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[RC] Evacuations during the wildfires - cynthia hamberg

Hello All:
It has been a few weeks now since I evacuated my 2 horses and a friend's pony 
from the ranch I board at in Bonita.  As many of you know, we cancelled the 
Easy Come Easy Go/Bonita Turkey Trot due to the fires which ravaged the area of 
our proposed ride...I am going to focus on the feelings of being evacuated now 
because horseraser@xxxxxxx asked for input...I watched the news until about 
10PM on Monday night.  Everything was "breaking news" with promises of reverse 
911 calls...We never received a reverse 911 call, but the previous owner of 
"The Mustang" called me about 11:30PM to tell me about the mandatory 
evacuations out of Sunnyside and Bonita.  I live in Bonita, but the South side 
of Bonita was not receiving these calls...I grabbed my son, Kurtis 
Ibarra-Dosio, and we went to the ranch to load the horses.  Mt. San Miguel was 
on fire!  Kurtis helped me to hitch up my gooseneck in the dark on the first 
attempt. Murphy and Mustang loaded fantastically well,and so did Johnny, the 
pony.  We arrived at the K.O.A. in Chula Vista and were escorted to the "horse 
refugee camp" via a small pick up truck (what service!).  Parking my big rig 
wasn't easy...But, the two horses were used to camping with the trailer and so 
was I.  Being self-contained was a big advantage.  I had my water, my hay, etc. 
Other riders were not so lucky:  They reported having to use the toilet next 
to their trailers and into plastic bags...So, it wasn't a pretty sight.  We 
watched the glow of the mountain as the fire moved westward until 3:00AM.  I 
barely got any sleep that night since people were pulling in their rigs at all 
hours of the night (worse than an endurance ride--ha ha).  Early in the AM on 
Tuesday, my husband came to visit along with Starbuck's coffeee, blankets, and 
toothpaste...People took excellent care of us.  When I finally felt I was out 
of harm's way, I went and visited Suzanne Porrazzo and her 3 horses at the Del 
Mar Fair Grounds (i.e., Friday).  Suzanne had to evacuate for an entire week 
from Rancho Santa Fe...I was able to return to Bonita on Tuesday:)
Take Care,
Cynthia Hamberg, RM 



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