Off Topic: Los Angeles Members Please Check In

[DeanH3]

Sadly, my Son-in-Law's grandparents lost their home today in the Pasadena area. I can't imagine losing everything. Horrible.

[gregndodgers]

I have a home at Washington and Lake in Pasadena, which is just south of Alta Dena. We evacuated late last night, but I drove to my house early this morning at 4 am to see the fires and check on my house. I drove up Lake for around a mile north of Washington, and that's where you could begin to see smaller fires, which had been started by floating embers from the bigger fires closer to the mountain. There are something like 200 total smaller fires that all make up the Eaton fire. Thick smoke is everywhere and so are downed trees from the 70 mph Santa Ana winds from yesterday. Fortunately, the winds died a lot today. Pasadena has so many trees that it's a match box waiting to be ignited. We are staying in a hotel now, but I'm still working during the day.

[DeanH3]

Originally Posted by gregndodgers

I have a home at Washington and Lake in Pasadena, which is just south of Alta Dena. We evacuated late last night, but I drove to my house early this morning at 4 am to see the fires and check on my house. I drove up Lake for around a mile north of Washington, and that's where you could begin to see smaller fires, which had been started by floating embers from the bigger fires closer to the mountain. There are something like 200 total smaller fires that all make up the Eaton fire. Thick smoke is everywhere and so are downed trees from the 70 mph Santa Ana winds from yesterday. Fortunately, the winds died a lot today. Pasadena has so many trees that it's a match box waiting to be ignited. We are staying in a hotel now, but I'm still working during the day.

All the best Greg. I pray you don't have to experience losing your home.

[gregndodgers]

Originally Posted by DeanH3

All the best Greg. I pray you don't have to experience losing your home.

Thank you.

Greg

[philliesfan]

My thoughts and prayers are with the entire California community.
Bob

[Vintagedeputy]

Seems like between wildfires, earthquakes, etc., California is a difficult place to live. I don’t think I’d quite have the stamina that some of you guys do. Best of luck to those affected.

[GasHouseGang]

Unbelievable destruction and the fires are still burning and spreading. Pacific Palisades has been nearly wiped off the map. It's truly devastating. There are large areas affected by these fires and my heart aches for what these people are going through. Stay strong and we are praying for you.

[Tere1071]

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

Seems like between wildfires, earthquakes, etc., California is a difficult place to live. I don’t think I’d quite have the stamina that some of you guys do. Best of luck to those affected.

I made several attempts to state that living in California didn't require any special fortitude, but I wasn't satisfied with any of my responses. However, I can hope everyone on this forum remains well and enjoys their hobby pursuits.

Thank you for your kind thought, James. My daughter is fine and the flames at this point aren't moving in her direction. Once there is containment, we will take back home.

Phil aka Tere1071

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by DeanH3

Sadly, my Son-in-Law's grandparents lost their home today in the Pasadena area. I can't imagine losing everything. Horrible.

Thoughts and prayers Dean, such a tragedy.

[DeanH3]

Thank you, Phil. Much appreciated.

[NiceDocter]

Hoping for safety and peace of mind for all that are going through this situation. Reminds us all of how fragile our lives can be and how quickly things can change. Keeping all Californians including my Net54 collector friends in prayer during this difficult time.

[Exhibitman]

I've heard from several collectors in the LA area; all are OK.

[gregndodgers]

Originally Posted by DeanH3

Sadly, my Son-in-Law's grandparents lost their home today in the Pasadena area. I can't imagine losing everything. Horrible.

Very sad. If they / you are a believer (like I am), you know things happen for a reason. I hope they escaped with all of their precious personal possessions, money, jewelry, old family photos, and if they have some, valuable sports cards. I had $15,000 in vintage cards stolen once, and I think about that loss at least one per week.

Greg

[DeanH3]

Originally Posted by gregndodgers

Very sad. If they / you are a believer (like I am), you know things happen for a reason. I hope they escaped with all of their precious personal possessions, money, jewelry, old family photos, and if they have some, valuable sports cards. I had $15,000 in vintage cards stolen once, and I think about that loss at least one per week.

Greg

Thanks Greg. I'm definitely a believer as well. That has helped me through many difficult times.

Unfortunately, the last I heard, they only made it out with a change of clothes. Everything else was lost.

[doug.goodman]

I'm in North Hollywood (which is generally nowhere near actual Hollywood) and while we have no fire concerns, the crazy winds were a concern while they were happening. Our only issues were being without power for the better part of two days, but my burning man alum wife had her solar powered generators and candles up and running pretty quick. We lost cable / internet before the power went out, and while we got power back late last night, we just in the last hour or so have gotten back on line.

First I cheked the email backup which is pretty legendary, and I'm ignoring it.

Next were all my go to porn sites of which net54 is near the top of the list, they all managed to survive me not being around.

This thread needs a card...

[gregndodgers]

My wife and I stayed up late last night talking about all the LA fires. I told her that my gut says incompetence is partly to blame for the quick spread of the two biggest fires, Palisades and Eaton. I saw the Eaton fire firsthand on Wednesday morning, and there were no firefighters trying to save homes in the southern portion of Altadena. I saw dozens of homes burning in a span of 20 minutes, and there was not one firetruck present in the area I was in. Apparently, there were not enough firefighters available. In my opinion, that is not a sufficient excuse. Not having enough firefighters is a sign of incompetence in my opinion. When I saw the fire up close, we were already 12 hours into the Eaton fire, yet the fire was still burning out of control.

Remember, we all know that brush fires can get big fast. Heck, my family and I had to be evacuated in 2018 due to the Woolsey fire! And in that 2018 fire, the fire burned uncontrolled all the way to the sea. If not for the sea, how far would that fire have burned?

When did it become acceptable for fires to burn out of control and destroy thousands of homes?

The other big problem is that there was not enough water to fight the two largest fires. The fire-hydrants went dry not long after the fires started.

So it appears that California's leadership was not prepared for these very large fires that grew quickly due to very fast winds. The winds were part of the problem but poor planning and slow response were also to blame in my opinion.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Originally Posted by gregndodgers

My wife and I stayed up late last night talking about all the LA fires. I told her that my gut says incompetence is partly to blame for the quick spread of the two biggest fires, Palisades and Eaton. I saw the Eaton fire firsthand on Wednesday morning, and there were no firefighters trying to save homes in the southern portion of Altadena. I saw dozens of homes burning in a span of 20 minutes, and there was not one firetruck present in the area I was in. Apparently, there were not enough firefighters available. In my opinion, that is not a sufficient excuse. Not having enough firefighters is a sign of incompetence in my opinion. When I saw the fire up close, we were already 12 hours into the Eaton fire, yet the fire was still burning out of control.

Remember, we all know that brush fires can get big fast. Heck, my family and I had to be evacuated in 2018 due to the Woolsey fire! And in that 2018 fire, the fire burned uncontrolled all the way to the sea. If not for the sea, how far would that fire have burned?

When did it become acceptable for fires to burn out of control and destroy thousands of homes?

The other big problem is that there was not enough water to fight the two largest fires. The fire-hydrants went dry not long after the fires started.

So it appears that California's leadership was not prepared for these very large fires that grew quickly due to very fast winds. The winds were part of the problem but poor planning and slow response were also to blame in my opinion.

Or it could be that this fire was 4x bigger than anything anyone had ever seen and no amount of fire fighters would be sufficient to make a dent in a firestorm that big. Also if you don't have the ability to fight a firestorm from the air no amount of water from a hydrant will be enough. They aren't designed to fight firestorms. They are designed to fight a single house fire or 2. These same people pointing fingers and spreading disinformation (not referring to you Greg) would be the same people complaining about fire fighters' salaries, overtime and pensions. Let's all take a beat and show some real empathy for those that are suffering before playing the blame game. Unfortunately this selfish behavior is normalized from the top as we don't have a leader that's magnanimous enough to comprehend putting others before themselves.

[jingram058]

"The leadership wasn't prepared..."

I'd like to know, given a colossal population who are determined to live there, how the leadership could have been.

[gregndodgers]

Originally Posted by ajjohnsonsoxfan

Or it could be that this fire was 4x bigger than anything anyone had ever seen and no amount of fire fighters would be sufficient to make a dent in a firestorm that big. Also if you don't have the ability to fight a firestorm from the air no amount of water from a hydrant will be enough. They aren't designed to fight firestorms. They are designed to fight a single house fire or 2. These same people pointing fingers and spreading disinformation (not referring to you Greg) would be the same people complaining about fire fighters' salaries, overtime and pensions. Let's all take a beat and show some real empathy for those that are suffering before playing the blame game. Unfortunately this selfish behavior is normalized from the top as we don't have a leader that's magnanimous enough to comprehend putting others before themselves.

If the hydrants had pressure, the water could have been used to save the dozens of homes I saw burning.

I served on a nuclear sub in the late 1990s. After each torpedo drill where we engaged a simulated enemy sub, we deconstructed every minute detail to determine what we did right and what we did wrong.

In the case of Eaton, the fire started around 6:30 pm on Tuesday, and the Santa Ana winds were blowing at 60 mph sustained winds. Obviously, that’s incredibly fast! But I also experienced the 2018 Woolsey fire, which raged not far from the current fires, and in that fire, the Santa Ana winds played a big role too. In Woolsey and Eaton, the fires burned uncontrolled.

So after Woolsey, what lessons were learned? The Wolsey fire burned 100,000 acres and destroyed over 1,600 structures. Also, the 2018 Camp fire destroyed 153,336 acres, caused 85 fatalities, displaced more than 50,000 people, and destroyed more than 18,000 structures. So it is incorrect to say that we had not seen a fire this big before.

Are we to accept that some fires are too large to control? That we are powerless to prevent destruction of thousands of structures? That widespread destruction, hardship, and loss of life is inevitable?

Well, I’m a submariner, a career military officer, and I will never accept those terms. We must understand what our leaders did right and what they did wrong, and I am currently under the belief, that there is a lot of blame to go around.

Should our leaders be pointing fingers and assessing blame? No, because they must focus on saving lives and homes. But we as concerned citizens should be asking questions because these fires are still raging and we must ensure our leaders know we will not accept incompetence. As the fires continue to burn and more homes are threatened, our leaders must have the requisite sense of urgency. Citizens help promote that.