California fires - woah

[hoosierdoc]

Evacuations widened as Northern California wildfires spread to 170,000 acres with at least 23 dead - LA Times

23+ dead, hundreds missing. Thousands... THOUSANDS of structures destroyed. Napa wineries hit hard. Still burning

 

[hoosierdoc]

I'm a bit surprised this thread hasn't taken off. 29 now dead and 400+ missing. 3500 homes burned.

good news is 1000 reported missing and 600 have been located. Cell towers are out, hopefully just people who can't communicate.

a lady was on the phone with her daughter saying her room is engulfed in flames and then the phone died. Tragic.

California wildfires: Death toll, number of missing climbs

 

[indyjohn]

OG and I were talking about this tonight. She was browsing drone pics of entire neighborhoods burned to the ground, literally. She was telling me about how there were firestorms that raced through areas quickly, hence the number of missing. We would compare it to an F5 tornado in the middle of the night. Authorities are searching burned areas with cadaver dogs because all that is left is the skeleton. Pics of cars and other metal items melted.

Unprecedented hurricanes, unprecedented earthquakes, unprecedented wildfires. Let us pray.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Yeah, the earth is pissed. We'd better drill a bunch of holes in it and suck out its black blood before it takes us out

cars were flipped over from the explosions. Just skeletons left? Ugh. I heard a 99 and 100 year old couple burned together. In that situation, do you offer to shoot your spouse? Is that moral? Christian?

 

[Leadeye]

I've seen the pictures, looks like it was nuked. Everything scorched.

I live in the deep woods so when it gets dry we get wary, but CA is very different.

 

[Alamo]

I lived in California through an earthquake (North Ridge), a wildfire (Topanga-Malibu), the annual drought, and a winter of mudslide that took out the canyon road I drove to work. (Wasn't mud covering the road - the road WAS the mudslide, several thousand cubic feet of earth just disappeared several hundred feet down into the canyon stream below).

BUILD THE WALL! Between California and the rest of us! It will be a sea wall soon enough.

 

[ultra...good]

Meh- every year in CA, same old, same old. Mudslides, drought, fires, repeat.
Hurricanes in the gulf happen quite frequently too. Same old, same old.

Where i live i deal with rain, snow, ice, extreme heat and extreme cold.
if you dont like the conditions where you live, move.

 

[hoosierdoc]

By your logic is it safe to live anywhere? Can we not empathize with those going through their hardship?

The tales of this week are growing increasingly tragic. As the Redwood Valley fire swept through Mendocino County, the Shepherd family hurried to escape, first by car and then foot when the vehicles caught fire. Kai Shepherd, a 14-year-old who loved the San Francisco Giants and wrestling, did not make it out alive, his aunt Mindi Ramos said.

California wildfires: Death toll, number of missing climbs

now the deadliest fires in state history, 31 dead, 460 missing

 

[ultra...good]

California is a beautiful place, sunshine all the time when i was there. Must be a downside. Take the good with the bad.
Same with gulf states with hurricanes and such. Take the good with the bad.
Last few years where i live it has been bad with snow/ice storms. Flooding from rains this year. Extreme cold with propane companies running out of juice even for the prepaid customers three years ago.
I am just tired of hearing about the poor people in "xxxxxx" that are dealing with weather and natural disasters that are known to occur where they live. Oh, and can you donate to help these people, by the way.

 

[Wolfhound]

I spent some time helping fight the Silver Complex fires in Oregon back in 1987. That area is nothing like Indiana. I was amazed at some of the fire breaks the bulldozers had cut. Those guys must have had a death wish. Nearly straight up and down the mountains. It was something I will never forget.

 

[Kutnupe14]

How does a fire sneak up on you? So weird.

 

[hoosierdoc]

How does a fire sneak up on you? So weird.

sonoma county decided to NOT activate the emergency notification system because they felt an evacuation would make it harder to get fire trucks in. It roared through at night during very high winds

http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-abcarian-sonoma-fire-20171012-htmlstory.html

this couple survived in their neighbors pool

 

[Kutnupe14]

sonoma county decided to NOT activate the emergency notification system because they felt an evacuation would make it harder to get fire trucks in. It roared through at night during very high winds

Whoa! That's no bueno... that's damn near negligence.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Mass cellphone alerts not sent before Sonoma County fire

they claim it's because they can't limit it, has to go county wide. That would make a ton of people Evac that didn't need to and clog everything. I can see the point

 

[KittySlayer]

A good reminder why you keep your grab and go BOB packed and ready. Took the time to read and review my checklist:

< 1 min. Grab an Go and stay alive
10 min. Gather some more stuff thinking 3 weeks rather than 3 days
1 hour Fully pack the truck, secure the house, keepsakes...

As frustrated as I get with California you still have to feel for the individuals impacted.

 

[SMiller]

How does a fire sneak up on you? So weird.

70mph fire that does not stop for hill, mountains, stop signs, turns. You couldn't out run it if you tried, ponder being asleep in bed, never have a chance.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

My brother moved to Santa Rosa from Tustin (Orange County) back in January. He had to evacuate back to OC (wife and kids are still living there). He thinks his apartment is still standing, but doesn't know for sure.

 

[phylodog]

Had the pleasure of fighting fires on Ft Hood, TX in the early 90's. Learned an entirely new respect for those things, you could not have convinced me how hot they are and how fast they can move had I not seen it with my own eyes. Still not sure how we managed to find ourselves between a wall of fire and a wall of fire heading our direction but I thank God for a pilot who was paying attention with a load full of water, saved many lives on the side of that hill that day including mine.

 

[CountryBoy19]

If you enjoy learning about wildfires and how they are fought you should look into "Fire Chasers" on Netflix. It's about Cal-Fire, how they fight them, and the men and women (some of them incarcerated inmates) that fight them. I just watched it a couple weeks ago and I found it interesting. I wished there were more footage of "in the fight" but I understand that getting that footage isn't the easiest thing to do without endangering the camera folks and the fire-fighters themselves.

 

[KMaC]

Cool story about saving what's important to you.
Woman Flees Santa Rosa Wildfire on Bike With Her 70-Pound Dog in Duffel Bag | KTLA