'HARD CLSR' means? Hard Closure?
The weigh station and illegal alien checkpoint :P is a ways from the San Onofre nuclear plant. I haven't been there in many years, though. Maybe 17 yrs...
I drive through there every day, going about 80, the power station is about 2.5 minutes from the checkpoint. That's what I think
"How is it different to be in your apartment/condo versus in a lecture hall? You're still breathing in particles and crap. Are people working at UTC mall? YES. The VA? YES. Any hospital? YES. Your favorite restaurants, grocery stores, etc? Any other normal business, non-governmental in nature? MOSTLY, YES. Life can go on in the UCSD area if you choose to let it happen."
You make it sound like the students made the decision to cancel classes.
From the Chancellor's letter: "After careful consideration and conferring with the Office of the President and our Academic Affairs colleagues, we have decided to cancel classes for the rest of the week."
Obviously they felt this was the best decision for the campus. They did this for the Cedar Fire in 2003.
Anyone know where someone would go for emergency information in San Clemente?
okay, I did a quick google map looksy, roughly estimating, it's about 2 miles from the plant.
To the other "anonymous" complaining about college kids going home:
I don't think all the college kids were leaving under the mindset of "OMG! We're in DANGER!" I certainly didn't think that when I left campus; I left many personally important items at school. In addition, my family is in Irvine, where another fire is located. My parents asked me to come back and I did. I brought things to STUDY, and I am planning to VOLUNTEER in Orange County. Most of my close friends left SD before I did, so hanging out at school isn't really an option.
So, no, we are not that fragile; going home also relieves our parents' worries whether or not we ourselves are worried. Since you can't relate to the feeling of having home nearby, don't accuse us of things we are not. I think that if I were you, I wouldn't go home either, and I still don't think the fire will threaten campus.
And, I agree with you about classes. Comparing this fire to the one four years ago, the air in Irvine was a lot worse back then than the air in SD now, and I still had school back then.
2:34,
I hear volunteering helps develop compassion for others. Perhaps you should take your own advice. And so nice for you that your little UCSD world is fine and lovely but for those who are displaced and wondering if they have homes to go back to, your whining about the university canceling classes and railing on students for being scared is insensitive, to say the least. So glad most San Diegans aren't like you.
this does not sound good...
3:01AM LATE ENRTY 7C ADV POLE GOES OVER FRWY BOTH SIDES ARE EFFECTED
2:56AM FD IS 97 WATCHING THE FIRE
2:51AM 1039 CAMP PENDLETON FD - DOES NOT KNOW ABT THIS - REQ POLE# AND BETTER 1020 - IS CHP 97 HERE ?
2:49AM 7C- POWERLINE JSO SANTA MARGARITA RIVER BED FIRE IS RIGHT NEXT TO TREE NEXT TO THE POLE WILL PROB BE COMING DOWN SOON
Cedar fires in 2003 were way, WAY worse for UCSD than this 2007 batch. Tell the stupid little freshmen to shut up and go to bed.
2:34, UCSD is closed for the whole week because, if you hadn't picked up on it yet, it's very much a commuter school. Students, professors and staff drive in from all the hell over San Diego county and further -- hell, when I was doing my BS, my fluid mechanics professor commuted from LA!!
It's worth closing the university for a week so that folks can truly get a handle on the situation.
And, by the way, the point of closing schools and canceling classes is to keep people off of the roads and keep electricity use down (we're borrowing from mexico right now), in addition to the fact that the air quality is poor.
"Cedar fires in 2003 were way, WAY worse for UCSD than this 2007 batch. Tell the stupid little freshmen to shut up and go to bed."
Have you read the reports? There are more fires now...more destruction. I was a senior at Torrey Pines in 2003 and remember the fires. I am now a 4th year at UCSD. How were they worse?
nuclear boobies.
so what happens if that place catches on fire? I know it's mostly concrete, but there's still plenty of wood in the surrounding structures? and heat will destroy electronics, wiring, computers, and what not. Anyways if you check the google fire map, the san onofre fire is pretty darn straight west of the plant. Now they're stating the fire crossed the freewy, so that would place it really close to the plant, I would think..
keri, where are you getting the info about the SM river bed fire??
Keri, did you bother to look at the sky or breathe the air during that time?
This is a friggin' picnic compared to the conditions in '03. The air quality really did warrant closing the campus then. But I still support the current closure for the sake of organization.
http://cad.chp.ca.gov/
click on go next to hot spots (in the middle). then click on camp pendleton fire
Ok, we've talked enough about UCSD...which is not a topic thats concerning everyone who's awake right now.... can any one tell for a fact (with source of information) that the fire near I-5 is "controlled".
yes air quality was worse in 2003. i remember going to eat at pipes in encinitas the first morning after the fires, and ash was flying in my orange juice. however, this morning i woke up (i'm located in carlsbad, near la costa resort) and there was a layer of ash on the ground. i could see my footprints...which means it's not safe. i'm saying that the destruction is worse now. sure air quality is one reason to close the school, but i have friends that have been directly affected from the fires. honestly, school is the last thing on my mind right now. i'm just trying to make sure everyone i know is ok.
richu, if you look at the chp site, it said that the fires were originally "controlled" but then became out of control for whatever reason.
from the chp site:
showing that it was controlled:
12:50AM ^SIG ALERT ISSUED
12:50AM ^I-5 IS NOW CLOSED IN BOTH DIRECTIONS DUE TO BACK FIRES GETTING OUT OF CONTROL AND NOW BURNING ON BOTH SIDES OF I-5
12:27AM ^CAD # 1247, 2236 HRS, SETTING BACK FIRES, NB I-5 JNO VIEWPOINT, CAMP PENDLETON FD SETTING BACK FIRES ON OLD 101, FIRE JUMPED FWY
current status:
3:01AM LATE ENRTY 7C ADV POLE GOES OVER FRWY BOTH SIDES ARE EFFECTED
2:56AM FD IS 97 WATCHING THE FIRE
keri, thanks. i am on the chp site...but couldnt see the information you are referring to...can you please give me specific detail
CT 700 MET W/ CAMP PENDELTON FIRE CAPT-- REGARDING BLK WIRE, CONNECTED TO A POLE ON RS, AND GOES ACROSS TO THE CD, CROSSES BOTH NB/SB INTO CAMP PEND
god so the pole is big...
Apparently the marines set their base (Pendleton, not Miramar) on fire, specifically the commissary...so sayeth a KPBS caller maybe an hour ago.
dudes enough about air quality. It depends upon location. The diff in a quarter mile one way can be the difference between getting lung cancer and being able to run a hamster wheel. It’s all your own personal anecdotal experiences. Go get some sleep.
richu, the first part is located under san diego (you have to select the county on the left menu), and once you are there it's under media information
the second one is under hot spots, under camp pendleton
UCSD IS closed for bad air quality which is probably improving over time. But a lot of staff from campus live all over the San Diego county and could possibly be evacuated. We can't expect them to come to school and teach or work? It's not the students, it's for the staff and we have no other choice but to go along with what UCSD decides.
for anyone on the CHP sites, The Ten Code so you can follow the 10-20, 10-39s, etc.
cheers and thanks to everyone here talking about the I-5 fires when no one else is!
How's the Pendleton fire looking from Oceanside? Can anyone see it there yet? Not having heard a thing about evacs south of the fire is worrying.
got it keri thanks!
thanks for the link for the 10 code! this makes it easier to understand =)
np richu!
as for oceanside, my grandparents live near the pendleton gate that's close to douglas. haven't heard from them, so i hope they are ok. if anyone knows any info about this area, please let us know.
1039 SDGE; RE: POLE & WIRES OVER FWY / WILL BE SENDING SOMEONE OUT / NO ETA AS OF YET
Keri,
You are quite welcome! Keep in mind too that many of the numbers you see are officer "names"... peace officers use #s rather than their names. Also, "NCOMM" is their dispatch.
Evacs in Oceanside: Last I heard there was a voluntary evac for Morro Hills way up near Fallbrook. That's the only one...
thanks anonymous! it's interesting learning how their system works. at least we have some way of knowing what's going on. i do this drive at least once a week (bf lives in irvine), so it's creepy to hear about all these places.
for richu's post: i really hope they get sdge out there soon. i wish more news stations were covering this story...it would be nice to know where this fire is headed.
i was looking at the chp website (incident location "SB I5 AT HARBOR DR")...that says SDGE reached there at 3:44
3:53AM 1039 SDG&E AT 0344
yeah they must be assessing the situation now. the last poster in the other thread said that fire trucks were racing to the scene. hopefully they can put it out. i am going to sleep now, so hopefully the 5 will be open when i wake up. stay safe everyone!
KERI - I'm off Douglas & N. River and we're all okay. No evacs or anything at this point. I'm sure your gparents are just fine. :)
good thing i checked this again! thanks so much for the good news!
I'm sitting in a church about 2 miles south of Camp Pendleton on the I-5. So far so good, Im hearing talk about a fire up by Del Mar (on base) - but so far it hasn't turned South yet.
I-5 was just reopened! Watched it on TV around 7am!!
I-5 Southbound now open as of 7:31 AM this morning 10/24 per Caltrans - GREAT NEWS.
Why Classes Are Cancelled
1. They don't want the tens of thousands of us going to state, usd, and ucsd on the roads.
2. The Air Quality.
3. Many professors and indeed students are out of their homes right now, with 1/4th of San Diego being evacuated, it wouldn't be fair nor reasonable to continue having classes without these people.
I have been reading and looking at comments people are leaving around the area of all tehse fires, now i know alot of housholds are being smoked out due to the heavy flame, My dad owns a air purifying prduct that can deffinatley help he is willing to go anywhere to bring them
they will help! please contanct me
Beautiflybroken1991@yahoo.com
Can someone tell me if north bound I5 is being divered to east 78 then to north 15 how one would double back to get to Newport Beach. Trying to get to work.
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