All you folks from SoCal ok? Looks pretty nasty out there.

Wind was bad, probably the worst I've seen. Gate blew down. Many plants and bushes destroyed. House looks to be in one piece. Will get a roof inspection. 16% humidity so very dry. Nothing around here has burned, yet. L.A. fires are bad. Feel sorry for those that lost their homes. 2 reported dead and more than a 1,000 homes, businesses and other buildings destroyed, last I heard.

Hope everyone can get to a safe place..

I want to know why the fire hydrants aren't operational? What a joke. Imagine being the 5th largest economy in the world and not having basic infrastructure.

Tyga11 wrote

I want to know why the fire hydrants aren't operational?

Probably water pressure, with every piece of fire equipment from several counties all drawing water at the same time.

Even more of a problem is that the 100 MPH wind gusts are preventing helicopters and airplanes from doing aerial water drops onto the fire.....

...and add on every homeowner in the region running their garden hoses at the same time to wet their houses hoping to save them.....

Glad I don't live in a region that has these types of events almost annually. To the folks that live there I hope that your insurance agency's take care of you.

Guess I should expect my insurance to climb yet again next year.

Just wow.

That video is crazy shit. I have read that some homes have fire supression sprinklers outside to keep the house wet so the flames don't have fuel. I've rode out hurricanes, but a fire storm way beyond my fear factor. I hope they and the dog survived.

I also hope anyone here who lives in the affected area are safe.

Has anyone heard from UncleWede recently? Does he live in the fire areas?

Apologies for not knowing the LA neighborhood geography.....

vreihen16 wrote

Has anyone heard from UncleWede recently? Does he live in the fire areas?

Apologies for not knowing the LA neighborhood geography.....

I just sent him a text. He's fine. He said to mark him safe from fires.

A friend since 4th grade lived in Palisades. He had 2 houses, right next door to each other. This is all that’s left. Total loss.

hubbahubba wrote

A friend since 4th grade lived in Palisades. He had 2 houses, right next door to each other. This is all that’s left. Total loss.

That's sad.

Hope they are okay otherwise.

Esteban wrote

That's sad.

Hope they are okay otherwise.

Yep. I think still in a little shock, but alive. Thank you for your concern.

hubbahubba wrote

Yep. I think still in a little shock, but alive. Thank you for your concern.

If I lost my home to a fire, I would be devastated. At my age it would be very hard to recover. But we still have our lives and have to go on.

Sorry for your friend, hubbahubba. Hope he has somewhere to stay while he decides what to do next. Hopefully family close by.

Esteban wrote

Sorry for your friend, hubbahubba. Hope he has somewhere to stay while he decides what to do next. Hopefully family close by.

Thank you. No family close, but they managed to find a hotel room. What to do next is a really good question. He is still stuck in the surreal.

Insane. 🙁

The most damage is from priceless possessions that held sentimental value, so sad.

Ashes to ashes.

It’s gunna be interesting to see who’s ass gets lit after fund allocations get some good looking.

I’m actually curious as to post-fires. What real estate development may occur, when or if approval would be granted, what new building requirements may be in place, home insurance premiums, etc…

Tyga11 wrote

I don’t believe that.

My DW is a municipal water plant operator, and I get to hear the challenges of juggling water between six different water towers in a hilly locale to keep the pressures up and supplies full every single day. The combined system can only process/move/store so much water, and having every fire truck in the LA region drawing from hydrants and thousands of homeowners running their garden hoses trying to save their houses is obviously more than the system was ever designed to handle. But, what the heck do I know.

Esteban wrote

If I lost my home to a fire, I would be devastated. At my age it would be very hard to recover. But we still have our lives and have to go on.

I saw a TV interview on the UK news of a younger guy who lost his house. Because of blackouts, he had to change hotels four times so far since evacuating. His projected timeline is a minimum of three years to just sort through the insurance mess to start the rebuild process, and his family is actively searching for another house to buy instead of watching the horrors on the TV news. I can only imagine what house prices will look like in the aftermath of this disaster, and am wondering if the cities involved will even let the people rebuild at the current property densities?????

This is PTSD for me - we went through the Marshall fire a few years back. Pictures of the devastation look exactly the same.
Sorry for your friend's losses, HubbaHubba. It's not so much the structure loss that is the worst, it's all the priceless and irreplaceable items inside (family pictures, jewelry, art, heirlooms, etc.)