Woolsey Fire

Joseph Hanna · #1 11-09-2018, 09:09 AM

I’ve been a SoCal resident for decades....and then some. I’ve never seen anything like this fire. It has destroyed much of Newberry Park and Thousand Oaks. There is no count as to homes destroyed at this point but the current “mandatory evacuation” covers 4 or 5 major communities and hundreds of thousand of households. It’s raging northwest to Agoura Hills, due west through Calabasses, marching relentlessly towards Malibu and on the other side heading to the upper end of Simi Valley. The Santa Ana’s are not to die down until 1:00 this afternoon, but unfortunately the winds are to re-group and pick up again Saturday. The 101 freeway is completely shut down which is strangling Los Angeles traffic. (as if we needed more strangling) Here to fore the Santa Ana’s have been too much for water-drop aircraft to even attempt to fly and for those who have endured this before and know, fires this big create their own wind and weather patterns to complicate further.

For those that have never witnessed this type of event it’s a massive, massive tragedy equal in destruction to almost any of mother nature’s worst. So sad coming one day after a terrible shooting event. Sigh...

One positive out of this. The Los Angeles Fire Departments are the absolute finest, not only in the country, but the world. They are in short an elite fighting machine

Kerbie · #2 11-09-2018, 09:15 AM

I just learned this morning that my oldest cousin, who lived in Paradise, lost everything he owned in the Camp Fire. The speed of wildfires is hard to believe. I've seen them for decades from the air and they always amaze me.

I have no doubt about your assessment of the LAFD. They do a remarkable job.

Joseph Hanna · #3 11-09-2018, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kerbie

I just learned this morning that my oldest cousin, who lived in Paradise, lost everything he owned in the Camp Fire. The speed of wildfires is hard to believe. I've seen them for decades from the air and they always amaze me.

I have no doubt about your assessment of the LAFD. They do a remarkable job.

Sorry to hear 😔. The Paradise Fire is also a raging bull. Tough week for California...

Kerbie · #4 11-09-2018, 09:52 AM

Thank you, Joseph... he's safe with friends right now. Stay safe in SoCal... it's a beautiful, but sometimes dangerous, place to be.

Dirk Hofman · #5 11-09-2018, 10:13 AM

The Bay Area is choked with smoke from the Camp fire in Paradise. Sounds like the entire town is gone. Tragic.

Dirk Hofman · #6 11-09-2018, 12:20 PM

It’s 75,000 houses. For now. That is major.

Jeff Scott · #7 11-09-2018, 12:38 PM

I am so glad I left there decades ago. Just another day in paradise, unfortunately.

muscmp · #8 11-09-2018, 12:39 PM

so far, so good, but i'm in between a fire on the east of me and a fire on the west. santa rosa/camarillo to the west, thousand oaks to the south and agoura/oak park to the east. the winds are ferocious but blowing in the right way for me.

terrible couple of days for ventura county. senseless killings and monster fires!

play music!

KevWind · #9 11-09-2018, 04:31 PM

Having just gone through a mandatory fire evac. in September and narrowly escaping having our property burned. I can tell you it is nerve racking experience.
We were lucky the authorities made the highway (that my property fronts on) the line in the sand and were able to successfully stop the fire from jumping the highway.

LouieAtienza · #10 11-09-2018, 04:43 PM

Heard about it, I know electric guitar building legend Wayne Charvel lives and has his shop around there... I wish all there my best and hope that they at least have their lives. Godspeed...

Joseph Hanna · #11 11-09-2018, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevWind

Having just gone through a mandatory fire evac. in September and narrowly escaping having our property burned. I can tell you it is nerve racking experience.
We were lucky the authorities made the highway (that my property fronts on) the line in the sand and were able to successfully stop the fire from jumping the highway.

It’s just a terrible week here and you’re right my nerves are shot.

I got a call from my younger sister this morning (she lives in Newbury Park) and said the National Guard woke her, her husband and her kids at 3:00 am last night. Evacuated. She’s pretty sure they lost the house. We’re waiting until she gets the all clear to know for sure. I have a good friend whose daughter was at the mass shooting the other night. Thank gawd she’s unharmed (at least physically) but my friend is unable to get sentences out without breaking down in tears. He’s having a breakdown and I don’t blame him.

Here is a quick iPhone vid of the fires which (at least as of 2:30 this afternoon) stretches from North Thousand Oaks all the way to Malibu.

https://vimeo.com/299983211

I dunno how many miles this covers but since my feet are being held to the fire (no pun intended) for absolute accuracy I ain’t gonna risk being publicly set straight again. Suffice to say “many miles” of an intense fire.

Earl49 · #12 11-09-2018, 06:25 PM

Sympathies to all affected by the fires. I used to live in Petaluma (NorCal) and many of the buildings that I helped to design in Santa Rosa are now gone after last summer's fire. A good friend lost his home to the ferocious Oakland hillside fire about 20 years ago. Most summers in Alaska, there are literally millions of acres of wild fires burning. Fortunately most of those areas are largely uninhabited.

I once did a little wild land firefighting many years ago in the UP of Michigan to protect our camp, and wild fires are truly terrifying things. Kudos to the emergency responders.

Pura Vida · #13 11-10-2018, 01:11 AM

These fires increased to dangerous levels so quickly. My thoughts are with the displaced families, pets and wildlife in these areas, and to the firefighters and first responders, who are working relentlessly to battle these fires.

Jeff Scott · #14 11-10-2018, 12:02 PM

California used to do controlled burns to prevent, or at least, minimize, these things from getting out of control. Why did they stop doing so? I don't want to hear the obvious: MONEY. I am surprised the insurance industry has not stepped in to ensure this type of thing doesn't occur. They certainly have the MONEY.

Dirk Hofman · #15 11-10-2018, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

California used to do controlled burns to prevent, or at least, minimize, these things from getting out of control. Why did they stop doing so? I don't want to hear the obvious: MONEY. I am surprised the insurance industry has not stepped in to ensure this type of thing doesn't occur. They certainly have the MONEY.

Controlled burns would tend to minimize the effects of some of these fires, and that would be a good thing.

Money is but one reason, the lack of money for fire-fighting crews that is. As public funding issues get into politics, we can't address it in detail here, but suffice it to say that the drop in revenue is involved.

The other issues involve air quality and public health, the number of structures now spreading into the forests which weren't there before, and the scale of the forests which would require near constant burns.

It's a complex issue with real challenges not generally captured by simplistic solutions and sound bites.

But those are general comments. Specific to the Paradise fire, you can't really do a controlled burn in a town of 27,000.