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

[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.

[Anonymous]

What do communities need to build resilience? What are best practices for outside environments and best building practices and materials?

[Anonymous]

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

+1. This is a serious problem. I can’t believe how many people are living in Rock Creek Park dumping trash and polluting the water. It’s ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well arlington isn't.

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/arlington-county-fire-companies-brown-out-staffing-shortages/65-6eb6d89b-fbe7-4cff-b27b-23c04a32c934

Big problem in Maryland including Montgomery County now due to water main breaks- restricted water use since fire departments need normal supply to hydrants https://wtop.com/local/2025/01/wssc-water-urges-residents-in-prince-georges-montgomery-counties-to-conserve-water/

ARL article was 10/21/24. County was short 35 firefighters and had to temporarily shut down the Ballston station on a Sunday morning. . Arlington and Fairfax Counties have full time fire and EMT. Loudoun does have some volunteers who perform the actice fire and EMT [?] work. The February 2024 propane tank explosion sadly took the life of a fireman who was a volunteer.

Montgomery County MD is loaded with volunteers- fighting fires, driving trucks, EMT, etc. Some are non fire EMT trained volunteers and others can be picking up shifts from full time fire/emt in other jurisdictions I guess.

Montgomery County MD does NOT fully fund their personal use safety equipment etc - on the same level as Fairfax County VA.

[Anonymous]

I'm less worried about wildfires in our area and more worried about preparing for unsafe air coming down from Canada, where they have been having wildfires. Thinking about investing in some air purifiers and keeping masks stocked. I think I saw there is a more effective mask than the KN-95, so I'm going to do some research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

We don’t get dry 100+ mph winds, nor do we have 8+ months without rain. We live in a very different climate and do not have the same issues as California.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well arlington isn't.

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/arlington-county-fire-companies-brown-out-staffing-shortages/65-6eb6d89b-fbe7-4cff-b27b-23c04a32c934

Big problem in Maryland including Montgomery County now due to water main breaks- restricted water use since fire departments need normal supply to hydrants https://wtop.com/local/2025/01/wssc-water-urges-residents-in-prince-georges-montgomery-counties-to-conserve-water/

ARL article was 10/21/24. County was short 35 firefighters and had to temporarily shut down the Ballston station on a Sunday morning. . Arlington and Fairfax Counties have full time fire and EMT. Loudoun does have some volunteers who perform the actice fire and EMT [?] work. The February 2024 propane tank explosion sadly took the life of a fireman who was a volunteer.

Montgomery County MD is loaded with volunteers- fighting fires, driving trucks, EMT, etc. Some are non fire EMT trained volunteers and others can be picking up shifts from full time fire/emt in other jurisdictions I guess.

Montgomery County MD does NOT fully fund their personal use safety equipment etc - on the same level as Fairfax County VA.

Thank you for answering! This is the kind of information I’m after. I’m not anticipating wildfires on the same scale as California. I am concerned whether our first responders are adequately staffed as determined by their departments and some accepted standards (eg, x number of personnel per residential buildings or however they calculate that). That they have working equipment (trucks and water supply, etc.).

Sounds like water mains are temporary issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well arlington isn't.

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/arlington-county-fire-companies-brown-out-staffing-shortages/65-6eb6d89b-fbe7-4cff-b27b-23c04a32c934

Big problem in Maryland including Montgomery County now due to water main breaks- restricted water use since fire departments need normal supply to hydrants https://wtop.com/local/2025/01/wssc-water-urges-residents-in-prince-georges-montgomery-counties-to-conserve-water/

ARL article was 10/21/24. County was short 35 firefighters and had to temporarily shut down the Ballston station on a Sunday morning. . Arlington and Fairfax Counties have full time fire and EMT. Loudoun does have some volunteers who perform the actice fire and EMT [?] work. The February 2024 propane tank explosion sadly took the life of a fireman who was a volunteer.

Montgomery County MD is loaded with volunteers- fighting fires, driving trucks, EMT, etc. Some are non fire EMT trained volunteers and others can be picking up shifts from full time fire/emt in other jurisdictions I guess.

Montgomery County MD does NOT fully fund their personal use safety equipment etc - on the same level as Fairfax County VA.

Thank you for answering! This is the kind of information I’m after. I’m not anticipating wildfires on the same scale as California. I am concerned whether our first responders are adequately staffed as determined by their departments and some accepted standards (eg, x number of personnel per residential buildings or however they calculate that). That they have working equipment (trucks and water supply, etc.).

Sounds like water mains are temporary issue.

The above is a great example of focusing on the wrong thing, IMO. Water mains that break are a major issue, even if any individual break is temporary. But it's expensive to fix water mains, and unpopular because you have to dig up streets and people's yards, and the connection to firefighting is not as obvious. It’s much more satisfying to buy a new fire truck.

If you are worried about fire department capacity, time to train, etc, it might be useful to look at what the most common calls are that firetrucks respond to (I'd bet it's not fires) and address those issues with, e.g., paramedic response, traffic safety measures, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well arlington isn't.

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/arlington-county-fire-companies-brown-out-staffing-shortages/65-6eb6d89b-fbe7-4cff-b27b-23c04a32c934

Big problem in Maryland including Montgomery County now due to water main breaks- restricted water use since fire departments need normal supply to hydrants https://wtop.com/local/2025/01/wssc-water-urges-residents-in-prince-georges-montgomery-counties-to-conserve-water/

ARL article was 10/21/24. County was short 35 firefighters and had to temporarily shut down the Ballston station on a Sunday morning. . Arlington and Fairfax Counties have full time fire and EMT. Loudoun does have some volunteers who perform the actice fire and EMT [?] work. The February 2024 propane tank explosion sadly took the life of a fireman who was a volunteer.

Montgomery County MD is loaded with volunteers- fighting fires, driving trucks, EMT, etc. Some are non fire EMT trained volunteers and others can be picking up shifts from full time fire/emt in other jurisdictions I guess.

Montgomery County MD does NOT fully fund their personal use safety equipment etc - on the same level as Fairfax County VA.

Thank you for answering! This is the kind of information I’m after. I’m not anticipating wildfires on the same scale as California. I am concerned whether our first responders are adequately staffed as determined by their departments and some accepted standards (eg, x number of personnel per residential buildings or however they calculate that). That they have working equipment (trucks and water supply, etc.).

Sounds like water mains are temporary issue.

Not really since there are extensive networks of aging infrastructure. FY21 MOCO had 1200 full time and 900 volunteers who were active duty not office. PPE=personal protective gear was not furnished adequately by MOCO so that means sewage or unsanitary or high water gets staffers in the muck unlike FX.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well arlington isn't.

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/arlington-county-fire-companies-brown-out-staffing-shortages/65-6eb6d89b-fbe7-4cff-b27b-23c04a32c934

Big problem in Maryland including Montgomery County now due to water main breaks- restricted water use since fire departments need normal supply to hydrants https://wtop.com/local/2025/01/wssc-water-urges-residents-in-prince-georges-montgomery-counties-to-conserve-water/

ARL article was 10/21/24. County was short 35 firefighters and had to temporarily shut down the Ballston station on a Sunday morning. . Arlington and Fairfax Counties have full time fire and EMT. Loudoun does have some volunteers who perform the actice fire and EMT [?] work. The February 2024 propane tank explosion sadly took the life of a fireman who was a volunteer.

Montgomery County MD is loaded with volunteers- fighting fires, driving trucks, EMT, etc. Some are non fire EMT trained volunteers and others can be picking up shifts from full time fire/emt in other jurisdictions I guess.

Montgomery County MD does NOT fully fund their personal use safety equipment etc - on the same level as Fairfax County VA.

Thank you for answering! This is the kind of information I’m after. I’m not anticipating wildfires on the same scale as California. I am concerned whether our first responders are adequately staffed as determined by their departments and some accepted standards (eg, x number of personnel per residential buildings or however they calculate that). That they have working equipment (trucks and water supply, etc.).

Sounds like water mains are temporary issue.

The above is a great example of focusing on the wrong thing, IMO. Water mains that break are a major issue, even if any individual break is temporary. But it's expensive to fix water mains, and unpopular because you have to dig up streets and people's yards, and the connection to firefighting is not as obvious. It’s much more satisfying to buy a new fire truck.

If you are worried about fire department capacity, time to train, etc, it might be useful to look at what the most common calls are that firetrucks respond to (I'd bet it's not fires) and address those issues with, e.g., paramedic response, traffic safety measures, etc.

As far as I know, it's car crashes.

[Anonymous]

LA has fires all the time. The problem is the wind. The likelihood of us having a historically unprecedented windstorm in the middle of a six month rainless period is practically zero. That's why we don't have fires here.