Palisades Fire - Los Angeles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too many people living somewhere with not enough water. Same with CO and AZ too. The boom in Phoenix is absolutely shocking given the fact that the area is entirely dependent on water from elsewhere. People have no sense of self preservation.

As someone in those areas I think the same of people who live in hurricane and blizzard areas. Canceling school because of snow? Poor kids.

PP here. I don’t live in hurricane or blizzard prone areas either. It’s a well known fact that the DC is fairly immune to major weather events. I’ll take few days off school for snow (because it’s so rare here) over evacuating my family for fires, hurricanes, mudslides and earthquakes. But hey, enjoy the gorgeous So Cal weather! It must be awesome that it hasn’t rained in 8 months!

I don't live in So Cal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Why are they allowing this to happen?

I swear to God some of you are still drunk from NYE and the snow days.

This reminds me of a few years back, when Trump (then Prez) blamed the people of CA for all of the destruction that the wildfires caused.

He actually said it was the residents of CA’s fault that there were so many wildfires!! 🤦🏼
He claimed that CA residents were not keeping their “floors”/grounds swept + raked properly (like the folks in Greenland did!) and he even spoke of withholding emergency monies because of it!
Of course - it was all part of his power trip (the guys LOVES power + control!)

Personally he was just butt hurt that CA didn’t vote for him.
But to the PP >> how can you say such an insensitive remark when so many people lose their lives & homes??

Calm down. What Trump said actually is correct. The fires aren't just because of global warming, there have always been wildfires in California due to the dry nature of the region combined with the wind patterns. It's that there are now so many people living in high fire risk areas. As other posters have already pointed out, you have to take proactive steps with the vegetations around your properties. If you don't you put yourself at a higher risk for fire. Although there are definitely times when there's nothing you can do.

There have always been fires, but the scale and frequency are new. There used to be a wet season (now) and a fire season: now it's fire season year round. That is climate change.

Which means what Trump says is still on the right side. People have to take much stricture measures to try to control the fires through landscaping and vegetation. As for scale and frequency, there were devastating wildfires in the 80s even before global warming was a thing. It's that the population is much bigger and therefore many more people affected, and suburban sprawl gets in the way of a natural wildfire with unpleasant results.

This is magical thinking. You are attributing whatever words you prefer to Trump when he hasn't ever said any of what you want him to have said.

This is the wrong thread for that. Go back to fantasizing about neighborhood sprinkler systems, it's more grounded in reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop talking about new watering systems JFC they don’t have water in the existing hydrants! There is a water shortage in ca. One cannot escape the fact the the tree huggers in those parts of ca have resisted proper forest management forever and that management gives fire fighters the ability to create fire lanes and manage fires such as this one. It’s been screamed about for years by the professionals. And where is the Mayor of la? In Africa on a tour. What a f g joke! Such a beautiful state controlled by absolute morons. Prayers up for the firefighters putting themselves in harms way. Oh and for the idiot Californians.

There are so few firefighters there too, I read a little under 4,000 for LAFD. NYFD has 11,000! They must be spread so thin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Why are they allowing this to happen?

I swear to God some of you are still drunk from NYE and the snow days.

This reminds me of a few years back, when Trump (then Prez) blamed the people of CA for all of the destruction that the wildfires caused.

He actually said it was the residents of CA’s fault that there were so many wildfires!! 🤦🏼
He claimed that CA residents were not keeping their “floors”/grounds swept + raked properly (like the folks in Greenland did!) and he even spoke of withholding emergency monies because of it!
Of course - it was all part of his power trip (the guys LOVES power + control!)

Personally he was just butt hurt that CA didn’t vote for him.
But to the PP >> how can you say such an insensitive remark when so many people lose their lives & homes??

Calm down. What Trump said actually is correct. The fires aren't just because of global warming, there have always been wildfires in California due to the dry nature of the region combined with the wind patterns. It's that there are now so many people living in high fire risk areas. As other posters have already pointed out, you have to take proactive steps with the vegetations around your properties. If you don't you put yourself at a higher risk for fire. Although there are definitely times when there's nothing you can do.

There have always been fires, but the scale and frequency are new. There used to be a wet season (now) and a fire season: now it's fire season year round. That is climate change.

Which means what Trump says is still on the right side. People have to take much stricture measures to try to control the fires through landscaping and vegetation. As for scale and frequency, there were devastating wildfires in the 80s even before global warming was a thing. It's that the population is much bigger and therefore many more people affected, and suburban sprawl gets in the way of a natural wildfire with unpleasant results.

Altadena is a very old neighborhood though, and the Palisades not a burb in the sprawly sense. Absolutely tragic for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Why are they allowing this to happen?

I swear to God some of you are still drunk from NYE and the snow days.

This reminds me of a few years back, when Trump (then Prez) blamed the people of CA for all of the destruction that the wildfires caused.

He actually said it was the residents of CA’s fault that there were so many wildfires!! 🤦🏼
He claimed that CA residents were not keeping their “floors”/grounds swept + raked properly (like the folks in Greenland did!) and he even spoke of withholding emergency monies because of it!
Of course - it was all part of his power trip (the guys LOVES power + control!)

Personally he was just butt hurt that CA didn’t vote for him.
But to the PP >> how can you say such an insensitive remark when so many people lose their lives & homes??

Calm down. What Trump said actually is correct. The fires aren't just because of global warming, there have always been wildfires in California due to the dry nature of the region combined with the wind patterns. It's that there are now so many people living in high fire risk areas. As other posters have already pointed out, you have to take proactive steps with the vegetations around your properties. If you don't you put yourself at a higher risk for fire. Although there are definitely times when there's nothing you can do.

There have always been fires, but the scale and frequency are new. There used to be a wet season (now) and a fire season: now it's fire season year round. That is climate change.

Which means what Trump says is still on the right side. People have to take much stricture measures to try to control the fires through landscaping and vegetation. As for scale and frequency, there were devastating wildfires in the 80s even before global warming was a thing. It's that the population is much bigger and therefore many more people affected, and suburban sprawl gets in the way of a natural wildfire with unpleasant results.

I'm not interested in Trump but please understand people already cut vegetation back from their houses. Because our home insurance requires it. It's a basic safety step already taken, and pretending it's a new solution is ignorant.

I forget who mentioned forests but there are not "forests" in the traditional sense. By vegetation you mean grass, shrubs, some eucalyptus stands (get rid of these, I agree) and a few real trees here and there.

The idea all these fires were happening before, but it was fine because people didn't live here, is simply not true. I don't know what else to tell you except that it's factually false.

[Anonymous]

High winds pick up burning debris and ambers and these start a new fire further away.
It isn’t obviously arson, even if the news media tries to get more coverage and viewers by claiming so

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Why are they allowing this to happen?

I swear to God some of you are still drunk from NYE and the snow days.

This reminds me of a few years back, when Trump (then Prez) blamed the people of CA for all of the destruction that the wildfires caused.

He actually said it was the residents of CA’s fault that there were so many wildfires!! 🤦🏼
He claimed that CA residents were not keeping their “floors”/grounds swept + raked properly (like the folks in Greenland did!) and he even spoke of withholding emergency monies because of it!
Of course - it was all part of his power trip (the guys LOVES power + control!)

Personally he was just butt hurt that CA didn’t vote for him.
But to the PP >> how can you say such an insensitive remark when so many people lose their lives & homes??

Calm down. What Trump said actually is correct. The fires aren't just because of global warming, there have always been wildfires in California due to the dry nature of the region combined with the wind patterns. It's that there are now so many people living in high fire risk areas. As other posters have already pointed out, you have to take proactive steps with the vegetations around your properties. If you don't you put yourself at a higher risk for fire. Although there are definitely times when there's nothing you can do.

There have always been fires, but the scale and frequency are new. There used to be a wet season (now) and a fire season: now it's fire season year round. That is climate change.

Which means what Trump says is still on the right side. People have to take much stricture measures to try to control the fires through landscaping and vegetation. As for scale and frequency, there were devastating wildfires in the 80s even before global warming was a thing. It's that the population is much bigger and therefore many more people affected, and suburban sprawl gets in the way of a natural wildfire with unpleasant results.

I'm not interested in Trump but please understand people already cut vegetation back from their houses. Because our home insurance requires it. It's a basic safety step already taken, and pretending it's a new solution is ignorant.

I forget who mentioned forests but there are not "forests" in the traditional sense. By vegetation you mean grass, shrubs, some eucalyptus stands (get rid of these, I agree) and a few real trees here and there.

The idea all these fires were happening before, but it was fine because people didn't live here, is simply not true. I don't know what else to tell you except that it's factually false.

Wildfires are part of the cycles of nature and long predate mankind's arrival. There's nothing new about it.

LA (and the Bay area too) are unique because they live so closely to nature, with the hills and canyons everywhere. And the Santa Ana winds are also nothing new but part of the geography of the region. Malibu is always having a fire every few years, it seems. The scale of this one promises to be much more devastating than the typical wildfire but I'm also aware of people having longstanding complaints about the non profit land conservancies like the Santa Monica Mountain Conservancies being resistant to vegetation clearances and posing higher fire risks.

Probably for the sake of keeping this thread informative it's better not to bring in obsessions with Trump. Like everyone sane I'm crossing fingers and hoping for the best and worrying about complete strangers and their pets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a fire storm of mass destruction and will only get worse over the night.

Iconic landmarks like the Getty Villa and Palisades HS are on fire. 0% contained.

I grew up in SoCal and this is a disaster. People had to abandon their cars in traffic and run.

30,000 people evacuated but the Getty staff say the museum is very secure. My LA friends left their home before the gridlock. I have been through three fire evacuations in the last few years in the Rocky Mountain West, and several friends lost their homes with minutes to get out. The trauma of losing everything you have is unimaginable, especially for children. I have totally changed how I arrange everything. My heart goes out to anyone who has to evacuate, and wait and wonder what is happening to their home. The wind forecast looks terrible.

If you don't mind sharing, I'd like to hear what changes you made. I live in LA and have several family and friends sheltering in hotels right now.

I am glad your friends made it out, and I hope their homes make it.

We had 15 minutes in our first evacuation, many of our friends had literally two minutes. Here is what I’ve done

-Reorganized “must have” paper and objects so that they exist in one grabbable plastic file box stored in the front closet. This means that the overall organization is disrupted. Obviously it has passports, banking, emergency cash etc., but it also has my favorite drawings from each child, original genealogical documents, love letters. This is the box that is first out. It’s what you need and what you feel like you will die without. I sharpied symbols on the box to remind me to close windows, doors, and shut off power/gas. We don’t have propane but if you do you should try to remove it. This is where you put the things that you take if you have two minutes. I also have a small box of charging equipment. This is totally an emotional crutch for me. I learned the first time that slinging chargers into random places made me feel out of control and panicky, but I really wanted to take them.

-The front closet also has flat boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap, scissors that are not used for anything else. They are there primarily for art and books.

-I have packed a box with one or two pieces of each of the multiple sets of china and crystal that are family things.

-I have a packed box of our most treasured Christmas things.

-Jewelry is stored in a box with trays and I am religious about putting it away

-Books are shelved so that high priority keepers are together. Old photo albums are there (yes they are scanned, but some photos I want if I can have them).

-Every bedroom has a box of big black trash bags. You can stuff a ton of clothing, stuffed animals, special blankets, etc. in really quickly and the bags will squish into vehicles efficiently. Kids can do this while you do something else.i will never forget holding my kid’s quavering friend who barely escaped with her family and did not have a single thing left. Not one stuffed animal, baby toy, pillowcase. Nothing.

-Scanning and photographing. Pretty much everything that can be scanned is scanned, if it can’t be scanned it’s photographed. I have thumb drives here and send copies to my mother and cousin. This serves two purposes. Whatever we can’t take out, we will have a memory of, and we will get the max for our contents insurance (start scanning receipts for things as you buy). Insurance for build cost is usually not enough, and they’re only obligated to pay a % of contents unless you can document it all.

-Priorotized lists. We know approximately what can go out in 2, 5, 10, 15, 30 minutes. We know what fits in our vehicles and what we can add if our friend comes with a trailer. This is all written in order and stored in an envelope taped to the must go box. Be sure to include a device list. No matter how prepared you are, it’s scary. It’s not a time to make decisions. You don’t want to be in the basement staring at your sorority memorabilia and your grandmother’s ice skates and wondering what to take. This also means someone else can pack if you put locations and ideally a photo on the list.

Overall, my house is no longer organized for maximum efficiency, but for maximum evacuation efficiency. It doesn’t change much or look weird. It just means some extra steps and discipline here and there. Everyone will have different priorities and choices. The key is making those decisions before the crisis and organizing so you don’t have to think or search for things when you evacuate.

This is insane. I agree about people, pets, important documents, and chargers. Laterns/batteries is a good idea too. The kids have a few favorite toys/stuffies. But I don’t care about anything else you mentioned - even if I had a week to prepare I wouldn’t bring China or Christmas decorations or kids artwork. Now if Google and Amazon photo BOTH lose all my digital storage, THEN I’d be devastated. But the stuff is just stuff.

[Anonymous]

If the hydrants are dry and water bombing won't work due to winds (although I did see them scooping from the ocean yesterday), can they pump in water from the ocean? I mean it seems kind of wild that there is a lack of water when there is a literal ocean across the street. Maybe they don't have the tech now but seems like investing in some sort of emergency pump system directly from the ocean for firefighting might be something worth looking into.

At the very least I imagine they should be able to fill tanker trucks with ocean water?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why aren’t fire mitigation systems installed as part of the public works systems, developments or private homes? Large water guns to create a barrier or cover a neighborhood?

how are you going to provide fire suppression over an entire city?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren’t fire mitigation systems installed as part of the public works systems, developments or private homes? Large water guns to create a barrier or cover a neighborhood?

how are you going to provide fire suppression over an entire city?

What are fire hydrants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren’t fire mitigation systems installed as part of the public works systems, developments or private homes? Large water guns to create a barrier or cover a neighborhood?

how are you going to provide fire suppression over an entire city?

You could clean up the dead fall, which provides an enormous amount of fuel for these wildfires. But that would be destroying nature, so I guess we need to let the tiger eat your face.

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-09-13/150-million-dead-trees-wildfires-sierra-nevada

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren’t fire mitigation systems installed as part of the public works systems, developments or private homes? Large water guns to create a barrier or cover a neighborhood?

how are you going to provide fire suppression over an entire city?

What are fire hydrants

You mean the type that are now dry in Palisades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the hydrants are dry and water bombing won't work due to winds (although I did see them scooping from the ocean yesterday), can they pump in water from the ocean? I mean it seems kind of wild that there is a lack of water when there is a literal ocean across the street. Maybe they don't have the tech now but seems like investing in some sort of emergency pump system directly from the ocean for firefighting might be something worth looking into.

At the very least I imagine they should be able to fill tanker trucks with ocean water?

Look, you may mean well, but this is basically magical thinking. A tanker truck provides water to put out a house fire. Once a neighborhood is on fire, saving individual houses is no longer a concern. This is a rapidly spreading fire affecting thousands and thousands of houses. Saving one house is not the way to fight a fire that is spreading by wind and vegetation. With a fire this scale, resources are used to make firebreaks and save evacuation routes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren’t fire mitigation systems installed as part of the public works systems, developments or private homes? Large water guns to create a barrier or cover a neighborhood?

how are you going to provide fire suppression over an entire city?

What are fire hydrants

You mean the type that are now dry in Palisades?

They didn’t start that way. There are also large tanks that can be placed as backup sources. My point is there are options to help and the scurrent system is clearly ineffective. But I can see the appeal of doing nothing.