The Wildfires Thread

[Jumbo]

****ing mindless idiot...all he's doing is trying to figure out how he can make some money for his peeps out of this while ****ing with the dems and the liberal rat's nest trumpco sees as CA

 

it's a dark reality that more than few humans of his ilk are fine with the "libtard state"  seriously suffering 

[Chew]

 

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

On 11/16/2018 at 7:43 AM, The Evil Genius said:

 

Thank the causeway. Or maybe the rice fields. Just glad I'm not in Elk Grove anymore.

 

Stay safe guys. 

Air is 175 right now much better than before. 

1000 people missing. Hopefully, they are accounted for soon. 

[The Gibber]

12 hours ago, Chew said:

 

Gordo's are some tasty burritos. These stories make me feel better about the state of our nation. 

[visionary]

 

 

 

[PCS]

 

 

 

 

 

[LD0506]

[LD0506]

[PCS]

 

 

[twa]

 

Quote

 

Was Global Warming A Significant Factor in California's Camp Fire? The Answer is Clearly No.

https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2018/11/was-global-warming-significant-factor.html

 

The Camp Fire that struck the northern California town of Paradise and vicinity is a profoundly disturbing environmental disaster of first magnitude.  Nearly 100 people have lost their lives, approximately 10,000 homes have been lost, a major community has essentially been destroyed, and millions of people have been exposed to high concentrations of smoke.  Tens of thousands of people have been displaced and lives of millions substantially affected.
 

 

And beyond the heart-wrenching losses noted above, it is doubly tragic that this disaster was both foreseeable and avoidable, resulting from a series of errors, poor judgment, lack of use of available technology, and poor urban planning.

It is more than unfortunate that some politicians, environmental advocacy groups, and activist scientists are attempting to use this tragedy as a tool for their own agenda, make the claim that the Camp Fire was result of global warming.
 

As I will discuss below, this claim has little grounding in fact or science.  Global warming is a profoundly serious threat to mankind, but it has little impact the Camp Fire and many of the coastal California fires of the past few years (e.g., the Wine Country Fires of October 2017).  And blaming global warming takes attention away from the actions needed to prevent such  tragedies from happening again.

Analyzing the Origins of the Camp Fire

 

 

[nonniey]

2 hours ago, twa said:

 

 

That is one of the better analysis I've seen in a long time. Even many (most?) of the comments that questioned his analysis where damn good and respectfully presented. This is the right way to present information and have discourse and I wish we could discuss issues and present arguments this way more often.

[China]

 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2018 by China

[bcl05]

https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-the-last-call-20181122-story.html

 

This is harrowing, and beautiful.  Highly recommended.  

[Larry]

Things like this are just incredibly frustrating to me. 

 

To me, we ought to have the ability to have as many people, and all the gear they need, on site, anywhere in the US, within a week. And anywhere in the world within 2-3. 

 

Yeah, I understand some things, like restoring power after a hurricane, maybe take more than a week to fix. Simply because of the width of the damage. 

 

But, seriously?  A big fire?  What do they need, and why don't they have it?  

Edited November 23, 2018 by Larry

[China]

Judge in San Bruno criminal case demands answers from PG&E on cause of Camp Fire

 

A federal judge overseeing PG&E’s criminal probation from the deadly San Bruno pipeline explosion is demanding answers from the utility about its potential role in the Camp Fire or other major wildfires.

 

In a written order, U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco told PG&E to explain whether “reckless operation or maintenance of PG&E power lines” started a wildfire — and whether that might constitute a violation of the terms of the utility’s probation.

 

PG&E was found guilty in federal court of obstruction of justice and other charges in connection with the 2010 San Bruno disaster, which killed eight people and injured 58 others. At sentencing in January 2017, the utility was placed on five years’ probation, fined $3 million and ordered to perform thousands of hours of community service.

 

The probation sentence included a prohibition against committing further crimes.

 

Aside from the criminal case, the San Bruno catastrophe was a major crisis for PG&E. The utility was fined $1.6 billion by regulators and paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in civil settlements.

 

Alsup told the utility to provide “an accurate and complete statement of the role, if any, of PG&E in causing and reporting the recent Camp Fire in Butte County and all other wildfires in California” since PG&E was placed on probation in January 2017.

 

PG&E has disclosed to regulators that a transmission line, located near the spot where the Camp Fire ignited, experienced a problem a few minutes before the fire was reported early Nov. 8. Cal Fire continues to investigate the cause of the blaze, which has killed at least 88 people and has become the deadliest wildfire in the state’s history.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

California Could Be on the Brink of Its Worst-Ever Wildfire Season

 

After being devastated by wildfires last year, California has gone through several months of being relatively fire-free. But as we head into the heat of late summer, the state is ready to burn. When the ignition happens, experts warn, it could cause wildfires more intense and destructive than anything California has experienced.

 

Last year saw a wave of horrific fires hit the state. Most notably, the Camp Fire killed 85 people—making it the deadliest fire in California history—and destroyed the town of Paradise. To the south, the Woolsey Fire devastated a stretch of coast that included the wealthy enclave of Malibu. The casualties and damage were such that some called it the worst fire season California had ever had. This year could be just as bad.

 

"The potential is there to have similar fire activity as last year and the year before," Gardetto said. "It just all depends on those weather factors lining up to create that unfortunate perfect storm."

 

That perfect storm may seem pretty far away to many California residents. From January to early August in 2018, over 3,600 wildfires charred about 615,000 acres across the state, according to statistics from the fire protection agency Cal Fire. This year during the same period only 22,900 acres have burned—the 2,900 wildfires responsible for that damage have been smaller and less destructive.

 

"So far it's been a mild season," said Amy Head, a Cal Fire battalion chief.

 

One reason for that is an unusually wet winter with record-breaking amounts of rain and precipitation. The snowpack in California is 33 percent higher than last year. High humidity has additionally caused soil moisture to be 40 percent above average. Aside from a few short periods of extreme heat, California's summer hasn't been as scorching as previous years'.

 

"It's been a good break for all of us because we've kind of been going nonstop for many years now," Head explained. "It's given us a chance to catch our breath."

But Head and other experts know that the potential this year for another Camp Fire–style blaze—which destroyed around 18,800 structures and caused $16.5 billion in damage—is all too real.

 

Heavy precipitation earlier this year created a "super bloom" of vegetation that is now drying out in the August heat, creating tinder that could feed a massive fire. "We're at a breaking point now," Southern California Edison fire scientist Tom Rolinski told the Palm Springs Desert Sun in August.

 

CoreLogic fire specialist Tom Jeffery earlier this summer explained to the New York Times that "all of the factors that contributed to previous fires are still there…There's no reason to think that we can't replicate or—I hate to say this—we could potentially exceed what we saw in the past fires."

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

California Wildfires Live Updates: Getty Fire Rages as 405 Jams

 

Up and down the state, wildfires are driving residents from their homes. About 180,000 in Sonoma have been ordered to leave, and part of Napa is under a warning.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

 

---------

 

Kincade Fire scorches 74,000 acres, could take "weeks if not months" to be fully extinguished

 

A dangerous wildfire that broke out early Monday in Los Angeles was threatening hundreds of homes near the world-famous Getty Center. Strong winds were spreading the fast-growing fire that was burning along a major freeway west of downtown.

 

Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas told reporters firefighters were overwhelmed. "They had to make some tough decisions on which houses they were able to protect," Terrazas said. "Many times it depends upon where the ember lands."

 

In Northern California, improving conditions helped crews gain ground on wildfires that have forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate. By Monday evening, authorities said that the Kincade fire was 15% contained. The fire has burned through more than 74,000 acres, officials said. But new wind events predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday prompted additional evacuation orders for residents on the east side of Sonoma County.

 

In Los Angeles, the fire department said the Getty Fire burned over 600 acres. Several neighborhoods were under evacuation orders, and at least eight homes were destroyed, according to Mayor Eric Garcetti.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Edited October 29, 2019 by China

[China]

Insurers drop fire coverage for 350,000 California residents

 

Insurance has become a serious problem in California as wildfires -- past and present -- wreak havoc on the state.

 

After last year’s devastating wildfires, insurance companies are balking at fire coverage policy renewals for more than 350,000 residents in high-risk areas.

 

"We are seeing an increasing trend across California where people at risk of wildfires are being non-renewed by their insurer," state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a statement.

 

The California Department of Insurance “has seen cases where homeowners were paying an annual premium of $800-$1,000 but, upon renewal, saw increases to as high as $2,500-$5,000,” a staggering rise of more than 300 percent in most cases.

 

The department added that “some of these homeowners have conducted extensive and costly defensible-space and other mitigation, but these actions did not lower premiums.”

Insurers, meanwhile, are struggling to find a financially viable coverage model as blazes become increasingly common and unpredictable.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[DCSaints_fan]

It is possible for homes to survive wildfires. The state needs to mandate that all new construction will need to be fireproof.   

[NoCalMike]

I am not in a wildfire risk area, but the fire in Vallejo is about as close to my area that they have ever come.  It is a good 45-55 minute drive Sacramento.  Watching the footage, the fires burning right up to the bridge I take anytime I go to the bay area was pretty chilling.  

 

There is a big issue now with power companies neglecting maintenance on their power lines over the years, many of the areas should have the power lines buried and not strung through dry trees/branches, but not surprisingly they took their profits and gave them to shareholders instead of reinvesting into the company to make infrastructure improvements.

 

It isn't all the fault of power companies, but their absolute neglect has played a big part.

[Hooper]

I live in LA. Kids have missed the last two days of school. All very precautionary, but still crazy. Utility companies play a big part. Wild state to live in. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I just shake my head. Not boring, that's for sure. 

 

 

[PCS]

To add insult to injury,some contractors in hard hit areas like Paradise are gouging the **** out of people trying to rebuild. 

Yes the technology is there to build fire resistant houses. This does a better job than I can in discussing it. 

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/07/fire-resistant-home-is-next-line-of-defense-against-climate-change.html

 

It's wild for sure. We have friends that live only a few hours away that have been evacuated or been close to it. Wife's cousin lives in Santa Rosa and the Kincade fire is the second time in just a few years he's had to go through evacuations.  We've had several wildfires in mountains South of us and I've watched these things first hand take right the hell off. It's frightening to watch.   

 

Two days ago. 

 

 

 

#kincadefire

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mammajamma]

2 hours ago, PCS said:

 

 

No joke, I literally JUST watched that plane fly over my house (its refill base is right down the street). shook the whole neighborhood

[PCS]

Better just flying over than dropping stuff as it did I would imagine.  I've had many a fire fighting plane fly over my head but not that one. That's one big plane flying really low and in some not so great spots.  

[PCS]