California Wildfires
Hundreds of thousands of people fled as out-of-control wind-whipped wildfires raged across California on Monday, threatening homes and stretching emergency services to breaking point.
At least 13 fires were blazing throughout southern California with thousands of firefighters struggling to contain flames that have ripped through tinder-dry hillsides and parklands following months of record-low rainfalls.
One person has been killed, more than 20 people injured and 90,000 acres (36,500 hectares) destroyed in the fires, which forced the evacuation of an estimated 250,000 people in the San Diego County alone. (Source)
The causes of the different fires raging throughout the state varied, with a fallen power line believed to be the cause of the blaze in Malibu while arson was blamed for a fire in Orange County that torched 7,500 acres.
This pair of images, depicting the area around Los Angeles on October 21, 2007, shows just how quickly the fires grew.
The left image, captured by NASA’s Terra satellite at 11:35 a.m. local time, shows several fires giving off small plumes of smoke. Just over 3 hours later, at 2:50 p.m. when NASA’s Aqua satellite passed overhead, large amounts of smoke were pouring from blazes northwest of Los Angeles. Actively burning fires are outlined in red.
In the right image plumes of smoke can be seen blowing off the coast, indicating the intensity of the winds and the presence of additional fires farther south. (Source)
Our sincerest sympathy and prayers go out to those who have lost homes and loved ones. Please take a moment to review the following chart provided by the LA Times :
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Comment from Mel Gibson
California Wildfires “Reconnecting Families and Individuals”
For Immediate Release:
Southern California USA
Monday, October 22, 2007
California County Wildfires “Reconnecting Families and Individuals”
NOKR is asking anyone that may have a missing or potentially injured family member due to the Wildfires situation in California to register this person with the Next of Kin Registry.
Register at: www.nokr.org
This contact information will be passed on to area emergency officials responding to this disaster.
The NOKR organization has initiated contact with San Diego County Office of Emergency Service to offer any assistance possible to help reunify individuals and families displaced by these tragic fires.
State of California Listed on the States Home Page
Information About (Living in California)
Next of Kin
http://ca.gov
National Next of Kin Registry
http://www.ca.gov/HomeFamily/Safety/Emergencies.html
US Governments Portal USA.gov (Under Family Services)
http://www.usa.gov/Government/State_Local/Health.shtml
Next of Kin National Registry
About NOKR:
The Next Of Kin Registry (NOKR) was established as a FREE tool for daily emergencies and national disasters. NOKR is an emergency contact system to help if you or your family member is missing, injured or deceased. NOKR provides the public a free proactive service to store emergency contacts, next of kin and vital medical information that would be critical to emergency response agencies. Stored information is only accessible via a secure area that is only accessible by emergency public trust agencies that have registered with NOKR.
NOKR encourages every township, county, municipality, city, state and nation to take ownership of the NOKR. This resource belongs to you, your citizens and to your emergency agencies. Take the NOKR registration forms and add your own identifying symbols.
NOKR is a humanitarian organization. As part of our mission to society NOKR has created a trusted safeguarding system for all personal emergency contacts worldwide. NOKR does not own the information we store, this information belongs to the registrants and is made available securely to registered emergency agencies during times of urgent need.
NOKR is a non-partisan; non-profit 501(c)(3) dedicated to bridging rapid emergency contact information. NOKR was established in January 2004, for daily emergency situations.
Office 1-800-915-5413
Fax 1-800-927-5497
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