Fires in Southern California

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?

"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."

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.

http://a1022.g.akamai.net/f/1022/8158/5m/images.latimes.com/media/thumbnails/photo/2003-10/10017117.jpg

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.

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.

or northern california, as the case may be

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/us/california-fires-evacuations.html?_r=0

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.

wow. this is really bad.

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?

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

(lives in and is currently still in Napa btw)

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Wine-Country-fires-first-fatal-hours-12278092.php

shit looks scary

Getty Center in jeopardy !

Do twitter videos embed?

Not the typical morning commute... pic.twitter.com/kJIOQeqsIK

— A. Mutzabaugh CMT (@WLV_investor) December 6, 2017

Almost as amazing feature of the video is that shows a faster than usual traffic flow for that stretch of the post-CARMAGEDDON 405.

hellscape right there ! insane

oops sorry, i've been posting over here: WILDFIRE

but this is a better-named thread

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

The Getty Center
Next Exit

:(

how are yall able to breathe?

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

Pasadena is clear and not windy.

Fixed pic.twitter.com/uUTmyNYBEa

— dorsey.mp4 (@dorseyshaw) December 6, 2017

https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/media/images/79630000/jpg/_79630637_alamydt7hcy.jpg

i hear rupert murdoch’s estate is on fire, so i guess it’s not all bad

the murdoch story is what got my attention in the first place (on the other, unkindly neglected thread)

my commute from sherman oaks to century city took two hours. its 11 miles.

is the 405 still closed off

think it fully reopened at 1pm.. so getting home should be ok. inshallah

how are yall able to breathe?

the smoke from these and the September fires is basically something in the sky that makes the light a bit murky. Fires in Australia can be stay-inside level choking from two hours' drive away.

this may have more to do with the direction the wind is blowing. air quality is bad up here in santa barbara. back patio covered in ash.

Spent a good amount of time house/dog sitting in Ojai, know the town and have good friends there, fingers crossed it doesn't burn.

the smoke from these and the September fires is basically something in the sky that makes the light a bit murky. Fires in Australia can be stay-inside level choking from two hours' drive away.

― shackling the masses with plastic-wrapped snack picks (sic), Thursday, December 7, 2017 4:18 AM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

read this in Steve Irwin's voice.

I don't know her.

having trouble reconciling the "very unhealthy" AQI forecast with the somewhat meager recommendation that we simply stay indoors

I went to high school in ojai. lovely place. its in a tough spot tho - very narrow valley with one two lane freeway as the main route in and out.. but I could also see the fires skipping around it too..