My state is on fire again. The town of Paradise (population 27,000) in Butte County is apparently pretty much gone. Thousands of structures burned in less than a day. It's a virtual certainty that many are dead. These abandoned and burned out cars shows you what a panic it must have been for residents trying to escape the Camp Fire. Unreal scenes in Paradise, CA, this morning. #CampFire pic.twitter.com/AhBuWzS0Tx— Nick Valencia (@CNNValencia) November 9, 2018 And in Southern California another fire is raging through Ventura and Los Angeles counties on the way to Malibu, consuming Wynalda's home along the way: Ex-soccer star Eric Wynalda loses home to massive Ventura fire https://t.co/tI6u5E5Zc4— Alicia Rodriguez (@soccermusings) November 9, 2018
Initially I was confused yesterday and thought news reports about Thousand Oaks were displaying the wrong graphics. Then I realized the state is on fire. I didn't know about Wynalda. I saw Kardashian's evacuated as well as Allysa Milano. The videos are horrible.
Driving along Pearson. This is pretty representative of what we saw driving from Skyway to the church. @kcranews @kcraFitz pic.twitter.com/LKkV0Bwf85— Mike TeSelle (@MikeTeSelleTV) November 9, 2018 Conditions our crews faced in the early hours of the morning at the #CampFire we still have 8 staff assigned to the fight. pic.twitter.com/2qFLzEwHiJ— NCCFIRE (@NCCFIRE) November 9, 2018 California smoke forecast for the next 24-hours per our high resolution model. #HillFire #WoolseyFire #CAwx pic.twitter.com/G65ZhKAqH1— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) November 9, 2018
Video: https://i.imgur.com/3CwV90i.gifv https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155579892351736 https://gizmodo.com/video-shows-the-terrifying-drive-to-escape-massive-fire-1830331814
I know this is trivial compared to where the fires actually are, but pretty much the entire Bay Area is under "unhealthy" or worse air quality. Everything smells like smoke since last night, and not in a good way, like a barbecue, but a shitty way, like people's homes are on fire somewhere in the distance. My kid's school is on "shelter in place" where they don't let them go outside for recess or lunch. Schools further north got closed because the air quality was "hazardous" instead of just "unhealthy".
Two weeks ago we were camping near Bandon Oregon and got chatting to a Cal couple. They'd just been up to our town Florence, OR. They said they were nervous about the fire situation where then lived. We gave them our number and encouraged them to call next time there. We haven't heard from them but we've just seen that every home in their town Paradise has been destroyed.
I have a family friend - friends of my parents - who retired to Paradise a couple of decades ago. They'd be in their 80s now. I don't know if they are still there (or, were still there up until this week) but it's the kind of place that appeals to active retired folks - open space, horses, lower cost of living compared to the big cities, etc.
The figures I heard was 700,000 acres in one day across the state? That can't be right, can it? California just broke their record earlier this year in the Mendocino Complex Fire which was one fire system that burned 459,000 acres. I think what we're seeing here is the point of no return. It's not like anybody is addressing population growth and all the environmental strains humans are creating. If you look forward, we may have to get used to California becoming a non arboreal state by the end of this century. Something resembling Arizona. Bottom line is that most of those tree species can't function with these conditions. Long term, you can probably kiss the agriculture sector goodbye and you better make a plan to provide water for that massive population. This is not so different from the bleak future facing low lying coastal areas in the Southeast and the Gulf. This is what happens when large swaths of the world's voters and leaders don't care about the environment. We get the world we deserve.
I'm pretty sure that can't be right. The "Camp Fire" (don't like the name, sounds too much like a boy scout cookout) is at 90000 acres total, and the one in Southern CA is at 35000 acres total, and both of them started yesterday. Maybe 70K acres today, instead of 700K? I can't argue with the rest of your post though. There's not enough water for the people who live here, and everything else that needs water, so something's going to have to go.
Imagine if there was some sort of advanced technology that could make seawater drinkable. Wouldn't that be amazing?
Empathy in bunches There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018
The man is so smart. A Stable Genious. He has the answer for everything. We should log off the whole state. Japan would buy the timber and the State would make a yuge profit. Rain and mud slides. Pfft a small price to pay.
I saw this video under the first tweet in your original post. I drove through a forest fire on I-81 near Roanoke, Virginia years ago (I believe it was started by a backfiring ATV). I had no idea there was a fire ahead and it jumped from a treeline west of the highway (I could see the "line" after I got through the fire) to the highway so there was no time to close the highway. There was fire and heavy smoke on both sides of the road, in the median and some of the road. I was scared and never gripped the steering wheel so tight. It didn't come close to anything in any of the videos I have seen from California. I definitely had a much greater appreciation for fire after that. Also, although it felt like the drive through Hell was hours long, it was probably well under a half of a mile. Whenever I make the trip down 81 I still look out for the area where the fire was. Incredibly, it's barely noticeable since much of the area was simply cleared during and after the fire and new growth hasn't really been allowed. The fires barely registered in media back then. After driving through it, I was shocked it wasn't even the lead on Roanoke news when they shutdown 81 as a result. I remember searching for reports because people thought I made the entire thing up. 1061370261897801728 is not a valid tweet id
Earlier this year I was down in Sacramento for the day, and there was a small brush fire that had been sparked in farmland just outside town. I drove past it on my way to do a quick errand. It was pretty far away from the road, and it looked like the whole fire department was on the scene. I did my quick errand and I drove back out the same way 10 minutes later. In those 10 minutes I can't understand why they didn't close that road, because I couldn't believe what I drove into. The flames were already on the side of the road, and then, before I knew it, the smoke was so thick I literally could not see beyond the windshield. I am used to driving in whiteout snow with "zero" visibility. This was a completely different order of zero visibility. It's a good thing I knew that road was ram-rod straight, because I was driving completely blind, and I could feel the heat from the flames on the other side of the road. Then the wind shifted slightly, it cleared, and I got the fcuk out of there. I don't think it lasted for more than 30 seconds, but it felt like an eternity. To drive out through the conditions that some of these people drove through -- it's the withering stuff of nightmares.
VIDEO: @LACoFireAirOps Firehawk helicopter flying along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu on the way to protect life and property. This is a historic event. Please follow the direction of local authorities. (Original video, ok to use with credit) @VCFD @LACoFD #WoolseyFire pic.twitter.com/SvZSfipzfk— LACoFireAirOps (@LACoFireAirOps) November 10, 2018
Visiting San Fran and the smoke and air quality are so poor that you can't even see the SF skyline from the Emeryville side. The views from the summit of Mount Diablo are a blur. Took the Alcatraz tour and the visibility was so bad that the city looked like it was is a fog, and this from a mile and a quarter away. The smoke is so thick that dusk seems like midnight. It seems like the entire state is on fire.
can see some blue sky here in Walnut Creek for the first time in a couple days. this is all so heartbreaking
Walking our dog on the beach today and got chatting with a family and their dog. They're out of Paradise staying with family and have no idea if they still have a home to go back to. Hair raising drive to get out they seemed shell shocked. Your heart just goes out.