Wildfires In California - Really Bad

[doomsdave]

I haven't really paid much attention to the news on this one. I can see the smoke and even had an ash-fall at my place about 50 miles to the east of the Woolsey Fire, in Calabasas/Thousand Oaks/Malibu.

Below is a rather harrowing video taken by an understandably frightened lady as she escaped. But she escaped, which is good. You breathe a sigh of relief with her at the end of the video as she leaves the fire and goes out into the forest. This part of California has "forest" that's more like a park with scattered live oak trees, instead of the dense woods that tend to prevail further north.

'Everything is on fire around me' - woman fleeing Woolsey blaze fears for her life

The Woolsey Fire in the south and the Camp Fire, in the north have both touched me personally. One of the attorneys at the office I work in had to flee his home in Westlake Village at 3:00 Friday morning; he's now in a hotel with his daughter and their dogs.

My helpful handyman's cousin used to live in Paradise, which, if you don't already know, has been more or less burned completely out of existence.

Paradise, as so many have lately said, no longer is.

Despite fire after fire, Paradise continued to boom — until California's worst wildfire hit

Some other Cat Siters are also in California. Hope you and your families, including the kitties are safe.

 

[donutte]

Please stay safe. That's scary the ashes are falling by your home.

 

[doomsdave]

Please stay safe. That's scary the ashes are falling by your home.

Thank you!

Trust me, I'll do my best!

I'm a long way from any fires right now, but that could change, and that reality has to be accepted, too. I tried to pick my house for its lack of proximity to really bad brush areas, but that's not as foolproof as it used to be.

Ash fall is a common thing in fire season. This time, it wasn't that much, small bits. Sometimes, it's a lot heavier, especially when the fire is close by.

The brush is almost perfumy when it burns; it's almost like you're living in a cathedral full of sandalwood Christmas candles. The smell of the season, that I've been almost, not quite, used to, after living here 33 years.

 

[Kieka]

I have friends who live in Thousand Oaks. One friend in particular has been really harrowing to follow because her Facebook page went from helicopters fly over for the cop who was killed last week, to smoke and flames near her apartment, and firefighters coming in to the restaurant she works at. Luckily, it looks like her and everyone else I know in that area have escaped the worst of it. My Mom lived in Paradise for several years in her early twenties; she's been especially hard hit by the destruction of Paradise. Shes always talked about buying a vacation home in that area or just moving there year round.

I am inland from both major fires in Southern California. I haven't noticed ash here but I've been gone for the past few days and came home after dark yesterday. It's a weird disconnect to know how close it is but be unaffected. I could drive to Malibu or Thousand Oaks area in just over an hour on a good day. My company started sending crews out to Malibu yesterday to get power restored to the areas that have been cleared by firefighters.

 

[sabrinah]

All these fires are so stressful! I'm thankful I haven't had to personally deal with the worst of it, but every time I check the fire map there's a fire closer and closer. Even a small fire (there's a 10-acre one only a handful of miles away) can spread out of control with all the dry forest around. It sounded nice to almost always be walking distance from a forest until I realized it just makes this place that much more flammable.

 

[betsygee]

Even though we're almost 300 miles south of the Paradise fire, we have been getting smoke here. Over the weekend the air quality was at an 'unhealthy' level to the point that a 1/2 marathon and some other sports events here had to be cancelled. I can't imagine how awful it is for people who live closer to the fire.

 

[doomsdave]

I remember when I visited the Top of the World neighborhood in Laguna Beach, in 1986. My cousins told me that Laguna beach was pretty, I should check it out, and so I did.

It was on the top of hill overlooking the sea, with the mountains in the distance. All the houses had cedar shake shingle roofs. I talked to this old couple in their yard, after admiring their garden.

In 1993, a fire went through and destroyed it, utterly. Out of more than 100 homes, only one still stood, and it was stone. Cars were destroyed in driveways.

That same year, we had that fire in Malibu. I remember going through Korea Town near downtown LA and the sky was aglow, ashes were falling and the TVs in the shops were all tuned to the news showing fires fires and more fires.

And, the fires have gotten worse.

 

[Kieka]

I don't know if the fires have gotten worse or people have moved into areas they weren't so it's more iimpactful. California is a tinder box of sorts, dry seasons plus windy seasons. There are several plants that thrive in fire or need fire that are found naturally in California. I remember reading something last year about one of the fires footprints was the same as a historic but it was multiple times more impactful because this time people lived in that area. Plus we have generations of fire suppression practices that need to be rectified. I went to the Grand canyon this past weekend and we drove past a controlled burn there plus spots where they pulled debris for clearing. We need better forest management to do controlled burns where possible and ground clearing where not. But that means more money which is hard to get for environmental projects in this day.

 

[doomsdave]

I don't know if the fires have gotten worse or people have moved into areas they weren't so it's more iimpactful. California is a tinder box of sorts, dry seasons plus windy seasons. There are several plants that thrive in fire or need fire that are found naturally in California. I remember reading something last year about one of the fires footprints was the same as a historic but it was multiple times more impactful because this time people lived in that area. Plus we have generations of fire suppression practices that need to be rectified. I went to the Grand canyon this past weekend and we drove past a controlled burn there plus spots where they pulled debris for clearing. We need better forest management to do controlled burns where possible and ground clearing where not. But that means more money which is hard to get for environmental projects in this day.

I think the fires have gotten worse, the forest has gotten drier, and more people have moved to the "urban/wilderness interface" where fires are the worst.

That Santa Barbara fire last year (Dec. 2017) was nasty enough, but it happed right near Christmas. I can't remember a fire that happened at that time, and, to make matters worse, there was that horrible storm and flood that came about two months later. Remember the rocks in the middle of the 101?

 

[Kieka]

I think the fires have gotten worse, the forest has gotten drier, and more people have moved to the "urban/wilderness interface" where fires are the worst.

That Santa Barbara fire last year (Dec. 2017) was nasty enough, but it happed right near Christmas. I can't remember a fire that happened at that time, and, to make matters worse, there was that horrible storm and flood that came about two months later. Remember the rocks in the middle of the 101?

That was just nasty. My company was working on expanding to that area around then and we had to cancel some meetings because of it. I'd agree the impact is getting worse but I wouldn't say it is unexpected when you take all the factors into account.

 

[doomsdave]

That was just nasty. My company was working on expanding to that area around then and we had to cancel some meetings because of it. I'd agree the impact is getting worse but I wouldn't say it is unexpected when you take all the factors into account.

You have a point, even without global warming.

 

[Margret]

I don't know if the fires have gotten worse or people have moved into areas they weren't so it's more iimpactful. California is a tinder box of sorts, dry seasons plus windy seasons. There are several plants that thrive in fire or need fire that are found naturally in California.

They've gotten worse. Fire season is now year round in California, which is new, and is approaching year round in Colorado, where we never used to have "fire season" at all. The entire western half of the U.S. has been in a drought since before the turn of the century. This is a picture by PDTillman of the Mount of the Holy Cross in Colorado, taken in 2009:

Those glaciers, which have been there for my entire life, for which the mountain was named, are now gone.

Plus we have generations of fire suppression practices that need to be rectified.

True. But easier said than done when there's no time of the year when a deliberate burn can actually be controlled.

I've just been watching the news. There are now 42 known dead in the Camp Fire, making it the deadliest fire in California state history, and over 200 missing.


Please, please, please, everybody, be safe! Have a plan, and have the important things packed and ready to go, including cat food and litter box necessities and some gallon jugs of potable water. And if the fire(s) get too close, grab your loved ones and get out of there! Don't wait for an official evacuation order; these fires are moving so fast that evacuation orders may come too late.

And check in here when you can to let us know how you are.

Margret

 

[aliceneko]

I hope that all our members in the radar will stay safe. Sending lots of prayers and positive thoughts to you all and your families.

 

[Winchester]

I hope that everybody can stay safe! Please!

 

[bellamor]

I am sending my prayers for safety to those that have been affected by the wildfire.

 

[doomsdave]

Just talked with the guy I work with, and his house was damaged, but not destroyed.

Getting to think about mine. Where oh where have the autumn rains gone?

 

[Margret]

Watching the news right now. The current number of known dead in the Camp Fire is 56. There are still over 100 missing.

Margret

 

[betsygee]

It’s heartbreaking.

 

[doomsdave]

I wonder if scapegoat is kosher or halal?

What do you do when the fire is so huge it overwhelms resources? At what point is it too risky to live in certain areas because of potential fire damage?

I don't know the answers, and neither does anyone else.

My heart breaks for the people who have lost. There will be more before the discoveries stop, I'm sure of it. Hope not too many.

3rd body found among wreckage of Woolsey fire as residents blast officials about emergency response

 

[Kieka]

This is an interesting read about the fires, Revisiting Mike Davis' case for letting Malibu burn

"But as the years go on, Davis’ bleak words read more like revelations than rants. Just as he argued, we build deeper into canyons and foothills, daring Mother Nature to give us her best shot — and then are shocked when she does."