No, this isn't about having a hot time with the local ladies.  

Several providers have evacuated their houses (I know of three; I'm sure there are others).  If you've e-mailed or called with no response, it's probably the fires.  

The Navy has opened up the MERCY, a ship that would be the 6th largest hospital in the world if on dry land, to anyone having to evacuate their home to avoid the fires.

I live on a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water.  Nonetheless, I have 1/2 inch of ash on my sidewalk.

See links for coverage of our fires.  Map at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/#

"In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends."  John Churton Collins

The fire has been on the outskirts of Scripps Ranch and Tierrasanta, which are in the midsection of the county, and are halfway down the urbanized part of the San Diego metropolis, but still are border communities with brush. The concept of a fire in "Central" San Diego to me would be a scenario like the downtown Chicago fire of yesteryear (you know, Mrs. O'Leary's cow), which is a scenario that likely will never happen again.

Having said that, there has definitely been fire here where people would have never expected it to be, and quite a few people on the outskitrts and in the back country have been forever affected by this.  In my 25 years in San Diego, these are the worst fires here by far.

I live by Downtown San Diego, and it is like a nuclear winter here.  The smoke creates a creamy orange-grey glow, and the sun at midday was like a big red dot in the sky yesterday.  Everything is covered with ash, and everything smells like smoke.  The mayor and county board of supervisors have closed schools and offices, and have asked employers to give everyone the day off.  We have been conserving water and trying to stay off the highways.  

Thankfully, the high pressure system seems to be weakening, so the wind and temp might be coming down, so hopefully, the fires will be able to be controlled soon.  My sincerest sympathy to any providers or hobbyists put out by the fires, and to the families of those ten or so people locally who lost their lives in the fires.

I live near some of the homes that burned in San Diego and even have a slight acquaintance with somebody who lost his home in the fire.  I feel very fortunate (and thankful to God) that my house was spared.  I saw neighbors who weren’t on the best of terms because of barking dogs and loud parties help each other water roofs and pack cars before evacuating the area.  Times like these make one see the world through different eyes and with a different set of priorities.  How sad it is that we all can’t get alone in the normal rat-race of life.

"How sad it is that we all can't get alone in the normal rat-race of life."

Well, if we did get alone, people probably would get along better.  

Seriously, though, you said yourself why neighbors can't get along:  barking dogs and loud parties (among other things).  Isn't one of the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself"?  If people were more considerate of other people's space from the start, and lived with a responsibility towards humanity, and not just human beings that they know or like, there wouldn't be a rat-race.

Or, as a certain British fellow once put it, "Imagine all the people, living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, I hope someday you will join us, and the world will live as one."

Freakin' liberal tree-huggers...what do they know!

I guess the point I was trying to make in my comment about getting along in the daily rat-race is that in this time of emergency I saw people being extremely considerate and helpful.  If these same people were as helpful and considerate of their neighbors on a day to day basis then things like barking dogs and loud parties would be resolved long before they created hard feelings and animosity.  People probably wouldn’t hold loud parties and neighbors would be far more tolerant of irritating things like barking dogs, especially when if neighbor was making a good faith effort to be correct the situation.   People would calmly and dispassionately discuss problems with the intent of finding a mutually satisfactory solution, instead of stew and feud over them.   As I said, it could happen if people had the same spirit of helpfulness and consideration on a daily basis that I saw in this time of crisis.