What’s Right With America
From San Diego comes a perfect illustration of what's right with America. The Christian Science Monitor reports that volunteers are traveling hundreds of miles or more to pitch in and help. Not just with people, either. They are there to help animals as well.
San Diego - Rachel Hanley arrived in San Diego Wednesday after a 12-hour drive from her home in Colorado Springs, Colo. She parked her truck at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, home of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, and set to work caring for some of the more than 2,500 horses that have been given shelter there from the region's firestorm.
"There are a lot of displaced folks, but they seem to be taken care of," says Ms. Hanley. "But these animals are really scared, and not a lot of people can handle them. People are helping the fire victims of San Diego in all sorts of ways. Mine just happens to be with horses."
At least 1,000 volunteers have turned out in recent days, arriving at the fairgrounds and Qualcomm Stadium, evacuation central, to offer their services to the fire-besieged – everything from medical skills to yoga instruction.
Likewise, fire crews who've been battling the blazes since Saturday are seeing reinforce- ments arrive, as fires that had blackened nearly 500,000 acres by Thursday morning continue to burn throughout San Diego County. Eight deaths have been attributed to the southern California fires, and in a bit of bad news that represents the opposite spirit of the volunteer corps, authorities reported that arson is the suspected cause of two wildfires to the north – one in Orange County and one in Riverside County.
Among the firefighters who have worked to contain the San Diego fires are crews from Tijuana and Tecate in Mexico. "It is very important for Mexico to cooperate with the United States in situations like these because these fires affect the environment on both sides," said Capt. Marco Antonio Garambullo, Tecate's Fire Department director.
Mexico has also sent electricity to the area. A fire cut a main power link with Arizona, and a blaze near the Marine base at Camp Pendleton was, at press time, threatening the main north-south power corridor that connects San Diego with the rest of California.
And Still I persist has continued updates, photographs and maps on their site and have added a sidebar with more handy fire-related links. They have a photograph that illustrates the risks people took to help save horses. (It is not a happy picture - I hope there were no injuries, human or equine.)
Situations like this - tragedies where private citizens step up rather than waiting around for a government handout is what has made this country great. These folks deserve a hearty round of applause.
By Bruce H, Friday, 26 October , 2007 @ 11:23 pm
Thanks for the links, I went back and forth for 2 days about posting that picture, as it looks like a complete disaster and probably loss of life. However there is no way to know for sure, and it did in fact tell a story of someone brave enough to put their life and their property on the line to rescue animals trapped in a fire.
I am still hoping I can find out who this was any if there was any loss beyond the truck and trailer.