Fires in California

[oldbike54]

 Getting really bad , Paradise CA is basically gone , this after a massive fire in 2008 . Apparently there have been more fires pop up just this morning kinda out of nowhere . You California folks stay out of the way if possible . Check in if you are anywhere near one these fires please .

 Dusty

[yogidozer]

And firefighters and emergency people be safe.

[TimmyTheHog]

Was just watching some of the dashcam videos regarding to the new fire...scary stuff man.

God speed with you all down there...

[yogidozer]

Wish we could send them some of the rain the East coast has had this year

[not-fishing]

The rains from 2 years ago are the problem - lots of growth.

Unfortunately a lot of Californian's don't believe in "defendable space".  When you're up in the mountains you see trees within 20' of houses. 

I'm just a red suspendered "3rd little pig".  I built my house out of fire resistant materials, above the neighboring flood plain if the dam goes and overbuilt it to sustain earthquakes.  My only fear is lighting strikes and tornadoes for natural disasters.

[yogidozer]

I meant if was raining there now, it might help.

[pehayes]

I'm 180 miles away from the Camp Fire that obliterated Paradise, CA.  Our sky is yellow.  Outdoors smells like my fireplace.  My fish pond is covered with tiny ash fragments.  We have some relatives who are known to have reached evacuation shelter but their home in Paradise is likely a cinder field now.

Guzzi Content:  If I recall, many years ago there was an old retired couple in Paradise who served as informal NorCal reps for the Guzzi Club.  Used to host a little camping rally in their rural yard when the local "Pioneer Days" were on.  Can't remember the name.  Just down the road from where my in-laws used to run a little farm (now ash).  Neal Road.  I'm sure those old Guzzi folks are long gone, but everything along Neal Road is incinerated.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Tennmoto]

I been wondering about the whole rebuild after the fire thing. Doesn’t it seem crazy to build the same flammable
Homes in a burn environment. Why not build a concrete and metal home that could withstand and protect
The homeowner. Was it Greensburg Ks that rebuilt the town mostly with ICFs and tornado proof doors and windows

[Rough Edge racing]

I been wondering about the whole rebuild after the fire thing. Doesn’t it seem crazy to build the same flammable
Homes in a burn environment. Why not build a concrete and metal home that could withstand and protect
The homeowner. Was it Greensburg Ks that rebuilt the town mostly with ICFs and tornado proof doors and windows

  I bet 1/4 of the people in this country live in areas known for tornadoes, hurricanes,floods, fires and earthquakes...

[yogidozer]

Just read someone was asking for help getting horses safe.
Isn't there an escape route cars can travel on?
I would tether my horses inline and walk them out if I did not have a horse trailer.
People can decide if they want to live in a risky area, animals cannot.

[Rough Edge racing]

Just read someone was asking for help getting horses safe.
Isn't there an escape route cars can travel on?
I would tether my horses inline and walk them out if I did not have a horse trailer.
People can decide if they want to live in a risky area, animals cannot.

 Domestic animals may have no choice but many wild animals can leave.....If there's a place for them to go that isn't full of humans...

[yogidozer]

Domestic animals may have no choice but many wild animals can leave.....If there's a place for them to go that isn't full of humans...

And that's the problem, nowhere to go. Evolution for many wild animals has become eating from garbage cans, people's throw aways, bird feeders.
Not just California, everywhere.

[twowheeladdict]

I heard that Jim Carey set up a GoFundMe page for the displaced celebrities.

[pehayes]

Guzzi Content:  If I recall, many years ago there was an old retired couple in Paradise who served as informal NorCal reps for the Guzzi Club.  Used to host a little camping rally in their rural yard when the local "Pioneer Days" were on.  Can't remember the name.  Just down the road from where my in-laws used to run a little farm (now ash).  Neal Road.  I'm sure those old Guzzi folks are long gone, but everything along Neal Road is incinerated.

I asked Frank Wedge to help with old records.  These people were Joe & Ellen Eager.  They were elderly people 30 years ago when they were hosting so I doubt they are in Paradise any longer (at least not this one).  Undoubtedly, what WAS their property is surely now ash.

Has anyone else been around long enough to remember that name?

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Daleroso]

One of those events one can't understand fully unles you've experienced it. Videos & storytelling of natural disasters & traumatic events don't do them justice.
It would help Ca if they were allowed to clear dead & undergrowth & prevented from bldg in it.
A friend was a career Ca fire chief who is not polite discribing Ca's environmental mgmt.

[Kent in Upstate NY]

One of those events one can't understand fully unles you've experienced it. Videos & storytelling of natural disasters & traumatic events don't do them justice.
It would help Ca if they were allowed to clear dead & undergrowth & prevented from bldg in it.
A friend was a career Ca fire chief who is not polite discribing Ca's environmental mgmt.

if you want property insurance you have to clear the brush.  Nobody is saying you can't clear your land.

[rodekyll]

I had friends in Paradise, in that mobile home park that was obliterated.

One of those events one can't understand fully unles you've experienced it. Videos & storytelling of natural disasters & traumatic events don't do them justice.
It would help Ca if they were allowed to clear dead & undergrowth & prevented from bldg in it.
A friend was a career Ca fire chief who is not polite discribing Ca's environmental mgmt.

I agree -- no forests = no forest fires.  Plow under all vegetation immediately!   

[Chuck in Indiana]

Maybe we can all agree.. this borders on political.. that Ca's environment is not "normal." They had record heat this year, and record rains two years ago,  for instance. Unfortunately, not normal may just be our new "normal." It is definitely not "normal" here in the Midwest. I'm a farmer. I well remember my grandmother complaining about the weather not being "normal" after we set off all those atomic bomb tests back in the day. At that time, I thought,  .  We are upsetting Mother Nature. She is telling us about that.
Sorry..

[Kent in Upstate NY]

Chuck, weren't you there two years ago? It seems every time you visit it rains. Maybe you should move there permanently.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Chuck, weren't you there two years ago? It seems every time you visit it rains. Maybe you should move there permanently.

That *may* be my fault. The Kids/grandkids came here this summer, so we won't be back until mid December. We were planning to go out in October to the Sandy Eggo not a rally, but Her Kid is remodeling the house and there was no place for us to sleep except under the patio floor.  They don't call me Rainman for nothing.. I predict record rains in mid December, but it'll be too late. 

[Daleroso]

I don't think I implied any political intent. W/o sharing details I just referred to what a career Ca fire chief shared. Facts, not opinion. I'll apologize & leave it here.

[oldbike54]

I don't think I implied any political intent. W/o sharing details I just referred to what a career Ca fire chief shared. Facts, not opinion. I'll apologize & leave it here.

 Thanks Dale 

 Dusty

[rocker59]

Just read someone was asking for help getting horses safe.
Isn't there an escape route cars can travel on?
I would tether my horses inline and walk them out if I did not have a horse trailer.
People can decide if they want to live in a risky area, animals cannot.

People were dying in cars up there.  The fire was spreading at the rate 80 football fields per minute yesterday morning. Total, terrible chaos.  Something like 17,000 acres in the first few hours.  Up to 90,000 acres now. 

I would do what you suggest and attempt leading them out if no access to a trailer, but in this fire even people in cars on the road were dying.

 
Frigging nightmare.

[oldbike54]

 Reports are saying nearly 7,000 homes and 250 businesses are lost in Paradise alone . Like Rocker said , this is bad .

 Dusty

[pehayes]

Most California fires leave random, odd houses standing while the neighbors burn.  Not this case.  In Paradise, apparently everything burned and there is not the occasional untouched building that you hear of in other events.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont cA

[yogidozer]

This link shows a map of wildfires in USA. You can click on the fire symbol to see the current details.
There are other links on the page. Earthquakes, Amber alerts, etc.
http://fires.globalincidentmap.com/

[azguzzirep]

 :weiner:Long time Guzzi guy and photographer Glen Morgan has lost everything....

[Texas Turnip]

I asked Frank Wedge to help with old records.  These people were Joe & Ellen Eager.  They were elderly people 30 years ago when they were hosting so I doubt they are in Paradise any longer (at least not this one).  Undoubtedly, what WAS their property is surely now ash.

Has anyone else been around long enough to remember that name?

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA
[/quote

Patrick, Joe and Ellen Eager don't show in my foggy memory.
Tex

[twowheeladdict]

Maybe we can all agree.. this borders on political.. that Ca's environment is not "normal." They had record heat this year, and record rains two years ago,  for instance. Unfortunately, not normal may just be our new "normal." It is definitely not "normal" here in the Midwest. I'm a farmer. I well remember my grandmother complaining about the weather not being "normal" after we set off all those atomic bomb tests back in the day. At that time, I thought,  .  We are upsetting Mother Nature. She is telling us about that.
Sorry..

I remember watching episodes of Chips, Emergency, and Adam-12 where they had to deal with wildfires.  Wildfires are a natural process.  People moving to where they occur is not natural. 

Same thing regarding people building in flood zones, on barrier islands, etc.  We are the ones encroaching and building where we shouldn't.

[LowRyter]

I had friends in Paradise, in that mobile home park that was obliterated.

I agree -- no forests = no forest fires.  Plow under all vegetation immediately!   

I am not sure I agree or disagree.  First, the fires aren't in forests.  The fires are fed by typical brush and coastal scrub, drought and wind.  So, I suppose that you are right, if the brush as cleared and plowed and folks didn't built there, it wouldn't be such a disaster.   

I think more can be done.  But who should do it and who should pay?  The homeowners?  The city?  State?  Homeowners association? Zoning restrictions?  Fire resistant building standards?

Then we have to control the weather.