Smoke-filled skies over Hillcrest • Nightmare on Normal Street • Cleveland National Forest

At 5:45 p.m. Saturday, Weldon and his partner spotted smoke as they flew toward Cleveland National Forest in search of a missing hunter. They radioed in an urgent request, “Send air support immediately,” they told the dispatcher – either a water-dropping helicopter or a tanker with a load of fire retardant. The request was denied by a U.S. Forest Service official.

The reason? It was almost sunset, and state/federal regulations require firefighting aircraft to land 30 minutes before sunset, which that night was 6:06 p.m. After dark, the risk of crashing increases. Weldon told his partner, Rocky Laws, to make another plea, this time to a sheriff's helicopter en route to Balboa Park that was carrying a large water bucket.

But five minutes away from the fire, the pilot was ordered by a U.S. Forest Service official to turn back because the sun was going down.

Friday, October 31	The outrageous Nicole emceed the costume contest at The Center’s Nightmare on Normal Street. 50+ entries paraded the catwalk. Our favorites: Waldo, the Fashion Dolls and Snow White and the Seven Gay Dwarves: Horny, Licky, Bitchy, Slutty, etc...
Friday, October 31	Frank Gastelum, of Legends Home Furnishings, didn’t have any trouble scaring up customers Halloween evening. Let him treat you to some great factory direct prices at 1644 University Avenue.
Thursday, October 30	Sheriff’s helicopter pilot Dave Weldon has replayed the scene again and again. And he wonders: *How could the worst blaze in California history have been prevented?*	At 5:45 p.m. Saturday, Weldon and his partner spotted smoke as they flew toward Cleveland National Forest in search of a missing hunter. They radioed in an urgent request, “Send air support immediately,” they told the dispatcher – either a water-dropping helicopter or a tanker with a load of fire retardant. The request was denied by a U.S. Forest Service official. The reason? It was almost sunset, and state/federal regulations require firefighting aircraft to land 30 minutes before sunset, which that night was 6:06 p.m. After dark, the risk of crashing increases. Weldon told his partner, Rocky Laws, to make another plea, this time to a sheriff's helicopter en route to Balboa Park that was carrying a large water bucket. That helicopter took off immediately. But five minutes away from the fire, the pilot was ordered by a U.S. Forest Service official to turn back because the sun was going down. Hmmmm. Thanks, guys.
Wednesday, October 29	Smoke-filled skies over Hillcrest begin to clear although a large percentage of pedestrians continued to wear breathing masks. City schools were closed all week.
Tuesday, October 28	This morning’s headlines said it all. Unfortunately, a calm morning gave way to a hellish afternoon in east county as years of drought and bark beetle infestation made the forested hillsides a tinderbox.
Tuesday, October 28	Our favorite sentence from Lavender Lens #48	“Right now we live in such a metonymic and brittle state, with social democracy being cornered by the hegemonic powers of capitalism, that the simple hope for a more stable economy gets citizens to run to the voting booths and plunge into the fallacy of capitalist promise.” Bixi B. Craig Publisher’s notes
Monday, October 27	Satellite image of smoke from Southern California brush fires. The offshore flow of the Santa Ana wind conditions is seen in the plumes of smoke from the Ventura, San Bernadino and San Diego County fires. Visible spectrum satellite photo of smoke plumes (links to more maps and images)

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