Riding out the fires by an oceanside pool

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Del Mar:

At the four-star L’Auberge Del Mar Resort and Spa, housewife Doren McClure, 50, rode out the fires in style. Dogs frolicked on the cream-colored marble floors of the lobby. Soot floated in the oceanside swimming pool and koi pond, but calming music played in the lobby, as McClure and other guests gathered in overstuffed couches in the lobby to share news.

McClure had dialed the hotel shortly after 7 a.m. on Monday morning, after deciding to evacuate her home at the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Course. She snapped up one of two rooms left to share with her husband, a retired golf company executive, and her two daughters. She packed her favorite pieces of jewelry, passports and video tapes. She left the paintings—for fear she might harm them more by moving them than by leaving them behind. Her youngest daughter, 15, packed four suitcases, but was told she could only bring one.

McClure said the Witch Creek fire in Northern San Diego County had hit larger swaths of affluent neighborhoods than previous fires.

Like others at the hotel, McClure praised government efforts to alert people about the dangers of the fires. Her daughter’s school called at 7:15am to tell her classes were cancelled. Later, a reverse 911 call came, alerting the family to evacuate. Her only complaint: perhaps federal water-dropping planes could have arrived sooner.
-- Sonia Nazario