61 replies to this topic

[Pappy]

Does anyone know how our friends in LA are doing? I sent an email to Bryan Warmack this morning but is the middle of the night out there and I haven't heard back.

[Cheater]

Looks really bad out there. Hope everyone is OK.

[Dave Crevie]

Too close to people. Winds  might recede a bit today, but still very dangerous. An old family friend had a very nice house near there, it burned to the ground about 20 years ago when one of these Santa Ana wind fires went wild. They built a new house closer to Santa Barbara. The house that got built on their old property burned again. Beautiful area, but too much risk.

[Bryan Warmack]

Does anyone know how our friends in LA are doing? I sent an email to Bryan Warmack this morning but is the middle of the night out there and I haven't heard back.

 

Butch,

 

Other than a lot of mess with the high winds we're pretty much OK here in Orange County. Most of the bad fires are on the coast in very scenic areas of North Los Angeles.

 

Thanks for the concern!

[Dave Crevie]

This was live at 11:00a (9:00a PDT);

 

https://youtu.be/-f1...pCxXVyIRFfIkBDW

 

Two reported dead. Looks like the middle of the night. My friend's old house would be near the center of the Palisades, just off PCH.

 

Hope all the Slotbloggers are safe!

[Roy Lievanos]

As Brian said, here in Orange County we are dealing with wind.

 

Fires in Pacific Palisades area are having to deal with extremely high winds. 

I woke up to a branch that landed on my truck. I can only imagine the winds in they are dealing with. 

 

[eshorer]

I'm a few miles from downtown LA, 15-25 miles from the big fires, but still had strong winds making a mess of things all night, and putting ash on our cars in the morning. Horrible air quality. We've packed important things in case we get an evacuation notice. A few friends closer to the fires have already evacuated. We're ready to bolt, if need be.

 

Eddie

[Phil Hackett]

As I live much closer to the Palisades fire than most SoCal members of Slotblog, I can say it's scary, freakin' out of control. So many, on both sides, are trying to make this fire a political issue when this should be a united effort and holding blame is a losing strategy. These people are A$$holes.

 

There are postings on the internet about Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass (LA Mayor) being responsible for this. Somehow, many of those posting have no idea of the terrain and vegetation of Southern California and think you can just rake up and cut down the vegetation to lower the fuel load, so they blame the people in power. These fires have occurred almost every year I have lived in SoCal, the big difference is the intensity of the winds (It was howling at my home... this rarely happens) and the lack of humidity (about 10%). Yes, "they" could have planned better but that's hindsight.

 

My house and business are safe. If either burns resulting from these fires it will be because of a Biblical Apocalyptical event.

 

A couple of pictures:

 

This picture was taken 1/7/24 about 6 PM from the Playa Del Rey bluffs... about eight miles from the fire. For scale, the large building just to the right of the fire is about 1-1/2 miles from this bluff.

 

 

This was this morning. The sun was red/orange from all the smoke... it's much more intense than the picture shows... I live about 12 miles from the Palisades fire. The Pasadena/Altadena fire is about 20 miles away and the entire sky is this red/orange tinge.

 

[Dave Crevie]

Well, good news that none of our friends have suffered any catastrophic harm. You are right, Phil, that this happens every year. The topography takes the Santa Anas, and by venturi effect, turns them into hurricane force winds, that fan the smallest brush fires into blast furnaces.

 

So my question is, why do people continue to build in these dangerous areas? We see the same thing in the Midwest. People build within feet of a river, and are surprised when, after a downpour, they are flooded out. Then they rebuild in the exact same spot.  

 

Politicians will always blame each other for calamities. That's how they get re-elected. By mudslinging.  

[Larry Labounty]

You have to wonder if there are any real leaders out there???

[Cheater]

Guys, 

 

I am certain I am as disgusted as you are, but let's not get into the politics of the inferno here please.

[Phil Hackett]

Why people live in places that have hazards is partly denial. "It can't happen to me." Besides fires, this entire area is a earthquake zone... Sonic sits, literally, on top of an earthquake fault that's potentially a +6.0 (Newport-Inglewood fault... look it up) Ritcher scale event but it doesn't worry me because I really can't control whether a disaster happens or not.

 

The hills and canyons of Southern California are some of the most desirable places to live. Those areas tend to be very private, quiet, and have fantastic views. Paciifc Palisades is immediately adjacent to the ocean so the weather has a coastal climate: mild year around.

 

James Woods was just on CNN talking about how a neighbor had not cut down the brush on his property. Woods lost his house partly because that brush caught fire. The LAFD and the LACFD make inspections in those areas and can demand brush clearing on private property. Most people who live in those hills and canyons are very aware and keep things cut down...

[Phil Hackett]

I am certain I am as disgusted as you are, but let's not get into the politics of the inferno here please.

 

Agreed. I have seen too many ignorant posts on the internet, even by "experts." They're just making themselves look foolish.

[Joe Maxey]

Anyone know if PCH Hobbies evacuated? I tried emailing Scott, but no response. I hope he is OK and got out before anything happened.

Hoping everyone is safe!

[Racer36]

I’m sending best wishes for everyone in California as you endure this disaster. My heart goes out to all that have lost family or belongings.

[Phil Hackett]

Anyone know if PCH hobbies evacuated? I tried emailing Scott, but no response. I hope he is ok and got out before anything happened.

Hoping everyone is safe!

 

PCH is far from these fires. Scott is safe.

[Brian Czeiner]

Why people live in places that have hazards is partly denial. "It can't happen to me." 

 

Nailed it. These words are the root cause of issues in so many of the areas of our lives. 

 

Hope everyone in Cali gets through this alive. Material things are inconsequential when it comes to the loss of life.

[Joe Maxey]

PCH is far from these fires. Scott is safe.

Thanks for the update.

[Phil Hackett]

Don't hold me to it but I believe he's about 50 miles north of Pacific Palisades... so if these fires get to him (and my place near LAX), there'll be the US military involved with fighting the fire and probably martial law...

[Dave_12]

In Australia, the building standards have been changed to make houses more resistant to fires. 

 

For instance frames are steel and outside of walls must be fireproof (usually brick ). Fascia boards are steel.  There must be no gaps that allows embers to enter building. Trees must be a minimum distance away from building.  

 

Here is a steel frame home.

 

[Phil Hackett]

If you watch some of the aftermath videos you will notice how some houses are still standing fully intact amidst burnt-down houses. Notice, generally, that they either have Spanish tile or slate roofs. not composition or wood shingle  roofs (outlawed in the 1980s but existing houses were grandfathered). Also note these surviving houses, generally, have very small or no eaves to trap embers against the house.

 

Pacific Palisades is an "old" neighborhood, slowly developed over many years and so the houses permitted and the building codes were varied over time. I'm thinking the oldest houses might have been built in the late 1920s. Most of those homes were either rebuilt or heavily remodeled over time and slowly brought up to code but surely some remain as originally built. There's an interesting history to Pali (as the locals even in my area call it) on Wikipedia...

 

Pacific Palisades history

[PCH Parts Express]

We saw a video of a home with the gutter on fire. The gutter was filled with leaves. The flames were 2 feet high. 

[Dave Crevie]

There was video of a Jewish temple that had been totally missed by fire while all the other structures around it burned to the ground. Makes you wonder.

 

It has been a very long time since I was in the Palisades area. The home was not far off PCH, but I don't remember what the area was called. The owner worked with my uncle at Rocketdyne. It was a very nice house, which burned sometime in the 1990s IIRC. Their fire insurance didn't cover the rebuild, so he and his family moved up near Santa Barbara. Land and housing values had exploded since they bought the house. I fear that will be the fate of many of the people that have houses that burned down. Some will have the money to rebuild, but many will not, and if insurance doesn't cover the damage, they will have no option but to move to a less expensive area. Some insurance companies have cut out fire insurance, and some property owners  can't get any insurance at all. This conflagration will only worsen that situation. 

 

Of more concern to me is the Altadena fire, which is nearer to Pasadena, and not far from where my cousin lives. I don't expect those fires to spread to the south, but could happen I suppose.  

[Brian Czeiner]

In Australia, the building standards have been changed to make houses more resistant to fires. 

 

For instance frames are steel and outside of walls must be fireproof (usually brick ). Fascia boards are steel.  There must be no gaps that allows embers to enter building. Trees must be a minimum distance away from building.  
here is a steel frame home 

 

Those actually seem to be common sense regulations. Especially the minimum distance away from the house. I'm not sure that would work in Cali since most lots are not as big as I would expect down under. Any idea what the percentage cost increase is when building in steel and brick?

[Bill from NH]

In AZ, much of the new residential construction is stucco sidings with clay tile roofs. What do they build with in CA? Everything?