Pacific Palisades Wildfire

[billt460]

...... She's done for, that interviewer murdered her career on video. For her not to even use autonomic gov't speak even mindless as "thoughts and prayers" was amazing......

Agree totally. The problem is they will more than likely elect someone much worse. That is precisely what Chicago did.

 

[billt460]

At least the wind is taking the smoke out over the ocean. And not blowing it everywhere east. This is a view of the fires from space...

https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES/sector_band.php?sat=G18&sector=psw&band=GEOCOLOR&length=24

 

[buster]

This could have been prevented. Fire hazard has been there all along and they failed to address it. It's hard to overstate how badly they screwed up water management. Instead they were fixated on DEI, climate change and homelessness. Now it's all gone. It's the same way they manage crime and homelessness. Failed leadership.

 

[Cropduster172]

This could have been prevented. Fire hazard has been there all along and they failed to address it. It's hard to overstate how badly they screwed up water management. Instead they were fixated on DEI, climate change and homelessness. Now it's all gone. It's the same way they manage crime and homelessness. Failed leadership.

∆∆∆
This. Plus throw in some silly tree hugging nonsense.

 

[slo town]

With the previous comments about LA Mayor Karen Bass being out of the country and not there to direct or oversee things - two questions:

1) What could the mayor really do with respect to directing and prioritizing fire fighting efforts?
2) Perhaps more importantly, what kind of city business required the mayor of LA to be in GHANA?

Scott

 

[1000MPH]

Nothing except running out of fuel or changing weather conditions would stop this fire. This is the wrong fire to bring up politics.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I'm doing my best to not violate BITOG TOS. Unless you've visited the area you have absolutely no freaking clue what you're talking about. This are of LA is hilly with steep terrain. Yes they probably do not do controlled burns but it has nothing to do with poor fire mitigation practices. They likely can't do controlled burns because of the housing density and they need the vegetation to keep the hillsides from collapsing. Winter time flash flooding and mudslides are a constant feature around Los Angeles area especially in the surrounding hills. February is their wettest month and mudslides of historical proportions are likely to occur within the next month because there is no longer sufficient vegetation keeping everything together.

If you want to get all uppity then a logical argument can be made for zoning which has allowed people to build in this area but make no mistake the owners are having to insure for the risk and there's a limit to how much the feds will continue to pay or even insure.

 

[Cropduster172]

Nothing except running out of fuel or changing weather conditions would stop this fire. This is the wrong fire to bring up politics.

No. The fact that there is/was as much "fuel" to feed and spread the fire is directly related to government responsibility/failures.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Our Northern CA Fire Departments are sending trucks and teams down to help. There is a story of a rancher evacuating horses for free. There is so much more.

We are California strong.

 

[4WD]

With the previous comments about LA Mayor Karen Bass being out of the country and not there to direct or oversee things - two questions:

1) What could the mayor really do with respect to directing and prioritizing fire fighting efforts?
2) Perhaps more importantly, what kind of city business required the mayor of LA to be in GHANA?

Scott

1.) I work on ER teams. You break up as Command, Operations, Logistics, HSE, Financial, and Public Affairs, etc - then tactical and strategic layers - you are making a dozen decisions per hour on people, environment, assets, and reputation ...
No chance that the community leaders are not part of a similar team.
When things are suspended - that is when the planning takes place.
2. Wonder that myself ...

 

[slo town]

No. The fact that there is/was as much "fuel" to feed and spread the fire is directly related to government responsibility/failures.

Wouldn't the natural evolution of that government responsibility be them telling the public that housing is off limits in Oklahoma because of tornados, or off limits in California because of earthquakes, or off limits in Florida because of hurricanes?

Half the country would become uninhabitable. The Feds already own half the land mass of the country already. Give the government an acre and they'll take a million.

Back in the old days when I had life insurance, I remember my policy explicitly excluding coverage for things like auto racing and skydiving (which I did at the time). Whaa! Not fair!

Life is full risks. If people want to live in fire prone areas or jump out of airplanes let them, but they must realize they are taking risks that may end up being financed with their own bank account.

Scott

 

[edyvw]

Yeah...no. There are and were never controlled burns in the ravines and hills in the populated areas of LA and San Diego. Nor were there efforts to remove overgrown and dried brush.
You're a bit confused about forest fires and wild fires in suburban areas.

prescribed burns are done where it is safe. Prescribed burns are not only preventive tool.

 

[1000MPH]

No. The fact that there is/was as much "fuel" to feed and spread the fire is directly related to government responsibility/failures.

Setting aside the fact that the houses are fuel in an urban conflagration, imagine trying to get a majority to agree to sufficient fuel mitigation in the Santa Monica mountains. Don’t forget, after fire season is flood season, and think of the nature and wildlife habitat you are asking to destroy.
The chaparral down south is relentless, it only takes a few years after a fire for the brush to grow 10 feet high. No politician is gonna “waste “ that kind of money.

 

[billt460]

.......2) Perhaps more importantly, what kind of city business required the mayor of LA to be in GHANA?

Scott

There was none. She simply wanted to go. And more importantly is the fact that she saw it fit to fly halfway around the world to attend the inauguration of the President of Ghana... But won't be attending the inauguration of our newly elected President. A real class act.

 

[edyvw]

Having lived in California since 1958 and traveled hundreds (if not thousands) of times to and through the Sierras and Coastal ranges over the decades I have never seen CalFire do this. If such a program exists it's "mouse nuts" in the big scheme of things.

Our last trip to Tahoe saw us drive through thousands and thousands of acres of dead trees because of some kind of bark beetle. Yet those dead trees still stand tall, so dry a static electricity spark could probably set them alight.

To do truly effective fire prevention would require an effort the size of the Great Depression's New Deal and would require clearing and/or thinning MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of acres. Even if such a program existed try doing that in the Big Sur area or up in the "wild west" in the Fort Bragg area. Not a freaking chance!

Scott

Edit: Let me add, one of my lifetime long, closest friends spent his entire career in the state's fire fighting business (I'm being vague on purpose). Fire fighting is reactive. The only "prevention" that occurs is when they purposely let fires run wild in order to let stuff burn "proactively". For sure they try and save communities and homes but often times anything in between is allowed to go up in smoke.

There is no such thing as 100% prevention. I was there at Tahoe last year. It was packed with CalFire doing mitigation. But, as you said, to do just CA, you would need huge effort, and that is on yearly basis.

 

[edyvw]

Maybe he lived too close to other homes for any mitigation to be effective, but after the 1st time I'd want to make sure my property was a fire proof as possible. There are landscaping techniques known as "firescaping" which is a "a strategic and intentional landscaping technique designed to mitigate the risk of wildfires. Firescaping involves creating a defensible space around homes using fire-resistant plants, proper spacing, and other landscaping practices." - Google

Fire resistant roofing is also helpful as I understand, many homes catch fire from embers and burning windblown branches landing on the roof. I presume many people have terracotta roof tiles in CA, which sounds rather fire resistant, but I think steel roofing might be the best. Remember that one house that survived the fires in Maui? Steel roof.

https://firesafemarin.org/create-a-fire-smart-yard/firescaping/#:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ildfire-shares-secrets-property-survived.html


I would be surprised to see if city does not install more mountain top reservoir tanks. I mean more tanks than necessary just to quell the publics fear. Afterall, some the taxpayers in these communities are supposedly paying $60k + a year in taxes for their $5M homes.

For a state that spent $20 BILLION on homelessness (with little to show for), installing these tanks and buying too much fire equipment should be no problem now that it's on the radar and politicians reelection campaigns are at risk.


She's done for, that interviewer murdered her career on video. For her not to even use autonomic gov't speak even mindless as "thoughts and prayers" was amazing.


Did the sheriff get called out on this or reelected?

The Sheriff was the least of an issue. The population of that region is the problem.
He got out bcs. sex scandal.

 

[edyvw]

No. The fact that there is/was as much "fuel" to feed and spread the fire is directly related to government responsibility/failures.

OMG.
They had two exceptionally wet seasons fallowed by extremely dry (current season). The “fuel” also prevents, well, landslides. You can’t just go around and cut stuff. Other problems emerge too.

 

[Cropduster172]

prescribed burns are done where it is safe. Prescribed burns are not only preventive tool.

Master of the obvious. Still waiting for your explanation:"This is by far most capable region to fight fires in the country, period."

 

[Cropduster172]

OMG.
They had two exceptionally wet seasons fallowed by extremely dry (current season). The “fuel” also prevents, well, landslides. You can’t just go around and cut stuff. Other problems emerge too.

So there's choices to be made regarding risk appetite. Which is the greater risk... wildfire or mudslides? Which of the two are more devastating? Which historically have caused the most property damage and/or loss of life?
I'm just spitballing here but I'm going to guess it's wildfires across the board.

 

[wavinwayne]

I just watched a flyover of the destruction in the Pacific Palisades area. I have no words.