Alex's situation

[Superdad]

Hi Everyone:

Power (and internet!) just came back on after being off for 36 hours, so I thought I'd send out an update to friends and family--before the power goes out again.

This is a really bad fire and even the town is quite threatened as homes in areas right behind it have burned.  They are dropping retardant on town now. All of town is closed, all roads and highways are closed, with our only exit being to the south, towards Oakhurst.  46,000 acres and only about 7% containment.  Big Type 1 national fire team is coming to take over.

As the crow flies, one front of the fire is just about 3 miles from us, but there are 2 or 3 ridges (and canyons) it would have to burn past to get here.  We would see it from our west-facing deck hours in advance--but we don't see even the tips of anything yet.

Attached is a vey current map of the fire.  Our house is the blue dot on the right.  Our horses have been moved elsewhere, and as we are still on pre-evacuation notice we have some stuff packed and ready.  Two giant dogs and 4 cats will present a challenge if we do need to flee, but honestly I am not too worried at the moment.

Not much to do besides eat the thawed food we have in the house--and avoid breathing the choking air outside.

Thanks for all your kind wishes.  Everything will be alright for us.  Sadly it won't be for a lot of other folks in the area.  The drought enabled the bark beetles to ravage millions of trees, and that has turned most of the Sierras into a tinderbox.

If things get worse I'll try to keep you all updated.  Otherwise, just expect that the heroic fire crews from all over the state will have gotten this monster contained within a few days.

(Too) warmly,

ALEX

 

P.S.  If it seems safe to leave my wife and kids at home tomorrow with just one vehicle, then I may try to make an 1:40 drive (each way) via back roads to the FedEx depot in Merced to pick up shipments of 250 LPS-1 cases and circuit boards that were supposed to have been delivered yesterday.  Then, if my assistant and I work through the weekend we may only be a day or two off on next week's shipments.  We'll see...
 

[EDIT:  Photos and map did not post--scroll down a few for them.]

[Superdad]

5 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Info for people to follow: http://google.org/crisismap/google.com/2017-detwiler-fire

 

Thanks, but that map must be almost 2 days old.  The fire is three times that size now and spread far southward.

[Superdad]

Oh, I see the map and photo I thought I pasted in is not showing.  I'll try again:

 

Blue dot is my place:

And from downtown:

[Superdad]

Just now, lmitche said:

Alex, what's the nearby Mormon Bar?  Sounds like an oxymoron..

 

LOL.  It's "bar" as in mining.  A streak of minerals--a vein.  There is also a road called Silver Bar.

The closest little store/gas station near us is in an area called Bootjack, named for the giant oak tree where they used to hang bandits from during the gold rush era.  After hanging, they used a bootjack to pry his boots off.

[Superdad]

Good morning everyone:

 

Sad to report that this fire continues to grow.  It's up to 72,000 acres with just 10% containment. 75 structures/homes lost.  Most of its current expansion is taking place at the north end, but it is also expanding at the south--and getting closer to our house.

 

Here is a link to the most realtime interactive map:

https://arcg.is/1TCP5W

 

I had been contemplating a multi-hour backroads drive (all highways near here are closed) to and from Merced to pick up shipments of boards and cases from FedEx for product production.  But clearly I'll be skipping that!

 

Alex C.

 

[Superdad]

On 7/24/2017 at 8:42 AM, sahmen said:

+1.  Glad to learn that things are back to normal, or almost.

 

Superdad: Have you resumed normal business-related e-mail communication?

 

Hello all:

A final update...

While the monstrous fire seems to be under control, there are still some 5,300 firefighters and personal managing it.  Mariposa was spared, but there are several areas just outside of town that were devastated--with many homes lost and much damage done to natural resources.  And since the county dump is either closed or no trucks are running to it, there is a mountain of smelly garbage--all that spoiled food from the days of power outage--piled up at one end of town.

My wife and I feel very fortunate to have been spared in this traumatic event.  At one point the south front of the fire was just under 4 miles from our home.  That might seem like a long way off, but with a fast moving, tree-crown-jumping wildfire that is nothing.

Tomorrow UpTone Audio will be making a $1,000 donation to a local fund in support of those who lost their homes.  And we are taking a hard look at some of the manzanita, oak, and brush on every part of our property.  As I drive our road and the highway to town, I find I look at the landscape from a new perspective: what used to seem lovely now just registers as "fire fuel" in my mind.

 

To answer your question, yes I am back at my desk, battling the digital wildfire known as my e-mail in-box.  Over the weekend--while testing 80 LPS-1 boards for shipment this Wednesday--I got mostly caught up with messages.  There are still a few--with multiple questions that require a bit more thought--yet for the balance of the week I really need to focus on shipping and logistics.

But other than that, it is mostly busy business as usual.

 

Thank you all again for the kind outpouring of support and concern. The past week has been a reminder that there is more to my life than business and audio (though I confess to enjoying both a bit too much)!  

 

All the best,

--Alex C.

[Superdad]

Just to be clear, there is no delay in shipment of UltraCap LPS-1 units.  In fact, we are now in stock and orders placed now for LPS-1s will ship within 2-4 days.  (And all previous open LPS-1 orders are shipping today--on the exact day originally promised for most people.)

 

Always go by what the product web page says at the time you place your order (red text just below AddToCart button)--and in the order acknowledgement e-mail you receive immediately afterwards (the two will always match at the time of order).  I keep careful track of who is promised what and when.

 

There are also about 40 ISO REGEN (or ISO REGEN/LPS-1 bundle) orders placed this month that were promised August 16th shipment.  Those too will be delayed to the 24th.  E-mail notices will be sent to those people at the beginning of the week.

 

For those of you who have an ISO REGEN/LPS-1 bundle on order:

Please do not ask us to split-ship your bundle with the LPS-1 coming now.  It is a logistical nightmare in our order system (Shopify e-commerce engine plus ShipStation shipment system) to make two shipments for the same SKU, and trying to keep track of who would then still be owed an ISO REGEN would be a manual process sure to lead to mistakes.

 

Thanks again for your understanding in this unfortunate circumstance.  Given the immense amount of time we put into keeping up with production and delivery of our successful products (grateful, not complaining ), it is maddening when something goes amiss like this.

 

Regards,

 

--Alex C.