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Walkers, canes and oxygen tanks at evacuation center

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Hundreds of older people living in retirement homes were brought by school buses to the Qualcomm Stadium evacuation center. Many had walkers and canes. Some needed help walking.

‘I’m a little too old to be doing this,’ said 99-year-old Sara Sally Meland. She and others were told to pack a suitcase and their medications, but Meland couldn’t remember if she had put her medicine in her white bag.

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The former real estate agent said she had no relatives in the area. ‘This is the worst position I’ve ever been in’ she said.

The seniors were taken to the Stadium Club lounge, some pulling their oxygen tanks. One woman in a red bathrobe and slippers pushed her walker. Emergency workers cordoned off an area of the lounge and wheeled in medical equipment.

Frances Singleton, a resident of the Remington Club in Rancho Bernardo, said she was optimistic that her home would survive.

‘It’s a big stone building,’ she said.

But her friend wasn’t so sure. ‘I hope you’re right, my dear,’ said Frances Beckmire.

‘The firefighters said it was well-built,’ Singleton said.

‘Yes, but fire is fire,’ Beckmire said.

-- Richard Marosi at Qualcomm Stadium

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