California Wildfires

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Danoff

Danoff

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So, half a million people displaced so far, over a thousand homes destroyed... anyone here have to evacuate? I know several people who's homes are threatened.

Here's a fantastic satellite shot of the fires.

scalifornia_tmo_2007296.jpg


There's a blow-up shot here: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14582&src=map
 
I not once stepped outside today. Those who did tell me you couldn't even see the sun. If you did, it looked like a tiny orange dot in the sky.

The whole day, it was yellowish-brown, with burning, watery eyes, a tingling nose, itchy, dry sore throat and horrible ear aches. I take it the lungs will be burning tomorrow. Now I know what a smoked chicken feels like. Everywhere you look is smoke.

My brother had to evacuate his home about 18 hours ago and hasn't been allowed back in, yet.

So far, we're safe. Most everything around us burned down four years ago.
 
The Witch fire is about 10 miles northeast of campus here. I don’t think we’ll have to evacuate, but Del Mar, the town two miles north of here, has been evacuated. Classes at UCSD are cancelled this week because we’re getting a lot of smoke from that fire.

The Ranch fire started about one mile from my house in Castaic, but it was consistently moved away and towards Ventura, so my parents should be fine.

My boss lives in Stevenson Ranch, and so she very nearly had to evacuate last night because of the Magic fire. I think she’ll be fine though.

We have a number of friends in Castaic who live near Hillcrest, which was evacuated yesterday.

My aunt was staying at her cabin in Lake Arrowhead, so she had to evacuate. We’re not sure if the cabin is still standing.

So, the fires have been affecting most everybody I know, including myself, and in all the major affected areas. I’ve been glued to my computer the last 48 hours, watching streaming news videos from both LA and San Diego counties.
 
I guess I didn't realize you were that far south Sage. The Witch fire is ginormous. I've got one buddy who evacuated on account of the witch fire already. Another buddy is very close to the magic fire but hasn't evacuated, and I have another friend who I can't get ahold of but almost certainly evacuated from the buckweed fire.

I know a lot of people who live in Santa Clarita near the magic fire.

Where I am (Pasadena) is relatively unaffected. But ash and smoke from the Lake Arrowhead fire is raining down here.
 
I like how all these people have been displaced yet the news feels the need to make the celebrities look like the victims. No one cares a bunch of millionaires lost their home when there are real everyday people that are suffering because of it.
 
I dont see much of anything from where im at, just a hint of smoke
 
Joey D
No one cares a bunch of millionaires lost their home when there are real everyday people that are suffering because of it.
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Actually, millions of people care about celebrities losing their homes more than the every day people suffering. It's sad, but it's true.
 
Sage
My aunt was staying at her cabin in Lake Arrowhead, so she had to evacuate. We’re not sure if the cabin is still standing.
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I saw on World News Tonight that most of the houses near Lake Arrowhead had burned down, but random ones had survived. Its hard to say, but very unfortunate indeed.

===

While I am very interested in this story and do feel bad for those who did lose their homes, knowing that this is a very wealthy area and that most of the homeowners have insurance for things like this makes it all a bit less painful. My assumption is that the big story here is how FEMA can handle this, how the Government of California can handle this, and eventually how the people will rebuild when fire dangers are increasing (seemingly) every year.

Either way, I'm sure that Louisiana would be happy to donate some rain right about now...
 
Very sad indeed. My birthplace is going up in smoke.:(

I feel sorry for these people indeed, although it is a little more comforting that it all of the rich people who I do not feel quite as much sympathy for and who probably can afford this much better than others...

I wish the best of luck to those fighting these fires for safety and success.

And I think I'm going to keep my mouth shut on the global warming stuff.
 
Joey D
I like how all these people have been displaced yet the news feels the need to make the celebrities look like the victims. No one cares a bunch of millionaires lost their home when there are real everyday people that are suffering because of it.
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I was flipping channels and heard the words "Let Malibu Burn" as I passed Fox News.

I laughed so hard. It's not nice, but they've all evacuated already. No lives lost.
 
My sis goes to San Diego State University and they closed classes for this week, and shes goin up to her roomates house in North Ridge
 
:scared: Go Norcal? j/k

Yeah... I didn't realize it was that bad but I remember this happening before though. My aunt is down there but in Santa Monica so she's probably safe.
 
MistaX
I was flipping channels and heard the words "Let Malibu Burn" as I passed Fox News.

I laughed so hard. It's not nice, but they've all evacuated already. No lives lost.
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MostWanted.jpg
 
During these evacuations, are you allowed to stay to defend your home, even if it may be completely futile?
 
MistaX
I was flipping channels and heard the words "Let Malibu Burn" as I passed Fox News.

I laughed so hard. It's not nice, but they've all evacuated already. No lives lost.
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I find it simply amazing how people can hope for such destruction against people they have never met and who have done nothing to harm them. Why do you find it ok to laugh at others' misfortunes simply because they've entertained millions and been paid for it?

Even if this were just about money, I'd find it reprehensible that you'd enjoy watching people lose so much. But it's about more than that, it's about losing all of the things that go with a home - photographs, art, a favorite musical instrument, the room where you built your daughter's doll house... It's hard to pin it to just one thing, a lot of sentimental value can be tied up in a house.
 
Danoff
I find it simply amazing how people can hope for such destruction against people they have never met and who have done nothing to harm them.
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Ditto that.

Anyway, found this semi-recent diagram of the Witch Fire, and I’ve added in UCSD.

Witch_Fire.jpg
 
I just don't like how the media makes the celebrities look like the only victims, like I said there are real, everyday, average people being affected as well...but according to news they just aren't important. Yes it's sad to see anyone lose their home, belongings, whatever, I just feel like we don't always have to pay so much attention to celebrities.
 
Do California homes have cellars or something that are fire-proof? I think if you live in a fire-prone area, it might be a good idea to build a basement storage type of thing with extremely thick concrete or whatever is fire-resistant (nomex wallpaper, hahaha.) to store all of your sentimentals and irreplaceables.

And, yeah, MistaX, forest fires are serious business.
 
I'm about twenty or thirty miles at least from the fires, and still the air is ridiculously ashy, dry and hot. I haven't been able to see blue sky for at least a couple days now, and my entire high school's sports programs has been shut down because of the bad air. It's pretty bad, but we're still very fortunate compared to the many that has to evacuate their homes and risk it burning down to the ground.

Oh, and Omnis, at least around where I live (Northern Orange County), very few houses, if any, have cellars or basements or anything of the type. Plus, most of the houses are made of wood instead of brick or stone to minimize earthquake damage, but it also makes the houses so very flammable. Their best bets are bank safes or fireproof safes in the house, but the latter has a risk of getting buried by the ash and rubble.
 
Yeah, but if you had a giant vault built into your house, that would be great for the things you can't evacuate.
 
True true, but generally the damage causes collapse and such and will likely damage a cellar area to some degree.

A friend of mine is up north of LA and she has talked about the ash and such. These seem massive, and the Santa Ana winds are not helping.

The news is terrible in how they skip over the real people for celebrities, quite tragic indeed.

On the plus side, buying burnt land is cheap, as my family came to acquire nearly a hundred acres after the 1991 Fire storm up in eastern Washington, which burned some 36,000 acres or something.

Its kind of crazy to go back through the burn zones though. Because you can just push trees over with your hands and such because of the dead roots, and so on.
 
Evacuee numbers are over 1 million. We're actually using prisoners to fight the fire.

CNN
Firefighters received help from Mexico, the state and federal governments and even inmates from California's prisons. About 7,000 firefighters were battling the blazes, including 2,300 inmates from California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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I heard that they're toying with the notion that some of these fires are man made. That would be an interesting twist.
 
Azuremen
The news is terrible in how they skip over the real people for celebrities, quite tragic indeed.
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One of my biggest problems with the American media. OMFG!!! Brad has a new girlfriend!!!11!!!!!1!!1!!
Who seriously cares? (And that's not our Brad....) I would honestly much rather hear about what the situation is through the stories of the "regular" people than one big-shot who already gets too much media coverage.

I'm not exactly clear on where these fires are? Apparently they are in the South, but are they mostly in suburban areas or rural lands? And does anybody have any information on the status of fighting them?
 
Wow, I've been without TV for a few days and not on the internet much, and have largely missed this news... the size of those fires is quite staggering, and I can only hope that they begin to burn themselves out/are brought under control before more populous areas become at risk...
 
Californians are strong people, while most people have seasons like Spring, Summer, Winter and fall. They do it different out west.

The four seasons of California

Fire Season
Earthquake Season
Mudslide Season
Traffic Season (which is year round)
 
UnoMOTO
Californians are strong people, while most people have seasons like Spring, Summer, Winter and fall. They do it different out west.

The four seasons of California

Fire Season
Earthquake Season
Mudslide Season
Traffic Season (which is year round)
Click to expand...

How true.:lol:

At home we have traffic and rain that last all year and then Flood in November and sun which lasts part of July and August. It's all pine trees so nobody knows when Spring and Fall should be.

Although here is seems that they switch directly from Summer to Winter in a week.....
 
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