Palisades Fire - Los Angeles

[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?

You mean the ocean that CA diverted reservoir water back to, instead of prioritizing its management and retention? No, CA has been prioritizing other things, silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

Well, you know best! Thanks for all the insights.

[Anonymous]

I never lived in SoCal nor been through a wildfire or know much about them - I am from MW.

But I do know better than offering these idiotic solutions of tankers of water and such. I mean WTAF?

Use common sense - you're trying to fight a fire that spreads 5 football fields per minute. You really think you can actually fight that kind of fire? You can redirect it and you can try to contain it - you're not simply going to put it out with your magical water hoses.

The land is nature and fire is nature. We are mere mortals having taken over land we have. I idea how to live with. Every few years the lands gonna fight us and destroy us. That's just how it is. Since we still want the land, we gonna have to take it. They will I'm sure rebuild and it'll happen again, there is no stopping it. There's learning to live with it. There's saving as many lives as possible but there needs to be acceptance and understanding of why the inevitable happens. You're not gonna fight Santa Ana winds or a big ass fire and win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never lived in SoCal nor been through a wildfire or know much about them - I am from MW.

But I do know better than offering these idiotic solutions of tankers of water and such. I mean WTAF?

Use common sense - you're trying to fight a fire that spreads 5 football fields per minute. You really think you can actually fight that kind of fire? You can redirect it and you can try to contain it - you're not simply going to put it out with your magical water hoses.

The land is nature and fire is nature. We are mere mortals having taken over land we have. I idea how to live with. Every few years the lands gonna fight us and destroy us. That's just how it is. Since we still want the land, we gonna have to take it. They will I'm sure rebuild and it'll happen again, there is no stopping it. There's learning to live with it. There's saving as many lives as possible but there needs to be acceptance and understanding of why the inevitable happens. You're not gonna fight Santa Ana winds or a big ass fire and win.

I think the biggest issue is the sustained wind. I am watching LA news and news person was saying the hoses are pointless because the wind is so strong the water basically ends up in the air, not extinguishing a thing. It also means not being able to spray from the air via planes as planes can't go in with 50 + mph winds. It's slowed down the ability to fight these fires tremendously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

You do you. You have no right to judge anyone else. I had to leave grabbing what I could with no planning the first time. Then we watched and waited for three days. It sucked beyond belief and yes, if I can safely prevent my family from going through what our friends have, I will do it. Now we’re prepared. My best friends lost every single thing. It’s all “just stuff” until it happens to you. Make your own decisions and don’t judge other people as long as they are obeying safety orders.

[Anonymous]

Imagine living somewhere where fire hydrants run out of water.

Hard pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Imagine living somewhere where fire hydrants run out of water.

Hard pass.

Basically anywhere west of the Mississippi.

I agree, I grew up in the West and will not ever move back, because of water. The abundance of water here is amazing and wonderful (and even here there are droughts and water shortages).

[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?

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

Read your own source: While thinning — cutting down the dead timber and hauling it away — can play a role, especially around mountain communities, North said a majority of the beetle-killed stands are in wilderness or in areas that are too remote and too steep to be logged

[Anonymous]

Question from somebody who hasn't had to evacuate - when do you decide to go? My impulse would be to just leave now if I was anywhere near, but I can understand it requires a place to stay, missing work, etc. Do you wait for the order? or go sooner if you can?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn’t the wind in Europe result in massive wild fires?

You’re not so bright are you?

NP

Why do you have to be such an a-hole? Do you think it’s helpful?


Her question is a legitimate one. I’d bet a lot of people wonder the same thing.

Also dp. The question is unbelievably stupid. This site has been inundated by the ignorant and uneducated.

[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?

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

Read your own source: While thinning — cutting down the dead timber and hauling it away — can play a role, especially around mountain communities, North said a majority of the beetle-killed stands are in wilderness or in areas that are too remote and too steep to be logged

Yes. Also, there's a big difference between a fire in a remote forest (common, wouldn't make the news, they mostly let it burn) and a fire in a developed area. There are not a bunch of dead trees in Pasadena that somebody neglected to clear.

[Anonymous]

This thread just makes me hate people so much.

The world does not revolve around us. We have to respect where and how we live. Shit happens everyday because that's just nature and the way it is. No amount of tech and money will change that. Nature will always overtake people.

[Anonymous]

So much misinformation in this thread.

Maybe reading about this fire can help some of you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Fire

And if you think no one should live where there is a natural disaster what are you going to do with all the red states full of tornadoes and hurricanes? Plus, thanks to your fracking Oklahoma now has earthquakes? No place is safe from natural disasters. It’s amazing how when tragedy strikes in a red state you people are all “we’ve got to help these people!” And when it’s a blue state, you’re just full of hate and blame and absolutely stupid, uninformed takes about why things happen or how they should be handled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So much misinformation in this thread.

Maybe reading about this fire can help some of you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Fire

And if you think no one should live where there is a natural disaster what are you going to do with all the red states full of tornadoes and hurricanes? Plus, thanks to your fracking Oklahoma now has earthquakes? No place is safe from natural disasters. It’s amazing how when tragedy strikes in a red state you people are all “we’ve got to help these people!” And when it’s a blue state, you’re just full of hate and blame and absolutely stupid, uninformed takes about why things happen or how they should be handled.

I'm in Florida and see the opposite here constantly actually, even people actively wishing ill on Florida during hurricane season. So I think you are deeply mistaken. And anyone who actually lives in a natural disaster area has empathy and good thoughts only for CA residents dealing with fires right now, because we get how terrifying it is!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

DP. I’m a native Californian who lived there 21 years and never experienced a fire. Droughts were common, and one year we recycled shower water. In the last 8 years, both the area I grew up and my college town have been devastated by fires.