LA wildfires

This is heartbreaking.

It looks as though many people had no idea that there was a fire coming quickly to engulf their street. Many saved by friends and relatives calling them.

Let’s hope it rains pretty soon.

Major snow fall over much of America too.in the last week. I dread to think how Trump will deal with this, he’s got to put his people first (but of course he won’t).

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

Not sure this one is so clear. North California has had above average rainfall this winter, unfortunately it’s stayed there whilst the South has had below average

My understanding of climate change is that it will lead to greater extremes of weather, so hotter summers, more severe droughts, but also more extreme rainfall and flooding. You can’t connect any single event to global warming though, it’s more a case that an increase in the frequency and severity of wildfires will be the result rather than any single fire being a direct consequence.

 to save money they frequently use timber frame construction.

Well, 150 years ago they used timber because that’s what they had absolutely massive amounts of, thanks to deforestation that would put South American illegal loggers to shame.  And of course, because businesses made fortunes logging, they invested it back in logging which made it cheaper still.  And the fact everywhere was growing hugely and they needed to build houses fast meant that they used what was available and cheap, and they had the supply chain for.  Then, everyone was tooled up and ready to build houses out of wood so it continued.  It’s not just modern day cost cutting.  However, having spoken to people, it’s also considered safer to be in a wooden house if you get hit by a tornado. Not sure if it’s true but that perception has an impact.

In the UK we robbed most of our forests long ago and our cities grew up sooner so we were forced to find another solution i.e. bricks. The supply chain to provide bricks and the skills to use them sprang up so that’s what we continue to use, although there are a lot more timber houses being built here now too.

This is heartbreaking.

Shit happens! Especially when you live in a country which has repeatedly obstructed action on climate change, deined that the problem exists and benefitted from the activities which have caused it. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s a load of millionaire celebrities being burned out of their homes it probably wouldn’t even be on the news.

It will be interesting to see what Trump says on this as climate change is a major factor, but obviously in his addled mind, that doesn’t exist, but that same addled mind will be desperate to comment on it.

It will be interesting to see what Trump says on this as climate change is a major factor, but obviously in his addled mind, that doesn’t exist, but that same addled mind will be desperate to comment on it.

His new best mate will say that everyone needs to buy electric cars and, as an amazing coincidence, he just happens to own a company that makes such things…

I dread to think how Trump will deal with this, he’s got to put his people first (but of course he won’t).

Oh he will.

It’s just Californians aren’t his people.

Two years ago I caught up with a mate who’s a Prof of Ecology at ULPGC. He made the comment, ‘if Brazil, China and India don’t take their foot of the pedal we’ll all be applying to emigrate to Greenland and Iceland’. I thought he was joking.

It will be interesting to see what Trump says on this

I’m guessing something along the lines of it’s entirely a radical left governors fault and will do the bare minimum if anything to help

It will be interesting to see what Trump says on this

He was on BBC News a couple of days back. He didnt talk about fires, but was rambling about wind farms and whales. It was scary just how far moved from reality he is about global warming.

I got evacuated from Jasper due to wildfires over the summer, not an experience I’d like to repeat, so I’m watching this with interest/dread.

I’m guessing something along the lines of it’s entirely a radical left governors fault and will do the bare minimum if anything to help

He and Elonia already are. They’re blaming Governor Newsom for not putting in place Donald’s plan for moving lots of water from Northern California to the south, not raking the forest floor, and a whole bunch of other things.

He’s already said there will be no aid offered to California or LA.
He’s such a revolting scumbag.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y81zyp1ext

 However, having spoken to people, it’s also considered safer to be in a wooden house if you get hit by a tornado. Not sure if it’s true but that perception has an impact.

@molgrips – That is counterintuitive. Tornadoes usually occur in the mid-west and many homes there have a strong masonry room/shelter to hide in during a tornado. I can understand the risk of flying debris from loose bricks but a timber frame house will simply get ripped apart quicker and you’re facing a total rebuild rather than fixing a part of the property. Cost is the primary driver for these  construction practices

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That is counterintuitive. Tornadoes usually occur in the mid-west and many homes there have a strong masonry room/shelter to hide in during a tornado.

I’m not telling you what happens in tornados, I’m telling you what people have told me when I’ve brought this up.  They might have strong masonry shelters but they are probably heavily built and underground, which your house would not be.

Cost is a factor, but in the same way that cost is a reason why it’s not common to build houses out of granite these days. It’s perfectly possible but it’s just not what people expect, so it looks very expensive compared to what we are used to which is bricks.  To Americans, bricks are expensive compared to timber. But you wouldn’t complain about not building out of granite as being a ‘cost cutting measure’.

 However, having spoken to people, it’s also considered safer to be in a wooden house if you get hit by a tornado.

Erm…

Could it also be that if a wooden house is destroyed on top of a shelter its less likely to turn it into a tomb?

And cheaper to rebuild…

And cheaper to rebuild…

The flip side of that is a stronger structure would suffer less damage so could be repaired quicker.

The flip side of that is a stronger structure would suffer less damage so could be repaired quicker.

But in the USA there aren’t as many tradesmen with the required skills so it could take longer to find someone to do the repairs (assuming you are talking brick-built versus timber-framed).

Fires like that and a relatively proor performing brick house (from an energy perspective) brick house is still going to get gutted.

building codes in California are evolving to deal with wild fire protection but codes aren’t retroactive on an exceptionally well built wood framed home that’s been standing for decades.

Shit happens!

You’re an arse.

You’re an arse.

They have the resources and wherewithal to rebuild. I’ll save my sympathy for the hundreds of thousands of people around the world affected by natural (and non-natural) disasters who don’t have that luxury.

If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s a load of millionaire celebrities being burned out of their homes it probably wouldn’t even be on the news.

Well if it was happening in Bangladesh or Brazil I doubt that it would have been given the top TV news billing it has been getting, or the same amount of airtime minutes.

The good news is that billionaires being inconvenienced and forced to sleep in one of their other homes might give the anthropogenic climate change debate a gentle prod.

You’re an arse.

“Lacking in empathy” has too many syllables

They have the resources and wherewithal to rebuild. I’ll save my sympathy for the hundreds of thousands of people around the world affected by natural (and non-natural) disasters who don’t have that luxury.

Oh, I see. There are people in LA who aren’t movie stars and millionaires—ordinary folks like you who are losing everything, including their lives.

“Lacking in empathy” has too many syllables

Agreed, and there’s a time and place for such sentiment but Dazh has a valid point…

Re: building houses in wood vs brick. Amongst other considerations, there simple aren’t enough brick-layers in North America. Even if you preferred to have your house built out of brick, good luck finding anyone with the skills – you’d probably be pushing out build time frames for years rather than weeks…gawd knows what would happen if it was mandated in building codes…

The Palisade fire is in an area surrounded by multiple larger state parks. I’m not sure whether camping is allowed in those specific parks, but campers failing to put out campfires properly is a major cause of other fires…

@10 he either knows that or was too lazy to read beyond ‘Hollywood’. Either way you’re wasting your time, it’s easier to just ignore.

Agreed, and there’s a time and place for such sentiment but Dazh has a valid point…

If it was only the rich that were being affected then maybe, but it’s not, so he doesn’t.

Reports of looters now…..!

Dazh has a valid point…

no he doesn’t, his misanthropic post was crass at best but that’s what you get time and time again from him.

It’s not just the Hollywood stars homes being burnt, many normal people are suffering too but the media doesn’t care about them as they are not deemed newsworthy.

If it was only the rich that were being affected then maybe, but it’s not, so he doesn’t.

Eh? Are you deluding yourself that it isn’t headline news outside the US precisely because millionaires/celebrities are affected?

not just the Hollywood stars homes being burnt, many normal people are suffering too

that’s what surprised me the first time I went to that area- you could drive through a fancy residential part, turn a corner and it’s vastly different.

As I mentioned before, 20 years I had work colleagues living there. Not necessarily in the “millionaire” areas but in general suburban neighbourhoods

Either way you’re wasting your time, it’s easier to just ignore.

You are correct, as are other posters. I’ve said what I need to about his posts and will take this advice. Like many people, I have friends in LA affected by these fires.

I don’t think it is receiving very significant coverage in the UK because the homes of billionaires have been destroyed. I think the fact that it affects Americans is what makes this story particularly important. It was always going to be a headline story because of that.

If it was happening across the border in Mexico I am sure that it would still be considered a worthy news item but I very much doubt that it would have been the main news item on yesterday’s BBC news, or that it would have been given such extensive airtime – at one point yesterday they appeared to be padding out the story with a lot of not very useful or important information.

How many times does it need to be explained that it is not just billionaires homes?

Several of my colleagues have been evacuated and don’t know if they have a home to go back to, 1 of them is wealthy but the others are just regular working people.

his misanthropic post was crass at best but that’s what you get time and time again from him.

There are six billion people in the world and millions die an untimely and grisly death every year or endure suffering that is no fault of their own. Do we get all ‘heartbroken’ and upset about those? No we don’t. My comment was more matter of fact than misanthropic. I wish no ill on anyone who doesn’t deserve it but the reality is that shit does happen. The fact it’s currently happening in a part of the world which thinks it is immune from this reality is just an ironic twist.

Watching the footage on Channel4 news. It doesn’t look real. Such destruction. Feel for everyone hit by this.

You also have to acknowledge the relative ease for the media to cover this compared to other disasters. Tibet is a bit trickier to get to.

I can’t comment on other regular news programmes, but Ch4 News does cover such events when they occur anywhere in the world. There is no good reason to ignore this just because it is California being hit.