That's not the answer to the question I asked you and you know it.
New Wildfires in California
- Thread starter Lilac
- Start date
OregonGuy
Senior Member
StarSong
Awkward is my Superpower
- Location
- Los Angeles Suburbs
Exactly so, Ronni. The (often ignorant) musings of politicians intent on scoring points and people who don't understand Los Angeles topography nor its wind challenges can be crazy-making. I'm at the point of barely skimming this thread because it's so loaded with ridiculous suggestions and disinformation.
For the record, most FFs - male or female - would be hard pressed to carry a 200+ lb person out of a burning building.
The idea is that when a fire starts, is imminent, or an evacuation order has been issued, get yourself the hell out of there. Stop worrying about rescuing your children's baby pictures and start thinking about which you value more - your life or your stuff.
MarkD
Keeper of the Hounds & Garden
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area
Right there with you. Following the news more closely and the ignorant chat about it not at all.
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
Good luck getting through to some of those water hose heros who risk the lives of their rescuers and keep them from doing their real job!
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
I needed a good laugh!
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
As long as you have water in the system that may work. Right now you might have to stand on top of your roof and ... .
CooCooforCoCoPuffs
Senior Member
Ronni
Well-known Member
- Location
- Nashville TN
@StarSong yes! Firefighters, male or female, go through the same rigorous training and are held to the same standards. My son is 6’3”, 200+ pounds, muscular and strong. Works out hard 5-6 days a week whether on the job or home. He would, and has, trouble carrying a heavy person from a burning building, and he’s trained and fit.
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
Keep your phone charged, space on your voice mail, reach out to others in her circle you know. Red Cross may give out information. A big may! Keep your spirit up.
Tish
SF VIP
- Location
- Rural N.S.W. Australia
So heartbreaking.
@Ronni, I did not know your son is a firefighter and is out there battling these horrific blazes. I have been horrified by this whole situation. The images are terrifying and saddening. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this. When everything calms down, please let your son know how brave that I, and I am sure many others, know that he and his fellow firefighters are, and how grateful I am. I sure hope he is able to stay safe.
I've had some experiences with wildfires, in 2007 and 2008, when we lived in Nevada—I remember the ash raining down from the sky, terrifying my children—but nothing close to what is going on right now in California.
It's been interesting to read the perspectives of the forum members who reside in California (@StarSong, @David777, @Murrmurr, and others; I'm sure I've missed a bunch of people).
I've had some experiences with wildfires, in 2007 and 2008, when we lived in Nevada—I remember the ash raining down from the sky, terrifying my children—but nothing close to what is going on right now in California.
It's been interesting to read the perspectives of the forum members who reside in California (@StarSong, @David777, @Murrmurr, and others; I'm sure I've missed a bunch of people).
Don M.
SF VIP
- Location
- central Missouri
We may never know the source of these fires, but the fact that there were several started within a short period of time, miles apart, is Highly Suspicious, IMO. I haven't seen any reports of lightning storms or downed power lines, etc., that could have started this devastation.
What if this is a Planned Attack?? What if Russian sympathizers are using this as retaliation for US support of Ukraine? What if Islamic fanatics decided to punish the US for support of Israel?? What if some mentally ill individual decided to go "over the edge"??
I can believe ONE fire starting due to human negligence, but the odds of "nature" being the source of this tragedy are about the same as winning the lottery...IMO.
StarSong
Awkward is my Superpower
- Location
- Los Angeles Suburbs
The fires are many, many, many miles from Oceanside, Chic. Rest easy.
MarkD
Keeper of the Hounds & Garden
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area
Had you heard of the 100 MPH winds blowing the embers around. That could explain the multiple fires spreading quickly.
StarSong
Awkward is my Superpower
- Location
- Los Angeles Suburbs
Those are some very big leaps, Don. Downed power lines and sparking transformers may well have precipitated some of these fires. Possibly bad actors, as well, but let's not presume the worst until we know for sure.
With high winds, quite literally all it would take is a spark escaping a backyard BBQ and hitting some brush. According to the the latest stats LAFD I could easily find, they respond to some 14,686 fires a year, or 40 per day. That's just LA City. Then add in the County and cities within LA County that aren't incorporated in LA City (Burbank, for instance).
Any "typical day" fire could have sparked these huge conflagrations. Indeed, it could have been something that would normally have been quashed by a quick thinking homeowner with a bucket of water or stamping of feet.
https://ens.lacity.org/lafd/lafdreportarchv/lafdlafdreport1864172031_06012023.pdf
David777
Well-known Member
- Location
- Silicon Valley
When these horrendous wind driven fires occur I often post similar info on other web boards discussing these issues. I'm obviously frustrated by the lack of action by intended audiences of such information both local government entities as well as local citizens living in such zones as well as real estate and building industries that resist actions. I do understand posting this within our SeniorForums will have no effect, however like @StarSong, it is annoying to read some of the posts of others spouting nonsense who understand so little.
This state government 2011 page shows a detailed PDF map of Los Angeles County showing areas with wildfire fire hazards (all the red and pink zones). Areas that just burned are in those zones so people had been warned with plenty of information on how to prepare and protect themselves. Thus when one reads news media about those simplistically usually with agendas blaming others, they ought start by looking into a mirror. Especially given several apocalyptic similar high wind driven aerial ember fires in other state areas during this last decade including the very similar Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa.
LRA Fire Hazard Severity Zone Maps
LRA Fire Hazard Severity Zone Maps | OSFM
https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-415...erity-zones-map/upload-4/losangelescounty.pdf
This Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation webpage has much information on how communities, businesses, and homeowners ought protect themselves. On many other sites is commercial service and product information on mitigation.
Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation | OSFM
And the below link is the 2024 49 page Los Angeles County Fire plan with a huge amount of information and maps:
https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-415...a09f900&hash=93938B5B098172DF384EB36D7097D037
Especially like the below map from those ca.gov pages. The purple/red/pink areas are hazards with areas that just burned rated "VERY HIGH":
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/74787e13de0c443eb80e27abc176b8fa
This state government 2011 page shows a detailed PDF map of Los Angeles County showing areas with wildfire fire hazards (all the red and pink zones). Areas that just burned are in those zones so people had been warned with plenty of information on how to prepare and protect themselves. Thus when one reads news media about those simplistically usually with agendas blaming others, they ought start by looking into a mirror. Especially given several apocalyptic similar high wind driven aerial ember fires in other state areas during this last decade including the very similar Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa.
LRA Fire Hazard Severity Zone Maps
LRA Fire Hazard Severity Zone Maps | OSFM
https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-415...erity-zones-map/upload-4/losangelescounty.pdf
This Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation webpage has much information on how communities, businesses, and homeowners ought protect themselves. On many other sites is commercial service and product information on mitigation.
Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation | OSFM
And the below link is the 2024 49 page Los Angeles County Fire plan with a huge amount of information and maps:
https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-415...a09f900&hash=93938B5B098172DF384EB36D7097D037
Especially like the below map from those ca.gov pages. The purple/red/pink areas are hazards with areas that just burned rated "VERY HIGH":
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/74787e13de0c443eb80e27abc176b8fa
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dilettante
Well-known Member
- Location
- Michigan
Karma's a bitch.
Murrmurr
SF VIP
- Location
- Sacramento, California
No. Because they chose to train as firefighters. Unless they're sick or in trouble, they go outside a few times every day.
Probably varies from state to state.
No I didn't.
Yes, all their meals are catered. Prepared by a restaurant or vendor, and delivered in vans along with plates and utensils and all.
Or in motels or the nearest safe-zone base of operations, such as an evacuated school or hospital or office complex.
(BTW those sleeping bags are not made of paper, ffs.)
There was no disparagement whatsoever in my post. Nothing even suggesting the intent to disparage.
I was responding to dilletante's post, which cast shade on the treatment of prisoners, and not the prisoners themselves...so, neither of us was bad-mouthing prisoners.
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David777
Well-known Member
- Location
- Silicon Valley
A smoking gun cause of the LA wildfires is as I expected coming into focus. Yesterday read how the person that first reported a grass fire in the Palisades fire saw such below power transmission towers on hilltops a mile or so northeast. Another initial report in the Eaton Canyon fire reported such in power line areas. So Southern California Edison much like PG&E up north in the Tubbs Fire is again in headlights. The rest of the state began turning off power in such wind events but SCE per below thought they knew better.
In fact, such PG&E power lines are either going underground or being re-cabled with insulation that along with lawsuits is driving up utility bills. Of course, when utilities turn power off, many citizens and businesses complain, especially when no fires actually result.
Power grid faults surged right before raging Los Angeles wildfires began, expert says
...In the Palisades area, the largest of the fires currently raging, there were 63 faults in the two to three hours prior to the ignition of the fire, Marshall said. There were 18 faults registered in the hour it began on Tuesday...
“In the case of the Eaton Fire near Altadena, there’s 317 grid faults that occurred in the hours preceding the ignition,” Marshall said. “And then in the Hurst Fire, there’s about 230 faults that occurred that we measured on the sensor network.”
He said on a typical day there are very few faults. Sparks from faults can fall to the ground and ignite vegetation, essentially setting a match on the landscape. High winds then carry the flames at rapid speeds...
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power didn’t proactively turn off the power to mitigate the risk of starting a fire ahead of this week’s devastating wildfires, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing regulatory filings.
The preventative measure is in place with every other big California power company after utilities have sparked wildfires in the past, the Journal reported.
An LADWP spokesperson told the Journal that they have other safety precautions in place, such as disabling technology that automatically restores power after an outage. She added that widespread preventative power outages could also be harmful to emergency services.
In fact, such PG&E power lines are either going underground or being re-cabled with insulation that along with lawsuits is driving up utility bills. Of course, when utilities turn power off, many citizens and businesses complain, especially when no fires actually result.
Power grid faults surged right before raging Los Angeles wildfires began, expert says
...In the Palisades area, the largest of the fires currently raging, there were 63 faults in the two to three hours prior to the ignition of the fire, Marshall said. There were 18 faults registered in the hour it began on Tuesday...
“In the case of the Eaton Fire near Altadena, there’s 317 grid faults that occurred in the hours preceding the ignition,” Marshall said. “And then in the Hurst Fire, there’s about 230 faults that occurred that we measured on the sensor network.”
He said on a typical day there are very few faults. Sparks from faults can fall to the ground and ignite vegetation, essentially setting a match on the landscape. High winds then carry the flames at rapid speeds...
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power didn’t proactively turn off the power to mitigate the risk of starting a fire ahead of this week’s devastating wildfires, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing regulatory filings.
The preventative measure is in place with every other big California power company after utilities have sparked wildfires in the past, the Journal reported.
An LADWP spokesperson told the Journal that they have other safety precautions in place, such as disabling technology that automatically restores power after an outage. She added that widespread preventative power outages could also be harmful to emergency services.
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Don M.
SF VIP
- Location
- central Missouri
Yes, the high winds certainly turned these fires into a disaster....BUT, what happened to start multiple fires, miles apart, within a short period of time. I strongly suspect that there is more to this than burning embers and high winds.
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
I do not see anything in US news about smoke, smoke problems and what areas it covers.
MarkD
Keeper of the Hounds & Garden
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-09/burning-embers-flews-miles-brought-mass-destruction-across-l-a-county#:~:text=Tiny burning embers flew miles,historic scale - Los Angeles Times
"Santa Ana winds are infamous for driving fast-moving fires in Southern California, pushing embers well beyond a blaze’s boundary and into neighborhoods and across major roadways."