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UPDATE - Oct 24 - 10:02 AM EDT - Things seem to be getting a little better with the fires. The wind speeds are dropping slowly and they may reverse direction later this afternoon. BCTS is still up and working and I haven't heard of an status changes with Erin or Julie O.

Oct 23 - 2:06 PM EDT - Erin is doing fine with no fire anywhere near her. I did hear from Julie O however and she seems to be in the middle of things out there. She's been helping with displaced military personal and their families. I don't think her home is in danger at this time though but she has reported seeing flames off in the distance. I've asked her to keep me updated if she's able to do that easily. Keeping out of the way of the fires is more important right now.

BCTS continues to be up and available with no connectivity problems. No telling how long that may last though since it all depnds on any fire damage to telecom facilities.

Oct 22 - 7:01 PM EDT - Erin is doing fine. No fires closer than 15 miles to her location and that one is to the south of her home and not currently a problem. BCTS continues to be available to users. Just how long that lasts is anyone's guess since I don't know if any resources used for networking and power out there are in trouble.

WX forecasters say it may be as long as another couple of days until the winds die down enough to let firefighters get ahead of the flames. Right now they're stretched to and possibly beyond their limits and sometimes can do little more than evacuate those in the path of the fires.

One report I heard on NBC news said that at least 250,000 people have been ordered to evacuate areas ahead of the fires. Roads out of the area are choked with cars as the evacuation continues.

For those of you in jeapordy out there, please get out NOW! If you've had to evacuate and need to let others know you're okay please feel free to poat a comment to this posting.

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Older news:

Most of you know by now of the wildfires in southern California. The fires are being fanned by hot, fast winds blowing down from the mountains and are charring thousands of acres of forrest as well as many homes and businesses.

Some of the infrastructure is being destroyed too. Power lines are being burned and there will be damage to telecomminications facilities as well. With that in mind, some web sites hosted in those areas or using resources running through those areas may be down or difficult to reach.

At the moment, BC TopShelf itself isn't in any physical danger since the server is hosted somewhere in downtown LA. The possibility exists though that critical communications links could be damaged by the fires. I'll try to keep readers informed if anything happens to BCTS. As I said, the main threat to BCTS could be either a massive power failure or more likely a failure of the service provider's Internet connectivity if the fires damage any telecom facilities.

Erin is also okay and is a good 70 miles or more away from the fires on the "upwind" side. I'll keep you posted on any changes as I get the information.

Bob Arnold