The Week of August 2, 2020 — The Apple Fire, the Pandemic Continues, Interior Finish Work, the Entrance Canopy, the West Side, and the East Parking Lot Update
The Featured image for this week is of the towering plume of smoke rising from the “Apple Fire ” near Cherry Valley and Oak Glen. The photo was taken late Saturday afternoon August 1, 2020, with an iPhone 11. The towers on the Loma Linda University Health campus appear to be insignificant compared to the billowing smoke in the distance. As of this writing (11:00 AM on August 2, 2020, there is 0% containment, some 20,500 acres scorched, and approximately 8,000 people ordered to evacuate. Many Loma Linda University Health employees live in the area. Hopefully, they are out of harm’s way. News reports tell of only two (2) out buildings having been destroyed.
On Sunday, August 2, 2020, heavy equipment, surveyors, and a compaction tester was congregated on the east side finishing up on the remedial work that was needed for the east parking lot.
While work continued at the site, firefighters were battling the “Apple Fire”, bridging the Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, in the San Bernardino National Forest. The fire has burned some 32 square miles, and thousands of homeowners have been ordered to evacuate. Smoke from the fire can be seen for miles, and it is drifting toward the Arizona border some 150 miles away. By sunset there was enough smoke in the air to block out the brightness of the sun.
The East Parking Lot
Above the east parking lot, a crew is beginning to form the curbs and gutters for the east drive which parallels Anderson Street. The drive runs from the main entrance off of Prospect Avenue, and ties to the northeast parking lot, the east parking lot, and will service the emergency room parking lots. The ingress and egress for this drive is Prospect Avenue on the north and Barton Road to the south.Below the drive above, the compaction of the east parking lot is complete, and the surveyors are out staking the lot for curbs, gutters, and islands.A view of the east parking lot from the southeastA view of the east parking lot from grade facing the southeast corner of the site. The upper drive, which will parallel Anderson Street is above the wall, center left, and behind the orange barricades.
The West Side
The now closed front entrance to the Loma Linda University Medical center, which seems so small compared to the main entrance to the Dennis and Carol Troesh Medical Campus that is presently under construction. I wanted to capture the front entrance for posterity as it will soon be remodeled before the completion of the new campus.
After graduate school Dennis accepted a position at Loma Linda University. He worked there for 42 years in the areas of administration and financial management, also teaching accounting and management to dietetic students at the School of Public Health. Through the years Dennis has chronicled the growth of the campus, including the construction of the Drayson Center and the Centennial Complex and the razing of Gentry Gym. He is the author of "The Mound City Chronicles: A Pictorial History of Loma Linda University, A Health Sciences Institution 1905 - 2005." dEp 09.30.2016 🔨
