Massive wildfires rage in California

[Hi-FiGuy]

Born and raised in Southern California. It is irrigated desert plain and simple. One of the many reasons I left.
The 2008 Freeway Complex Fire was very personal to me as friends lost their homes, the apartments I moved out of 2 weeks prior burned to the ground and I was involved in a head on collision by a confused driver due to the fire.
I watched that fire first start in the morning, off the 91freeway as me and a couple buds were driving out the the NHRA Drag Races. By the time our wives started calling us that we needed to come home as it was bad, it had closed the 57 freeway many miles away and we had to drive halfway to LA on the 60 and drive through the hills and come up Imperial Highway to get home. All this while my diabetic buddy in the back seat forgot his meds at home which was on the fire line. The helicopters were dipping their buckets into the neighborhood swimming pools to get water quicker to the fire.
I had been playing the fire dance since I was a kid living about 3/4 of a mile from Carbon Canyon and that fire was the end for my California residency.
I did have to come back temporarily to take care of a terminally ill family member, and then adios amigo.
California has a lot of adverse weather issues, earthquakes, fires, mudslides after the fires, Santa Ana winds, at times heavy rain, rough seas not to mention the BS politics of the state.

My heart goes out to those that lost everything, does not matter your financial bracket, its just as tragic to every one. Yeah the wealthy have better insurance coverages and will recover quicker, but the emotional toll is the same . I have witnessed this first hand.

God speed.

 

[WLVCA]

When we lived in California our homeowners insurance fluctuated wildly depending upon recency of fires - doubled one year and I was lucky to find someone who would insure our home.

Our house was in the area of the current Woolley Fire and our old neighborhood there was evacuated. The fire was burning in open space one street over from our old home. The development backed up to the Santa Monica National Park so there was always concern about fire.

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . . most people simply fail to understand that the whole area is a "reclaimed" desert.
. . .

Now this I agree with!

I have always believed that the reason that Southern California has the best weather in the known universe (unless you like heat, cold, humidity, snow, rain, clouds or a change of seasons) is because it is the only place on the planet which is 1) a desert, 2) on the ocean 3) far from the equator.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Born and raised in Southern California.

. . .

Who was born and raised in Southern California?

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

Myself, my wife, my kids and my grand children, none of which live in California anymore.
We still love California, we just wanted to explore other parts of the country for a change.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Those are the subjects for a complete sentence!

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

Those are the subjects for a complete sentence!

You are a policemen that wears hats from many different departments!

 

[Ron Resnick]

You are a policemen that wears hats from many different departments!

 

[cjfrbw]

When I got the place in Santa Cruz, I honestly thought that having an extra home might come in handy in fire and earthquake land, although I hope it never comes to that. Of course, the 'really big one' could very well wipe out both of them. I could afford to rebuild without insurance and without completely negating my retirement, so I guess I am to some extent self insured (at least to the extent of the deductibles). I have never heard anybody say that insurance covered all their costs in major disasters.

I remember visiting Paradise many years ago. It is built on a rise going into the foothills between a series of west east facing gullies, with one major road (smaller side roads) in and out on the rise. That's just about the worst configuration for Santa Ana driven fires, with the gullies accelerating the hot wind.

 

[Ron Resnick]

My favorite residential design ever — the “Bridge House” — I narrowly lost to a higher bidder about 8 years ago when I flirted with moving to Malibu. The Bridge House sits high up the mountain above Geoffrey’s, with a panoramic view of the ocean.

The house consists of four glass boxes with each box having two levels. The lower level of each of the boxes is connected by an outdoor breezeway, and the upper level of each of the boxes is connected by a glass enclosed walkway seemingly suspended in the air.

When I was conducting due diligence on the house back then I remember that Chubb was extremely reluctant to insure the house for fire, as the house was perched atop a mountain the back of which descended far down a forested canyon along the bottom of which was a public hiking trail. Chubb was concerned that somebody would drop a cigarette on the public trail and a fire would race up the slope and engulf the house at the top.

This complete evacuation of Malibu I think has finally poured cold water on any interest I have periodically in moving to Malibu.

 

[cjfrbw]

Of course, the next chapter is if there is a mini-el-nino monsoon event to trigger mudslides and flash floods this winter in the burned out areas, a repetition of the Montecito scenario from Santa Barbara.

 

[PeterA]

Now this I agree with!

I have always believed that the reason that Southern California has the best weather in the known universe (unless you like heat, cold, humidity, snow, rain, clouds or a change of seasons) is because it is the only place on the planet which is 1) a desert, 2) on the ocean 3) far from the equator.

Ron, Portugal and Morocco fit that criteria, though the latter is closer to the equator. I like the climate of the Caribbean and the water is much warmer. 75-85 all year long. There sure are a lot fewer natural disasters in New England.

I guess this is related to the fires, but CA will probably have severe water issues in the future, along with the South West.

 

[NorthStar]

Francisco is a good people we can learn about beautiful Portugal and their own wildfires recently.
Three members of my own family were there @ the end of September this year, for two weeks.
They sent me pictures of Portugal's beautiful coast with the ocean plus the architecture and the winemakers family they visited. Portugal is beautiful and the people are beautiful, they really liked the town and surrounding of Porto.

 

[NorthStar]

Us, many WBF members living on the beautiful coastline of the American continent we are immensely touched by the wildfires in California. The Paradise fire is the most devastating fire in California's history with 42 casualties. One hundred people are still missing.

Like me you are probably reading the news. Some Californian members are wondering what started that fire, how can we prevent these which are becoming more and more frequent and are taking many lives with them and affecting thousands and thousands more. The smoke alone is a lung killer. These firefighters are enduring extreme heat, risking their lives, and taking a super hard beating inside their lungs, plus emotionally in seeing all the devastation and first hand on people's despair and tears and the unrecognizable burn bodies they find.

Nobody can remain insensitive to an entire town wiped out and to so many lives forever lost.
It looks like armageddon, a war zone.
______

"BetsyAnn Cowley, 31, who lives in the tiny mountain community of Pulga where the Camp Fire started, said she received an email from PG&E the day before the fire broke out saying the utility needed to do repair work on equipment on or near her property."

“They told me they were coming through because of problems with the lines,” Cowley said.

Her 64 acres along Pulga Road off Highway 70, east of Chico, is next to the junction with Camp Creek Road, where California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials say the Camp Fire ignited Thursday morning."

"Cal Fire officials have not said what caused the blaze, but power equipment in the area is being investigated as a possible source. PG&Ereported to state regulators Friday that a high-voltage power line near the origin point experienced a problem around the time of the fire’s ignition.

The California Public Utilities Commission is looking into PG&E’s compliance with “applicable rules and regulations in fire impacted areas,” said Terrie Prosper, a spokeswoman for the commission, in an email. The commission’s investigation “may include an inspection of the fire sites once Cal Fire allows access, as well as maintenance of facilities, vegetation management, and emergency preparedness and response,” Prosper said."
______

"State investigators have already determined PG&E equipment caused at least 16 California wildfires last year."
______

For the full article, and more, just read San Francisco Chronicle

Homeowner’s claim on PG&E work raises questions on Camp Fire’s origin

 

[Bruce B]

 

[cjfrbw]

I drove around the Oakland Hills fire of 1991 area just after. It looked like the area had been carpet bombed. It was not the first time it had been devastated by fire during a hot, dry wind blowing toward the ocean.

Now, you can't even tell, and the area is fully developed again, ready for a repeat performance? Nobody really learns or cares that much after the fires drop off the headlines, and the miseries revert back to the private individuals whose wheel of fortune decayed.

 

[NorthStar]

The death toll of the Camp Fire is now @ 48. ...With the Woolsey Fire that's 50.
Depending of the news sources there are between 100 and 200 people missing.
I can only imagine how devastating it is for all Californians.
______

"Authorities have not determined a cause for either of two major blazes burning now, but Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, a unit of Edison International, have reported irregularities with their equipment near the time and place where both ignited.

Betsy Ann Cowley, a property owner near the site where a deadly wildfire started in Northern California, said Monday that PG&E sought access to her property just before the blaze started because the utility's power lines were causing sparks.

PG&E shares have lost more than a third of their value since the Camp Fire broke out northeast of San Francisco, destroying thousands of homes and killing dozens of people as it leveled the town of Paradise.

Moody's Investors Service said Monday that the "shortcomings" in the legislation reflect negatively on PG&E's credit rating, which is barely investment grade.

"Moody's negative outlook incorporates the view that additional financial stress for PG&E is likely," Moody's spokesman Joe Mielenhausen said in an email. "Going forward, we will look for signs of additional legislative and regulatory support for the utility as it works through various legal processes."

Sparks and outages

Last week PG&E told state regulators that it detected a problem on an electrical transmission line near the site of the blaze minutes before the fire broke out. The utility later said it observed damage to a transmission tower on the line, and a PG&E spokeswoman said the company will cooperate with any investigations.

Southern California Edison told regulators there was an outage on an electrical circuit near the site where the Woolsey Fire started in Ventura County. It quickly spread into Malibu and destroyed hundreds of homes.

SoCal Edison said the report was submitted out of an abundance of caution, and there was no indication from fire officials that its equipment may have been involved. The report said the fire was reported around 2:24 p.m. Thursday, two minutes after the outage.

Shares of parent company Edison International have tumbled more than 20 percent since the fire started."
______

The latest statistics, from roughly two hours ago:

Camp Fire

• Location: Butte County
• 130,000 acres burned
• 35 percent contained
• 48 fatalities confirmed, 3 firefighters injured
• 228 people unaccounted for
• 8,817 structures destroyed, 7,600 of them homes

Woolsey Fire

• Location: Los Angeles County, Ventura County
• 97,114 acres burned (roughly the size of Denver)
• 40 percent contained
• 2 fatalities confirmed, 3 firefighters injured
• Some 370 structures destroyed, 57,000 in danger

Hill Fire

• Location: Ventura County
• 4,531 acres burned
• 92 percent contained

______

It will take considerable time to find more bodies.
It could easily surpass hundred.

 

[NorthStar]

In the above post from yesterday it mentioned 228 people unaccounted for in the Camp Fire.
Today it is not there anymore, they removed that statistic most likely to not overwhelm relatives.

"A sheriff's department spokeswoman, Megan McMann, acknowledged that the list of the missing was incomplete. She said detectives were concerned about being overwhelmed with calls from relatives if the entire list were released."

They released today a list of 100 people missing.

"Authorities searching through the blackened aftermath of California's deadliest wildfire released on Wednesday the names of about 100 people who are missing, including many in their 80s and 90s, and dozens more could still be unaccounted for."

Older people in their 80s and 90s, many of them how could they flee the wildfires without help and transportation? I think it could be a very tough awakening, but I'm still praying that they were evacuated and found safe shelters somewhere. But then, you also want to make sure that they are accounted for.

I also understand that nobody wants to point fingers in those two major fires...Paradise and Malibu. But they have on records the two utility companies who experienced malfunctions just minutes before those two big fires started.
Sure there is going to be a huge investigation and I'm not sure it will go in all fair direction. It's up to all the victims to have the loudest voice, they are the ones who lost everything including their lives.

It is extremely sad and very very tough for Californians.
And that's not even including the poor air quality for all the ones living under the smoke, miles and miles away.
Some forecasters talked about rain coming soon, that's good, but we also know what it can do if there's too much of it. It's a fragile balance. The best help is for the winds to die down.

I watched a 3-minute video of planes and helicopters getting water from lakes and from the ocean. Those pilots are amazing, just amazing. It is a massive effort from all the firefighters and personnel and coordination is supreme. You probably have seen that huge mansion covered with pink fire protective chemicals. Also the helicopters dropping their loads on that major six-line highway with the fire raging just on its edge, the pilots are super precise, amazing.

The few looters...simply no brain. Same for the people who are gouging prices to take advantage. They all should be drop in the middle of the ocean and that's it.

Yesterday I cried looking @ the animals burned, their little feet covered in bandages and their faces and ears and eyes burned and sad. I am hyper sensitive to animals suffering, and humans.
The music doesn't sound the same, even if I'm trying to concentrate on it to help.
Watching a film is almost impossible.

Everything takes a new perspective, more real.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I am more sensitive to animal suffering.

Bob, I think your empathy is wonderful and appreciated!

But, respectfully, Bob, isn’t the fatalities from this horrible fire situation another one of these power of positive perception things? (“Power of positive perception“ is the phenomenon by which while driving you only notice the red traffic lights.) It’s tragic because we are focused on it hour by hour and day by day for the moment due to 24 hours news coverage. We focus on these particular fatalities because they suddenly are thrust in our faces.

Every day in California approximately 10 people are killed in automobile accidents. Californians accept approximately 36,000 automobile fatalities every year because as a state we feel that 3,600 deaths are a tolerable price to pay for the flexibility and fun of cars.

You’re not at this moment upset about those auro fatalities because you are not being made aware of them by a 24 hour news cycle.

 

[marty]

I am more sensitive to animal suffering.

Bob, I think your empathy is wonderful and appreciated!

But, respectfully, Bob, isn’t the fatalities from this horrible fire situation another one of these power of positive perception things? (“Power of positive perception“ is the phenomenon by which while driving you only notice the red traffic lights.) It’s tragic because we are focused on it hour by hour and day by day for the moment due to 24 hours news coverage. We focus on these particular fatalities because they suddenly are thrust in our faces.

Every day in California approximately 10 people are killed in automobile accidents. Californians accept approximately 36,000 automobile fatalities every year because as a state we feel that 36,000 deaths are a tolerable price to pay for the flexibility and fun of cars.

You’re not at this moment upset about those auro fatalities because you are not being made aware of them by a 24 hour news cycle.

Ron,
I think you meant about 3600 auto deaths a year in CA, not 36,000. Still, way too high I agree.
Marty