Those stupid Californians building home in a forest.

The more stringent the insurance company rules, the less likely they are to be held responsible and have to pay a claim. It's more about stock prices and dividends than public safety.

"But judge, it says right here in Terms of Coverage on Page 185, Section 93, Article 41, paragraph 18 in that small print that they must do this at least 45 days before the fire occurs in order to be covered. They initialed the page so they must have read it."
 

We live in the middle of a dense forest...however, 99% of our trees are Oak/Walnut/Hickory, etc., which are Not susceptible to being easily set on fire. The forests in much of the Western US consist largely of Pine trees...which are like standing cans of gasoline whenever a forest fire starts. People in those areas need to take extra precautions.
As the human populations continue to expand, more and more people are going to be exposed to the ravages of nature. Just try to imagine the chaos that will exist in another century, or two, when the rising oceans make most of our coastal cities uninhabitable. The US could lose as much as 17% of its present land mass, and displace 1/3rd, or more, of our population....the Biblical predictions of Armageddon may come true.
 
Again, Ca. is facing about 2 million people without power. This is because power cables being blown off towers due to high winds and disastrously dry conditions. I was wondering why this is not happening in Europe. Global warming is "global". In Europe, a large portion of their 'grid" is underground. You don't see thousands of wooden power poles. It is expensive at the begining, but pays off later. I know we are talking about $billions, but considering the problem in Ca. is not going away. maybe placing those power lines underground is an answer. I came up with this over breakfast, so you know it's well thought out. I wonder if we shouild follow Europe's idea of burying power lines.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/c...ckouts-historically-dangerous-wind/ar-AAJlesY
 

I think that it would be a good idea to bury power lines but when it comes to spending money on infrastructure nobody wants to pay for it.

USA Today had a recent article that said it costs approx. $3,000,000.00 per mile to go underground vs. approx. $800,000.00 per mile to go with conventional overhead lines.

Maybe it could be done over several decades as the old lines are destroyed.

As far as the blackouts are concerned I'm still not sure if that is necessary or if it is an attempt to limit future liability on the part of the power company. It just seems odd to me that this idea surfaced after the lawsuits surrounding the destruction of Paradise.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Again, Ca. is facing about 2 million people without power. This is because power cables being blown off towers due to high winds and disastrously dry conditions. I was wondering why this is not happening in Europe. Global warming is "global". In Europe, a large portion of their 'grid" is underground. You don't see thousands of wooden power poles. It is expensive at the begining, but pays off later. I know we are talking about $billions, but considering the problem in Ca. is not going away. maybe placing those power lines underground is an answer. I came up with this over breakfast, so you know it's well thought out. I wonder if we shouild follow Europe's idea of burying power lines.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/c...ckouts-historically-dangerous-wind/ar-AAJlesY
Click to expand...
fuzz... hub and I have talked about this. He's a retired Project Engineer - electrical engineer - and says we are very different than Europe in that we have thousands and thousands of miles to string underground just to get from one town to another. Europe is much smaller and more concentrated than this big country. It would be wonderful if somehow there was a way to do it
feasibly, though, wouldn't it?
 
Aunt Bea said:
I think that it would be a good idea to bury power lines but when it comes to spending money on infrastructure nobody wants to pay for it.
Click to expand...

It is not only cost. Putting lines underground is not a panacea either. They cannot bury them too deeply, as ground movement (earthquakes, remember?) can also damage them. Even in the relatively few areas that are geologically stable - and on the entire West Coast those areas are VERY few - those areas are surrounded by, and part of, extreme terrain.

Much of what burns in NorCA is forest (the 2018 Mendocino fires started originally in a National parklands and spread south) or mountainous terrain. You cannot put lines underground easily. Even with today's heavy equipment it is hard/expensive and sometimes impossible merely to build a road.

This is the reason why NorCA gets larger fires with fewer homes burned than SoCA fires - they have flatter terrain, and have built outwards continuously over decades.

It's why in the West Coast you can drive north/south easily and relatively quickly - but east/west is another matter altogether. The same distance in miles can take you twice as long to drive; the roads are narrow two-lane jobs that regularly wash out from erosion, built back when logging camps could still dynamite a road from Point A to Point B - and even they didn't find it possible to build in a straight line.

I no longer have much sympathy or patience with the folks in Paradise CA. A lot of statistics and stories came out afterwards, and it was shown that particular area is a historical firetrap. It is geographically located where fires enhanced by high winds are especially prevalent. It has suffered severe wildfires over 50 times since CA became a state in 1850.
 
"California’s housing crisis and its fire crisis often collide in what’s known as the wildland-urban interface, or WUI, where trailer parks and exurban culs-de-sac and cabins have sprung up amid the state’s scrublands and pine forests and grassy ridges.

California’s housing crisis has exacerbated its wildfire crisis, and its wildfire crisis has exacerbated its housing crisis. That vicious cycle is nowhere near ending."

from
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/can-california-save-itself/601135/
 
AZ Jim said:
Scorpions, centipedes and plenty of rattlers as well.
Click to expand...


Just curious, how often do you encounter one of those critters ?

A friend of mine moved to Texas , years back. He was bitten by a Scorpion twice in one month.....the second one put him in the hospital, for a day. And he was young [35] ? , and healthy.
 
rgp said:
Just curious, how often do you encounter one of those critters ?

A friend of mine moved to Texas , years back. He was bitten by a Scorpion twice in one month.....the second one put him in the hospital, for a day. And he was young [35] ? , and healthy.
Click to expand...
Wow, where did your friend live in Texas...its a gigantic state and the "law west of the Pecos" was said to involve these critters. We visited there and it was said Judge Roy Bean, took the prisoner's shoes off and told them they were free to "walk out " of there...problem was, that was no easy task in that dry and arid area where lots of "bad for ya" critters reign.
 
Liberty said:
Wow, where did your friend live in Texas...its a gigantic state and the "law west of the Pecos" was said to involve these critters. We visited there and it was said Judge Roy Bean, took the prisoner's shoes off and told them they were free to "walk out " of there...problem was, that was no easy task in that dry and arid area where lots of "bad for ya" critters reign.
Click to expand...


Not 100% sure, but I think it was Fort Worth ?......the second bite hit him so hard, he asked his employer to transfer him, again. The company refused, so he quit.....moved back here,basement bunked with his sister for about a year while he started his own candy/novelty business. [filling the coin machines] {owning & keeping them full}. Believe it or not.....he made a nice living from that for a number of years.
 
I have been coming to the area where I live (Lake County) on a weekly basis since I was 2 years old.And have lived here full time since 1991. I never remember there being any fires here as a child and none prior to 2015. Since 2015,we have had at least one per year. Something has changed-and everyone seems to have a different opinion as to what.
 
rgp said:
Not 100% sure, but I think it was Fort Worth ?......the second bite hit him so hard, he asked his employer to transfer him, again. The company refused, so he quit.....moved back here,basement bunked with his sister for about a year while he started his own candy/novelty business. [filling the coin machines] {owning & keeping them full}. Believe it or not.....he made a nice living from that for a number of years.
Click to expand...
Just read on the web, fyi, scorpions are found in all the continental united states. Also read the ones in the Gulf coast region of Texas are not life threatening:
https://www.reference.com/pets-animals/states-home-scorpions-c835738aea4b9489
 
rgp said:
Just curious, how often do you encounter one of those critters ? A friend of mine moved to Texas , years back. He was bitten by a Scorpion twice in one month.....the second one put him in the hospital, for a day. And he was young [35] ? , and healthy.
Click to expand...
I have SEEN 3-4 a year, but I'm sure there's been more that I don't see. Whenever I see my cat watching something on the floor intently I go to check. They're usually the smaller tan kind and they're the most poisonous. I never walk barefoot around my house. I did see a really big one outside but I leave anything outside alone.

My CPA told me that she's allergic to scorpion venom. One day she took her bathrobe hanging from a door hook and put it on and put her hand in one of the pockets and got stung by a scorpion resting in there. She almost died as her throat muscles started swelling.
 
If Climate Change continues as predicted, large parts of California may well become uninhabitable in coming years. The ridiculous housing prices around places like SF and LA are driving more and more people into semi-rural areas where the exposure to these massive wild fires are an ever present danger. Dry conditions, and high winds, coupled with infrastructure that cannot keep up with the rising and spreading populations, are a sure recipe for the total loss of homes, etc. Insurance costs, alone, will become almost ridiculous.
One of my cousins lived in San Leandro, CA., for decades...until they retired about 5 years ago. They sold their house for a Huge profit, and moved back to Colorado, where they bought a real nice place for a fraction of what they made from their CA house. I can see the day coming where gobs of people do the same.
 
Yes,insurance costs are already becoming ridiculous. Hate to see where they are going to go now,with this latest fire. We might leave California,but where would we go? We like Oregon,but went there two years ago on vacation and although we traveled and stayed all over the state,we could hardly breathe for all the smoke from the wildfires THEY were having everywhere. And we have 4 kids,18 grandkids and, so far,2 greats,who all live in Northern California. Do we just up and leave all of them? Can`t even fathom that.
 
Mrs. Robinson said:
I have been coming to the area where I live (Lake County) on a weekly basis since I was 2 years old.And have lived here full time since 1991. I never remember there being any fires here as a child and none prior to 2015. Since 2015,we have had at least one per year. Something has changed-and everyone seems to have a different opinion as to what.
Click to expand...

An article from LiveScience discussing what has been happening since 2015 ... and this was written in 2016.
So it's now 2019 .....

California is suffering its worst drought in 1,200 years because of a persistent atmospheric "high" parked just offshore. This high-pressure ridge — aptly named the "ridiculously resilient ridge" — deflects winter storms northward, away from California, according to the researchers.

https://www.livescience.com/54266-california-droughts-blamed-on-ridiculously-resilient-ridge.html
 
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Mrs. Robinson said:
And we have 4 kids,18 grandkids and, so far,2 greats,who all live in Northern California. Do we just up and leave all of them? Can`t even fathom that.
Click to expand...

I can understand that....we faced similar "concerns" from the kids when we decided to abandon the city 17 years ago. However, as time has passed, they have pretty much all done the same....we now have a granddaughter and family just 12 miles away, and the oldest daughter/husband is just 30 miles away. The youngest daughter and husband have bought a house on the Lake, just 25 miles away, in anticipation of their retirement in another couple of years. Soon, the furthest relatives will be the youngest granddaughter...50 miles away.

Times change, and California is headed for some serious troubles in the future. Now, would be a good time to begin discussions with the family
about their futures. People of our ages will probably not see the long term problems, but anyone under the age of 40, or so, should be taking a good hard look at what they may have to face. There are plenty of nice places to live in the U.S. If Mother Nature doesn't destroy that State, the policies of the politicians will certainly do so.
 
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