Massive wildfires rage in California

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
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Ron,
I think you meant about 3600 auto deaths a year in CA, not 36,000. Still, way too high I agree.
Marty


Yes indeed, I meant 3,600. Thank you for alerting me to the typo!
 

Folsom

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Oct 25, 2015
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Well, my little brother is on his way down there to fight fires. Hopefully it goes well for him, and in turn for those who live there.
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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Ron you have no idea about what upset me and not.
This thread is not about you judging me on my emotions.
So please stay on topic and stop judging me wrongly.

And start your own thread about car accidents and statistic fatalities from them accidents.
 

Folsom

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Oct 25, 2015
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Nope. My brother got canceled for deployment. There isn’t enough funding. There are people begging to go, like my brother who is a career person that has done stuff like training the national guard for fire fighting. Sad. They can’t do it for free because they are not paid enough to have that luxury, during the regular season.
 

BlueFox

Member Sponsor
Nov 8, 2013
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These fires are freaking intense now. The deaths and destruction by the North CA Camp Fire is amazing, and it is only 40% contained on 11/15. The smoke has smothered the SF Bay area, and schools are either canceled, or there is no outdoor recess. Minor annoyance compared to what is happening a few hundred miles away, but still unprecedented. If this is the new normal, and likely to get worse in the future, then we are going to see massive lifestyle changes.
 
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cjfrbw

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Pleasanton, CA
My wife and I became smoke refugees from our Pleasanton place on Wednesday. In all the years in Cali and bad air days, even in LA, I never experienced anything this bad. I could taste creosote as soon as I stepped out and my sinuses started pounding. It was a few points away from the most hazardous designation on the internet monitoring site. It was intense, the smoke was thick and everywhere, and I told my wife to get the stuff ready because we were leaving for our Santa Cruz place, which was smoky, but about 25 percent of Pleasanton according to the bad air site. It was pretty freaky.

When we got to Santa Cruz, it was still a bit smokey, but even that felt like fresh mountain air by comparison.
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
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Beverly Hills, CA
Ron you have no idea about what upset me and not.
This thread is not about you judging me on my emotions.
So please stay on topic and stop judging me wrongly.

And start your own thread about car accidents and statistic fatalities from them accidents.

Okay Bob, sorry.
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
No sweat; we are humans. We have to find the solutions to this fire issue.
Money seems to be one because installing underground power lines is costly.
But the winds don't affect underground electrical wires.
Exposed lines need careful maintenance in the Californian desert, with gutsy winds and dry brushes and tree branches nearby and above.

66 confirmed deaths total, and somewhere around 631 people unaccounted for.
 
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NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada

Marc Stokes, who works on Alcatraz in San Francisco, posted side-by-side photos of the view from the island on from the week of Oct. 28 and Nov. 10, two days after a fire started in Butte County, Calif.
 

Hi-FiGuy

Member Sponsor
Feb 23, 2015
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As in my earlier post I am a veteran of wildfires and I cannot get my head around this one. The worst is yet to come long after this fire is out. The search for casualties is going to be ongoing and brutal and sobering.
I recently visited the OSO landslide site here in Washington out of respect for the lives lost and the recovery and volunteer teams, many of whom I know (search and rescue). There was a team of volunteers that stayed long after everyone else left and did not stop until the very last person was accounted for.
I am here to tell you there is some serious energy emanating from the site, you can feel it, you can hear it. Everyone that visited while I was there came out of their cars talking with each other and after about one minute everyone of them went stone silent until they left.
I cant comprehend the agonizing loss of life. Paradise should be left as a reminder and memorial site.
My mother in laws best friend recently passed but her husband and immediate family all live in Paradise and we have zero information on their whereabouts.
The coming months are going to be incredibly sad.
 
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astrotoy

VIP/Donor
May 24, 2010
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SF Bay Area
We're 120 miles from the fires in the north, and we have been having very bad air for quite a few days. The particulate index has been consistently above 200 which is listed as very unhealthy. All the local schools and colleges were closed today. Look at the map of the US and you can see where the worst areas in the country are located. We have some relief predicted early next week with some change of winds, but the best thing would be rain, which is supposed to come by Wednesday. Best thing is to stay at home and listen to music.

https://www.airnow.gov/
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
As in my earlier post I am a veteran of wildfires and I cannot get my head around this one. The worst is yet to come long after this fire is out. The search for casualties is going to be ongoing and brutal and sobering.
I recently visited the OSO landslide site here in Washington out of respect for the lives lost and the recovery and volunteer teams, many of whom I know. There was a team of volunteers that stayed long after everyone else left and did not stop until the very last person was accounted for.
I am here to tell you there is some serious energy emanating from the site, you can feel it, you can hear it. Everyone that visited while I was there came out of their cars talking with each other and after about one minute everyone of them went stone silent until they left.
I cant comprehend the agonizing loss of life. Paradise should be left as a reminder and memorial site.
My mother in laws best friend recently passed but her husband and immediate family all live in Paradise and we have zero information on there whereabouts.
The coming months are going to be incredibly sad.

I read you very clear Mike. You have all my prayers to all your close missing friends.
I'm all there with you all.

Yes it's going to be a long and hard process after the fire is controlled, end of November.
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
Northern California now has the worst air quality in the world, because of wildfire smoke.

Air quality conditions as of November 16, 2018, 7:00 pm PT.

"The air quality index in Sacramento is currently at 316. That’s hazardous. Breathing in that air for a day is roughly equivalent to smoking 14 cigarettes.

A much greater swath of Northern California has “unhealthy” or “very unhealthy” air, meaning everyone in the air may feel some effects of pollution. This area includes the densely populated San Francisco Bay region.

The air quality is expected to get a little better over the weekend, but the situation can change quickly. If you live in California, you should check back on the EPA’s Air Quality Index page for California (or our map above), and see what warnings and hazards are being listed by your local branch of the National Weather Service."
 
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NorthStar

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Feb 8, 2011
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Friday afternoon, Nov. 16

More than 1,000 (1,011) people are unaccounted for after the Camp Fire in Northern California, while the death toll rises to 71, authorities say.

The death toll from the fire is now 71 after eight sets of remains were found Friday.

Of course this new list (rise) in the last 24 hours from 631 to 1,011 is only a raw list, a dynamic list, an inaccurate list, ...

"Authorities have also warned that some of those on the list may be fine but unaware people are trying to find them, or unable to call. However, there could also be people among the dead who no-one has yet realised are missing."

There could also be some names that are twice on the list (do they check for that?).
This must be an insurmountable task, and you cannot proceed too quick because you might miss some bones. And if you ask the army's help it might get too crowdy and can interfere with a diligent expert search. This is an extremely tough situation that will require time, plenty of time with so many homes burned to the ground.

Are they going to install lights so that they can search 24/24?
 
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NorthStar

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Feb 8, 2011
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"According to AP, a large list of missing people is not uncommon after wildfires. At one point during last year’s wildfires in Sonoma County, 2,000 people were listed as missing before the death toll was confirmed to be 44."

In total 47 people died last year in California from wildfires; 45 civilians and 2 firefighters.
That's for the full 2017 year.

So that list of over 1,000 unaccounted people for the Camp Fire is a fluctuating list, a "dynamic" list than can change any day, anytime.
71 confirmed deaths is a lot in one single wildfire.
 

cjfrbw

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Pleasanton, CA
Most of the list of 'missing' seem to be older folks. I suppose they could have been taken by surprise and quickly overwhelmed. Some retirement mobile home parks were incinerated.

Heard already from some people in Santa Cruz who knew some of the missing, not that many degrees of separation..
 

the sound of Tao

Well-Known Member
Jul 18, 2014
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Such an horrific thing, so very sad for all those suffering the losses of family, friends and loved ones... and also for those who have lost their homes and personal belongings as well. I’d imagine so many pets and animals would have suffered also. Wildfires are just tragic things. We do need to reconsider how we design homes and landscapes to help minimise loss of life and also property in the future, we unfortunately need to learn from this.
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
Smoke from fires always bring the worst air quality.... Large forest fires and wildfires around the world, volcano eruptions.
_____

"The death toll from the "Camp Fire" in Northern California has increased to 76 (five more) on Saturday while the number of people unaccounted for increased to 1,276 (an increase of 265). The blaze is now 55 percent contained after consuming more than 149,000 acres."
 

Number9

Active Member
Oct 15, 2018
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It should be noted that smoke inhalation is the cause of most fire related deaths. For the many that perished in this one, the speed at which these blazes spread likely made their last breath a relief. So sad.
 

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