San Diego Fires

Luckily, the inland winds have given way to ocean breeze and San Diego can finally begin to recover from this catastrophic conflagration. Although the coastal community where I live, La Jolla, was not directly affected by the fires, everyone in the County has been touched in one way or another.

A colleague of mine's neighborhood was evacuated and I had the opportunity to do my small part in housing him until he could return home. At Scripps Mercy Hospital, where I am currently on medicine wards, we absorbed some of the patients from another hospital which had been evacuated. At the same time, I've admitted a lot of patients for asthma/COPD exacerbations secondary to all the smoke and ash in the air. Although many of them quickly felt better after they got started on medications and the clean hospital air, we unfortunately won't be able to discharge them until the air clears up. In fact, the air quality got so poor, at one point, I got a headache just by walking three blocks outside.

I haven't had the time or foolhardiness to drive to the fire lines for pictures, however, the local News8 TV channel has set up a Flickr site to share user submitted pictures. Feel free to check it out.