The California fires

[gollum9630]

We had that same problem here in BC all Augusts too lief. It went straight through Kelowna (a fairly large city in the interior of BC) and burnt down hundreds of homes in an upscale area. Now those people may not have hte chance to get house insurance because of where they live. Lets hope the people in california doent face that problem.

On top of that though, here in BC there has been a lot of flooding which took out a bridge on the way to whistler killing 4 people. This has been a pretty bad year for us, lets hope it isnt as bad for you.

[crickhollow]

pretty scary looking stuff. Foxnews.com has a photo essay on the fires in CA. Keep safe, y'all.

[The Gaffer]

It looks horrific. Best wishes to everyone caught up in it.

The news here said that it was a "natural" phenomenon which happens every few years and helps to renew the vegetation.

How to prevent this happening? I've seen in Australia that they carry out frequent controlled fires to keep the amount of dry brush down. Does that work? (Any Aussies care to comment?) Would it work in CA? Maybe they already do it.

[Valandil]

Hey Gaffer... I haven't heard a lot (and I'm not in California), however, it sounds like some of the fires were arson - and that one was set by a lost hunter - trying to signal for help / rescue.

I believe the US Forestry Service has done the controlled fire thing... but I think some of the bad fires we had out west 2-3 years ago were caused by the controlled fires getting OUT of control.

I guess proper forest management is a tough thing... and probably lots of people have their own opinions on how best to handle it. Competing interests are nature, demand for wood products, homeowners in heavily forested areas, etc. Maybe we'll get it right in a couple hundred more years (hopeful but not optimistic). But sadly, the rest of us are always subject to any idiot with a match.

[Rían]

Yay! They have a good handle now on the fire near us! My parents should be fine Thanks for your good wishes and prayers, everyone! The winds should have been a lot worse this time of year, but ended up not being very bad.

On a side note, I have discovered one should never cut onions after having been in a smoke-filled valley for several days! Normally, cutting onions never bothers my eyes, but since they've been stinging for several days because of the fire, when I cut onions today, the tears were just pouring down my cheeks

I'm pretty sure we do controlled burns in CA, and IIRC, the huge fires in Arizona last year or the year before were started by a controlled burn that got out of control. Yes, it's a difficult balance, and fire is both a useful tool and a dangerous one. And fire does good things, too.

The worst fire now seems to be in the Lake Arrowhead/Big Bear area. I was there a month ago, and at least a third of the trees were dead due to that bark beetle. That's going to be tough to put out - tons of fuel there.

[cassiopeia]

Firstly, I hope everybody and their families are safe. Although there's never been a fire close to my house, I know the terrible effects they can have on people and property.

We do set a lot of controlled fires here to prevent bushfires. We used to live near paddocks, and the firebrigade would come every summer and burn off. Burning off is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of fires, in fact many people complain we don't set enough controlled fires. Like in California, here many fires are set by arsonists, so there's only a limited number of things you can do.

Do you have those big helicopters that dump tonnes of water on the fires? We have one here called Elvis!

[Sheeana]

Originally posted by cassiopeia

Do you have those big helicopters that dump tonnes of water on the fires? We have one here called Elvis!

How on EARTH did you pursuade him to come out of your toilet?

[cassiopeia]

With hamburgers of course! (This has something to do with what I said in another thread, I think, but I can't remember it.)

[Elvengirl]

Keep safe everyone.

[eowyngirl14]

ONe of my best friends lives in CA near one of the fires. Her school was evacuated and several of the neigborhoods near her were evacuated. It was really scary, she called me crying one night at about midnight my time (sarn time difference) because she was afraid her house was going to burn down. It must be really scary for people in CA, best widhes to you all!
just remember, stop. drop, and roll! (thats suppost ot be funny, not mean.)

[gollum9630]

BC has just offered to send 200 firefighters and some other stuff that were involved in the Kelowna fires this summer. Hope all you californians are safe

[Lief Erikson]

My Aunt Arleen and Uncle Tom's house came very close to getting destroyed- very close indeed. The fire melted several plastic partitions on their porch, scorched their eucaliptas trees (I know I spelled that wrong), and melted their garden hose. It burned out the minefield outside their house completely. Several other houses in their neighborhood were destroyed.

However, firefighters made a stand directly at their house, and held it all off. So their home is safe.

It's weird. All the places where our youth group have gone camping last year have now been hit by the fire. Lake Pyru, Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear. There was one other also, but I don't remember it's name. I was only at the Lake Pyru camping trip, but it's strange to imagine that what was once our camping spot is no more.

[Rían]

Thanks again for the good wishes, everyone!!

Whew, Lief, sounds too close for comfort for your Aunt and Uncle! I'm glad they're ok, and only have minor damage.

It's still smoky here! My car really smells bad - like people have been smoking cigarettes inside it while we've been asleep *looks at dog suspiciously*

Yes, we have all sorts of helicopters and aircraft that can drop water and that anti-burning chemical. I wish they could work throughout the night, but they always stop at dusk.

I think things are pretty much under control now, but one firefighter died

[Lizra]

Things are under control? Good! Good, good, good! Go read my poem Rian, it's kind of housewifey! Writers workshop.

[Ornelírë Mistë]

Was Redwood City affected?