SAN DIEGO—For many thousands of San Diegans, Qualcomm Stadium will no longer be simply the home of the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League, nor the former home of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball.

It will be long remembered as the place where families who had to evacuate from the 2007 San Diego wild fires experienced the comfort of knowing that people care for each other in time of need.

The stadium's status as an emergency shelter ended at noon today after most people in metropolitan San Diego County were permitted to return to their homes—although the wildfires continued to play havoc in more remote areas of the county.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff put his finger on some of what made the Qualcomm experience special when he spoke today in Washington D.C. to the International Association of Fire Chiefs:

"At various times, evacuation orders went out to literally hundreds of thousands of people, a lot of it through the reverse 911 system, which is a significant improvement that California has made since the 2003 Cedar fire," Chertoff said, according to a transcript made available to news media.

"And with all that, it was possible for the authorities to stand up shelters that accommodated I think at one point over 20,000 people, including over 10,000 at Qualcomm Stadium.

"We worked with state and locals, with the military to make sure we had cots. Generous donations of food and water of all kinds literally filled the stadium. I remember I was struck there was kosher food for people who wanted kosher food," added the Cabinet officer, who himself is Jewish.  

"They were giving massages out. I’m sure totally legitimate... On the third floor of the stadium. I think they were doing acupuncture. There were bands playing. Obviously, nothing can make up for the anxiety and stress that people feel when they’re worried about whether their houses and their possessions are going to be there when they get back, and we understand that. But I think good planning and good coordination try to ease the stress as much as possible for people in the Qualcomm Center. And I’m delighted that we were able to do that."

Alan and Laurie Rathsam spent all day Monday, October 22, and half of Tuesday, October 23, at the stadium where they parked two cars side by side.  They slept across the front and back seats of one; their 85-pound mixed Great Dane/ Labrador "Argo" slept in the other. 
 

EVACUEES—Alan Rathsam eats a meal among the cars of evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium and below, Argo, camps out.  Laurie Rathsam photos

Laurie Rathsam helps to tutor bar/ bat mitzvah students at Temple Adat Shalom in Poway and she and Alan, who  retired after 35 years as a civilian engineer from the U.S. Navy, have a wide circle of social acquaintances.  But in the confusion of the evacuation, they didn't think about which friends might have rooms where they could stay; they simply headed for safety.

"The biggest surprise for me, was that normally they say in a disaster you should leave with three days of provisions, and then to arrive in a place where so many of our needs were anticipated and available, it was quite a pleasant surprise," said Alan Rathsam.  "It certainly exceeded people's expectations."

At one point, "they had so much food, they couldn't handle it all," he added.  "Restaurants sent in high quality food; there were salads and pizza.  There were people in the parking lot handing food out—'Do you want pizza? Can you use water? Muffins?'—it was like a giant cocktail party."

On Monday evening, he said, "people were given camping equipment, pillows, blankets and tents.  I saw one truckload of animal cages; there was pet food that people were donating.  People certainly were willing to share—although sometimes, unfortunately, not everything they brought were things that people needed," he said.

"One troubling thing that did develop: some people abused the generosity.  You formed a line for pillows and blankets, and people would thrust them at you: brand new blankets, still in the wrapper.  If you took one, it came in handy, but some people took more than they could use, taking advantage of the generosity."

Although the Rathsams slept in their cars—"eventually you find a position in which you can make yourself comfortable"—they went into the stadium to use the restroom facilities instead of the port-a-potties that had been set up in the parking lot.

"Having flush toilets was more comfortable," he explained. In the restroom that he used, "someone had put up a cardboard sign which said, 'Hey, this isn't a Chargers' game; clean up after your messes.' And there was no litter at all."

Television coverage of the fires was shown throughout the stadium, helping evacuees monitor the fates of their neighborhoods, Rathsam noted.  Another convenience was the fact that one telephone company permitted evacuees to make free long distance calls.  "My sense of it was that it was a little unfair: we didn't know if we had lost our homes, yet people were treating us as if we had."

As it turned out, the Rathsams' home in the Rancho Bernardo area of San Diego survived the fires; although  ash  fell all over their property, there was no permanent damage.

On Tuesday, the Rathsams moved from Qualcomm—as pleasant as it was—to the home of a friend who lives in El Cajon.  On Wednesday, they returned to their own home.

Reflecting today on the Qualcomm experience, Rathsam described it as a place that "allowed people to collect their thoughts and come to grips with their situations." Furthermore it enabled people to feel well cared for and safe amid the patrols by numerous police officers and National Guards troops.

It was even a place where the Rathsams who are animal lovers could admire other people's pets.  "We saw a parrot, caged parakeets, numerous dogs.  Cats weren't given as much free rein.  We even saw someone with a rabbit on a leash."