Thanks for your concern, Deb. :)
Not to worry -- at least not about *my* safety. We moved
to a location a little to the south from where we used to
live in Midpines. Our former location was indeed about
1 mile across Hwy. 140 from where the flames are now.
I can't imagine (well, actually, I can) how bad the smoke
must be up in Midpines, considering how bad it's been
where *we* are (depending on shifts in wind flows)
Anyway, we do know *lots* of people who've had to evacuate
-- the worst thing is not knowing whose homes have burned
to the ground. And yeah, one end of the town of Mariposa is
directly threatened, with flames visible on some of the nearby
hillsides. The senior living facility has already been evacuated,
and the JC Fremont Hospital is on standby, due to its location.
Not that we would wish a fire like this on other folks, but we
can't help but feel even *more* distressed knowing that the more
progressive people in Mariposa County -- including people who
listen & subscribe to KPFA/KFCF -- tend to live in the area that's
been hardest hit by the fire. It was kind of sad to hear no apparent
awareness of that fact when the fire was mentioned briefly at the
end of the KPFA news last night, but only referring to the heavy
smoke that's causing rather poor air quality for people in the
San Joaquin Valley.
Craig Gingold
(near Midpines CA)
PS - I'm not on the pacifica_now list, feel free to forward.
Date sent: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:00:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: Deborah Speer <satrngrl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: fulcrumsofchange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
NewPacifica@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
pacifica_now@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Fulcrumsofchange] [OT] Craig Gingold
Craig, if you have computer access, please check in!
Craig Gingold live in Midpines, Calif., which as many
of you know, is in the Sierra Nevada west of Yosemite.
There's a 30,000-acre-and-counting forest fire going
up there, and Midpines is under a mandatory
evacuation. From the maps I've seen of the fire
boundaries, it is *right on the edge* of the town.
http://www.modbee.com/1618/story/374824.html
Keep Craig and his family in your thoughts and Craig,
if you're out of harm's way and reading this, please
check and let us know you're OK....
Debbie Speer
Fresno, CA
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