LA wildfires

Has anyone seen what’s happening over there on the news? I was reading about this earlier today, and the reports would likely have been from yesterday, but speed the fires are spreading is terrifying! A big problem at that point was people were getting stuck on the narrow roads, panicking and doing what they were old and abandoning their vehicles, unfortunately they were talking their keys, and the vehicles are blocking access to emergency services, particularly firefighters.

The fire department has brought in a huge ‘dozer usually used for firebreaks, but it works well for shifting cars…

This is the current extent of the emergency area, the winds are gusting 80-100mph, the whole of LA is tinder dry, there’s been no significant rain in a year, and most of the trees are eucalyptus and fir, so they burn very quickly, as do most of the houses, being timber construction.

The fire department can’t even think about controlling the situation. So far 70,000 people have been evacuated… 8-0

Looking at the overlay maps on BBC News – they’ve doubled in size in 3 hours and now approaching Malibu. That’s some serious real estate on fire. Trump’s already said zero Federal relief because they’re all commies or something.

I read that the emergency services have said there’s little they can do currently due to the scale of the fires and wind fanning the flames.

Trump’s already said zero Federal relief because they’re all commies or something.

God owning the libs in California, can’t be interfering with the will of God?

There was a guy from the police academy on TV earlier telling people who had to abandon their cars to leave the keys in so they could be moved out of the way if a fire truck needed to get through.

Thoughts and prayers.

It’s not just the fancy pants Hollywood A-lister suburbs on fire…but they are more dramatic for the media

Trump’s already said zero Federal relief because they’re all commies or something.

Code for its a Democrat voting state, so they can go to hell. He really is a shitbag.

There was a guy from the police academy on TV earlier telling people who had to abandon their cars to leave the keys in so they could be moved out of the way if a fire truck needed to get through.

You wouldn’t be referring to Steve Guttenberg, by any chance? Worth noting that he was in Police Academy, not from the Police…

This is utterly terrifying.

https://x.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1877099722256646416

https://x.com/HITNEWSWORLD/status/1877094762563469456

Has Trump suggested a plan to have people evacuated to Greenland yet?

I’ve been watching since 10.30 this morning. Looking at Google street maps. Interesting to watch how it plays out. Topological maps show fingers of isolated land towards the sea around the Palisade area which are cut off from access so will probably surcomb to the fire?

Otherwise my thoughts on this are that there is uncontrolled tree growth in urban areas that accelerates the spread of the fire. Same applies in Greece when the fires start.

Now, I’d cut down all the massive trees that are in urban areas. Removal of any protection orders is key. Fire breaks help.

I’ve heard that the embers from the fire are traveling several KM which might be the case but I find it unlikely.

How did the fires start? Possibly arson? Maybe natural? Some of the areas that have fire like Van Nuys seem to be in areas surrounded by urbanisation so probably arson?

Anyway, I’m glad that there hadn’t been many deaths. The cost of the rebuilds and insurance claims will be into the billions. And a ton of rare film stuff from actors houses will have been destroyed, but that will only add value to the remaining stuff elsewhere?

The footage is truly heartbreaking property absolutely destroyed within minutes.

I want to know how the cost of the rebuild is covered? If everyone in the area has comprehensive insurance which covers the costs then everyone in the world who pays insurance covers the costs.

Now if you have no home insurance and your house burns down, would it be covered by some federal insurance? So your house would be rebuilt at ‘no cost’? Therefore you might take the chance of helping the fire take your home and possessions?

Looking at hurricane devistation which also runs into the multi billions of dollars the bill is probably picked up by the government and insurance companies that’ll take the money back by some means in the future?

The area is prone to fire, low rain fall in Nov & Dec hasn’t helped.

I used  to work for a company that had offices in that area of California, around Malibu, Calabasa, Simi Valley etc. A few times I would be on conference call and a colleague would have to duck out as they’d get news fire was near their homes.

I’ve been out there in December a few times-  I was surprised how hot it was for that time of year being used to UK weather.

Not sure if most houses being timber framed adds to the problem?

Latest update to the extent of the three fires so far –

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/08/nx-s1-5252587/los-angeles-fires-landmarks-culture-arts?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=user/npr

House construction would add to the problem.

There are huge controlled fires taking place in other areas of the United States at the moment. Removal of potential uncontrolled fire risk is key to preventing these events.

I reckon that lots of the trees in private residences are grown to provide privacy and whilst it does the job 99.9% of the time the other 0.1% of the time they are the fuel for the fire which can destroy their house.

As of Wednesday morning, the fire had spread to at least 2,921 acres and was 0% contained, with an expectation that its only going to spread due to the strong Santa Ana wind gusts and low humidity fueling the fires.

A second fire, the Eaton fire, was reported by CalFire on Tuesday evening, and had spread to 2,227 acres by Wednesday morning. It, along with three other reported fires in Los Angeles and Riverside counties, were 0% contained on Wednesday morning.

That’s five fires so far.

https://time.com/7205487/california-wildfire-palisades-fire-photos/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=topic/photography

With the Santa Ana blowing like it is, and LA being as wide open and flat like it is, this is looking apocalyptic!

Another thing that’s just occurred to me, is that fires like this can become self-perpetuating, they can become a fire-storm, sucking more and more air and oxygen in, like happened during the WW2 mass bombing raids over Germany. There’s a possibility, and this has happened before with other large wildfires recently, where the fires can join up.
Like a lot of American cities, a lot of the housing is timber framed, with thin wood or plastic cladding and often tar-paper shingles; I’ve got photos somewhere that I took in LA, including a couple outside of the Beverly Centre on South La Cienega Blvd, and there was a building being constructed opposite next to a filling station, and it was all timber construction, I guess with LA’s climate they don’t figure they need solid steel framework like we normally use.

I want to know how the cost of the rebuild is covered? If everyone in the area has comprehensive insurance which covers the costs then everyone in the world who pays insurance covers the costs.

There’s entire areas/neighbourhoods that have been refused insurance cover for fire, poor bastards.

I’m not sure what the Californian rules are, but in the fires that happened five years ago on the east coast of Australia building materials were irrelevant in some cases. Rules were basically re-written. Rainforests burnt. The sheer heat melted many things not thought to be at risk. There’s firestorms that jump huge distances (kilometres). My wife spoke to someone that said their town was a long way from any forests and it made no difference the place basically combusted. There’s also embers that travel in the wind and land in roofing.

The building code here has ratings (Bushfire Attack Level or BAL) that you have to build to based on the fire risk which has to be assessed by a specialist. It goes up to a very frightening FZ – or Flame Zone, where you end up building a near bunker!

Our house has a greater risk on one side – BAL29, and BAL19 on the other.

We made the decision to rebuild our place (after storm damage) to one level above all recommendations. So we have cyclone strength roofing, and also ember and heat protection over the windows, plus toughened glass and fireproof doors. Even with all that if there’s a serious fire here, even though I have a fire pump, hoses, water tank, swimming pool, I probably wouldn’t hang around to fight it.

uncontrolled tree growth in urban areas

Whilst that might be the case in a few areas of LA, most of the hilly area were once forested…so, typically, its people choosing to build homes in forested areas which is the problem rather than trees that they’ve planted being problematic.

A lot of the posher/hilly neighborhoods on the outskirts of the urban sprawl are effectively small urban islands within a National Forest…

This is Hollywood in 1907, before the movie industry took over the area. L.A. just sprawled out into the countryside, so the housing was built in areas that used to be farmland or forests.

There’s entire areas/neighbourhoods that have been refused insurance cover for fire, poor bastards.

Listened to a podcast recently with Josh Brolin who has lived in the same LA house since the 70s and they talked about the fire risk. Insurance companies have been quoting annual premiums of hundreds of thousands of dollars for properties that were deemed high risk in the event of one of these fires. Essentially making them uninsurable. Even given LA property values, the premiums are hugely punitive

Now, I’d cut down all the massive trees that are in urban areas

As pointed out, the building has gone into the forest, not the other way round. There may have been better ways to deal with it, but when you’ve had less than 2mm of rain in your winter season, as reported last night, everywhere is a tinderbox and the slightest spark – accidental or deliberate – will create this kind of nightmare.

Also trees in urban areas reduce the urban temperature? The interlinking of natural processes makes it all so complicated.

Between the fire risks and earthquake risks I’m not sure how viable coastal California is, even in the medium term. It’s got a GDP bigger than most countries and is the centre of the tech world, I’m not sure what the consequences of a big quake and resultant fires would be economically, let alone the horrendous human cost.

‘I said to myself, dirt doesn’t burn’: The people rebuilding their homes with earth

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241018-fire-proof-houses-and-the-people-rebuilding-their-homes-using-earth

How did the fires start? Possibly arson? Maybe natural?

Stupidity, dumped glass, lightening strikes, electrical fires (the electrical infra out there is horrifically bad), grass fires from hot exhausts/brakes. Likelihood of actual arson is pretty remote.

We had a load in the north of Sweden a few years ago. Some of them were so remote that they could *only* be reached by air, or several hours direct through the forest.

Still had people ranting about arson. (I think in the end, they said maybe 2 or 3 out of several dozen that were close to civilisation could be considered arson, in the sense that someone started a BBQ. Despite them being banned for almost the entire summer that year.).

On the LA fires, a friend of mine was flying back yesterday, and doesn’t even know what’s happened to his place and all his stuff. Even though he’s not directly in the affected area (or wasn’t the day before yesterday) his place is without power. So everything (servers, security cameras) is dead.

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Stupidity, dumped glass, lightening strikes, electrical fires (the electrical infra out there is horrifically bad), grass fires from hot exhausts/brakes. Likelihood of actual arson is pretty remote.

In Oz it’s all the above but arson is actually fairly common. In 2023 we had a big fire in the forestry that led to evacuations in our nearby town and it was traced to 4×4 drivers.

When I was in Santa Monica back in 1997 you weren’t even allowed to smoke outside the fire risk was so high.

How did the fires start?

I didn’t read the details, but  the BBC mentioned one started in someone’s back garden. I suspect that person is going to be in court for the rest of their natural life, assuming they survived the fire

Insurance companies have been quoting annual premiums of hundreds of thousands of dollars for properties that were deemed high risk in the event of one of these fires. Essentially making them uninsurable.

Climate change is causing insurance losses that the companies themselves can’t even begin to get their heads around.

The costs are off the charts and if governments are propping up the industry, it leads to less money overall to build more resilient infrastructure, mitigate the effects as best as possible and cut emissions.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2024/12/10/costs-pile-up-as-climate-change-adds-600-billion-in-insurance-losses/

I guess with LA’s climate they don’t figure they need solid steel framework like we normally use.

It’s more to do with earthquakes, I think, but nearly all US houses look impressive but are built like old garden sheds.

An old school friend lives out there. Back in November her neighbourhood was hit by wildfires (the Ring camera footage she shared was terrifying). Yesterday she was evacuated from the temporary accommodation they were staying in. She was back ‘home’ in the UK for Christmas – I bet she wishes she’d stayed 🙁

In seismic areas they use lightweight construction methods for obvious reasons. Light steel frame performs the best but to save money they frequently use timber frame construction. US houses are mostly poorly constructed.

Climate Change is clearly a major factor in the fires but  as usual it’s a lot more complex than that.

Another major issue is that more houses are being built in areas in the wild land urban interface (WUI). They are literally putting houses in harm’s way (like we build on flood plains) but the residents have often not lived in fire prone areas before and don’t understand the risk or how to maintain their property including clearing vegetation around their property.

Insurance in California is a basket case and not sustainable in it’s current form (Florida is very similar). I’ll come back and explain more later

My wifes cousin lives in Altadena, Pasadena. This is where the Eaton fire is. Their street has lost multiple houses but they have been spared. Just sheer luck, nothing more than that. He said it is like a horror movie.

Some of you might know Zap Espinoza, bike media legend. His house is gone. To the ground gone.

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nearly all US houses look impressive but are built like old garden sheds

The garden shed in the center of this seems to have done ok.

In Oz it’s all the above but arson is actually fairly common. In 2023 we had a big fire in the forestry that led to evacuations in our nearby town and it was traced to 4×4 drivers.

So actual arson, or just people being dicks with hot bits of metal, cigarette butts and BBQs? (Which i understand gets you an arson charge in some places.)

Must be getting close to The Getty museum……the stuff in there is irreplaceable (yes I know peoples stuff is as well but this is some of the most famous art in the world – like the Louvre burning down)

Getty Museum probably a lot more fire proof than timber framed houses

@hols2 – my guess is that is what they call an “appurtenant structure”. Or what we would call someone built a garage in the grounds after the main house was built. Probably built much later thus complying to a more robust building code and made from masonry with fire resistant roof tiles

So actual arson, or just people being dicks with hot bits of metal, cigarette butts and BBQs? (Which i understand gets you an arson charge in some places.)

Actual arson. There’s some that are volunteer fire-fighters that do it to be the hero… But it goes wrong.

Fag butts apparently don’t tend to start fires as they don’t spark.

When there’s high fire risk here we’re not supposed to use power tools outside, mowers etc.