The E-Sylum:  Volume 6, Number 44, October 28, 2003, Article 1

KOLBES EVACUATED FROM CRESTLINE FIRE ZONE

  Quite a number of our E-Sylum subscribers have inquired
  about numismatic bookseller George Frederick Kolbe and
  his wife Linda, who live in Crestline, California, the area
  where massive forest fires are underway.

  At 7:00 pm EST Stephen Pradier wrote: "I have been trying
  to reach George Kolbe and just found out that he and Linda
  have been evacuated.   George's voice mailbox is full so you
  cannot leave a message.   I sent him an email and will try to
  reach him if I can.   If you hear anything, please let me know."

  I tried calling George myself this afternoon, and know others
  tried the same multiple times.  I'm sending this special issue
  of The E-Sylum to let everyone know that the Kolbes are
  believed to be safe.    Since George was hard at work
  cataloguing the John J. Ford numismatic library, the next
  question on most minds is the fate of the Kolbe home.  Let's
  hope fate intervenes and spares this library for the ages.
  The September 22, 2003 and October 5, 2003 issues of
  The E-Sylum (v6#38, v6#40) featured reports from George
  of highlights of the library as cataloguing progressed.

  The following comes from an article published earlier today
  in The Mountain News, a local paper serving Lake Arrowhead
  and surrounding communities.

  "It is now mandatory for all mountain residents to evacuate -
  from the top of the mountain all the way to Yucaipa."

  "As of 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday some 26,000 plus acres
  have burned across the mountain. The San Bernardino
  Mountains portion of 'The Old Fire' fire is at 5 percent
  containment. THE  FIRE IS NOW CURRENTLY BEING
  HELD AT RIM OF THE WORLD  HIGH SCHOOL AND
  AIR TANKER WATER AND RETARDANT DROPS
  ARE PROGRESSING AT THIS TIME.

  To date 24 homes in Crestline have burned in the Great View
  and Skyland areas, and officials say 24,000 homes are
  considered 'threatened', with 500 commercial properties
  also under 'threat'."

  "OVER THE WEEKEND...
  The 7-Eleven store at Lake Gregory Drive and Lake Drive in
  Crestline was the scene of pandemonium on Saturday night
  and Sunday morning as residents from all over the mountains
  heard that the store was the only place to pump gasoline in
  the entire area from Running Springs to Crestline.

  Owner Tony Tarlochan kept the business up and fully operating
  with the use of large generators and back-up generators. He
  said that on Saturday night there were 30 cars in each of the
  two gas lines at the station. Violent fistfights broke out among
  some of the people in line and Tarlochan and others had to
  intervene. "They were almost going to kill each other,"
  Tarlochan said.  By 8 a.m. on Sunday morning there were 200
  people outside of the 7-Eleven."

  For more information, see:
  http://www.mountain-news.com/articles/2003/10/28/news/news1.txt

  From another report from the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

  "At least 1,137 homes had been destroyed and 15 people killed
  as of Tuesday by five separate blazes scattered around Southern
  California. The flames dotted an area that extended, on a straight
  line, more than 100 miles, from the Mexican border north to the
  suburbs of Los Angeles.

  A handful of other fires that hadn't hit any homes also consumed
  tens of thousands of acres of brush and forest lands, bringing the
  total burned to more than 500,000 acres or about 800 square
  miles, roughly three-quarters the total area of Rhode Island.

  "It's a worst-case scenario. You couldn't have written anything
  worse than this. You can dream up horror movies, and they
  wouldn't be this bad," said Gene Zimmerman, supervisor of the
  San Bernardino National Forest, the area in which two of the
  most destructive fires began last week."

  For the full article, see:
  
http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~24823~1728742,00.html
  

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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