Wildfire(s) Out West

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  • curmudgeoness
    curmudgeoness Brigadoon, foodie capital Posts: 4,130
    WaPo just announced the number of missing now is 631. :-(

    World Central Kitchen is busy providing meals to emergency personnel and displaced residents.
    All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,664
    edited November 2018
    PJ_Soul said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    brianlux said:
    Meltdown99 said:
    I thought there is many missing as well.  

    PJ_Soul said:
    Meltdown99 said:
    I thought there is many missing as well.  
    Yeah, like 200 or something like that, last I heard.
    There will be more deaths discovered, but not all of the couple hundred that are missing.  Some of the house in that area are vacation properties.  In same cases, people where on vacation or away on business.  One woman I talked to today has a sister who was in another state camping in back country and didn't know about the fire until yesterday. 

    And now, to make matters worse, the norovirus has broken out in one of the Chico wildfire shelters. 


    Yeah sure, there are always some people who show up later when communication systems break down. But they are also working hard sifting through the ashes looking for human remains. It's horrible for anyone who doesn't know where a loved one is. I don't know if I could take it.

    Yes, it's dreadful.  I don't personally know any of the missing folks from up there, but a few people close to me are going through the anxiety of not knowing where one particular couple are and that worry is causing a lot of stress. A lot of people in the foothill communities are stressed out and even more, of course, going though the worst hell of their lives. 

    Despite the bad air and a persistent cough I and others around here have developed, I'm grateful to still have a home.  But we are also very dry here in El Dorado County.  We live in an area with more dead trees and dead shrubbery  than the county and many land/home owners can keep up with as far as removal.  Until we finally get some rain, ever day involves a fair amount of vigilance for fire.  It's nerve wracking.
    So I'm sorry if this is crass or whatever, but have you considered how long you're willing to put up with these fires around you? What if it just keeps on happening like it has been indefinitely, and you just live consistently with that kind of air? Are you just going to try and suck it up and live with it? Or are you thinking about moving?
    Not taken as crass at all.  I think about moving a lot.  

    I grew up on the west coast about 1/2 hour from the ocean.  My mother grew up in Jenner-By-The-Sea on the Sonoma coast.  it's in my blood.  To live anywhere else (I've tried) would be futile.  The problem is that (for me anyway), living on the west coast means one of two things:  being very rich and living in an area that is fairly clean and healthy, or being middle to low income and living in a place that is not so healthy.  Unless I win the lottery (or get killed by lightning- same odds) I guess I'll just have to-- *cough*cough*hack*hack* -- deal with it. 

    Edit:  And the irony is, where I live now is getting closer and closer to being 4 hours or more from here as traffic gets worse.  People still flock to California.  Why the hell?  Dunno!
    Post edited by brianlux on
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • oftenreading
    oftenreading Victoria, BC Posts: 12,856
    curmudgeoness said:
    WaPo just announced the number of missing now is 631. :-(

    World Central Kitchen is busy providing meals to emergency personnel and displaced residents.
    That many?? Damn. I knew it was bad but had no idea it was that bad. 
    my small self... like a book amongst the many on a shelf
  • curmudgeoness
    curmudgeoness Brigadoon, foodie capital Posts: 4,130
    The town was burned to the ground by a very fast-moving fire. There was not time to evacuate. They think some people never will be found.
    All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,664
    curmudgeoness said:
    WaPo just announced the number of missing now is 631. :-(

    World Central Kitchen is busy providing meals to emergency personnel and displaced residents.
    I just read your post and my first thought was, "Oh that sounds like bullshit."  So I checked it out.  The Sacramento Bee, a well respected Northern California paper confirms:  63 dead, 631 missing.  God almighty.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Meltdown99
    Meltdown99 None Of Your Business... Posts: 10,739
    Give Peas A Chance…
  • curmudgeoness
    curmudgeoness Brigadoon, foodie capital Posts: 4,130
    brianlux said:
    curmudgeoness said:
    WaPo just announced the number of missing now is 631. :-(

    World Central Kitchen is busy providing meals to emergency personnel and displaced residents.
    I just read your post and my first thought was, "Oh that sounds like bullshit."  So I checked it out.  The Sacramento Bee, a well respected Northern California paper confirms:  63 dead, 631 missing.  God almighty.

    I thought it was a typo, too. They did note that that number is dynamic. But given what we've read about the fire's speed, how evacuations were handled, and the number of elderly people living there, I don't think they're done finding bodies.
    All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.
  • curmudgeoness
    curmudgeoness Brigadoon, foodie capital Posts: 4,130
    Meltdown99 said:

    They don't have enough insurance to cover all of the losses.
    All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,474
    Meltdown99 said:
    This is definitely a different spin.  I heard the stock plunged because they don't have enough insurance to replace the infrastructure if it all burns up.

    I'd like to hear more about this.
  • Bentleyspop
    Bentleyspop Craft Beer Brewery, Colorado Posts: 11,452
    Idiot


  • curmudgeoness
    curmudgeoness Brigadoon, foodie capital Posts: 4,130
    Oh, he's an ecologist now? Huh. Interesting.


    My eyes just rolled so hard that a contact lens popped out.
    All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,664
    I want to just rap him on the noggin and say, "Hellooooo.  Are you not aware that one hundred years of fires suppression has allowed these massive quantities of fuels to build up?  Are you aware that houses built within forests become more fuel that is often more easily ignited  than trees?   Do you know that California has 33 million acres of forest?  And do you have any idea how long it will take to restore that much land to healthy forests?  And are you aware that control burning and clearing goes on whenever safely possible on these lands?  Are you aware of how many crews there are out there every year including low-risk prisoners who go out in teams and do this clearing?  And do you really not know that because of climate change all of this is made more difficult, not just a little bit?"

    And, sir, did you not hear that over 600 people are missing but that does not necessarily mean all of them are "dead"?

    Dammit!  How did we end up with such an ill informed president?  I just want to scream.  AUGHHHH!!! 

    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • curmudgeoness
    curmudgeoness Brigadoon, foodie capital Posts: 4,130
    if anyone is interested in making a donation to support victims and first responders, I'm a big fan of World Central Kitchen.


    All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.
  • Meltdown99
    Meltdown99 None Of Your Business... Posts: 10,739
    California wildfires: The day Paradise burned down

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46198498?ns_campaign=bbcnews&ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=facebook

    Over 1000 officially missing.
    Give Peas A Chance…
  • Thirty Bills Unpaid
    Thirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
    This is horrific news. The numbers are popping off the page for me. I made a very terrible assumption about the fire- that it was one of the 'routine variety' (very few casualties and it would be out shortly).

    Geez. Not much to say. Brutal.
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • Meltdown99
    Meltdown99 None Of Your Business... Posts: 10,739
    They are asking for DNA from survivors of the missing.  Just horrible...
    Give Peas A Chance…
  • curmudgeoness
    curmudgeoness Brigadoon, foodie capital Posts: 4,130
    Thirty Bills Unpaid said:
    This is horrific news. The numbers are popping off the page for me. I made a very terrible assumption about the fire- that it was one of the 'routine variety' (very few casualties and it would be out shortly).

    Geez. Not much to say. Brutal.

    Nope. It burned so hot and moved so quickly that people could not get out in time. From what I've read, beyond the structures that were destroyed, infrastructure (roads, sewers) was just about obliterated, too.

    The fear is that this will be the new normal.
    All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.
  • Meltdown99
    Meltdown99 None Of Your Business... Posts: 10,739
    'It blows my mind': How B.C. destroys a key natural wildfire defence every year
    Give Peas A Chance…
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,664
    curmudgeoness said:
    Thirty Bills Unpaid said:
    This is horrific news. The numbers are popping off the page for me. I made a very terrible assumption about the fire- that it was one of the 'routine variety' (very few casualties and it would be out shortly).

    Geez. Not much to say. Brutal.

    Nope. It burned so hot and moved so quickly that people could not get out in time. From what I've read, beyond the structures that were destroyed, infrastructure (roads, sewers) was just about obliterated, too.

    The fear is that this will be the new normal.
    This has been confirmed.   Climate change will continue the trend of warming and drying of the west.  Climate change, combined with 100 years suppression of natural fire and an increased growth in wildland-urban interface (people living and building in forested areas) has created a situation that will lead to the continuation of catastrophic fires in the west-- more so in California but also in other western states and western Canada.  This is the New West.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Spiritual_Chaos
    Spiritual_Chaos Posts: 31,488
    This is heartbreakjing
    "Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
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