California fires 2019

[Vash01]

Kincade Fire scorches 74,000 acres, could take "weeks if not months" to be fully extinguished

Meanwhile, the so-called "Getty Fire" threatened hundreds of homes near world-famous Getty Center in Los Angeles

www.cbsnews.com

California is battling fires in the north and south. Kincaid fire in the Sonoma county in the north, and the Getty fire in the south sound scary. PG&E is going to cut off power for 650,000 residents. Over 4000 fire fighters are trying to contain the fires. The pictures and videos of the fire look terrifying.

Any fsuers in the area that are affected? My nephew lives in LA so I sent him a txt message. He is OK.

 

[attyfan]

Glad that your nephew is OK -- my kid brother is in a mandatory evacuation zone (near the Getty fire) ... he and his family are also fine, thank G-d. Thoughts and prayers for those affected ...

 

[Peaches LaTour]

So glad your families are safe!

I used to visit the Getty Museum (both of them).

It was absolutely incredible to see news footage of the S/B 405 devoid of traffic. Oh, the hours I sat in traffic or travelled that freeway past the (current) Getty.

We have had wind gusts of over 60mph in the Columbia Gorge today & wind gusts of 45mph in my area today. Still, they are nothing compared to the gusts fueling the California fires. I wish this could be over.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Lucky Me. I am in Sonoma County. I am south of the evacuation area, but we did have power shut off for 36 hours. It was really weird and really dark! Luckily I have these two battery powered lantern flash lights, into which you can plug in a phone or other device. So at least I could keep my phone charged. Smoke is everywhere in the air, and I can see the smoke billowing over the hills form Santa Rosa.

They have not restored power to the riding facility where 80+ horses are housed, and to which many have been evacuated. The water runs on pumps.....so they are hand watering everything.

They expect a wind from the ocean to blow out this smoke. The Kinkade fire is only about 7% contained. It is my understanding that they are no longer saving structures, but rather on containing the forward march of the fire. Winds from the mountains are the things to be most afraid of. It is so easy for the wind to pick up debris, and land it somewhere else to start another fire.

I read two reports today regarding CA environmental policies being at fault for the rash of fires we have had. PG&E, rather than making sure the brush is cleared and trees too close to the power lines are trimmed or removed, the utility has both saved money and wars with the powerful lobbies, have taken a really bad path.

As to SoCal.....they may be in real trouble if the Santa Ana's pick up.

I learned something interesting about the Getty Center near the 405 is virtually fireproof. Getty Center

The buildings at the Getty Center are made from concrete and steel with either travertine or aluminium cladding. Around 1,200,000 square feet (110,000 m2) of travertine was used to build the Center.

I can see the freeway from my balcony. For three days the traffic was moving at a lovely 5 miles an hour.

They are letting some people back in, and still predicting more power outages. It is a mess, for sure, for sure.

 

[Vash01]

Lucky Me. I am in Sonoma County. I am south of the evacuation area, but we did have power shut off for 36 hours. It was really weird and really dark! Luckily I have these two battery powered lantern flash lights, into which you can plug in a phone or other device. So at least I could keep my phone charged. Smoke is everywhere in the air, and I can see the smoke billowing over the hills form Santa Rosa.

They have not restored power to the riding facility where 80+ horses are housed, and to which many have been evacuated. The water runs on pumps.....so they are hand watering everything.

They expect a wind from the ocean to blow out this smoke. The Kinkade fire is only about 7% contained. It is my understanding that they are no longer saving structures, but rather on containing the forward march of the fire. Winds from the mountains are the things to be most afraid of. It is so easy for the wind to pick up debris, and land it somewhere else to start another fire.

I read two reports today regarding CA environmental policies being at fault for the rash of fires we have had. PG&E, rather than making sure the brush is cleared and trees too close to the power lines are trimmed or removed, the utility has both saved money and wars with the powerful lobbies, have taken a really bad path.

As to SoCal.....they may be in real trouble if the Santa Ana's pick up.

I learned something interesting about the Getty Center near the 405 is virtually fireproof. Getty Center


I can see the freeway from my balcony. For three days the traffic was moving at a lovely 5 miles an hour.

They are letting some people back in, and still predicting more power outages. It is a mess, for sure, for sure.

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear you are safe. The air quality must be very bad there. Sorry to hear they are not saving structures anymore. I hope they contain the fires soon.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Thanks. Keep everyone in your prayers.

 

[skateboy]

I am in the San Francisco East Bay. On Sunday, I was forced to evacuate, due to one of the fires being less than a mile from my home. There is a freeway that separated the fire from my neighborhood, so I was fortunate that the fire did not cross over, and that it was contained within a few hours. I was able to return home that evening and I was lucky not to have lost power.

Scary stuff.

 

[Spun Silver]

The pictures are terrifying. It's hard to understand how CA can be overwhelmed with these fires year after year -- so much destruction, fear, and loss of life. My sister is in Santa Barbara, between the two main fire areas, and for some reason she feels the city is safe. She had to evacuate herself a couple of years ago.

Stay safe, @AxelAnnie and @skateboy! ??

 

[AxelAnnie]

The pictures are terrifying. It's hard to understand how CA can be overwhelmed with these fires year after year -- so much destruction, fear, and loss of life. My sister is in Santa Barbara, between the two main fire areas, and for some reason she feels the city is safe. She had to evacuate herself a couple of years ago.

Stay safe, @AxelAnnie and @skateboy! ??

Well...in many ways California has allowed this to happen. Glad your sister is safe. This is a nightmare.

 

[Peaches LaTour]

As expensive as it s to put utility lines underground, how much more expensive is it to continue suffering these fires caused by faulty power lines?

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

My baby sister lives in the Los Angeles area but she said that she's safe, the fires are over an hour away from where she lives - but we're still worried for her! Hoping all of you who live in California stay safe!

 

[Lanie]

We had an alert this morning. There is a fire 3-4 miles from our house. Very scary. We are okay for now.

 

[skatesindreams]

Firefighters battle "Easy Fire" burning near Reagan Library

Amid potentially record-breaking Santa Ana winds another fire has sparked, this time in Simi Valley.

www.keyt.com

 

[myhoneyhoney]

I live in San Francisco East Bay. The air quality this past weekend was horrendous. Luckily it's cleared up a significant amount in my area. Rrgardless, I've stocked up on N95 masks. Also lucky that my power has not been shut off when the area just a few blocks down was out.

Stay safe, California!

 

[Cachoo]

These videos that pop up of people fleeing surrounded by flames are so scary. From time to time I watch the video of the two guys finding "Izzy" the Bernese Mountain dog and wonder how she managed to emerge unscathed.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Yep - scary it is. Simi Valley home of the Reagan Library (the Easy Fire) - which has to be the dumbest name ever!!! - is a mess. It is a densely residential area.

The Reagan Library like the Getty Center are built to be pretty much fireproof. So that is something. It is all so awful.

 

[Peaches LaTour]

I used to go skating at the Easy Street Skating Rink in Simi. Scott Hamilton used to skate there at times.

Attended a few events at the Reagan Library, too. Nothing pertaining to Ronnie, however, since I loathed him.

Simi lays in a valley of sorts. Very hot there in the summer. Today when I saw the video from the Easy Fire I just sat down & cried. When will this be over?

Brian Williams gave a nice commentary about the California fires at the end of his show last night. In part, he said that people in the East simply don't understand what these fires are like simply because they are not subjected to them & perhaps news studios (based in NYC) should start providing split screen coverage between the impeachment hearings & the fires. Both are of equal importance.

 

[Lanie]

Yes, it's called the Easy Fire because it erupted near Easy Street. Which is where I grew up skating at! Now it is an Iceoplex. Scott used to skate at Oxnard as well, but the rink doesn't exist anymore; they demolished it some years ago. We used to go to shows and such there and I had lessons from him as a kid. Mini Lanie and I still skate there. It's an old, old rink, but it's home.

The Reagan Library is a lovely place. Air Force One is so cool and they have some incredible, incredible visiting exhibits. I was thinking today because RR and Nancy are buried there, to see the views over the hills together for all time, always so beautiful--now those hills on fire. We wanted to have our wedding reception there but they didn't do weddings! Haha.

Simi also has the luck to be a very windy place. Simi comes from the Chumash word for 'wind' after all. It is what we have to deal with for living here, unfortunately. It is not warm, but cold. I can't tell you guys how insane these winds are. It's like nothing I've felt in a long time and I have lived here all my life. My kitties sure don't like it.

 

[HeatherC]

Praying that everyone stays safe from all those fires. How terrifying.

 

[Buzz]

California fires: Goats help save Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

The 500 goats - including Vincent van Goat and Selena Goatmez - ate the flammable scrub nearby.

www.bbc.com

 

[AxelAnnie]

I used to go skating at the Easy Street Skating Rink in Simi. Scott Hamilton used to skate there at times.

Attended a few events at the Reagan Library, too. Nothing pertaining to Ronnie, however, since I loathed him.

Really? Thousands lose their homes, their livelihood and you have to take a moment to insert your politics?

 

[snoopy]

Axle Annie you had already inserted your politics when you blamed “California policies” for the fires. I know you think it’s fact when you do it but it’s not.

 

[MacMadame]

I read two reports today regarding CA environmental policies being at fault for the rash of fires we have had. PG&E, rather than making sure the brush is cleared and trees too close to the power lines are trimmed or removed, the utility has both saved money and wars with the powerful lobbies, have taken a really bad path.

PG&E's corruption and incompetence is not an "environmental policy". I know it's a right-wing talking point that those loonie tree huggers in CA are responsible for what is going on but it's bullshit.

PG&E deferred maintenance for DECADES while giving their shareholders nice dividends and their execs cushy bonuses. They even got permission to raise rates to pay for maintenance that they then didn't do. It had nothing to do with environmental policies.

In SoCal, they do sometimes turn out the power, but they've set up the grids so there is redundancy and micro-grids so they have more control. One reason for the Kincade fire is that PG&E didn't turn off the main electrical superhighway because they didn't want to turn off power for even more people in areas that didn't need power off. But because of how their system is set up, they couldn't turn off all the power in that area and still deliver power to large parts of the state. So they turned off the power on the smaller lines but kept the big one running.

And a tree downed a powerline on the still-turned-on transmission line and the rest is history.

As expensive as it s to put utility lines underground, how much more expensive is it to continue suffering these fires caused by faulty power lines?

PG&E got approval to spend money on maintenance and then spent it on other things. Of course, the money is all gone now and they are whining and trying to declare bankruptcy so they don't have to pay the piper. They all deserve to go to jail IMO.

As for myself, we were without power for two of the shutoffs but not the third one. The second one they turned off the power about 12 hours too early and we almost lost the contents of our fridge but were able to save all but the ice cream. wuzrobbed for the ice cream )

I now have a borrowed generator so we can do better next time. (And there will be a next time. We are in an area where if fire breaks out, we're probably screwed because it's so hard to get in and out of our little corner and there will be several hundred families all trying to evacuate over very few roads (most of the roads are cul de sacs).

It's also distressing to see Sonoma County on fire AGAIN. This time many of the places impacted are places that many of us in the area go to in order to train for certain races or to participate in certain cycling events. So we see them on fire on the news and it's somewhere we've biked may times before or a store we bought water at (or used the restroom ) or a winery we visited after a race. Not to mention having friends in the area who had to evacuate.

The first Sonoma fires a few years ago were distressing too but it didn't feel as personal as the Kincade fire.

 

[clairecloutier]

I used to work for a company that was headquartered out of Sebastopol in Sonoma County, so I visited that area pretty often for a number of years, and knew some people out there. It’s quite devastating to think of what they’ve been going through. It’s such a beautiful area, too, I always loved visiting there.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Axle Annie you had already inserted your politics when you blamed “California policies” for the fires. I know you think it’s fact when you do it but it’s not.

You are right. I differentiated policies....which are corporate and well as political. My bad.

 

[Peaches LaTour]

Really? Thousands lose their homes, their livelihood and you have to take a moment to insert your politics?

I am NOT inserting my politics here, merely mentioning the fact that this area was once my home.

If you think for one minute that I don't understand what is happening or sympathize with it then you can park your comment where the sun don't shine.

I have been in their situation both in California & where I currently live.



I

 

[AxelAnnie]

I am NOT inserting my politics here, merely mentioning the fact that this area was once my home.

If you think for one minute that I don't understand what is happening or sympathize with it then you can park your comment where the sun don't shine.

I have been in their situation both in California & where I currently live.



I

Your mention of the Reagan library and the horrid situation in Simi Valley could have done well without your inclusion of your opinion of Ronald Reagan.
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