When I invented the bjurt, one of my applications was to be relief housing. I thought these would be deployed in places like Darfur, Afghanistan, and maybe as close as the Gulf Coast. Little did I realize that there would be a need in my own backyard.

It is times like this that we show our true mettle. I am sitting on resources that could help in this disaster, and I intend to put them to use.

As I have announced at a Burners Without Borders meeting, and on my web site bjurt.com , I am donating 100 bjurt kits to Southern California fire relief. That's almost all my inventory, but I am happy to gift this because it's something that I have that can help someone else out. That's the Burner way.

At this point, I need to work out the rest of the journey from connector kits to in-place structures. This includes materials, like conduit, tarps, ball bungees, stakes or sandbags, labor, transportation, and distribution. Los Angeles Burners Without Borders people have already offered help, but I believe most of these will be built and used in San Diego County.

The first thing to do is to identify the most urgent need. Like Carl's setup in Borrego Springs, there are probably areas away from Qualcomm that are not currently well-served. Shelters for the evacuation sites is the most immediate concern. As people leave the evacuation sites, they will need structures on their property for living and/or storage during rebuilding.

I wish I had more than 100 to give, and some people in LA were asking the feasibility of having more parts manufactured, but for now, 100 it is. What can you do with that?

I've got a thread going on the San Diego Burners tribe ( sdburners.tribe.net/ ) if you would like to help get these built.