If you drew a breath in San Diego last week, you felt the horrible power of the wildfires that reaped such destruction on our county. Tops among the heroes of October are the firefighters, emergency personnel and others who risked their lives to fight for the rest of us. One firefighter was killed; others were injured.
Some of our friends and neighbors paid with their lives; many lost homes, including at least three people in the Union-Tribune family. Staff members were among the thousands of San Diegans who were evacuated because of fire danger.
These fires dwarf any before them in the county, including the 1970 Laguna fire; they have killed more people than the Laguna fire, destroyed at least four times as many homes and burned more acreage.
Union-Tribune coverage of the fires began long before dawn Sunday when Nancy Wyld, senior editor for operations, was awakened by a disembodied voice that said: “You’re in the path of the fire. Get out NOW.”
Once she was safe, Wyld, whose home was saved by her Lakeside neighbors who doused flames from a gas line, woke Todd Merriman, senior editor for news. Merriman began making calls to other editors who rousted photographers and reporters to go to work. Ahead for them were long days and long nights, often on the brink of danger.
SignOnSanDiego, the Union-Tribune Web site, carried its first bulletin about the fire at 6 a.m. By 7 a.m., a SignOn reporter had posted a story. Bulletins and updates on the fires were posted from 5 a.m. to midnight thereafter.
Chris Jennewein, Union-Tribune director of Internet operations, said traffic hit a record 1.3 million page views on Sunday and jumped to the all-time high of 5.4 million on Monday. Jennewein said those who went to SignOn for information included people out of the area as well as San Diegans. A Vista resident was among those who e-mailed thanks: “Your up-to-the minute news about the fires really helps ease the stress.”
Stories, photos and graphics by Union-Tribune staff were posted on the Web site; some were translated for Enlace, the newspaper’s weekly publication that includes articles in both Spanish and English. On Saturday, Enlace had on its front page a story about the lack of information available in Spanish at the height of the fires.
Everyone at the Union-Tribune, journalists and non-journalists alike, considers the mission of getting information to the public an essential service. That included delivery of the newspaper under difficult circumstances by independent carriers, said Bill Nagel, Union-Tribune circulation director.
“We’ve had an amazing response from our carriers,” Nagel said. “We had 15,000 papers not delivered on Monday and about 9,000 (Tuesday). These were in areas where roads were unsafe or impassable. Our carriers were dedicated to get the news out where possible and we are proud of their accomplishments.”
Free newspapers were provided to evacuation centers, Nagel said.
The worst of times in San Diego brought out the best in some people. Karen Blevins was among readers who wanted to say thanks to a host of volunteers who were heroes, albeit on a smaller scale than firefighters, but who still won the gratitude of those they helped. Blevins, a nurse at UCSD, did not lose her home but she and her husband, their four children and two dogs were among the thousands who were evacuated last week.
She sent me a long e-mail, peppered with names, some she did not know how to spell except as “hero.” A San Carlos resident, she was among evacuees who headed to Qualcomm Stadium when fire threatened her home Oct. 26.
As Blevins tells it, she was at work when the call came from her husband saying they were being evacuated and had 15 minutes to gather their most precious belongings. That was easy, she wrote: their four children, including triplets, and their two 100-pound black mutts.
Once at Qualcomm, Blevins, who was in her hospital scrubs, joined a volunteer from the San Diego Blood Bank, a Navy corpsman and “sweet nurse,” in setting up a medical trauma unit with the help of “a hundred humble, silent heroes.” They were joined by volunteer doctors and nurses.
“So while people continue to write angry letters to the editors about the dangers of shake shingle roofs, the lack of emergency services or the political posturing that may or may not have gone on, I saw this disaster from a very different perspective. I saw, firsthand, the beauty of our community rising from the ashes.”
Gina Lubrano’s column commenting on the media appears Mondays. It is the policy of The San Diego Union-Tribune to correct all errors. To discuss accuracy or fairness in the news, please write to Gina Lubrano, readers representative, Box 120191, San Diego, CA 92112-0191, or telephone (619) 293-1525. Send e-mail to: readers.rep@uniontrib.com.
