Major Losses for Westmont Faculty Housing

This is so bad, I hope everybody feels better soon. My heart and prayers are with those that suffered great damage and especially those who were injured and don't feel well.

Love, Pangzhu

I don't understand why keeping the kids in a gym is safe. If the fire swoops down and engulfs the area, what will they do for breathable air or even for oxygen? Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

The gym won't burn. Nothing that it's made of is flammable. It definitely wasn't possible to get all 800 of us off campus. I was there, and I can tell you, the air quality was infinitely better in the gym than it was outside. Even when the fire was right up to the building, we were still fine. It was definitely the best option. I know everyone in charge of the evacuation has learned a lot and this whole experience has honed their ability to handle such situations.

This is bad, so very bad. I give my best hopes and wishes to those inflicted by this great big and disastorous fire. My heart goes with you in the biggest of way.

Love, Pangzhu

Responding to brandonpetty: I understand what you say, but it is not reassuring. There are trees all around the campus and gym, and the fire did not really sweep through the campus and engulf the region around the gym. Of course, the air quality inside was better than outside. It was also at my house when we were surrounded by smoke, and flaming embers were landing all around. In a really bad conflagration, the fire consumes all the oxygen available. If I were you, I would ask your administration for a detailed response. I know many scientists who raised the same question that I have.

Dear Mr. BartSimms,

I wonder when the last time you saw Westmont Campus was. Yes there are some trees near the gym, but from my recollection (and I haven't seen Westmont since May 2007, so I may be a bit rusty here) they are only a few years old, barely taller than myself and the nearest one to the gym is a few feet away. The most flammable trees that are closest to the gym, are up a hill, a nice distace away and seperated from the gym by a road and a giant sidewalk.

The reason the students were evacuated to the gym is 1)it's the safety zone for that area. Nearby residents are supposed to evacuate to the gym if they have no where else to go.

2)It's a pure concrete building. Yes, the oxygen will have been depleted, but it's not going to burn.

3) The area around the gym is surrounded by a sidewalk on two sides, a pool on the back, and a building on the remaining side. It makes for a great place for firefighters to make a good stand and defense against the fire.

4) The administration has made it clear in the past to the students on campus (at least when I was there) that the evacuation plans had been made in conjunction with local fire officals and community leaders. Much better to have students head to the gym than clog up the small, windy, two lane road that leads to up to Westmont and other parts of Montecito.

No parent that I've heard from has complained that their student was put in a concrete gym with supplies to last for at least 48 hours. In fact several faculty and staff members were in the gym with the students. Also with the students was the President of Westmont College, who flew up from a conference to be with his students.

Oh yeah, I've also been hearing from high school students who were at Westmont for a Preview Days and they say they want to attend Westmont even more now, knowing how the school responds to situations like this. And from what I understand their parents are proud of the college for responding the way it did.

Now if there had been time to get the students off campus before the fire hit, then I'm sure the college would have arranged for that to happen. As it stands though, we should be glad that no student was injured and be praying for the faculty members who lost their homes. Many of whom are my former professors.

If you talk to your scientist friends again, you can ask them to stop asking questions about the idea of having a safe zone on a college campus that has been worked out between college officals and the fire officals and ask them to start working on ways to help the people affected by this fire. Because that's the alumni and friends of Westmont are doing. We're not sitting around demanding the answers to questions that the parents and students already have answered.

Icebergs? Everything's fine, stop asking questions. This route has been worked out between White Star Lines officials and the Coast Guard. What could possibly go wrong?

SB Co Fire Boss Eli Iskow said the best protection is actually in a structure & if said structure is made of fireproof materials, you're chances of surrvival in a fire such as this 1 are even greater. Ususally a fire of this magnitude blows over mostly going for the easy to use fuels such as trees. Kind of a path of least resistance/ Sure, if your house is burning from the inside out, bail out & fast. But if the threat is from the outside in, stay put, you'll be better off. The fact that the students in that gym survived is a testament to that advice.
As for the air quality, the ventilation system is filtered so particulate matter was minimized. The thing about the fire sucking up the oxygen from the surrounding area, well, that really isn't the case.
They did the right thing. I was praying for those students there & when I heard the order to house them in the gym went through, I knew my prayers were answered :) henry