I repeat “not a single home was damaged.” I missed that a few bales of straw (not hay) went up in smoke. I guess that “strawman” argument holds little water. The fact remains, 4S went through the fire unscathed. Mainly because there are miles of defensible space (all of Poway and Carmel Mountain Ranch) directly to the East. That is the key. Every neighborhood that suffered serious damage (they have my deepest sympathies) had fire fuel type vegetation east of the homes. Check it out. Its completely true. Defensible space to the East – not burn in a Santa Ana driven fire. Fire fuel prone vegetation to the East – hit and miss if homes burn in Santa Ana driven fire. This point is best evidenced by the huge effort made at Espola road in east Poway. That wild fire is the one that would have burned the land 4S is built on (after it had burned through the land Poway and Carmel Mountain Ranch are built on) if there were no development (i.e. raw land). However, the entire city of Poway and Carmel Mountain Ranch lies between that area east of Espola road and 4S ranch. Homes east of Espola burned. There were 50+ fire trucks on Espola and they held it there from crossing over Espola to the west and into Poway west of Espola. Look at the map of the fire. There is a straight line at the eastern edge of Poway where the fire stopped as it approached Espola road. This fortunate feature of geography protects 4S (at least all of 4S south of Cam. Del Norte) from a Santa Ana wind driven fire, which are the most destructive type and always most from east to westerly.
