SAF Wednesday E-Brief - 10/24/2007 (Plain Text Version)
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Fires in California Continue to Affect Floral Industry
"You know there's a sun up there because there's an orange glowing orb," Merilee Just, owner of San Marcos Florist, in San Marcos, Calif., says from her shop on Wednesday afternoon, as she witnessed the effects of the fires blazing though southern California. "But that's the only sign because we're surrounded and engulfed in smoke, and it almost looks like it's snowing because of the white ash that's falling." Just says her city looks like a ghost town, with the few people that remain after evacuation, walking around with white masks covering their mouths to protect them from the polluted air. This is a common scene in southern California as multiple wild fires fueled by the Santa Ana winds continue to burn for the fourth day, causing more than an estimated $1 billion worth of damage in San Diego, Calif., alone while causing the evacuation of over 900,000 people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, according to CNN. Janet Kister of Sunlet Nursery, Inc. in Fallbrook, Calif., says the city had experienced three mandatory evacuations by Monday night. On Tuesday, when she returned to her operation, she says there were three fires in the areas surrounding Fallbrook, about five miles away, but, as of Wednesday afternoon there was no cause for concern. "The nursery is fine, though very smoky," Kister reports via e-mail. "Unfortunately one of our employees did lose her home to fire. Since everyone here has been evacuated, we have not had contact [with] all of our employees, but we are hopeful there will be no other losses." San Diego County ranks first in the state of California in gross value of flower and foliage production, with 51 percent of the total gross value of flowers and foliages in the state, according to USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Janice Wills, program coordinator for the California Cut Flower Commission (CCFC) estimates that there are more than 100 growers in the area affected by the fires, and although some rumors have circulated regarding specific farms that have been destroyed, as of Wednesday afternoon, they had no confirmation. "We've know of evacuations but we have had no news of loss or destruction," Wills says. Grower Michael Anthony Mellano of Mellano & Company told SAF on Tuesday that the company's farms in San Luis Rey and Carlsbad weren't in any danger and that he and his family were hosting five adults, five kids, "10 dogs, a guinea pig, a hamster and cat" at his home in Bonsall, Calif., until their friends could return home. "It appears to me that our area should be thankful we have a lot of groves and farms that tend to slow down the fires," Mellano says in an e-mail. "Those that are in areas of chaparral are burning very fast." As of Wednesday afternoon, according to CNN, more than 20 fires had scorched 400,000-plus acres from the Mexican border to northern Los Angeles County and inland into the San Bernardino Mountains since the weekend. CNN also reported that The National Weather Service said a red-flag warning for extreme gusty winds was in effect for San Diego through 6 p.m. PT (9 p.m. ET) Wednesday. Forecasters said firefighters should see an end to the Santa Ana winds that have fueled the fires by Thursday. Many floral industry sources say business has come to a temporary standstill, mainly due to evacuations, street closures, and the effort to stay safe. Next week's E-Brief will include additional coverage of the impact of the fires in southern California. --Kori Kamradt
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