Half Way To Hell Here In SoCal

[DonH50]

It varies widely (or, wildly). Parts of the forest not far from us looked almost the same a year later, many sections were similar but more open without all the woody undergrowth (e.g. scrub oak) some of which is still recovering 10 years later, and sections of the fire scar in the hills west of us still look like the moon's surface 12+ years later. I don't think one can make a general statement on recovery time as there are too many variables.

 

[Ron Resnick]

before fire in remote forest

 

[Ron Resnick]

about six years after fire in same remote forest

 

[rando]

Some troubling academic ideas and misconceptions on emergency planning are inevitable. Emergency action, even more so.

Mount St Helens was a turning point in US handling of natural disasters. Continental, outlying territories, as well assistance proffered internationally. 57 people died because they refused to leave. Where ample warning aligns with *accessible* areas. Failure to respond to evacuation orders naturally follows in severity to level of government directly involved in enforcing it. When given Federal authorization - local, county, and state police act accordingly. Those (civilians) acting under a federal agency can be assessed powers to act within highly defined parameters as well.

When you reach a point meter maids and city personnel are delivering notices/aid under their local civic commitments. Refusal to evacuate will garner attention by imposing and fully empowered agencies capable of providing this service.


*When a helicopter lands or lowers rescue equipment in remote areas. They are no longer making advisements. Failure will not be an option in the event defining second contact.

 

[rando]

Sending best wishes all members and their homes in L.A. area are staying safe.

 

[Steve Williams]

Sadly the wind. Is the devil here as it has been relentless for the past 6 days and this has made it so difficult to contain theses fires The devastation and number of homes and businesses destroyed make things look like a war zone

 

[Synaxis]

Sadly the wind. Is the devil here as it has been relentless for the past 6 days and this has made it so difficult to contain theses fires The devastation and number of homes and businesses destroyed make things look like a war zone

Prayers you stay safe, Steve.

 

[Steve Williams]

Latest count shows over 13200 homes destroyed plus thousands of businesses and an estimate of $150B

Well over 100000 people have been evacuated. The rebuild process will be agonizing as it easily takes 8 months to secure a building permit from the city of Lazard tge coastal commission. FWIW LA hosts the summer Olympics in 4 years

 

[Steve Williams]

We are about 65 miles south and had our fire 3 miles from my house several months ago. That was very scary as we watched the mountain go up in flames. Ron is more at risk now as he is in an area which easily can become part of the problem. I won’t get into politics but will say there has been such a gross mismanagement that I won’t be surprised to see a public outcry for resignations. We have highest taxes in the nation and to read where money was diverted to at the expense of water conservation and fire prevention boggles the mind. This will take years to rebuild Our news is 24x7 coverage here on the fires and my hearts go out to all the people who have truly lost everything. There are complete neighborhoods where there isn’t a single house standing. And to make matters worse the police now are involved as these neighborhoods are being attacked by thieves and robbers harvsting what’s left of peoples’ life belongings. A true tragedy that has yet to show any signs of resolution. Yesterday a huge contingency of firefighters arrived at LAX all the way from South Africa

 

[Ron Resnick]

The Pacific Palisades fire started out quite far away -- 7 miles -- West of me.

But on Wednesday night a completely separate fire erupted in Hollywood Hills just a few miles East of me. That fire exploded very rapidly threatening the extremely densely populated area of Hollywood. All of Hollywood and about half of West Hollywood was subject to an immediate mandatory evacuation. The mandatory evacuation area was vast: Mulholland Drive to the North, 101 Highway to the East, Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the West, and Hollywood Boulevard to the South.

An evacuation warning then was extended West to my area.

I urgently packed up the SUV -- gallons of water, some food, Lola food, clothes, portable cooler, phone chargers, AC/DC power supply, keys, computer drive, watches, jewelry, etc. -- and parked it right in front of the house in case I needed to make a quick getaway. (Lola was excited by all of the packing, as she thought I was taking her on a trip.)

As the Hollywood Hills fire was being contained, two different fires erupted in Studio City near Coldwater Canyon, which is near me.

I thought the risk near me had ended, so on Thursday morning I unpacked the SUV.

On Thursday night the fire authorities established a containment line to hold the fire on the West side of Los Angeles so it would not cross over Mandeville Canyon toward Brentwood and Bel-Air and Beverly Hills. Unfortunately I woke up Friday morning to learn that that containment line had been breached by the fire, and that the fire was out of control and was heading East to the populated area of Mandeville Canyon and toward Brentwood. Brentwood was under a mandatory evacuation order, and Bel-Air was under an evacuation warning. Beverly Hills is right next to Bel-Air, so my area was the next to receive an evacuation warning.

So once again I packed up the SUV preparing to have to make a possible urgent getaway.

Yesterday I spent most of the day hosing down the house and surrounding trees as best I could (this is not really possible as from inside parts of the house you would think I live in a treehouse -- the house is literally surrounded by trees), but I couldn't really get enough water onto the roof to keep it all wet.

This morning the LA Fire Department believes that the fire has stopped moving East to Brentwood. Only one isolated and vulnerable house in Mandeville Canyon was lost. This means that Mandeville Canyon, Brentwood, Bel-Air and Beverly Hills all are safe (for now).

For the time being I'm not going to unpack the SUV.

 

[Joe Whip]

My son had to evacuate in the Hollywood Hills. He is behind the Dolby Theater and near the Hollywood Bowl. He face timed us Tuesday afternoon and once we saw the wind, my wife, who has fire experience growing up in Santa Barbara, advised him to get a go bag ready which he did. Several hours later he had to leave. His area was spared fortunately, for now.

 

[Steve Williams]

The problem is the tenacity of the Santa Ana winds. The first night (Tuesday) they went from 60 mph to 100 mph. My house literally shook all night. This plus all the dry vegetation on the hill sides makes the whole area a tinder box. It was such a hopeless thing to watch one home after another become quickly engulfed in flames and there being insufficient firefighters and insufficient water and/or water pressure.

I can't express the feeling of fear, panic and anxiety one gets when you are ordered to evacuate immediately. This happened to us with our fire a few months ago but the LA scene is so much worse with sheer devastation with 160000 people already evacuated and the fire has burned almost 15000 acres and after 6 days only 27% contained

 

[Joe Whip]

I was in a fire in Santa Barbara . Scary as hell. They move so fast and so random. Some houses get hit others not on the same street.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Approximately 24,000 acres of Pacific Palisades and surrounding area has been destroyed. 24,000 acres is approximately 38 square miles.

A circle containing 24,000 acres would have a radius of approximately 3.5 miles.

ChatGPT says that achieving total destruction in a circle with a radius of 3.5 miles would require a 32 megaton hydrogen bomb. (Total destruction radius refers to the area where buildings are leveled, and most infrastructure is destroyed. This describes Pacific Palisades.)

A 32 megaton hydrogen bomb is approximately the magnitude of destruction that tragically and unfathomably has befallen Pacific Palisades. This is why photos and videos of Pacific Palisades look eerily familiar to Cold War-era videos showing the simulated devastation of a nuclear blast on residential areas.

 

[Rumpole]

The problem is the tenacity of the Santa Ana winds. The first night (Tuesday) they went from 60 mph to 100 mph. My house literally shook all night. This plus all the dry vegetation on the hill sides makes the whole area a tinder box. It was such a hopeless thing to watch one home after another become quickly engulfed in flames and there being insufficient firefighters and insufficient water and/or water pressure.

The Marshall fire in Superior/Lousiville CO on December 30, 2021 was a wake-up call about the risk of fire in urban/suburban areas. We were always worried about people living in the wildland interface with lots of trees, but when you have extreme drought and 100 mph winds, there is almost nothing you can do to stop the fires from spreading, and the fire can spread faster than people can evacuate . Whether you live in an urban area or the remote back country, we all need to be thinking about creating fire defensible space, including zero flammable material within 5 feet of the house, and fire resistant construction.

I was watching some of the news coverage in LA and a reporter said there was "no rhyme or reason" why some house burned and others were spared, but it was obvious from the pictures that some of the spared houses had fire defensible space.

Well over 100000 people have been evacuated. The rebuild process will be agonizing as it easily takes 8 months to secure a building permit from the city of Lazard tge coastal commission.

After the Marshall fire, the cities relaxed some of the new building codes to make it easier for people to rebuild. Permitting reform has been urgently needed for a long time to address the housing shortage, so this might be an opportunity to push for reforms in the permitting process. But, they also need to make sure that any new construction is fire resistant and has fire defensible space, otherwise, all of the new construction will burn in the next 100 mph wind event. It does not matter how many resources and fire trucks you have - your city will burn with 100 mph winds if it is not designed to be fire resistant.

 

[Rumpole]

I reported every political comment to the moderator team.

Do I really need to remind you? NO POLITICS ON WBF!

Ron - I'm posting about fire defensible space and extreme weather, not politics. Facts. I've experienced multiple mandatory fire evacuations and pre-evacuations. I've lived through multiple 100 mph windstorms with fires within a few miles from my house. And when I write about making houses and cities fire safe, the response I get is that the problem is gay people. I wish you would distinguish between the people trying to share useful information versus the people that are blaming the problem on politics.

 

[Steve Williams]

Blaming "needless destruction" on "WOKE politics" is a fatal mistake. See my previous post. Extreme drought and extreme wind events, exacerbated by climate change, is a fact that is only going to get worse in the future. We need to modify existing housing and build new housing to make it fire resistant. This is the only way that we are going to avoid more mega-fires in the future.

I don't watch MSM friend...

The reality is that it's both. Water was diverted to the ocean for the preservation of smelt, the water reservoir in Pacific Palisades was empty and the mayor had diverted $17M from the LAFD whilst the governor pruned $100M from fire prevention

 

[Steve Williams]

I agree. Let's keep politics out of this and stop the name calling. It serves no purpose

 

[treitz3]

Good afternoon, gentlemen. Some political posts have been removed from this thread. Please refrain from any political posts or responses moving forward.

They are obviously at play here, but since political discussion is not allowed here at the WBF, please discuss what we can, without the introduction of anything political.

Thanks in advance.

Tom

 

[adyc]

Ron, will you start moving records or more portable Hifi equipments to a safe place?