Musk did direct Cybertrucks to locations for communications and power sources along with StarLink terminals. It’s been a big help for fire fighting control and coordination. Cell service is spotty and power is shutdown in many areas. His social commentary is repugnant.
A friend is close to the palisades fire. Before the fires he had an offer on his house and was planning a move to a condo with a look at future retirement.
Now there are a few more hoops as mortgage companies are being more cautious on writing mortgages. Some companies will not give mortgages until the fires are out.
The Great Blizzard of 1888: killed over 400 people, The Knickerbocker Storm of 1922: killed 98 people, The Chicago Blizzard of 1967: This storm killed 60 people, The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950: This storm killed 353 people. I can go on.
In the United States, about 400 people die from blizzards each year, causing about 2,000 American deaths every 5 years caused by blizzards.
Wildfires have killed 500 Americans since 1990, that is about 15 people a year. So, 400 vs 15.
Yeah. However, the Eaton fire is now 35% or so contained.
Right, No rain and unusually high winds, and a suspected arsonist. I would change that to 'recent"; memory, however.
My former neighbor, a Methodist reverend at a Pacific Palisades church, shared with me his sermon from this Sunday with the theme, ‘We’re All In This Together.’ One might find it suiting after their church and his house as well as the neighbors burned to the ground.
Moderating:
Let’s please keep this thread on the topic of discussion, which is this wildfire season in Southern California. Discussing other disasters and how they compare in this thread is not helpful. Thanks.
Yeah, I remember the Bel Air (no ‘e’) fire. It was the worst in my memory until these fires.
Nor insurance acquired, which was increasingly a difficult issue in CA (and other large-scale disaster-prone states like FLA) even before this disaster unfolded. Without minimizing the human tragedy unfolding immediately, the long-term downwind effect of this on home insurance in CA is also quite likely to be profound.
If people can’t get homeowners insurance, will only those rich enough to self-insure be able to rebuild?
As mentioned, they can get insurance from the State of California.
Similarly, some years back all of the insurance companies refused to write earthquake insurance. All earthquake insurance is from the California Earthquake Authority. Fire/Homeowners is going the same way.
They caught another arsonist
Excellent.
Saw a report this evening that the authorities are investigating fireworks as a possible cause of the Palisades fire. Evidently, a resident there snapped a photo of a fire on a hilltop above town on new year’s eve, that the fire dept put out. The resident snapped another photo at the start of the Palisades fire of the same hilltop ablaze. It was suggested embers could have still been hot enough to catch fire when those Santa Ana winds kicked up a few days later. If fireworks end up identified as the cause, maybe they will finally be banned in all of CA.
as they should be, in any dry climate
Maybe everywhere. We have drones now.
Weather forecasts are for the second wave of the apocalypse tonight, with winds over 60 mph and humidity under 10%. Double-check your go bags and propitiate your deities.
Wouldn’t break my heart to see, but I doubt it would make a tiny bit of difference. Most of the fireworks I see going on here and in LA (and not just confined to 7/4 celebrations) are the kinds that are already illegal here.
Hell, in the middle of all this disaster, a local crowd of weapons-grade dumbasses were launching sky lanterns (also illegal here) a couple nights ago and absolutely could not be persuaded to see what a colossally stupid idea that was.
I expect to see fireworks-caused fires long after any blanket ban. A lot of people just suck that way.
During the war we had static water tanks built on bomb sites and public parks and other bits of open ground so that the fire brigade could draw on them if the main was broken or low pressure.
Some of these still exist. Static water tank (or fire pool) used for fire fighting, Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre, a WWII Royal Air Force barracks, Lincolnshire, UK Stock Photo - Alamy
The new Auto Fire in Ventura started last night and was luckily contained in a few hours with no structures damaged.
You can make an argument about the safety of fireworks in a dry area, but saying that drones are in any form an equivalent replacement is silly. Fireworks are about the pretty lights in the sky, but also about the explosion loud enough to feel vibrating in your chest cavity, the same way a marching band in a parade is about feeling the sound of the marching band in a parade. Comparing fireworks to drones is like comparing lightning to a lightning bug.
Wait, people LIKE the explosions? I always thought they just put up with that to get the pretty lights.
I will never understand my species.