Our Cabin in Idyllwild

[Deleted]

I've been contacted by a couple of people privately and thought I should share with the rest of you.

So far, so good. The firefighters are throwing a massive amount of resources towards this fire. It's burned about 25,000 acres and is still only 15% contained. It's about 3 miles from town. The big issue is the winds. The wind has been blowing on-shore, that is from the ocean eastward and away from town. They expect that to change this weekend. The weather is really iffy. They may have some monsoonal moisture or just get dry lightening which could cause more fires. The fire is burning at an elevation of between 7500' and 9000'. It's been burning in a crescent pattern so a wind shift could be horrific.

From an eco-system point of view it's tragic. This area is a sky island with beautiful cienagas, waterfalls and streams. You just don't expect to see this kind of landscape in So. CA. I'm responding to a lot of messages but I'll try posting some photos to photobucket later. It's going to take a long time for this area to recover. The eastern area burned perhaps 10-15 years ago and the forest still isn't showing real signs of recovery. No second growth trees probably due to the on-going drought.

Regardless of what happens we'll be fine. Although the cabin has been in the family for 23 years we don't have too much which is sentimental or valuable. The place is insured for about $260k which is about $15k less than its market value. I had to argue with my insurance agent to keep it that high. While property is cheap in the town, building isn't. If the cabin burns it may actually be cheaper for us to buy another cabin and sell the lot!

We're fine and in the SF Bay Area 500 miles away. The town was ordered to evacuate Tuesday evening. Our sweet 70+ old summer tenants who have rented from us for the last 5 years were reluctant to leave. I had to PUSH them to go!

Here's link to the fire map; graphics.latimes.com/responsivemap-mountain-fire-near-idyllwild/


Thanks to all of you who have expressed concern.

Pre fire pix:

s1321.photobucket.com/user/pattona/media/SanJacintoHiking001_zpse3ba1398.jpg.html?sort=2&o=0

[Nazgul Girl]

    Wow, sorry this is happening to all the people and the area out there.   I hope things get quieted down soon.  This has been a terrible year for fires out west.

[Deleted]

7:30 pm update

Over 27,000 acres burned but still staying at 15% contained.

Incident Commander Jeanne Pincha-Tulley, in encouraging safety, warned her leadership team about how dry the vegetation is even in the wilderness area. “A green meadow at the 8,400-foot elevation burned as if it were dry, which is not a good sign,” she said.


It is VERY dry up there. When I hiked the area the last week in June what had been a rushing stream and waterfall over a 7500' escarpment two summers ago was 4 stagnant ponds.

They are throwing as many resources at this fire because the conditions are similar to the AZ fire near Prescott a couple of months ago where 19 firefighters died. Two of them came from the city of Hemet which is just west of Idyllwild.

[busymom]

Best wishes, Bonny!  Hope the fire misses you AND your neighbors.

[mmhmm]

Oh, Bonny, I'm sorry.  I didn't know you had property in that area.  My daughter went to school in Idyllwild.  It's such a beautiful area - like an emerald set in a desert setting.  Sad to think of what's happening there, but glad you're safe and your tenants got out so they're not in danger.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Bummer!
I'm glad you're safe though. I hope your summer tenants have made it out okay.

[Jaguar]

All the best Bonny and I hope that everyone is okay and safe.

[Deleted]

Jul 19, 2013 22:28:09 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

Oh, Bonny, I'm sorry.  I didn't know you had property in that area.  My daughter went to school in Idyllwild.  It's such a beautiful area - like an emerald set in a desert setting.  Sad to think of what's happening there, but glad you're safe and your tenants got out so they're not in danger.

Wow, it IS a small world! Most people outside of Southern CA had never heard of the little town before the fire hit the national news. Did your daughter go the Art's school or did attend the regular public school?

I love your description of an emerald in a desert setting; it's very appropriate

[raeoflyte]

I hope the fire is put out soon and your property is spared!

[Deleted]

Another almost 100 acres burned but the fire authorities are stating the fire is 25% contained.

Some light rain at the upper elevations being reported but they remain concerned about lightening starting another round of fires up there as it is dry, dry, dry.

Fire is within a mile of the touch down of the Palm Springs aerial tramway.

Latest map: idyllwildtowncrier.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/2013_07_20-Mtn_Fire-Map2.pdf  I think the scale at the bottom is a little off but in general I think one side of a square is a mile, thus each square is a square mile.

For those of you who want to hike the PCT, the pinkish line that goes through the middle of the map is the Pacific Crest Trail. I think it's labeled "National Scenic Trail"

And I finally uploaded my pix to photo bucket and edited the O.P.

[sheilaincali]

Bonny- we have been watching the news story.  DH and I used to live in Moreno Valley and my parents have a vacation home in Palm Springs (near the tram)  We love Idyllwild- we would take day trips up there to go hiking a couple of times every month.  So sad to read about that area burning.  Hoping they are able to put it out soon. 
We were loyal customers of the used bookstore there- every paperback was $0.50 and hardcovers were $1.  Stopped there every time we went hiking.  Owner was a real character.

[mmhmm]

Jul 20, 2013 8:49:35 GMT -5 @bonnap said:

Jul 19, 2013 22:28:09 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

Oh, Bonny, I'm sorry.  I didn't know you had property in that area.  My daughter went to school in Idyllwild.  It's such a beautiful area - like an emerald set in a desert setting.  Sad to think of what's happening there, but glad you're safe and your tenants got out so they're not in danger.

Wow, it IS a small world! Most people outside of Southern CA had never heard of the little town before the fire hit the national news. Did your daughter go the Art's school or did attend the regular public school?

I love your description of an emerald in a desert setting; it's very appropriate

She went to Desert Sun, Bonny.  I think it closed in 1990.  It was a boarding school, and in such a pretty location.  She went there for only a year, but she really loved it.  She loved the little town, and the beauty of the surroundings.

[Deleted]

There was about 1.5 inches of rain up in the high country, .5 in town. Fire is 49% contained.

Town is still under evacuation orders but it sounds like between the weather and the firefighters' hard work they've made tremendous progress.

Not out of the woods yet but feeling hopeful.

[Deleted]

Jul 20, 2013 20:27:27 GMT -5 sheilaincali said:

Bonny- we have been watching the news story.  DH and I used to live in Moreno Valley and my parents have a vacation home in Palm Springs (near the tram)  We love Idyllwild- we would take day trips up there to go hiking a couple of times every month.  So sad to read about that area burning.  Hoping they are able to put it out soon. 
We were loyal customers of the used bookstore there- every paperback was $0.50 and hardcovers were $1.  Stopped there every time we went hiking.  Owner was a real character.

Books are more expensive but he's still around. Definitely a character. I think he's the one responsible for the Idyll-beast signs around town!

www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/hemet/hemet-headlines-index/20100806-caution-sign-along-highway-243-warns-of-the-idyll-beast.ece

[Deleted]

OK, roads have opened and it looks like the evacuation order has been lifted.

I had to write my tenants a permission slip since you have to get a permit to get back in town.

I think the authorities are trying to screen out any looters with all the empty homes and looky-loos to see the fire damage.

[Deleted]

So the tenants got back in about 1pm yesterday. Everything is fine except the one tenant left the little studio room slider ajar "so that the animals would have a place to hide". She said everything was fine except it was "a little poopy"  Needless to say, I told her not to do that. We've had to clean out dead raccoons from under the house before and it is no fun cleaning out both the dead body as well as scooping out raccoon crap in an 18" crawl space!

Fire is about 70% contained as there was more rain last night. I think they have dismissed about 75% of the fire fighters.

Some of the fire stats are amazing. At one point there were about 2300 fire engines assigned to the fire. That's just about a fire engine per resident! Of course the engines weren't all in town but that's a staggering number of trucks. Estimated cost of the fire is around $20M

DH and I are talking about making a trip down there in September, after the tenants leave. We'll see if the USFS and the State will allow hiking up in the high country at that point. They have already had mudslides and posted flash flood warnings down hill from the fire areas.

[busymom]

Glad to hear your property is safe.