Are NoVA and other DC areas prepared to handle forest fires near populated areas?

[Anonymous]

Does everyone forget it was 100F every day for like a month this summer? No, just, me watching my kid play baseball!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The finger-pointing in LA county and last year in Hawaii makes me wonder if our local first responders are properly funded and infrastructure sound enough to protect us from fire-related catastrophes. I understand we won’t know until such an event occurs (hopefully, we never do). We haven’t had droughts quite like CA but they’ve still been happening here and weve plenty of forested areas (Great Falls, Prince William Forest, etc.).

Good subject to bring up. The LA Time's payment wall is down on its fire news coverage and two fire experts weigh in on this subject:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-11/fire-experts-asses-los-angeles-blazes-amid-changing-times

Thank you. I think smoke from MD fires also reached our area in the spring (March 2024) as well.

-OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does everyone forget it was 100F every day for like a month this summer? No, just, me watching my kid play baseball!

I was right there with you! I’m the one with an umbrella and rechargeable fan. -OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The finger-pointing in LA county and last year in Hawaii makes me wonder if our local first responders are properly funded and infrastructure sound enough to protect us from fire-related catastrophes. I understand we won’t know until such an event occurs (hopefully, we never do). We haven’t had droughts quite like CA but they’ve still been happening here and weve plenty of forested areas (Great Falls, Prince William Forest, etc.).

Good subject to bring up. The LA Time's payment wall is down on its fire news coverage and two fire experts weigh in on this subject:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-11/fire-experts-asses-los-angeles-blazes-amid-changing-times

This needs to be highlighted:

When catastrophic fires occur, experts often blame the so-called wildland-urban interface, the vulnerable region on the perimeter of cities and suburbs where an abundance of vegetation in rugged terrain is susceptible to burning.

Yet the fire disasters that we’re seeing today are less wildland fires than urban fires, Cohen said. Shifting this understanding could lead to more effective prevention strategies.

[Anonymous]

No, nobody is prepared to fight that kind of fire. (Not that we have the same fire risk here, for reasons PPs explained.) You can only evacuate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, nobody is prepared to fight that kind of fire. (Not that we have the same fire risk here, for reasons PPs explained.) You can only evacuate.

The question you and others are missing is: are our first responders adequately prepared, staffed and equipped? It sounds like the LA forces were not for even a lesser emergency. Are our first responders equally understaffed? Under budget? If so, that puts our communities at risk. Are we at risk if, for example, even only three houses are on fire simultaneously in Arlington? Fairfax City? Bethesda? Clarksburg? Anacostia?

[Anonymous]

I don’t know but these fires and the flooding mudslides last in NC/TN will be the thing that finally causes me to create a Go Bag.

Also i need to buy one more cat carrier. I currently have 2 for 3 cats ….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, nobody is prepared to fight that kind of fire. (Not that we have the same fire risk here, for reasons PPs explained.) You can only evacuate.

The question you and others are missing is: are our first responders adequately prepared, staffed and equipped? It sounds like the LA forces were not for even a lesser emergency. Are our first responders equally understaffed? Under budget? If so, that puts our communities at risk. Are we at risk if, for example, even only three houses are on fire simultaneously in Arlington? Fairfax City? Bethesda? Clarksburg? Anacostia?

Who told you this? You just slip this pretense in here as if it were accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, nobody is prepared to fight that kind of fire. (Not that we have the same fire risk here, for reasons PPs explained.) You can only evacuate.

The question you and others are missing is: are our first responders adequately prepared, staffed and equipped? It sounds like the LA forces were not for even a lesser emergency. Are our first responders equally understaffed? Under budget? If so, that puts our communities at risk. Are we at risk if, for example, even only three houses are on fire simultaneously in Arlington? Fairfax City? Bethesda? Clarksburg? Anacostia?

Who told you this? You just slip this pretense in here as if it were accurate.

There is some debate about whether they were adequately staffed given the potential risks and whether more money should have been dedicated to making sure that the one reservoir was kept filled. Newsome is looking into this.

The word “seems” should tip you off that the subject is debatable not yet proven.

[Anonymous]

The winds are a significant factor in the LA fires. With those windspeeds they can't use a lot their equipment and it moves incredibly fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The winds are a significant factor in the LA fires. With those windspeeds they can't use a lot their equipment and it moves incredibly fast.

So if a fire began along GW Parkway / Spout Run, Arlington has sufficient resources to contain it because we have no wind? Easy peasy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, nobody is prepared to fight that kind of fire. (Not that we have the same fire risk here, for reasons PPs explained.) You can only evacuate.

The question you and others are missing is: are our first responders adequately prepared, staffed and equipped? It sounds like the LA forces were not for even a lesser emergency. Are our first responders equally understaffed? Under budget? If so, that puts our communities at risk. Are we at risk if, for example, even only three houses are on fire simultaneously in Arlington? Fairfax City? Bethesda? Clarksburg? Anacostia?

Who told you this? You just slip this pretense in here as if it were accurate.

There is some debate about whether they were adequately staffed given the potential risks and whether more money should have been dedicated to making sure that the one reservoir was kept filled. Newsome is looking into this.

The word “seems” should tip you off that the subject is debatable not yet proven.

CalFire and LAFD are literally the best in the world. Bar none.

But they can’t handle 4 wild fires at the same time. And these wildfires are impossible to extinguish without air support….which can’t happen when winds are 100 mph.

Read the LA Times article. It was a biblical disaster and no amount of training or resources or manpower could’ve stopped what happened. The only thing that could’ve been done was declaring Pacific Palisades unfit for habitation, using eminent domain, and rebuilding from the ground up with a fire proof design of homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, nobody is prepared to fight that kind of fire. (Not that we have the same fire risk here, for reasons PPs explained.) You can only evacuate.

The question you and others are missing is: are our first responders adequately prepared, staffed and equipped? It sounds like the LA forces were not for even a lesser emergency. Are our first responders equally understaffed? Under budget? If so, that puts our communities at risk. Are we at risk if, for example, even only three houses are on fire simultaneously in Arlington? Fairfax City? Bethesda? Clarksburg? Anacostia?

Who told you this? You just slip this pretense in here as if it were accurate.

There is some debate about whether they were adequately staffed given the potential risks and whether more money should have been dedicated to making sure that the one reservoir was kept filled. Newsome is looking into this.

The word “seems” should tip you off that the subject is debatable not yet proven.

CalFire and LAFD are literally the best in the world. Bar none.

But they can’t handle 4 wild fires at the same time. And these wildfires are impossible to extinguish without air support….which can’t happen when winds are 100 mph.

Read the LA Times article. It was a biblical disaster and no amount of training or resources or manpower could’ve stopped what happened. The only thing that could’ve been done was declaring Pacific Palisades unfit for habitation, using eminent domain, and rebuilding from the ground up with a fire proof design of homes.

That literally could not have been done because the real estate is so valuable that it’s not financially feasible. It would cost 25+ billion just to eminent domain the houses in the Pacific Palisades area. This is not financially realistic to spend around 8% of the states entire annual budget to eminent domain around 9,000 houses due to excessive fire risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, nobody is prepared to fight that kind of fire. (Not that we have the same fire risk here, for reasons PPs explained.) You can only evacuate.

The question you and others are missing is: are our first responders adequately prepared, staffed and equipped? It sounds like the LA forces were not for even a lesser emergency. Are our first responders equally understaffed? Under budget? If so, that puts our communities at risk. Are we at risk if, for example, even only three houses are on fire simultaneously in Arlington? Fairfax City? Bethesda? Clarksburg? Anacostia?

Who told you this? You just slip this pretense in here as if it were accurate.

There is some debate about whether they were adequately staffed given the potential risks and whether more money should have been dedicated to making sure that the one reservoir was kept filled. Newsome is looking into this.

The word “seems” should tip you off that the subject is debatable not yet proven.

CalFire and LAFD are literally the best in the world. Bar none.

But they can’t handle 4 wild fires at the same time. And these wildfires are impossible to extinguish without air support….which can’t happen when winds are 100 mph.

Read the LA Times article. It was a biblical disaster and no amount of training or resources or manpower could’ve stopped what happened. The only thing that could’ve been done was declaring Pacific Palisades unfit for habitation, using eminent domain, and rebuilding from the ground up with a fire proof design of homes.

I’m sure LAFD is great and the fire out there would be too overwhelming whether fully equipped and staffed or not.

The bottom line here is whether our FDs have what they need — even for smaller events not some once in a lifetime time situation. We’ve had interstate bridges and other infrastructure crumble. Are we letting our emergency response departments crumble too, or are they set. The LA fire chief has said they were not fully budgeted. Whether true or not is yet to be determined. Would our chiefs say the same as her?

[Anonymous]

Judging by the number of homeless illegally camping in Rock Creek Park….no.