an argument in favor of high density living. it's okay to hear your neighbors before you get to know them or after you know them. or have fewer possessions and move around a lot. jess's ideal city - anonymity.
― youn, Wednesday, 29 October 2003 01:41 (twenty years ago) link
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/space/0310/gallery.fires.space/4.nasa.seawifs.jpg
Yeesh.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 02:04 (twenty years ago) link
― Vic (Vic), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 02:06 (twenty years ago) link
I'll tell you who I'm glad I'm not -- the hunter in San Diego County who, apparently being lost, set a small fire to summon help. This is a perfectly understandable move in the case of distress and if you need to get attention, but a few VERY basic precautions on the hunter's part in terms of setting up such a fire -- and even then it would have to have been an incredibly calculated risk since the dry weather and miles upon miles of ready to burn fuel in all the parched plants and the winds are, as noted earlier, the ultimate conditions for a blaze to burn in -- and nothing might have happened. If he followed those precautions as best he could -- well, he rolled the dice and we've seen the result. The hunter in question has been arrested and will face felony charges, but besides all the lost homes the blaze he sparked up has claimed the bulk of deaths so far -- not something I would want on my conscience at all.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 02:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 06:34 (twenty years ago) link
More on the guy who maybe started the big San Diego fire. Looks like the story is more complicated than it first appeared -- it's not positive if he actually started it yet, and it seems he was suffering from a major lack of food and water. Hrm.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 06:38 (twenty years ago) link
― mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 09:44 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 16:11 (twenty years ago) link
"I asked him what he started it with, and he wouldn't comment," Weldon added. "He just remained quiet."
Perhaps, some part of his consciousness realised he started off something major (even in his delirium)?
Can't help feeling sorry for him on some level: if karma truly exists, his line has just gotten screwed for generations.
― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 17:54 (twenty years ago) link
― nickn (nickn), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 19:10 (twenty years ago) link
At least with hurricanes, earthquakes, or tornadoes, you know it would be quite difficult for bored 23-year-old shitheads to just "start" them.
― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 20:03 (twenty years ago) link
― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 20:11 (twenty years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 20:32 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 20:34 (twenty years ago) link
Indeed it is striking to what extent the current fire map (Rancho Cucamonga, north Fontana, La Verne, Simi Valley, Vista, Ramona, Eucalyptus Hills, Scripps Ranch, and so on) recapitulates geographic patterns of heaviest voter support for the recall.
I really, really, really do not want to gloat over a catastrophe that has killed a number of people and left many, many more homeless...but sometimes karma in action can be an astonishing thing. Still, once the fire has died down, what are the odds that people will take this issue seriously?
― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 20:40 (twenty years ago) link
― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 20:45 (twenty years ago) link
"Fire, as a result, is politically ironic. Right now, as I watch San Diego's wealthiest new suburb, Scripps Ranch, in flames, I recall the Schwarzenegger fund-raising parties hosted there a few weeks ago. This was an epicenter of the recent recall and gilded voices roared to the skies against the oppression of an out-of-control public sector. Now Arnold's wealthy supporters are screaming for fire engines, and "big government" is the only thing standing between their $3 million homes and the ash pile."
― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 21:02 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 21:05 (twenty years ago) link
More than just an area of Arnold support, these are all areas that have traditionally and consistently have voted against property taxes which are used to fund things like more firefighting resources.
― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Thursday, 30 October 2003 01:13 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 October 2003 02:23 (twenty years ago) link
― Annouschka (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 30 October 2003 02:39 (twenty years ago) link
http://a1022.g.akamai.net/f/1022/8158/5m/images.latimes.com/media/thumbnails/photo/2003-10/10017117.jpg
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 October 2003 04:45 (twenty years ago) link
The look of courage on that fireman's face hopefully won't be the last we see of him. I could almost feel the heat on my face through the terminal screen.
― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 30 October 2003 18:46 (twenty years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 31 October 2003 19:47 (twenty years ago) link
Feds Turned Down Request to Fight Beetle Thu Oct 30, 9:39 PM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo! By TOM CHORNEAU, Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Just as the Southern California wildfires were beginning late last week, the Bush administration quietly turned down a six-month-old emergency request by Gov. Gray Davis for help in removing dead and dying trees in the same forests now being consumed by flame.
In April, Davis asked for a federal emergency declaration in three counties where bark beetle infestation had left thousands of acres of dense woodland vulnerable to fire.
If approved, the presidential proclamation would have paved the way for millions of dollars in federal support for clearing dead trees in San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
"We made the request in the hope of making a horrific situation less serious and we were turned down," Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio said.
A spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which handled the Davis request, said it decided against the proposal largely because Congress had already agreed to provide $43 million this year for fighting the beetle infestation in Southern California and the sum seemed appropriate at the time.
But state officials say the money represented only a small part of the $450 million needed to clear the forest of dead trees and eliminate the fire danger.
State officials have estimated the fires — which have burned about 2,600 homes, blackened about 730,000 acres and killed at least 20 people — could take a $2 billion toll on California's economy.
After four years of drought, nearly a half-million acres of dense woodland in Southern California had become infested by the bark beetle. Local and state officials had warned that the forests were a disaster waiting to happen, and some have criticized Davis for not moving more aggressively to combat the problem.
In an April 16 letter to FEMA officials, Davis said, "Supplementary federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health and foster safety."
A response from the letter has still not been received by the governor's office, Maviglio said. The state was notified by the office of Rep. Mary Bono, R-Calif., last Friday that the request had been turned down.
The FEMA denial came a few days after the first of the major fires began to rage out of control in San Diego and San Bernardino counties.
"I don't want to second-guess that decision," said Chad Kolton, FEMA spokesman. "They were asking for federal resources and federal resources were being provided."
State Sen. Jim Brulte, a Republican whose district includes big parts of the fire-ravaged area, said that it was not fair for Davis to suggest the federal government has not been doing enough.
"The Davis administration twice rejected San Bernardino's request for a state of emergency to be declared and we had to beat up on them to finally get it," he said. "The fact is that everyone has been late to this party."
The beetles, which are native to California, drill into bark, seeking the moist inner layers to feed on. Typically, they can kill only drought-weakened trees.
Healthy trees are able to expel the invaders by flooding the infestation with resin, which drought-stressed trees can't produce. Once the infestation has begun the trees are starved of water and nutrients and quickly die.
― hstencil, Friday, 31 October 2003 20:18 (twenty years ago) link
or northern california, as the case may be
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/us/california-fires-evacuations.html?_r=0
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 03:23 (six years ago) link
we recently stayed at some nice farmhouse rentals in Sonoma, i'm worried about the owners bc it looks like at least one of them is on the border of the evacuation zone.
― nomar, Tuesday, 10 October 2017 22:52 (six years ago) link
wow. this is really bad.
― the late great, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 07:21 (six years ago) link
this shit is heartbreaking, it really feels like everything is going terribly wrong. walking home from bart through oakland and seeing the ash that collected on my windshield wipers, i kept thinking, what tree was this, whose house was this, what animal's body is this?
― cosmic brain dildo (Sparkle Motion), Thursday, 12 October 2017 22:03 (six years ago) link
Tweets like this cause unnecessary panic. "total devastation" is applicable to places like Puerto Rico, or war zones. Napa/Sonoma are in crisis but the vast majority of towns/houses are still here. Words matter, chose them wisely. pic.twitter.com/oj32mgqHYH— Julia Wertz (@Julia_Wertz) October 12, 2017
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 12 October 2017 22:06 (six years ago) link
(lives in and is currently still in Napa btw)
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 12 October 2017 22:07 (six years ago) link
staying inside/keeping the kids inside is def putting a strain on things
Wow this thread was started about the SD the fires my parents lost thier house in. Doesn't seem that long ago. I think I was only lurking ILM at the time
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Thursday, 12 October 2017 22:07 (six years ago) link
just found out at one of the places we'd stayed at burned down and they lost everything, except themselves and their dog. otherwise their home, guest house, animals, all gone.
― nomar, Thursday, 12 October 2017 22:13 (six years ago) link
My parents live just a few miles from Geyserville, but they're far enough west of 101 that it shouldn't be a problem. They're elderly, though, and the air is bad in that whole area with smoke.
― Eazy, Thursday, 12 October 2017 22:25 (six years ago) link
Yeah it's been miserable up here -- the smoke in the air sucks your energy out.
A friend lost her home in Santa Rosa, near Coffey Park. She, her husband and pets were safe but the house, gone like you've seen in some photos. Very, very thankfully they had a condo still in their name -- they only recently moved into the house itself -- and have fallen back on it for now. Meantime, a coworker's partner's family is very heavily affected; a brother lost his apartment and a house their stepfather built is presumed lost.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 12 October 2017 22:46 (six years ago) link
My GF's sister and brother-in-law live in Mendocino county (haven't evacuated) and are firefighters so we've been worried sick all week. Thankfully one's a chief and the other's working comms on this one so they're not on the front lines but their crazy work hours and bad cell service mean we get long dreadful periods of silence between brief two-word check-ins by text.
― Fetchboy, Friday, 13 October 2017 00:10 (six years ago) link
Most of their town already burned down (their house was spared) earlier in the week so I'm hoping that puts them somewhat in the clear but with these winds and such low containment percentages you can't really feel comfortable.
― Fetchboy, Friday, 13 October 2017 00:14 (six years ago) link
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Wine-Country-fires-first-fatal-hours-12278092.php
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 15 October 2017 16:39 (six years ago) link
shit looks scary
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, 6 December 2017 16:30 (six years ago) link
Getty Center in jeopardy !
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, 6 December 2017 16:36 (six years ago) link
Do twitter videos embed?
Not the typical morning commute... pic.twitter.com/kJIOQeqsIK— A. Mutzabaugh CMT (@WLV_investor) December 6, 2017
― Sanpaku, Wednesday, 6 December 2017 19:58 (six years ago) link
Almost as amazing feature of the video is that shows a faster than usual traffic flow for that stretch of the post-CARMAGEDDON 405.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 6 December 2017 20:03 (six years ago) link
hellscape right there ! insane
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, 6 December 2017 20:17 (six years ago) link
oops sorry, i've been posting over here: WILDFIRE
but this is a better-named thread
― mark s, Wednesday, 6 December 2017 20:19 (six years ago) link
uh
Scary quote from Cal Fire re: forecast tomorrow: "There will be no ability to fight fires in these kinds of winds." (80+ mph expected)— Joe Serna, LAT (@JosephSerna) December 6, 2017
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 6 December 2017 20:19 (six years ago) link
The Getty CenterNext Exit
:(
― Evan, Wednesday, 6 December 2017 20:20 (six years ago) link
how are yall able to breathe?
― marcos, Wednesday, 6 December 2017 20:21 (six years ago) link
lol
west hollywood air quality index is okay: https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.local_city&zipcode=90048&submit=Go
downtown la and parts of koreatown are usu worse on a regular day
also the smoke only affects the air quality for just a few days
― infinity (∞), Wednesday, 6 December 2017 20:36 (six years ago) link
Pasadena is clear and not windy.
― nickn, Wednesday, 6 December 2017 20:43 (six years ago) link