OT: Hope all my fellow SoCal Husky fans are OK

[superjohn]

If they live below Sunset they're probably okay but holy ufkc. Pack a go-bag anyway. This is Runyon / Nichols canyons. These are densely populated areas that are basically in the center of the city. I have never seen anything like this.

I think just below Sunset but next to Sunset and Hollywood Blvd.

They're doing a lot of aircraft dumps right now, all hell will break loose if it spreads into those house there.

 

[superjohn]

If they live below Sunset they're probably okay but holy ufkc. Pack a go-bag anyway. This is Runyon / Nichols canyons. These are densely populated areas that are basically in the center of the city. I have never seen anything like this.

They are executing their exit plans right now on the move far away from the fire.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

They are executing their exit plans right now on the move far away from the fire.

The streets in Hollywood are crazy right now. It’s like a scene from Independence Day. Hopefully they’ve got some place to go. There are random palm trees in yards blocks south of the fire that are burning now, with embers falling all over the place.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

They are executing their exit plans right now on the move far away from the fire.

Sounds like this one is trending toward being under control.

 

[jibsey]

I don’t understand why people take the risks to live there with fire and earthquakes. I know it’s nice but….,

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don’t understand why people take the risks to live there with fire and earthquakes. I know it’s nice but….,

Denise Crosby (she was on Star Trek Next Generation and is Bing's granddaughter) lives in Pacific Palisades in a 100 year old house. Seems it is gone. So yes, the risk is omnipresent, mudslides too, but it becomes easy to ignore when it doesn't really happen over a 100 year period.

The difference for CA is that unlike Florida and hurricanes, they aren't really properly prepared for this and didn't build out the right fire mitigation infrastructure they really should have. My guess is that these houses don't get rebuilt or insured unless CA changes that. Likewise Asheville is going to need a much more robust flood mitigation infrastructure before it comes back. We have the technology now, have to choose to spend on these "unlikely" worst case scenarios.

 

[nomar]

Absolutely horrific

 

[jleves]

Denise Crosby (she was on Star Trek Next Generation and is Bing's granddaughter) lives in Pacific Palisades in a 100 year old house. Seems it is gone. So yes, the risk is omnipresent, mudslides too, but it becomes easy to ignore when it doesn't really happen over a 100 year period.

The difference for CA is that unlike Florida and hurricanes, they aren't really properly prepared for this and didn't build out the right fire mitigation infrastructure they really should have. My guess is that these houses don't get rebuilt or insured unless CA changes that. Likewise Asheville is going to need a much more robust flood mitigation infrastructure before it comes back. We have the technology now, have to choose to spend on these "unlikely" worst case scenarios.

Sorry but that's a pretty simplistic view of things. That's like saying New Orleans should be built so every structure survives a cat 5 hurricane with a 25' storm surge. And then, not just New Orleans, but every coastal area that can be hit by a major hurricane from Texas to Maryland. That's not practical.

Likewise, you can't build fire infrastructure for a once in a 50 year wind event. Particularly when the county is absolutely huge and you have no idea where any fires will start. LA County is 4700 sq miles. Connecticut is 5543 sq miles.

Yes, we can probably do things better and every time one of these happens, things do get better, but this particular event is like trying to stop a hurricane with a nuclear bomb. There is no practical defense.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Denise Crosby (she was on Star Trek Next Generation and is Bing's granddaughter) lives in Pacific Palisades in a 100 year old house. Seems it is gone. So yes, the risk is omnipresent, mudslides too, but it becomes easy to ignore when it doesn't really happen over a 100 year period.

The difference for CA is that unlike Florida and hurricanes, they aren't really properly prepared for this and didn't build out the right fire mitigation infrastructure they really should have. My guess is that these houses don't get rebuilt or insured unless CA changes that. Likewise Asheville is going to need a much more robust flood mitigation infrastructure before it comes back. We have the technology now, have to choose to spend on these "unlikely" worst case scenarios.

Dick thing to say.

Sure, it's not smart to build houses on hillsides of peaks and valleys knowing there will always be dry season and high winds. I don’t think there is any way to prepare other than to not develop those areas at all. Human hubris of out engineering mother mature always loses.

 

[Gurleyman]

Sorry but that's a pretty simplistic view of things. That's like saying New Orleans should be built so every structure survives a cat 5 hurricane with a 25' storm surge. And then, not just New Orleans, but every coastal area that can be hit by a major hurricane from Texas to Maryland. That's not practical.

Likewise, you can't build fire infrastructure for a once in a 50 year wind event. Particularly when the county is absolutely huge and you have no idea where any fires will start. LA County is 4700 sq miles. Connecticut is 5543 sq miles.

Yes, we can probably do things better and every time one of these happens, things do get better, but this particular event is like trying to stop a hurricane with a nuclear bomb. There is no practical defense.

People think another reservoir or a couple desalination plants for ocean water or something would make a difference. You can have as many reservoirs of water as you want, but you still have to get the water to the fires through canyons and cliffs with enough volume and pressure to fight a giant wildfire. It isn’t like one house is in fire and you can drive up to it and put a hose in a hydrant. Or it isn’t like we know that a wildfire is going to start at some particular coordinates and you can put infrastructure into that area. Plus in an event like this winds are blowing embers all over the place and you don’t know where it’s going to go next and where the next battle will be. You can’t bulldoze the hills and narrow canyons of vegetation to give fires no fuel … even if you could logistically do it, then you get mudslides. When you have a dry year like this, the vegetation gets dry and it burns easy, and your best chance to fight it is air power and trying to keep the fire from crossing certain lines or boundaries - and when winds are 100 mph, those aircrafts can’t fly.

It’s a triage situation when you get these type of events. You save what you can and who you can, but sometimes the fights you have to give up on are sad. I don’t know what deaths will end up being - but it’s currently 6, so the issues are mostly about property. And yes some neighborhoods and businesses will be lost, and that’s awful, but short of forcing people to move out of the foothills and coastal hillside areas into the flatter valleys, there is going to be some fire risk in this area.

 

[superjohn]

Denise Crosby (she was on Star Trek Next Generation and is Bing's granddaughter) lives in Pacific Palisades in a 100 year old house. Seems it is gone. So yes, the risk is omnipresent, mudslides too, but it becomes easy to ignore when it doesn't really happen over a 100 year period.

The difference for CA is that unlike Florida and hurricanes, they aren't really properly prepared for this and didn't build out the right fire mitigation infrastructure they really should have. My guess is that these houses don't get rebuilt or insured unless CA changes that. Likewise Asheville is going to need a much more robust flood mitigation infrastructure before it comes back. We have the technology now, have to choose to spend on these "unlikely" worst case scenarios.

There's so much money out there and it's such a beautiful location they will start building 5 million dollar homes as soon as they can. It sounds a little harsh and too soon but awesome opportunity for LA homeowners who aren't tied down to the city to put their house on the market for an absurd price. There's so many people with massive amounts of wealth who are now homeless.

We're not used to seeing extremely wealthy people get devastated like this. It's usually the people who have the least who are getting hammered by tornadoes, fires, tsunamis etc.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I don’t understand why people take the risks to live there with fire and earthquakes. I know it’s nice but….,

I lived there for 15 years. There were 1 or 2 fires up in the hills over the 101 freeway but never a real threat. We still were more concerned with "the big one" earthquake than anything else.
I left in 2016. Since I left it's been out of control. @BigErnMcCracken has seen it all. Glad you're okay.

 

[superjohn]

LAPD has a suspected arsonist in custody who they believe started one of these fires.

 

[uconnfan68]

Sorry but that's a pretty simplistic view of things. That's like saying New Orleans should be built so every structure survives a cat 5 hurricane with a 25' storm surge. And then, not just New Orleans, but every coastal area that can be hit by a major hurricane from Texas to Maryland. That's not practical.

Likewise, you can't build fire infrastructure for a once in a 50 year wind event. Particularly when the county is absolutely huge and you have no idea where any fires will start. LA County is 4700 sq miles. Connecticut is 5543 sq miles.

Yes, we can probably do things better and every time one of these happens, things do get better, but this particular event is like trying to stop a hurricane with a nuclear bomb. There is no practical defense.

So nuclear weapons DON’T stop hurricanes?

 

[uconnfan68]

People think another reservoir or a couple desalination plants for ocean water or something would make a difference. You can have as many reservoirs of water as you want, but you still have to get the water to the fires through canyons and cliffs with enough volume and pressure to fight a giant wildfire. It isn’t like one house is in fire and you can drive up to it and put a hose in a hydrant. Or it isn’t like we know that a wildfire is going to start at some particular coordinates and you can put infrastructure into that area. Plus in an event like this winds are blowing embers all over the place and you don’t know where it’s going to go next and where the next battle will be. You can’t bulldoze the hills and narrow canyons of vegetation to give fires no fuel … even if you could logistically do it, then you get mudslides. When you have a dry year like this, the vegetation gets dry and it burns easy, and your best chance to fight it is air power and trying to keep the fire from crossing certain lines or boundaries - and when winds are 100 mph, those aircrafts can’t fly.

It’s a triage situation when you get these type of events. You save what you can and who you can, but sometimes the fights you have to give up on are sad. I don’t know what deaths will end up being - but it’s currently 6, so the issues are mostly about property. And yes some neighborhoods and businesses will be lost, and that’s awful, but short of forcing people to move out of the foothills and coastal hillside areas into the flatter valleys, there is going to be some fire risk in this area.

Power was shutoff to prevent it causing fires, and they forgot to get generators ready to power the pumps to get water to hydrants.

 

[Chin Diesel]

So nuclear weapons DON’T stop hurricanes?

Not the ones we acknowledge having.

 

[CTFaninCali]

Denise Crosby (she was on Star Trek Next Generation and is Bing's granddaughter) lives in Pacific Palisades in a 100 year old house. Seems it is gone. So yes, the risk is omnipresent, mudslides too, but it becomes easy to ignore when it doesn't really happen over a 100 year period.

The difference for CA is that unlike Florida and hurricanes, they aren't really properly prepared for this and didn't build out the right fire mitigation infrastructure they really should have. My guess is that these houses don't get rebuilt or insured unless CA changes that. Likewise Asheville is going to need a much more robust flood mitigation infrastructure before it comes back. We have the technology now, have to choose to spend on these "unlikely" worst case scenarios.

Um, what? Fire, drought and earthquake are primary considerations here. Water infrastructure running through mountains, fire roads galore for access, annual home inspection for fire safety, annual evacuation drills, etc. There are just some situations, like this, where you are somewhat helpless against 100 mph winds on top of a dry spell that followed a big grow season.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

LAPD has a suspected arsonist in custody who they believe started one of these fires.

That’s the Kenneth fire in West Hills. Put him under the jail as far as I’m concerned.

The Palisades fire started at the end of a block a colleague of mine lives on. Just a random cul de sac backed onto a hillside. That one was just dry chaparral and heavy winds.

 

[alphasigko]

That’s the Kenneth fire in West Hills. Put him under the jail as far as I’m concerned.

The Palisades fire started at the end of a block a colleague of mine lives on. Just a random cul de sac backed onto a hillside. That one was just dry chaparral and heavy winds.

But what caused it to ignite?

 

[uconnfan68]

But what caused it to ignite?

Could be just a tossed cigarette. Vegetation is too dry, and winds are up to 100 in places. Doesn’t take long to lose a lot.