California Wildfires

[Crazy Dazz]

Pretty Horrible whats happening over there, especially considering it's the middle of their winter.

What's equally sickening is the Politicans ducking for cover, blaming "Global Warming", and that after slashing the Fire Departments' Budgets.

[danzvtil]

It’s not some down and out neighbourhood burnt out either. These areas contain some of the richest most influential people.
There will be legal and political consequences, heads will roll.

[EBSXR6]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

It’s not some down and out neighbourhood burnt out either. These areas contain some of the richest most influential people.
There will be legal and political consequences, heads will roll.

A significant number of the movers and shakers publicly supported the Democrats who are in office at the Local and State Government.

[Peter B - CV8]

The strong winds made that fire uncontrollable. Impossible to fight against that...

[Citroënbender]

Plus lower humidity, treescapes that burn well, and preferred modes of construction that sustain structure fires quite nicely.

[Interceptor]

Whats got me is how much property destruction there has been, but what can you expect when you want to build holes that are buried in trees & vegetation.

[Rallye Sport]

After reading the opening post maybe we should move the thread here

Not relevant now

[Itsme]

When the fires reached the suburbs, I don't think any type of water main system can handle the demand, no matter how good your firefighters are.
Think this is the first time any nation has come across this problem.
You got admit, who has ever seen these types of suburban fires on a grand scale they are facing in their lifetime, and has this ever happened before?
I know here in Australia we have had some devasting fires but not to this magnitude.

[Citroënbender]

I think there were some pretty good fires in Portugal about five or six years ago. Being a non-English speaking country, it didn’t get the same reportage.

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by Itsme

When the fires reached the suburbs, I don't think any type of water main system can handle the demand, no matter how good your firefighters are.
Think this is the first time any nation has come across this problem.
You got admit, who has ever seen these types of suburban fires on a grand scale they are facing in their lifetime, and has this ever happened before?
I know here in Australia we have had some devasting fires but not to this magnitude.

The destruction patterns are the same when there is so much vegetation so close to buildings.

[real time]

The fires in Hawaii 2023 were big news

[DFB FGXR6]

These fires make some of the ones we have experienced seem like a campfire. When you see how the wind was carrying the flames like a blowtorch, no amount of fire firefighting was going to stop that.

There has been many comments that the fire hydrants were dry. It was later explained that there was so much draw on the system, that it was unrealistic to expect that system to deal with the extent of these fires. Also contributing to a lack of water pressure were homes with fire sprinklers that eventually were destroyed by fire and left an open valve. Extrapolate that over thousands of homes, and it all adds up.

I think in times like this, people are quick to start pointing fingers to find a cause or apportion blame, its a natural human trait. It's also easy to say "oh, those people are all rich, they'll be fine". Yeah, some of them are rich, but they are still humans who have lost everything! And there are many who aren't rich and they too have also lost everything.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

It's also easy to say "oh, those people are all rich, they'll be fine". Yeah, some of them are rich, but they are still humans who have lost everything! And there are many who aren't rich and they too have also lost everything.

There are multiple fires.
Sure, those along coast, Palisades etc are wealthy areas.
But the fires burning in the East are hitting mostly working/middle class, predominantly Latino and Black areas.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

There are multiple fires.
Sure, those along coast, Palisades etc are wealthy areas.
But the fires burning in the East are hitting mostly working/middle class, predominantly Latino and Black areas.

Exactly.

[DFB FGXR6]

Doesn't matter how smart we are, doesn't mean we can control everything.





I watched this last night, the fire basically evaporates any water pumped on it.

[Fordman1]

This was a firestorm, if you’ve fought bushfires in Australia you’d be looking at this and be saying “there is nothing they could have done, with more water or many more firefighters”.

[Cav]

Originally Posted by Fordman1

This was a firestorm, if you’ve fought bushfires in Australia you’d be looking at this and be saying “there is nothing they could have done, with more water or many more firefighters”.

You are probably right.

What it has highlighted was how ill prepared the govmint was.

Concentrating more on the environment than people's lives.

No hazard reduction to reduce fuel load.

Water is diverted back to the ocean.

Four dams have been destroyed.

Reduction in Fire Dept. budget.

Fire fighting equipment sent to Ukraine.

Concentrating on meeting DEI objectives rather than promotions on merit. All three top Fire Dept. leaders are lesbians, not that there is anything wrong with that.

One storage tank was empty due to repairs.

Failure to enact emergency procedures despite warnings.

LA Mayor went to Africa, came home, gave a press conference and advised that if you need assistance go to URL.

California Governor, Newsome, says these are local problems.

Citizens detained a bloke who was riding around with a blow torch. He was arrested but released 6 hours later.

California is swimming in money due to the highest taxes in the land but big budget items are sanctuary cities to welcome illegal aliens, the homeless, and where crime and drug taking is rampant.

Newsome is using $25m to fight Trump's proposed Federal plans in the courts.

California is heading for big changes, if anybody gets sacked of course.

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by Fordman1

This was a firestorm, if you’ve fought bushfires in Australia you’d be looking at this and be saying “there is nothing they could have done, with more water or many more firefighters”.

But... But... theres no political argument to be had with such logic

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by Cav

You are probably right.

What it has highlighted was how ill prepared the govmint was.

Concentrating more on the environment than people's lives.

No hazard reduction to reduce fuel load.

Water is diverted back to the ocean.

Four dams have been destroyed.

Reduction in Fire Dept. budget.

Fire fighting equipment sent to Ukraine.

Concentrating on meeting DEI objectives rather than promotions on merit. All three top Fire Dept. leaders are lesbians, not that there is anything wrong with that.

One storage tank was empty due to repairs.

Failure to enact emergency procedures despite warnings.

LA Mayor went to Africa, came home, gave a press conference and advised that if you need assistance go to URL.

California Governor, Newsome, says these are local problems.

Citizens detained a bloke who was riding around with a blow torch. He was arrested but released 6 hours later.

California is swimming in money due to the highest taxes in the land but big budget items are sanctuary cities to welcome illegal aliens, the homeless, and where crime and drug taking is rampant.

Newsome is using $25m to fight Trump's proposed Federal plans in the courts.

California is heading for big changes, if anybody gets sacked of course.

You don’t get it do you ?

That’s just all Political BS (above), go fight a bush fire, learn about the conditions for this firestorm, THEN you’ll know what this was.

Ok ?

This will happen here one day.

[Cav]

Originally Posted by Fordman1

You don’t get it do you ?

That’s just all Political BS (above), go fight a bush fire, learn about the conditions for this firestorm, THEN you’ll know what this was.

Ok ?

This will happen here one day.

Well without wanting a tit for tat I did work with the Forestry in NSW for many years.

Plenty of hazard reduction work, fire trails graded every year, assets deployed on high risk days, particularly in the Pinus Radiata Forests around Batlow and Tumut.

The Red Gum forests along the Murray most fires started on a Sunday when the people left their camps without putting out fires.

And true, you cannot save everything.

These are pics I took of the Sugar Pine Forest at Batlow

[MITCHAY]

It is just insane and still going. 10k structures already.

I can say from experience that even despite not being right on the suburban edge we got embers flying everywhere within 5kms. It was a ****ed day in 2003 but it didn't go on like these ones.

I live closer to the 2020 fires where had the DC10 and 737 planes dropping retardant behind the hill near my place along with multiple helicopters and small planes.

I saw the worse case forecast and got the **** out. Lucky (for us) the winds blew the other way.

[aussiblue]

Some of the Wonderful nuts are also to blame https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF8C0o2Q2lI The same company that stole Fiji's water.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by aussiblue

Some of the Wonderful nuts are also to blame https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF8C0o2Q2lI The same company that stole Fiji's water.

Wack jobs on YouTube doesn’t make what they say is “right”.

[aussiblue]

Wack jobs on YouTube doesn’t make what they say is “right”.

You saying it is a wack job certainly doesn't make it one or wrong even. Also see https://www.motherjones.com/environm...ifornia-water/ and https://econlife.com/2020/12/the-une...pistachio-nut/ and https://www.motherjones.com/environm...rought-charts/ and https://www.motherjones.com/environm...almonds-pistav chios-groundwater-aquifers/ and https://perfectunion.us/how-this-bil...-water-supply/ etc

[DFB FGXR6]

[aussiblue]

But yes, Stewart and Lynda Resnick are not [nut] evil people per https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/co...ly/ar-BB1rePvd And we have related issues in the lower south west of WA where avocado orchards with their high water demands are leading to increased damming of rivers and land clearing resulting to increased salination of rivers and creeks. IMO whether be in California or WA government need to equitably manage the water supplies and balance usage to the benefit of the whole community and ensure it's not controlled by private monopolies or oligopolies. Again IMO low cost access to water is right up there with the right of free access to breathable air.

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by Cav

California is heading for big changes, if anybody gets sacked of course.

Wont happen, nothong will change, the state is that full of idiots the next government, the one after that, the one after that etc are all going to be cut from the same cloth.