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Ventura County under siege from massive fire threatening communities; 101 closed

kf4rca said:
How did our emergency services fail us? We've got to do better!
Click to expand...

You have to see how violently and rapidly fires start in the arid, semi-desert climates of the Southwest to understand that there was little that emergency services could do in the latest CA fires. Mix in a 17-year drought period, Santa Ana winds and poor forest management, and there is nothing that can be done to contain this type of fire.

While the Camp Fire shows how improvements need to be made in the notification process, in many cases the fire moved faster than evacuation process could be completed.
 
kf4rca said:
Salem Media reports victim count at 87 and 13,000 homes destroyed.
That's got to hurt the property tax base.
How did our emergency services fail us? We've got to do better!
Click to expand...

The fire moved extraordinarily quickly. It was first reported at around 6:30 am. It took firefighters about 30 minutes to reach the backwoods site of the fire and order evacuation of the nearest village (Pulga, CA). By 8am it was near the edge of Paradise, and that city's evacuation plan had been put into place, turning all roads contraflow out of town. Still, most people leaving said they had hours long traffic jams.

By 11am it had burned the northern and eastern portions of town, and by 6pm it was finished burning the town.

I'm not sure how you make this better.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
T

I'm not sure how you make this better.
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The improvements that have been suggested are things like deactivating power lines when there are high winds and dry vegetation. The idea is to prevent the winds from swinging the lines to the point that they spark, igniting a fire. Obviously, citizens would not like it when there are blackouts every time it is hot, dry and windy... fairly frequent California conditions.

Outside of this kind of extreme measure, it's hard to see what could be done, other than improving woodland management to reduce dead trees and underbrush through clearing and thinning... and that's not something that emergency services have any authority over.
 
Seems like every year there are fires in CA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_California_wildfires
Obviously they don't have a grip on it. Must be pretty rural where they originate.
I see the tree trimmers about twice a year around here clearing the power lines.
It can be dry here in July and August. But we haven't had any major fires.
Code enforcement will get onto you if you don't keep your property free of debris. We have debris pick up once a week here. Separate from regular garbage.
 
kf4rca said:
Seems like every year there are fires in CA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_California_wildfires
Obviously they don't have a grip on it. Must be pretty rural where they originate.
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Most CA wildfires originate in the "fire season" when there are higher temperatures, much, much lower humidity, many months with no rain (or even longer in drought conditions) and, generally, when there are the seasonal Santa Ana winds (which approach hurricane force at higher elevations).

Unlike the areas to the east of the Rockies, the climate in much of the Southwest is much drier, with a true dry season when there may be no rain from March or April through early winter. The terrain is much more rugged than even the more mountainous areas of the east, and some areas are almost totally inaccessible.

Fires in the West start for a variety of reasons.

1. Lightning strikes. When they hit in rugged terrain with lots of dry tinder, they become large very fast.
2. Wind incidents causing power lines to touch and create sparking.
3. Intentional... arsonists.
4. Accidental: a damaged car pulls over, and it ignites dry grass. The fire can reach several acres in 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Natural. Natural composting of dead plant material in the wild can reach the temperatures needed for spontaneous combustion, particularly when ambient temperatures are well above 100°.

We "have a grip on it" but there is so much woodland in inaccessible areas, national forests and "badlands" where a fire can cover hundreds of acres before it is even discovered that this is not a matter that a bunch of fire trucks like on Chicago Fire or Station 19 can just run over and spray water on.

I lived for some years on a hillside (In New York, it would be considered a "mountain" and not a hill) well inside the LA metro area, but the higher parts of the hill and the "far side" of it were public lands with natural vegetation. Once, the wild area was ignited by lightening, and the steep hills prevented fire crews from access; tanker planes could not fly due to higher mountains all around, so only a few helicopters could drop retardant. Our area had sprinklers on the hillside, and they prevented the fire from dropping down to the homes. Elsewhere, they just had to let the fire burn out.

And this fire started just a few hundred meters from house, yet was totally inaccessible due to steep inclines and thick, thorny vegetation (all of which drys out every summer).

Remember, too, that most of the southwestern plant life has evolved to use less water and, thus, is much dryer to start out with.

This is not Iowa or Georgia.
 
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The Southwest also has species of plants, like manzanita, that contain flammable oils and burn with a ferocious intensity once ignited.

California has a fairly unique climate just a mile from the shoreline as well. It is largely a desert (except for the forested parts of the north). Lots of rain during each winter add up to lots of plant growth which dries out during summer and ignites quickly. The Santa Ana winds (which flow from inland towards the ocean) whip those little fires into huge ones in a matter of minutes and David covered the other issues.
 
landtuna said:
The Southwest also has species of plants, like manzanita, that contain flammable oils and burn with a ferocious intensity once ignited.

California has a fairly unique climate just a mile from the shoreline as well. It is largely a desert (except for the forested parts of the north). Lots of rain during each winter add up to lots of plant growth which dries out during summer and ignites quickly. The Santa Ana winds (which flow from inland towards the ocean) whip those little fires into huge ones in a matter of minutes and David covered the other issues.
Click to expand...

By contrast, in the three decades I lived in Puerto Rico, there was never a wildfire. High humidity, rain even in the "dry" season and topsoil that held moisture better than most areas of the Southwest.
 
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