Into the fire? Two Firefighters killed.

[RICHARD]

I woke up this morning to the smell of something burning and when I went to water the yard I was greeted by a really beautiful sky, the photos do not do it justice!

[blue]

Doesnt Cali do any wild fire prevention?

[Karen]

Doesnt Cali do any wild fire prevention?

California is essentially a tinderbox in parts, naturally. And then people build into the canyons where fires have historically happened and just assume the fire won't come now that they've put a house there, but the geography, the wind patterns, and the weather don't change just because people wish they would ...

It is sad, and scary, and dangerous all at once, and sometimes quite beautiful even in it's tragedy.

[RICHARD]

Here in CA you can start with breakfast in the morning, at the beach, have lunch in the city and make it to dinner in the hills by five-home before 7.

It's all surrounded by hills, mountains and Nat'l Forests. If you do a Google map of Lost Angeles, you can see that we have giant swaths of green all around the area.

For the people who can afford to live in the hills and have huge lots? Fire prevention is mostly this - Keep a 100 yd buffer zone around your house, plant fire resistant around the house and pray.

The city and county FDs have the authority to come on your property and if the buffer zone is too small or does not exsist? They will write you a citation then,-if you refuse to do the brush clearance, they will bring a crew to your home, do it for you and send you a nice bill for the work.
I live about 10 minutes from the Angeles National Forest, not in any fire areas, but close enough to see the mountains burn, smell the smoke and see the fires burning. It's a crazy place, but would never want to live any place else!

[Cinder & Smoke]

Doesnt Cali do any wild fire prevention?

California spends MILLIONS of dollars every year to Educate the public,
clear brush, create fire lines, patrol remote areas, build rural Fire Stations
and equip them with crews and apparatus, and owns and leases an
impressive fleet of aerial tankers and attack aircraft.

Yeah ... Califorina is WAY into "wild fire prevention".

Too bad Joe Public doesn't pay a bit more attention.

[RICHARD]

Too bad Joe Public doesn't pay a bit more attention.

http://www.smokeybear.com/

We just gotta get our smokey on!

[RICHARD]

Some pics from the areas burning to the east of my house.

The first three are looking north moving to the south.

The last two are from the area near Pasadena/Glendora area.

It's 100 degrees plus, the winds just picked up and are blowing S to N.

The area in the fore ground is a small airport two blocks away from my house-the L.A. County has their air ops center at that airport. There has been little or no activity in the last few days...the choppers are all out dropping water on the fires!

Toss out some good thoughts for the FireFighters today.

[blue]

California spends MILLIONS of dollars every year to Educate the public,
clear brush, create fire lines, patrol remote areas, build rural Fire Stations
and equip them with crews and apparatus, and owns and leases an
impressive fleet of aerial tankers and attack aircraft.

Yeah ... Califorina is WAY into "wild fire prevention".

Too bad Joe Public doesn't pay a bit more attention.

So if they are doing controlled burns and building fire breaks and berms. Why are populated areas of California burning.

I now live in the area that was somewhat affected by the 1996 Big Lake fire, one of the most destructive in AKs history. I believe even CA smoke jumpers were brought in to help. AK does alot of wild fire prevention, controlled burns, building berms and fire breaks, and we have alot more area to cover.

Before you go crazy, I was living in Anchorage at the time of the Big Lake fire and was in no way put out, but I can still see the damage to the area today.

ETA: There are a number of Pirates couch and floor surfing at other members houses due to the current fires in CA.

I guess my confusion is why does it seem like CA spends more fightibng the fires then preventing them? I know CA is hurting for funds but I would think building berms and fire breaks would be cheaper then fighting actual wild fires.

[RICHARD]

So if they are doing controlled burns and building fire breaks and berms. Why are populated areas of California burning.

If you do Google map(the terrain map gives you the best idea) for lost angeles and check out the surrounding areas there are acres of nothing but hills and vegetation. The fires threaten the houses that butt up against the mountain areas. It's not so much the fire that causes problems (the fire is the main prob) but the embers and wind are what screws everything up. The wind carries embers up under the eaves of homes and that is what causes most houses to burn. The wind also hop- scotches the embers across areas.

[blue]

What speeds do the winds get in lost angeles? Chinooks up here can be 80-90mph sustained with over 120mph gusts.

[RICHARD]

What speeds do the winds get in lost angeles? Chinooks up here can be 80-90mph sustained with over 120mph gusts.

Depends. In about Sept to Oct we get a Santa Ana that blows 30-40 gusts to 70?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_Winds

And when the fires go during a windstorm, it's murder. I have seen them close up, I was driving thru a canyon and passed a fire rig with 4-5 guys in it.

Later on I heard that the truck I passed was caught up in the fire and 4 FFs were burned very badly.

It really is like the end of friggin days.

The sounds are incredible. You hear the crackle of leaves burning and plants and trees explode. The water and sap inside start to boil and the plants blow up.

[Daisy and Delilah]

Stay safe, Richard. You guys sure have alot of fires out there. I'll say some prayers for the firefighters.

[RICHARD]

I don't have much to worry about. It's the FFs and the guys flying the skies that need the prayers.

I woke up again at 3:30 smelling smoke. I woke up to try and see the space station fly over.

It was overcast and smokey and I can still smell smoke almost 3 hours later.

[pomtzu]

Hey Richard - I have an old friend that lives out there - between Glendale and Beverly Hills. Are there any fires in that region? She's never had any in that area before, but it looks like it's burning where it usually doesn't this time around.

[RICHARD]

BH and Glendale are a few miles apart. There is Griffith Park in between and that has some greenery in it , but nothing 'locally' is burning. The smell of cmoke has disappeared but blows in occasionally.

It's brutally hot and I don't know how those fire fighter can cope.