Nor cal on fire

[probablecause]

I heard they found cars with bodies in them, stuck in the fire.

 

[wallnutz]

My girlfriend lost her house in Paradise yesterday, the whole town burned down.

A few citizens did not make it out, burned in their cars. Horrible. Godspeed to all the pets and people who did not make it out.

Thank god she had her little girl with her when it all went down, Paradise burned down in just a few hours.

Sorry to hear, that’s a hard read. Houses can be rebuilt with new memories, lives can’t.
Can’t imagine trying to flea the fire and get trapped. RIP to those that didn’t make it.

 

[highvoltagehands]

I think someone is not happy with the election results and decided they would burn this M#$#%^ F#^%$& down before they got taxed out of it !!!!!!!
my .02 cents
my thoughts and prayers go out to every one involved!!!!!

Your .02 cents ain't worth a penny when you make statements like this.

Camp Fire in Paradise looks to be PG&E's fault again. Word going around our line crews was fire most likely started because of problems on a PG&E 115kv Transmission Line. News stated PG&E detected an outage incident on the line 15 mins before fire was reported.
In 2015 PG&E reported +$874 million net income and was granted rate increase for 2016 making +$1.4 Billion net income, and 2017 made +$1.65 billion net income after incurring $82 million in fire costs.
In 2017 PG&E caused 16 wildfires. In 11 of the 16 wildfires PG&E was found in violation of proper maintenance laws. Yet in August 2018 a bailout bill was passed allowing PG&E to pay for 2017 fire settlements using rate payer money.
With the kind of money PG&E has been profiting, I think they could've afforded to put a lot more money into maintaining their system properly instead of fleecing rate payers.
Godspeed to all effected by fire.

 

[napanutt]

My girlfriend lost her house in Paradise yesterday, the whole town burned down.

A few citizens did not make it out, burned in their cars. Horrible. Godspeed to all the pets and people who did not make it out.

Thank god she had her little girl with her when it all went down, Paradise burned down in just a few hours.

A boss of mine, just retired after buying his retirement house in Paradise, lost his with the rest them.

 

[Riverbound]

She in paradise?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes. She got out but some of her boyfriends family
Lost everything including pets


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Willie B]

...Well I have just been informed that I have been officially evacuated from Berry Creek...above Lake Oroville...

...Since I am 435 miles away in North Hollywood not much I can do in the way of getting anything out...

...My potential situation means absolutely zero...in comparison to the loss of life and home that others are having to endure...

...May the poor souls who have lost their lives RIP...

 

[1cole280S]

Your .02 cents ain't worth a penny when you make statements like this.

Camp Fire in Paradise looks to be PG&E's fault again. Word going around our line crews was fire most likely started because of problems on a PG&E 115kv Transmission Line. News stated PG&E detected an outage incident on the line 15 mins before fire was reported.
In 2015 PG&E reported +$874 million net income and was granted rate increase for 2016 making +$1.4 Billion net income, and 2017 made +$1.65 billion net income after incurring $82 million in fire costs.
In 2017 PG&E caused 16 wildfires. In 11 of the 16 wildfires PG&E was found in violation of proper maintenance laws. Yet in August 2018 a bailout bill was passed allowing PG&E to pay for 2017 fire settlements using rate payer money.
With the kind of money PG&E has been profiting, I think they could've afforded to put a lot more money into maintaining their system properly instead of fleecing rate payers.
Godspeed to all effected by fire.

I would like to apologize to you HV and any one else who was offended by my .02 cent political joke in no way shape or form was it meant to derogatory to such a horrible situation!!! Sorry to all....
Again.... my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected or involved in this devastating situation

 

[4Waters]

I would like to apologize to you HV and any one else who was offended by my .02 cent political joke in no way shape or form was it meant to derogatory to such a horrible situation!!! Sorry to all....
Again.... my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected or involved in this devastating situation

I did see the humor in it and never thought you were being a dick however I just reread it and can see how someone might take it wrong. You are good in my book.

 

[Flyinbowtie]

As I sit here this morning pondering the news and thinking if there is anything else I can do to be ready to go and have my 87 year old mother ready as well...I digest the updates.
Over 6000 homes destroyed.
Over 250 business destroyed.
23 people lost. So far.
This morning the fire is at 110,000 acres and 25% containment, per CDF on www.actionnewsnow.com which is a conglomeration of KHSL and other north state TV stations.
Word was out day one that this was another case of a failure of PG&E transmission equipment. So yes, they continue to be a primary responsible party here.
But there are a couple of others who need to be mentioned.
Rant On.
The north end of the state has just gone through a long drought. There has been a major and growing infestation of Bark Beetle in the forests of NorCal for decades. The state and federal agencies responsible for the forests have steadfastly blocked outright or slowed to a crawl the thinning of dead trees from the forest to appease the "environmentalists". Endless "studies reports, environmental impact reports, and other bureaucratic hogwash There are low impact means of logging these days, helicopter logging was one that was very effective before the .gov agencies made it untenable and unprofitable. I know all this for a fact, I have family that were in the industry for decades. I saw it happen. Some 20 years ago I drove down US 50 through South Lake Tahoe in a logging truck loaded with diseased timber that still had market value. Got flipped off about 50 times and had more than one asshole try to run me off the road.
Ours wasn't the only truck to be treated as such.
That was the last big job the company did in the Tahoe Basin.
Next time you are in the Tahoe basin or drive up I 80 or US 50 look around at the dead standing timber. The Feather River Canyon, up where Paradise and Magalia are...the Jarbo...south to Yosemite and beyond...all of the Sierras all have the same issue. As did the Shasta Trinity area that burned earlier this year. The people need to demand intelligent management of the forests owned by .gov entities, it isn't rocket science...the big private producers of timber and forest products have had sustainable yield harvest plans in place for years....it is in their financial interest for their forests to be healthy. We can take their plans and modify them to fit the needs of our forests.
Managing the forests using the idea that "let nature do her thing" does not work when people want to live within 20 miles of these forests. Lightning strikes have started big fires too...and once they get going it should be obvious to even the most ardent anti-harvest people that stopping them isn't a given. Homes are lost. Lives are ruined, and lives are lost.
It is in our interest as citizens to see to it that the lands we hold in perpetuity for our children and grandchildren are managed to keep them healthy as well. Our servants in the various gov entities charged with this have failed us miserably.
I had a tree that was a major fire risk and it took e 5 years of calls, emails, and sending pictures and finally a call to my assemblyman to get them off their ass and send a crew out to trim it, and when they left a lineman still could not have reached the transformer due to this tree. It took the damn phone company needing to fix my land line to If anything, I hope this horrific loss of life and property gets a conversation going we need to get PG&E into the modern era, and seriously hold them accountable,, not play the game with the politicians in Sacramento.
And we need to demand those same politicians manage our forests as well.
While we homeowners need to take heed and follow the fire service demands for 100 ft clearances around our homes it should be fairly obvious that firestorms like we are seeing these days are not going to have a problem getting past that. All of the improved building codes and risk mitigation we can do as homeowners won't.
The last thing we need is the insurance companies backing out of California entirely, which would force the state to go deeper into the insurance business...and we all know how good and efficient they would be at that.
Rant Off.

The good people of Butte County have been through hell in the past couple of years, the Oroville Dam disaster and now this. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Sheriff Kory Honea of Butte County. He is a model of what a sheriff should be in disaster management, and his staff are doing their best...while some watch their own homes burn... To the firefighters and contract Dozer guys like my friend Steve Clark...be safe and think you.

May God Comfort and Bless the people who have suffered the loss of their homes and livelihoods in this catastrophe, and hold close those who are crying this morning as they come to grips with the loss of a loved one. May those lost rest in peace.
Until you have lived through this kind of thing either because you live in the fire zone or your profession brings you into it it is hard to fathom the impact these things can have on you. I have been both victim and professional in the wildfire field...it isn't anything to wish on anyone, or to make light of.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

As I sit here this morning pondering the news and thinking if there is anything else I can do to be ready to go and have my 87 year old mother ready as well...I digest the updates.
Over 6000 homes destroyed.
Over 250 business destroyed.
23 people lost. So far.
This morning the fire is at 110,000 acres and 25% containment, per CDF on www.actionnewsnow.com which is a conglomeration of KHSL and other north state TV stations.
Word was out day one that this was another case of a failure of PG&E transmission equipment. So yes, they continue to be a primary responsible party here.
But there are a couple of others who need to be mentioned.
Rant On.
The north end of the state has just gone through a long drought. There has been a major and growing infestation of Bark Beetle in the forests of NorCal for decades. The state and federal agencies responsible for the forests have steadfastly blocked outright or slowed to a crawl the thinning of dead trees from the forest to appease the "environmentalists". Endless "studies reports, environmental impact reports, and other bureaucratic hogwash There are low impact means of logging these days, helicopter logging was one that was very effective before the .gov agencies made it untenable and unprofitable. I know all this for a fact, I have family that were in the industry for decades. I saw it happen. Some 20 years ago I drove down US 50 through South Lake Tahoe in a logging truck loaded with diseased timber that still had market value. Got flipped off about 50 times and had more than one asshole try to run me off the road.
Ours wasn't the only truck to be treated as such.
That was the last big job the company did in the Tahoe Basin.
Next time you are in the Tahoe basin or drive up I 80 or US 50 look around at the dead standing timber. The Feather River Canyon, up where Paradise and Magalia are...the Jarbo...south to Yosemite and beyond...all of the Sierras all have the same issue. As did the Shasta Trinity area that burned earlier this year. The people need to demand intelligent management of the forests owned by .gov entities, it isn't rocket science...the big private producers of timber and forest products have had sustainable yield harvest plans in place for years....it is in their financial interest for their forests to be healthy. We can take their plans and modify them to fit the needs of our forests.
Managing the forests using the idea that "let nature do her thing" does not work when people want to live within 20 miles of these forests. Lightning strikes have started big fires too...and once they get going it should be obvious to even the most ardent anti-harvest people that stopping them isn't a given. Homes are lost. Lives are ruined, and lives are lost.
It is in our interest as citizens to see to it that the lands we hold in perpetuity for our children and grandchildren are managed to keep them healthy as well. Our servants in the various gov entities charged with this have failed us miserably.
I had a tree that was a major fire risk and it took e 5 years of calls, emails, and sending pictures and finally a call to my assemblyman to get them off their ass and send a crew out to trim it, and when they left a lineman still could not have reached the transformer due to this tree. It took the damn phone company needing to fix my land line to If anything, I hope this horrific loss of life and property gets a conversation going we need to get PG&E into the modern era, and seriously hold them accountable,, not play the game with the politicians in Sacramento.
And we need to demand those same politicians manage our forests as well.
While we homeowners need to take heed and follow the fire service demands for 100 ft clearances around our homes it should be fairly obvious that firestorms like we are seeing these days are not going to have a problem getting past that. All of the improved building codes and risk mitigation we can do as homeowners won't.
The last thing we need is the insurance companies backing out of California entirely, which would force the state to go deeper into the insurance business...and we all know how good and efficient they would be at that.
Rant Off.

The good people of Butte County have been through hell in the past couple of years, the Oroville Dam disaster and now this. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Sheriff Kory Honea of Butte County. He is a model of what a sheriff should be in disaster management, and his staff are doing their best...while some watch their own homes burn... To the firefighters and contract Dozer guys like my friend Steve Clark...be safe and think you.

May God Comfort and Bless the people who have suffered the loss of their homes and livelihoods in this catastrophe, and hold close those who are crying this morning as they come to grips with the loss of a loved one. May those lost rest in peace.
Until you have lived through this kind of thing either because you live in the fire zone or your profession brings you into it it is hard to fathom the impact these things can have on you. I have been both victim and professional in the wildfire field...it isn't anything to wish on anyone, or to make light of.

Spot fucking on!

I cringe whenever I see a Sierra Club sticker or sign.

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

 

[WhatExit?]

So what are your thoughts on Trump's tweets? He's getting attacked for them (he's always getting attacked for tweets, etc.)...

Trump's first tweet drew the ire of the leaders of firefighters' organizations, who accused the President of bringing politics into a devastating disaster.
The Camp Fire in Northern California has killed 23 people and burned 108,000 acres. The Woolsey Fire near Los Angeles has scorched 83,275 acres, and the Hill fire in Ventura County 4,531 acres.

"His comments are reckless and insulting to the firefighters and people being affected," said Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
The president of the California Professional Firefighters said the message is an attack on some of the people fighting the devastating fires.

"The President's message attacking California and threatening to withhold aid to the victims of the cataclysmic fires is ill-informed, ill-timed and demeaning to those who are suffering as well as the men and women on the front lines," Brian K. Rice said.

"In my view, this shameful attack on California is an attack on all our courageous men and women on the front lines."

Rice also said Trump's assertion that California's forest management policies are to blame "is dangerously wrong."

"Wildfires are sparked and spread not only in forested areas but in populated areas and open fields fueled by parched vegetation, high winds, low humidity and geography," he said.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/11/politics/california-wildfires-trump-tweets/index.html

 

[wet hull]

He said this a few weeks ago in a press conference. He just repeated himself after the fires broke out. I agree to a extent, but once they do break out we need aid.

 

[4Waters]

So what are your thoughts on Trump's tweets? He's getting attacked for them (he's always getting attacked for tweets, etc.)...

View attachment 701414

View attachment 701415

Trump's first tweet drew the ire of the leaders of firefighters' organizations, who accused the President of bringing politics into a devastating disaster.
The Camp Fire in Northern California has killed 23 people and burned 108,000 acres. The Woolsey Fire near Los Angeles has scorched 83,275 acres, and the Hill fire in Ventura County 4,531 acres.

"His comments are reckless and insulting to the firefighters and people being affected," said Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
The president of the California Professional Firefighters said the message is an attack on some of the people fighting the devastating fires.

"The President's message attacking California and threatening to withhold aid to the victims of the cataclysmic fires is ill-informed, ill-timed and demeaning to those who are suffering as well as the men and women on the front lines," Brian K. Rice said.

"In my view, this shameful attack on California is an attack on all our courageous men and women on the front lines."

Rice also said Trump's assertion that California's forest management policies are to blame "is dangerously wrong."

"Wildfires are sparked and spread not only in forested areas but in populated areas and open fields fueled by parched vegetation, high winds, low humidity and geography," he said.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/11/politics/california-wildfires-trump-tweets/index.html

He is not lying read post 59, but it's also the federal government not telling the treehuggers to pissoff. We need to thin these forests and stop this dumb fucking train and use that money to increase firefighter staffing levels in the state.

 

[Flyinbowtie]

I don't want to see this thread roll to a completely political number, which will necessitate the modes moving it. This needs to stay here, where it can do the most good. I think that your question should be answered in another thread, down in the dungeon. I don't play there anymore, it is pointless.
I will say this.
Before A president...from any party... makes blankets statements like that he should get his ass out here and evaluate the situation and talk to the people doing the work, and make sure his comments are properly supported by a foundation of knowledge and facts, that can more precisely address the problem. Sometimes a tweet isn't the right way to weigh in with words like that.
This is one of those times.
It isn't the firemen or line people making choices about policy.
The associations that claim to represent the working firefighters are simply political players without office. They follow the political leaders of the state...
This isn't a problem that started yesterday, it started in the 1970's. The USFS and the state had a sustainable yield timber harvest plan in place, and had it running for many years. Do some deep research. That plan was abandoned during the Carter Admin.

 

[highvoltagehands]

Flyinbowtie nailed it. Well said my man. During the 20th century you very rarely saw wildfires of these proportions because like "FBT" said, our forests were managed by use of harvesting and logging. Look at Weyerhaeuser Corp, the largest owner of private forest lands in the world, never has out of control wildfires because they manage their timberland. A great majority of us want to keep trees and protect endangered species as much as possible, but without responsible harvesting look at what has been lost in good healthy habitat, trees, business', homes, and worst of all animal and human lives. More legislation needs to be passed promoting responsible harvesting and logging and allowing property owners to do their share. That said a Majority of us Homeowners also need to do better job maintaining our defensible space against fire. Also, Every year over a thousand fires are caused by each one of the big 3 IOU's(investor owned utilities) PG&E, SCE & SDG&E. They need to be investing a ton more of their own money towards properly maintaining and upgrading their infrastructure and be held accountable no be getting bailed out. Rant over.

 

[highvoltagehands]

I would like to apologize to you HV and any one else who was offended by my .02 cent political joke in no way shape or form was it meant to derogatory to such a horrible situation!!! Sorry to all....
Again.... my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected or involved in this devastating situation

Thank you Cole, No worries. This week I'll have Powerline crews working right behind the firemen rebuilding lines around Paradise. It's a terrible feeling seeing the emotions pour out of people returning to find their homes, pets and everything else they cherished burned up and gone forever.

 

[aka619er]

I sadly just watched a video from a survivor of the Paradise fire who survived by hiding in a creek. He went back immediately after to many he tried to help get out and they were all dead in their vehicles while still on fire. Very tough clip to watch. His Cherokee had melted plastic all over it but still drove. Guy was in shock.

Read another story of a survivor who had a bunch of cars come onto his property looking for a way out. Unfortunately there wasn't one and they all left to keep searching. Him and those who stayed on his property and fought the fire with garden hoses all lived although they lost every structure. All the others also perished in their vehicles trying to get out. RIP

 

[Taboma]

One very important lesson was learned and passed on by the fire crews and chief after the Witch Creek fire that cost us our home in 07'.
Attic Vents !!! Numerous homes were lost due to sparks getting through the attic venting or under eve vents and burning the homes from the inside out.
O'Hagin is one company that makes a ember resistant vents, which in our area is now a code requirement.
Watching the live coverage of many of these fires I'm amazed how many homes I see in flames, while the landscaping isn't causing the house to burn, quite the opposite.

 

[highvoltagehands]

Agreed Taboma. I removed wood shake roof and replaced it with a concrete raised tile cool roof using 15 O'Hagin dual roof vents for 100% better fire protection.
You can barely see 2 of them at the top of garage roof.
The cool roof design w/ O'Hagin dual vents allows cooler air to enter at the bottom of roof eaves under raised tiles above gutters, that air moves up the roof between raised tiles and paper covered wood sheeting and pushing warmer air up & out near the top of roof line. They also vent the attic w/o letting embers or rain water in.

 

[Taboma]

Agreed Taboma. I removed wood shake roof and replaced it with a concrete raised tile cool roof using 15 O'Hagin dual roof vents for 100% better fire protection.
You can barely see 2 of them at the top of garage roof.
The cool roof design w/ O'Hagin dual vents allows cooler air to enter at the bottom of roof eaves under raised tiles above gutters, that air moves up the roof between raised tiles and paper covered wood sheeting and pushing warmer air up & out near the top of roof line. They also vent the attic w/o letting embers or rain water in.
View attachment 701474

Great looking roof !!

 

[highvoltagehands]

Thanks Taboma, Roof should look good for $25K. Sucked paying that much for something you can't drive around or showoff or use to get laid. But it should keep me dry for as long as I live. I hope.

 

[rrrr]

As I sit here this morning pondering the news and thinking if there is anything else I can do to be ready to go and have my 87 year old mother ready as well...I digest the updates.
Over 6000 homes destroyed.
Over 250 business destroyed.
23 people lost. So far.
This morning the fire is at 110,000 acres and 25% containment, per CDF on www.actionnewsnow.com which is a conglomeration of KHSL and other north state TV stations.
Word was out day one that this was another case of a failure of PG&E transmission equipment. So yes, they continue to be a primary responsible party here.
But there are a couple of others who need to be mentioned.
Rant On.
The north end of the state has just gone through a long drought. There has been a major and growing infestation of Bark Beetle in the forests of NorCal for decades. The state and federal agencies responsible for the forests have steadfastly blocked outright or slowed to a crawl the thinning of dead trees from the forest to appease the "environmentalists". Endless "studies reports, environmental impact reports, and other bureaucratic hogwash There are low impact means of logging these days, helicopter logging was one that was very effective before the .gov agencies made it untenable and unprofitable. I know all this for a fact, I have family that were in the industry for decades. I saw it happen. Some 20 years ago I drove down US 50 through South Lake Tahoe in a logging truck loaded with diseased timber that still had market value. Got flipped off about 50 times and had more than one asshole try to run me off the road.
Ours wasn't the only truck to be treated as such.
That was the last big job the company did in the Tahoe Basin.
Next time you are in the Tahoe basin or drive up I 80 or US 50 look around at the dead standing timber. The Feather River Canyon, up where Paradise and Magalia are...the Jarbo...south to Yosemite and beyond...all of the Sierras all have the same issue. As did the Shasta Trinity area that burned earlier this year. The people need to demand intelligent management of the forests owned by .gov entities, it isn't rocket science...the big private producers of timber and forest products have had sustainable yield harvest plans in place for years....it is in their financial interest for their forests to be healthy. We can take their plans and modify them to fit the needs of our forests.
Managing the forests using the idea that "let nature do her thing" does not work when people want to live within 20 miles of these forests. Lightning strikes have started big fires too...and once they get going it should be obvious to even the most ardent anti-harvest people that stopping them isn't a given. Homes are lost. Lives are ruined, and lives are lost.
It is in our interest as citizens to see to it that the lands we hold in perpetuity for our children and grandchildren are managed to keep them healthy as well. Our servants in the various gov entities charged with this have failed us miserably.
I had a tree that was a major fire risk and it took e 5 years of calls, emails, and sending pictures and finally a call to my assemblyman to get them off their ass and send a crew out to trim it, and when they left a lineman still could not have reached the transformer due to this tree. It took the damn phone company needing to fix my land line to If anything, I hope this horrific loss of life and property gets a conversation going we need to get PG&E into the modern era, and seriously hold them accountable,, not play the game with the politicians in Sacramento.
And we need to demand those same politicians manage our forests as well.
While we homeowners need to take heed and follow the fire service demands for 100 ft clearances around our homes it should be fairly obvious that firestorms like we are seeing these days are not going to have a problem getting past that. All of the improved building codes and risk mitigation we can do as homeowners won't.
The last thing we need is the insurance companies backing out of California entirely, which would force the state to go deeper into the insurance business...and we all know how good and efficient they would be at that.
Rant Off.

The good people of Butte County have been through hell in the past couple of years, the Oroville Dam disaster and now this. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Sheriff Kory Honea of Butte County. He is a model of what a sheriff should be in disaster management, and his staff are doing their best...while some watch their own homes burn... To the firefighters and contract Dozer guys like my friend Steve Clark...be safe and think you.

May God Comfort and Bless the people who have suffered the loss of their homes and livelihoods in this catastrophe, and hold close those who are crying this morning as they come to grips with the loss of a loved one. May those lost rest in peace.
Until you have lived through this kind of thing either because you live in the fire zone or your profession brings you into it it is hard to fathom the impact these things can have on you. I have been both victim and professional in the wildfire field...it isn't anything to wish on anyone, or to make light of.

This post accurately identifies the issues that have contributed to the intensity and number of fires. The amount of fuel loads on the ground in the scrub and forest areas exceed several hundred million tons.

According to reports I have seen, there are 130 million dead trees in California forests. While most of the current fires are not located in forest areas, it's just a matter of time before these areas create more wildfires.

Environmental groups bear responsibility for their tactics of stopping any real management. I have read that nineteenth century tree densities of 50 trees per acre in forests compare to counts between 200 and 300 trees per acre today.

The conservation movement has turned thousands of square miles in the western states into ticking time bombs.

 

[Flyinbowtie]

Thanks Taboma, Roof should look good for $25K. Sucked paying that much for something you can't drive around or showoff or use to get laid. But it should keep me dry for as long as I live. I hope.

Looks nice and it it will help for sure HVH.

Our first big fire was the 49er in 1988. My house was stained with Borate the orange stuff they used to use before Phos Check. that tells ya how close it was. We had a set of plans at the County and were waiting for a go ahead on a 720 sq. ft. addition and a new 20x30 shop. Had the county not been sitting on them it would have been framed and the roof sheeted.
It would have burned to the ground, and taken the rest of the place with it.
I was at work for 84 hours and the wife and our sons evacuated to a friends house out of the area. It was days before I got back in and found it still standing. Friends moved my '40 Ford for me. Somewhere I have a 35mm pic of the patrol vehicle I was doing evacuations with. The plexiglass or whatever on the light bar deformed....but we got a lot of people out.
We got very lucky and I like to think my prep work did help...but who knows. We lost 40 plus black oak trees and all the carpet and walls had to be replaced as the smoke smell was locked into them. I had put 3/8 rain birds on the ends of the existing house before going in to work, hooked them to the irrigation.
They worked for about 24 hours the way I figure, until a truck about a mile away ran into the irrigation ditch, blew the side of it out and took our water supply along with probably 25 other homes.
My fire guys explained the roof deal to me back then, the heat gets trapped under the eaves and when the air temp reaches ignition point any wood in the structure simply ignites. We boxed all of the existing eaves after that.
A guy on the 5 acres behind me simply got in his RV and left. He had about 6 hours to get out, but did almost nothing.
He left a 1952 MG TD in the barn. Didn't even push it out. I had bugged him for years about it. No sale. He parked in the 70s because a water pump let go.
Those cars were aluminum.
There was a "stream" of molten aluminum coming out of the area where the barn was....the MG.
He also claimed to have left 10k in cash on the kitchen table. Many people wonder about that, but it is certainly possible since he waited until the last moments to leave.
His house burned to the ground.
He did not rebuild the property was sold and a good friend actually bought it and built a beautiful home.

When temps get that high and the fires start spotting out in front of themselves like they are in recent times you can only do so much, but it admittedly makes you feel better to know you have done all you can. I have long since piped all the irrigation system on our property, and we buy 3 inches of Water from NID. It rolls directly into a 1500 gallon concrete tank, and that tank is about 150 feet vertical above my place. I have about 90PSI against a 2 inch line next to my shop. About 900 ft. of schedule 80 3 inch PVC delivers it. My father and I hand dug the trench for that line and then hand back filled it in 1980. It is buried 20 inches deep. Too steep to get a backhoe in there in those days. I reduce it down to 2 inch right where it comes out of the ground, into a 2 inch gate valve and then reduce it again down to 1.5 inch. I have two chunks of 100 ft. 1.5 inch firehose. and nozzles and the fittings to fill a fire truck if one were to ever show up and need water.
On the ditch it is Gravity feed no power necessary...the problem is NID shuts irrigation water down on October 15th...right in the middle of peak fire season. I have been to their Board Meetings and asked them to extend the seasonal water til December 1, have no problem paying for the extra time.
No dice.
We pay about $500 an inch for water from April 15 to October 1.
Also have a gas powered self riming Honda pump that will provide enough head to run that firehose at about 60 PSI, and a creek behind the house....
If I were ever to rebuild here (and I won't) we would either go with Hardy (concrete siding) and metal roof, or a full on metal structure. After going through the stress of this through at least 6 fires that I can remember.... the last being last year when it damn near go my Moms house 1/4 mile away, I will take the check, sell the land and be gone. That flight home from Knoxville Tn last year during the Lobo Fire was the longest of my life. My Mom says that is the only way she will leave. I promised my Dad when he passed in 1983 to make sure she was,"taken care of"...so here I stay. For now.
In my work I saw and otherwise experienced lots of things that can't be unseen, there are a lot of people in Butte County who have now joined that group and I feel terrible for them, it wasn't their job to go through that.


A pic taken about midnight a year ago last month, middle of the Lobo fire. One of two dozers unloading on my property to go around the hill and make firebreak in the Canyon. One CDF and the other a contract guy. Another of the fire glow behind the house at the crest of the ridge, and one of the 747 from my front deck.

 

[highvoltagehands]

Wow FBT, Sounds like the 49er prepared you well, that’s quite a system you have installed.
I remember the Lobo Fire, and the McCourtney fire were both caused by PG&E. So if they were attacking the Lobo from your property you must live around Penn Valley? I’ve spent a lot of time up there especially out at Bullards Bar, beautiful area.
I live in a track home down in Granite Bay on same street as GBHS and the fire station is directly behind me on the next street over so I don’t have to worry about wildfires at home, just all the cancerous shit we breathe restoring power after the fires.

 

[Socalx09]

Agreed Taboma. I removed wood shake roof and replaced it with a concrete raised tile cool roof using 15 O'Hagin dual roof vents for 100% better fire protection.
You can barely see 2 of them at the top of garage roof.
The cool roof design w/ O'Hagin dual vents allows cooler air to enter at the bottom of roof eaves under raised tiles above gutters, that air moves up the roof between raised tiles and paper covered wood sheeting and pushing warmer air up & out near the top of roof line. They also vent the attic w/o letting embers or rain water in.
View attachment 701474

Just saw this video about the guy “fire proofing” his home to the best of his ability. He mentioned the attic vents and also created a fire system with the pool. It reminded me of your post.
https://ktla.com/2018/11/12/malibu-...on-measures-saved-his-home-from-woolsey-fire/

 

[4Waters]

Death toll just reached 42

 

[RogerThat99]

56 as of last night.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[buck35]

56 as of last night.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Horrible. I just can't imagine the carnage .

 

[Universal Elements]

Hope they are found alive. 63 dead and more than 600 missing.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/16/6685...ple-now-missing-in-californias-deadliest-fire

 

[HCP3]

Hope they are found alive. 63 dead and more than 600 missing.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/16/6685...ple-now-missing-in-californias-deadliest-fire

Unbelievable.

 

[RCDave]

Hope they are found alive. 63 dead and more than 600 missing.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/16/6685...ple-now-missing-in-californias-deadliest-fire

Gross negligence from pge and their California government handlers.

The time has come. Methodically break up pge. Their actions justify a complete unwinding of the company. They don't deserve to continue on as a going concern. Sell off the assets in pieces to responsible operators who give a shit about human lives and property

 

[Singleton]

Buddies mom posted on FB, her next door neighbor at the retirement home lost her entire family. Daughter, husband and 4 grandkids all passed (burned to dealth) while trying to escape in their car.
Trying to find acticle about it to confirm, but have no reason not to believe it.

 

[Chris Lapoint]

Here is a couple of pictures of my Aunt's house, My Uncles (2) houses were lost as well.

 

[bowtiejunkie]

Still hard to grasp that most of Paradise has been burned down. Not just that, but the loss of life and the increasing number of people missing.

Here's a link to a CalFire Camp Fire Structure Status interactive website. There appears to be a picture for most structures damaged or destroyed: http://calfire-forestry.maps.arcgis...24920.1673,-13518764.4778,4841526.1117,102100

 

[Taboma]

Having never been to this area ---- was the wind blown fire so extreme that no amount of defensible space would have helped ?
From google streets it's hard to see many homes due to the dense beautiful foliage.
Was this community active in fire prevention measures that included defensible space ?
Having lost my own home to a wildfire 11 years ago, after I understood why and fire prevention measures were taken and are maintained.
Of course they haven't been tested --- YET.
So when I see such an incredible tragedy, my mind spins trying to grasp why and if anything could have been done differently to better prepare.
I'm sure other similar communities are currently asking the same questions, hoping to avoid such a tragedy in the future, especially if these dry weather conditions are going to continue.

 

[4Waters]

71 now dead and over 1000 missing.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

I would not be surprised to see it get over 100. Crazy to think this many died in a man made disaster. I heard rumors that they have said there is possibly a second source of ignition for the fire.

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

 

[musicFunsun]

A boss of mine, just retired after buying his retirement house in Paradise, lost his with the rest them.

Same for me incredibly sad.

 

[musicFunsun]

Buddies mom posted on FB, her next door neighbor at the retirement home lost her entire family. Daughter, husband and 4 grandkids all passed (burned to dealth) while trying to escape in their car.
Trying to find acticle about it to confirm, but have no reason not to believe it.

OMG Awful and beyond belief.

 

[napanutt]

71 now dead and over 1000 missing.

I would not be surprised to see it get over 100. Crazy to think this many died in a man made disaster. I heard rumors that they have said there is possibly a second source of ignition for the fire.

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

It wouldn’t surprise me if half of the missing didn’t make it.

Hearing the stories of the able bodied that barely made it out has to make us wonder about the elderly etc without the immediate means to do so theirselves.

 

[Yellowboat]

71 as of today rip

 

[Sherpa]

I feel compelled to add in. I grew up in Chico, and my family still lives there today. I have/had alot of friends who live in Paradise and Magalia... and so far everyone I've
been able to get ahold of has lost their home. quite a few have lost their business's too. like Richeyrich mentioned, I think he's talking about Kelly of Paradise Muffler who
I've known since we were high school age. another story there.

here's what I wanted to add: whether or not this is PGE's fault. one thing is coming down the pipe. If you're already a contractor for PG&E, then you've been called to
go work up there already. I know people who are employed by contract firms working for PG&E up there now.

Here's the part that gets me upset. some of these companies right now are buying MILLIONS of dollars worth of equipment to service this need. we're talking like tree
companies buying 50 new trucks and chippers fully stocked with saws and everything. tell me thats not cheap. there's so much new stuff showing up (granted the need is there)
but we all know the costs of all of this just get passed down to ratepayers. like me. and like you (if you're in northern Calif)

I dunno. I just wanted to kind of vent.

here's some bad timing: My daughters boyfriends parents, who the father just retired from serving as a bay area Police officer for 25 years, they just moved to paradise
3 months ago. 3 stinkin months. these are fantastic people. would give you the shirt of his back for you. just lost their collective life's worth of memories as well as
physical possessions. I just feel sick about the losses up there.

--Scott Massey

 

[MSum661]

It wouldn’t surprise me if half of the missing didn’t make it.

Hearing the stories of the able bodied that barely made it out has to make us wonder about the elderly etc without the immediate means to do so theirselves.

Was watching the news a couple days back and they found an elderly man known to be approx. in his late 70's just sitting in a chair on his front porch. He didn't even try to fight it.

 

[Taboma]

I feel compelled to add in. I grew up in Chico, and my family still lives there today. I have/had alot of friends who live in Paradise and Magalia... and so far everyone I've
been able to get ahold of has lost their home. quite a few have lost their business's too. like Richeyrich mentioned, I think he's talking about Kelly of Paradise Muffler who
I've known since we were high school age. another story there.

here's what I wanted to add: whether or not this is PGE's fault. one thing is coming down the pipe. If you're already a contractor for PG&E, then you've been called to
go work up there already. I know people who are employed by contract firms working for PG&E up there now.

Here's the part that gets me upset. some of these companies right now are buying MILLIONS of dollars worth of equipment to service this need. we're talking like tree
companies buying 50 new trucks and chippers fully stocked with saws and everything. tell me thats not cheap. there's so much new stuff showing up (granted the need is there)
but we all know the costs of all of this just get passed down to ratepayers. like me. and like you (if you're in northern Calif)

I dunno. I just wanted to kind of vent.

here's some bad timing: My daughters boyfriends parents, who the father just retired from serving as a bay area Police officer for 25 years, they just moved to paradise
3 months ago. 3 stinkin months. these are fantastic people. would give you the shirt of his back for you. just lost their collective life's worth of memories as well as
physical possessions. I just feel sick about the losses up there.

--Scott Massey

Since you're obviously familiar with this area and ask from the standpoint of having lost our home to a wildfire 11 years ago AND most importantly with all due sympathy and empathy.
Could anything or was anything done in terms of community or personal fire prevention (Defensible community and personal space, etc) that could have mitigated this horrible tragedy ?
Gov. Brown of course is preaching this is the new norm --- global warming, yada yada yada ---- new norm, meaning there's nothing that can be done, towns like this are simply
doomed ?
Was any of this carnage preventable ? I know exactly why our older home burned, our rebuild took all of those "Dangers" into consideration. Also it takes your neighbors doing their part as well, else their home or vegetation burn yours.
But regardless of personal defenses, we're still hamstrung by the fuckin county and brush huggers when we demand they allow us or perform the work themselves to give us more than the measly 100' from they're precious Chaparral covered hillsides.

 

[Sherpa]

The very old who had limited outside contact and whatnot stood zero chance of getting out. even able bodied, ready to bounce at a moments notice people had very limited time to get out. grab the kids. grab the dog. grab some papers and get out. some stayed longer to grab more. there is an interactive map I'm pasting in:
http://calfire-forestry.maps.arcgis...24920.1673,-13518764.4778,4841526.1117,102100

just look at the pics. the entire town is gone. Paradise only really had 2 ways west to exit. skyway, the main "highway" in/out of town. (2 lanes each direction),
and Pentz road heads east/south. the fire began near the eastern side of town from Pentz. up to the north is Magalia and skyway continues to Butte Meadows
(very forested, and twisty roads as well)...

I don't think much in this case could have been done. newer sub divisions had more hydrants.... but fire crews didn't even try to fight it really the entire first day.
the fire was at approx 80,000 the first day. devastation. maybe they make Pentz road a super wide 4 lane road with shoulders. skyway is pretty decent now but maybe could be widened. Maybe another main route out could be cut in....... I dunno....... in reality, if anything changes up there, who is going to pay for it????

--Sherpa

 

[SBMech]

The entire town burned down in like 6 hours. It was fed by winds that basically made the town combust like a giant blowtorch. There was no chance for many of the housebound or invalid.

Hundreds lost their lives there, the "missing" vs "reported deceased" is just the media fucking the public for political agenda as usual.

Like many areas in Ca, it was full of uncleared and 50 year old undergrowth, that fed this fire like steroids.

So sad to see continued reports of the death toll.

 

[buck35]

We took 97 down thru Oregon a couple years ago and they had clearcut on each side of the highway about 100 yards. Not sure if it was for deer or fire but it sure does open things up.

 

[napanutt]

The entire town burned down in like 6 hours. It was fed by winds that basically made the town combust like a giant blowtorch. There was no chance for many of the housebound or invalid.

Hundreds lost their lives there, the "missing" vs "reported deceased" is just the media fucking the public for political agenda as usual.

Like many areas in Ca, it was full of uncleared and 50 year old undergrowth, that fed this fire like steroids.

So sad to see continued reports of the death toll.

News tonight said 1200 or so still unaccounted for. I’d be surprised if half of them didn’t make it.

 

[Flyinbowtie]

Napanutt I am afraid you are going to be proven right. I talked to a friend up that way today and judging from that conversation it is likely that you are. It might be worse than 50%
My youngest son had a coworker for the last couple of years he really likes. That young man and his wife have a couple of small kids, like my son. They are doing well and he got another job last spring. They had just bought a new to them house and a new to them toyhauler. Moved in in August.
The house was in Paradise. It and the toyhauler and a car are all gone.
They got out with their lives, the fire was right on their back bumper.
The new job he took was with PG&E.

It will be years, perhaps a decade, before all of the ramifications of this fire are fully realized and the scope of it's destruction can be made so people can wrap their heads around it.

 

[Shrub Lurker]

Paradise' mayor was on tv. She said "the trees didn't burn for the most part, the structures did, there must be more to this?"
Hmmm