The Los Angeles Fires seem to symbolize the great achievements of collectivist governance. It took decades to reach these Black Belt levels of incompetence: to weaponize the committees, neutralize the media, and to teach the people that fires are caused by hamburgers and stopped by solar panels.
Currently 150,000 people are still under evacuation orders in Los Angeles and some 10,000 buildings are estimated to have been destroyed. To twist the knife on the pain, some insurance companies have recently abandoned Californian clients due to a 1988 law called Proposition 103. The State government regulates price rises in insurance. It’s a form of price fixing. It means insurance companies can’t adjust their premiums to take the higher risks into account, so they do they only thing they can — stop offering insurance.
Then there is the irony that green activists have worked to stop fuel reduction burns. @MarioNawfal names the Sierra Club.
The Californian situation by Dennis Presiloski
In a form of Democrat maths — the LA mayor Karen Bass saved $18m from the fire department budget but the state lost $150 billion in damage (so far).
“The bluest people on the planet are going to flip vote red”
Adam Carolla points out that the areas that burnt were some of the wealthiest, most democrat-voting precincts in the country. “It’s about 80% Democrat” — who he predicts will flip red when they drown in regulations trying to rebuild.
What he doesn’t say is that these are often the most important donors who may abandon the party. It’s not the size of the votes that matter but the financial clout and cachet of the famous and wealthy that the Democrats will lose. (Though there will be 10 million people in LA watching this debacle and they might not actually need to have their own house burn down to get the point.)*
The people in the $20 million dollar mansions on the beach are going to be “knee deep” in regulations. The deep blue democrat fire victims are going to spend years trying to permits to rebuild their own homes and that will turn them into red voters. He names one couple that tried to get a permit to rebuild their home of 40 years on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). In the end they gave up and moved. He says the point that got to Bill Maher (the comedian who seems so much more conservative lately) was the three year epic he went through to set up his solar panels on his house in Beverley Hills. “He was strangled by the regulations, the overreach.” “That’s when he turned against the government”.
These are wealthy people who love their homes, he says. They love Malibu, they love the Palisades… there is going to be a whole bunch of rich people and they want to build as fast as they can. From the time they go in and fill in the first form, til the time they get delivery of the first load of wood on their property will be three years. [This Australian wonders if they will rebuild with wood. How does anyone defend a wooden house against embers during the Santa Ana winds? — Jo]*
Then there are the extras:
You want a swimming pool… it has to be double hulled in case it leaks into the water table. Carson Daily had to build a swimming pool like a modern day oil tanker. It’ll just cost $500,000 for a swimming pool.
He’s in a hotel room, evacuated from his home at the time he did this, and “language warning”, he doesn’t hold back:
“You guys all voted for Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles. You all voted for Gavin Newsom, and now you f**ing get what you get. Now that your house is on fire.“
He doesn’t think the coastal commission of California will even let people rebuild on the beach. “They are in the business of getting you to leave …”
Warning: his language is strong.
Accurate https://t.co/aS7f9mw5o6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2025
His prediction sounds outlandishly pessimistic, but Elon says “Accurate” and @StewMama71 agrees, saying: Only 25% of the houses burned in Malibu in 2018 Woolsey fire have been rebuilt. UPDATE: The Democrats could change this in five minutes, by dropping most of the regulations. But will they?*
Then there is the Oscar level Virtue Signalling:
Bureaucrats in California were so concerned about breaking glass ceilings they seemingly forgot their first priority.
Nothing quite sums up how far gone everything is, better than this — listen to the assistant fire chief who blames the man caught in a fire (that she can’t carry) for being in the wrong place:
LAFD Assistant Chief Kristine Larson:
“Am I able to carry your husband out of a fire? He got himself in the wrong place.” pic.twitter.com/BofTVr6dWP
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 9, 2025
Not only did the Assistant Chief of the LAFD say it — apparently other people edited that into a professional little promo clip. What were they all thinking?
Apparently of rainbows, and not fire hydrants and fuel loads.
*A few late additions this morning.
** The Rainbow hydrant photo is a Grok image “Satire”
Who does the woman in this video remind you of. Take note of the words and gestures:
https://www.newsweek.com/controlled-burns-california-forest-management-los-angeles-fires-2012492
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That clueless donkey reminds me of the last Demorat VP and like her this idiot couldn’t and shouldn’t run a chook raffle.
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I read that the Fire chief -Karen Bass sent a heap of fire equipment such as hoses, hose nozzles, fire hydrants, helmets, breathing masks etc to Ukraine as the fire department did not need them after her millions of dollars cuts and her DEI agenda (more female staff who did not need to be in the front line)
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Yeah, it (she) did. Now, for my rant…
Never let Gov Newsom off the hook.
HE was the one that tore down at least FOUR dams to virtue-signal to American Indians so they could fish for salmon, for God’s sake.
HE was the one who diverted federal funds to build more reservoirs so he could use the funds for the “Train to Nowhere” which is a black hole for $$$$$.
HE was the one who made the Central Valley like a desert for the sake of the environmentalist movement for a 3” fish (delta smelt).
I could go on and on, but you get the picture.
I was born in 1951 in LA, just a few miles away from the Griffith Park Observatory, just east of it.
My friends and I rode our bikes (after school) and watched Dodger Stadium get built.
I watched my beloved state be absolutely destroyed by Democrat politicians over those many years.
About 8 years ago I’d finally had enough and moved to the free state of Arizona. Best decision of my life. One of the first things I did was to buy a pistol. Does anywhere have any idea of hard that would be in CA?
I know, first hand, a lot of those neighborhoods that are now reduced to ashes. I used to have friends living there.
One more thing: most, if not all of those homes that burned to the ground were uninsured.
All the big insurers pulled out of CA, again, because of Newsome’s policies.
And I can’t let the CA legislature off the hook here. They happily went right along.
If anyone here is reading this still live in CA, get the hell out NOW if you don’t want to get screwed over for the rest of your lives.
Unless the voters of CA finally wake the hell up, they will continue to get it good and hard. The blue districts of CA *vastly* outnumber the red. Unless that changes there is no hope whatsoever. And I don’t see that happening unless these “leaders” are called to account. But I don’t see the groundswell necessary to do that.
Maybe it’s karma finally calling. So pay attention to her. Get out while you still can…
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Here’s an article on the insurances pulling out of CA
https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2025/01/10/insurance-industry-claps-back-at-kamalas-wildfire-claimsfalse-wrong-and-dangerous-n2184206
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Also, there’s this one…
https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2025/01/10/is-normal-the-the-2-at-the-la-mayors-office-is-suspended-because-of-an-fbi-investigation-n4935844
Yup..says it all.
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Aaaand, one more on their water storage…
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/01/firestorm_of_incompetence_in_los_angeles_water_company_admits_their_big_reservoir_to_fight_fires_was_bone_dry.html
Pretty in-depth look…
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While I agree with you about the stupidity of politicians I have to wonder why Americans invite this sort of disaster by building wooden houses? It would be much more sensible to build houses of bricks or concrete blocks which don’t burn.
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I wondered that too. David Evans (the other half) used to live in San Fran, and says “because they are all on the San Andreas fault line”. Wooden structures survive the shaking better than the concrete and brick. In the end the cracks mean they have to rebuild.
In Western Australia of course, we build with brick, because the houses stay cooler, there aren’t many quakes, and the termites would eat the wood…
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Many of those older homes, like in Pasadena, are heritage homes and many are historic landmarks.
Some have been formerly been designated as just that.
Pasadena is just east of downtown LA by about 10 miles. The Altadena fire is the one that burned many of those houses down.
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Seems somebody did build using something other than wood. Guess whose house is still standing?
21
A little blackened humour to sum up your comments.
https://youtu.be/fPBS5nprJ1M
00
Maui, the Blue Ridge Mountains around Asheville NC, and the now cindered area of LA, are all just about THE most primo real estate on the planet. (Total random coincidence.)
All three will likely be reoccupied by folk that can self insure and obtain private fire fighting.
Kinda’ like some people buy their own nuclear power plant.
And private police protection.
And their own private End of The World Luxury Survival Bunkers.
Because government is now incapable of taxing enough and making enough Byzantine regulations to provide basic services, fight Climate Change, and stop Donald Trump at the same time.
*Disclaimer:
Any implications contained in this comment are unimplied and unintended. And if they were they would be for recreational purposes only. Any conclusions implicated are the sole responsibility of the reader.
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Byzantine government lasted 10 centuries. The government of US states like California can’t hold a candle to them.
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In California, aren’t they all Basic Services?
10
Jo , a very clear explanation of what brought them to this situation .Those hyper wealthy people lived in fabulous luxury and thought they knew better than the plebs . They voted for this . They also voted for a maze of rules that means that they will be homeless for the next 5 years unless they have the cash to buy in another state . The insurance companies had already fled from California , cancelling many policies in the last 6 months . Seems there was a shortage of insurance companies who were willing to take on such reckless risk . Those hypocrites probably thought that all the rules and restrictions they voted for would only apply to the peasants . I hope they enjoy the taste of their own medicine !
About every 10 years we have a major bushfire / fire storm followed by a royal commission which reminds the authorities of the importance of fuel reduction burns . They try for a couple of years to keep up with fuel reduction burns and then the screeching and wailing against the practice starts up again and soon the fuel levels build up to the point where it is too dangerous to burn even in mild weather . Then the next firestorm is pretty much locked in . They never learn .
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The greenies stop cool burns and scrub clearing not by bans and protests but by manipulating and rewriting legislation, with the end result being it will take up to 3 years to get a burn off permit, so it doesn’t get done, or nature does it for them with predictable results.
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They most likely also thought they had a competent Fire Department who would turn up with sirens blaring and save the day.
How wrong they were.
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It’s all fun and games when you are voting for rules that stop ‘other people’ building and drive up the value of your property, eh? But it ends in tears when you now have to build under the same rules.
I feel for the small percentage of republicans voters. The climate lunatics, not so much.
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Great fire of London stuff
00
“You guys all voted for Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles. You all voted for Gavin Newsom, and now you f**ing get what you get. Now that your house is on fire.“
Maybe, but my gut feeling is that palms will be greased and permits will magically appear.
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I agree.
Different strokes for different folks.
Purely on the basis of wealth and influence.
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Apparently 71% of Pacific Palisades residents voted for Kamela.
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Serves them right.
Shame about the damage to nature though.
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The perfect (fire) storm . Orchestrated destruction , and the idiots in charge will pay the price this time . The outcome was always going to be this . The latest “great reset” event . Slowly then all of a sudden .
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I think many more Demorats will head to Florida and in time will also try to destroy that state as soon as they can.
That’s just the nature of these lefty extremist idiots and know nothings. And that’s also why they BELIEVE we need to waste trillions of $ ASAP and have no measurable change to the climate or extreme events, or SLR or Polar bears or polar ice caps etc or anything else.
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And in Florida they will come face to face with an average 15 Hurricanes a year. Which have been reclassified to Tropical storms so as not to frighten people away.
Texas to Illinois also get tornadoes. Others get blizzards. All get flooding.
I don’t think most Australians or Britons have much idea how dangerous the weather is in the US. In public swimming pools in Colarado, the lifeguard is watching his lightning detector, all of Colorado being roughly as high as Kosciousko. In winter temperatures of -40, you are risking your life going anywhere. There is even an inch of ice on the roads in Texas in Winter and the rain storms have to be seen to be believed. Lightning strikes are common in golf too. It’s a risk the spectators take at the US PGA.
The difference here is that it has hit ultra rich Democrat voters. And it’s all their fault.
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You have a choice of your house being burnt or quaked on the west coast, blown away in the midwest, or drowned, flooded and blown away on the southeast coast.
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All it takes is a bit of determination.
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North Dakota or Montana look good, although winter can be a bit brisk.
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I have a friend who just moved to Idaho. Same idea though closer to the three Pacific bordering states
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Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and parts of Oregon, if I recall correctly, known as “The American Redoubt.”
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I live in Montana – last year it was -35F (-37C) around this time in January.
It will be -4F Saturday (-20C)
I like it actually – It keeps the Californians away.
My house in Florida was hit by a hurricane in the 1980’s
My house in Wisconsin got hit by a tornado in the 1970’s
Been in Montana since 1992 – much better
Well, I suppose an asteroid could hit me here.
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Eight landfalls in one year is the max for the last 40 years that I’ve been a frequent evacuee, as my backyard is between 3 and 6 feet above sea level. 1.25 per year over cat 1 is the long term average. Tropical storms are tropical storms, and are usually more rain events that wind events though they do sometimes spawn tornedos. The classification has been stable for many years; you have to classify a single radar indicated gust in a thunderstorm to get to fifteen hurricanes; something a weather outfit that lies about temperature might do. (Sustained wind is the measure, and that which pushes storm surge, which is usually the biggest issue. Out local forecasts and weather coverage are spectacularly good, with state of the art and well trained people.
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Yes, that’s the new definition of a hurricane, it now has to make landfall to qualify. But the storm surges, the low lying areas, the winds, a storm does not have to make landfall to be disastrous. And everyone is prepared for it, but it’s like a tornado. Sooner or later it hits you. Australia has such storms too, but the entire Northern Territory has a population of only 250,000 people, so a small chance it hits anywhere significant. Not so in Florida where the population is booming and some of the houses are really on sand bars called islands. In Australia we have no such storms, no snow, no tornadoes, no low lying areas and no howling winds. I found the Chinooks in Colorado quite amazing, three days of howling 100km/hr wind every year on the season change to summer. Then all the snow was gone. Such a wind would destroy our cities.
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I once thought there couldn’t be any populace more stupid than Victoria, for continually voting back a leftist, socialist incompetent government. But then there’s California, with a population close to 40m.
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Yes, it’s amazing that both Sicktoria (Australia) and California continue to vote for woke Lunatic Left governments despite the extreme misery their incompetence, corruption and overspending causes.
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In view of this self inflicted disaster I believe the Californian Democratic Party should sort it out single handed.
Republican representatives need to decline having candidates for the next State Election.
Make sure all those dim witted Democrat voters are stuck with the disaster & the perpetrators of that disaster.
Why would any sane Republican want to inherit the total mess created by the idiotic Democrat administration and their idiotic, smug, know it all electorate. They say California is upward of 80% Democrat. Right that’s what they wanted, now let the whole lot marinate in the juices of their folly.
I guess voters with other values & beliefs will simply have to move elsewhere..
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Good idea. One repugnant site was that Newsome with his hair slicked back with his aviator sunglasses and clean pressed suit, looking like some mafia boss, talking on the phone getting into his oversized GMC with darkened bullet proof windows.
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He just oozes that slick car dealer look.
Who would buy a used car from him.
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looking like some mafia boss,
talkinglying about talking to Biden on the phone getting into his oversized GMFIFY
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IIRC he is Pelosi’s nephew
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Because they just love ‘free stuff’ and also the opposition is just a pale imitation of the real thing, so might as well have the real thing.
Things may have changed now though.
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Here’s the simple explanation of of what happens through lack of understanding & inability to see at least 10 minutes ahead of leftists policies:-
Mice die in mouse traps because they do not understand why the cheese is free. Just like socialism.
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As in Australia these lessons will never be learnt. A bit like living/building on a flood plain where everything will be great until the next inevitable flood occurs.
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The only compensation for this fire, which is similar to Australian circumstances, is that there is now a much lower chance of a similar fire happening in that area again for probably decades. We get the same in this country, when a very large “hot” fire razes through an area, the fuel reduction is enormous and can be enough to prevent fires for years, even decades, afterwards.
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Once someone kills you, you are safe from further threats? 😉
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Not quite the same.
90
No, but you wont notice
30
The number quoted when I was young was seven, seven years before the next big fire. Context was NSW Blue Mountains.
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Yep, grew up in the Blue Mts and it was 9-10 years. Blue Mtns had bad fires in’57, ‘68 and ‘77
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Just imagine the damage Newsome could do if he ever got to Washington.
He’s completely trashed Commiefornia.
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To paraphrase Jonathan Swift,
The man made climate change cabal are bred up from their youth in the art of proving, by words multiplied for the purpose, that white is black, and black is white, according as they are paid. To this cabal all the rest of the people are slaves.
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Believe me, this began decades ago. Read my post, above
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Are you suggesting Newsom is more incompetent than Biden’s staff!
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Are there levels below incompetent like above infinite?
30
That is a pretty fire hydrant isn’t it!
Red – the colour of Karen Bass’ face from embarrassment over her bungling incompetence.
Green – the colour of nausea from the residents who backed her.
Yellow – the colour of the spines of those that could have stood up to budget cuts and the DEI BS.
Blue – well, it ain’t water that’s for sure!
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Fire hydrant…I thought it was a large sex aid? California style, 101.
How wrong can you be? The colours were right, maybe it was the ring of bolts that should have changed my observation, then again, it is California. I should have seen that it was meant to be a hydrant, water gushes out, etc.
My bad.
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That hydrant highlights that the people running the fire dept have absolutely no idea about the importance of their remit to control fires and how irrelevant their ideas of equality are when it comes to saving properties and lives.
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The current fire is in fact not the worst fire Los Angeles has ever seen.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/los-angeles-worst-california-wildfires/
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Tony Heller’s been publishing photos of San Francisco after a majority of the city burned to the ground following an earthquake in the early 1900’s. Mother nature can be a real bitch sometimes.
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In either San Francisco or Los Angeles the population will have grown exponentially.
Population will explode over more than 100 years due not to natural growth but when Government NUTTERS encourage un planned immigration they are courting disaster.
Looks like they got the disaster they invited in thru the back door over the years.
Sanctuary cities & states!!!!
Watch out we’ll have the ALP copying the Democrats soon!!!
20
One thing that stood out to me was the abundance of 100,000L swimming pools but not one sprinkler system, one old chap however decided rather foolishly to stay behind and fight the fire with buckets scooped out of his jacuzzi at first then his pool, he managed to save his home and the neighbours as well while the rest of the street was ash.
The trick is not to depend on an electric pump unless it is powered by your own generator.
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I saw that guy. Not sure how he did it though against those flames. Not sure I would have attempted it. Would be interesting to know more details.
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He wasn’t young, he had white hair but was a past Beach volleyball champ.
He succeeded against the odds.
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Been through a few bushfires. Very few houses burn down immediately after the fire front unless windows break from direct flame impingement. Ember penetration, often into the roof space or underneath, or on timber balconies set the houses on fire. Usually plenty of time to extinguish these with buckets and mops if you find them before they grow into full on fires. The house is usually a safe shelter from the fire front.
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A swimming pool and a decent diesel firefighting pump can work wonders as well.
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They outlawed Honda generators.
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I just read a copied article on another blog that said part of the problem (apart from the massive mismanagement of the water systems in LA) was that a lot of houses have domestic sprinkler systems. They are great if the fire starts inside the house but if the fire burns the house from the outside, they are just wasting water.
I don’t know how many have that feature. I wouldn’t think it would be enough to shift the blame from the other.
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Video: Ben Shapiro talks about DEI and its impact on the LA Fire Department.
The focus was and is on DEI, not building an effective fire department. He doesn’t blame the firefighters but the inappropriate focus on DEI and not firefighting and planning, such as lack of water for fire hydrants.
Even though lack of planning and demolition of multiple dams caused a lack of water in the fire hydrants, there was no shortage of effort painting woke rainbows on said hydrants:.
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The shift in focus from fire fighting to homeless in LA has worked a treat. Less fire fighting and more homeless,.
The emerging problem for the LA Mayor, Bass, is that the new homeless also fund her political ambition. The wealthy funders will have different priorities now.
The other big blue State, New York, is also heading for the rocks with rolling blackouts in their future.
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It was the previous mayor, Rick Caruso, who cut the firefighting budget to pay for additional policing. Not that it would have made a difference when the Santa Ana winds were at their peak and conditions were to dangerous for manual firefighting.
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Yes, everything is the fault of those awful conservatives who reject progress and want water in their fire hydrants.
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“It was the previous mayor, Rick Caruso”
I think you’ll find that the previous mayor was Eric Garcetti, a Democrat Simon, from July 1 2013 to December 12, 2022.
Try harder Simon in the details.
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Mr. Simon: You mean mayoral candidate, oh misinformed one?
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The latest estimate is a cost of $150Billion for the Los Angeles fires. Remarkably only ten dead.
I would compare the loss to the cost of making weapons of death for Ukraine, with a million people dead. Death and destruction in another country to safeguard the people of that country. Really? Current estimates at $174Billion to September 2024. Plus say another $50Billion at the last minute. And this all goes to American companies.
But FEMA is broke. The dams are empty. No preparation at all for fire. And no funds to rebuild.
It all went to assist illegal border crossings destroying the very social fabric of America and Europe for that matter.
One person’s tragic loss is another’s profit.
Are the US government and California governments sure of their priorities? This fire is a wakeup call that the globalists do not care tuppence for Americans. Even rich ones.
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Plus, I saw yesterday Biden has said the feds will pay for it all (whatever that means in detail). A handy gift for incoming Trump. Almost as good as Covid. But the US will just write it up I suppose. Debt doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore.
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They’d better get that cash sent out before Trump’s inaug.
But I understand Biden doing this. This is an existential event for all Democrat politicians who depend upon the liberal West-coast rich. And that’s a LOT of politicians.
The conservatives among us will be pushing for a condition that says that no fed-gov money flows to LA until all North Carolina hurricane victims have been made whole. Problem is, NC voters aren’t Biden’s best friends.
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Only 10 days left, can govt move that fast, I doubt it.
80
And for deportation of illegals in the US, I read that 95% of Republicans support it. And 77% of independents and of Democrats.
As you suggest, it’s all the doing of politicians, like our communist Adam Bandt who said “we tell them what they want to hear and when we get power, we do what we like”. Too many politicians on both sides think like this. To be a politician, you have to have no convictions. And that defines too many. Criminals who have not been caught yet.
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If California were a country, it would have the sixth largest economy in the world. It would probably be much bigger than that if so many resources weren’t wasted on insane Leftist and woke policies
https://www.forbesindia.com/article/explainers/top-10-largest-economies-in-the-world/86159/1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_California?wprov=sfla1
It is commonly quoted as the fifth largest economy but the Wikipedia article says GDP was US$4.08 trillion and Forbes shows IMF data which puts India in fifth place with US$4.27 trillion so wokeness is clearly having an impact and causing it to slide.
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I predict planning authorities will get rid of the regulations for the rebuild. They will have to, no choice. They don’t want to upset their votes.
Look at what they do for Wind and Solar factories here, enviro regulations don’t seem to be an issue when it’s for something they want.
My parents have a property with hills giving exceptional views to the mountains, premium site for a house in the local area, fantasy style stuff. However, under the LEP it is classified as class 1 agricultural land, no building. (False grading, its actually more like class 5, poor yellow podzolic soils better suited to eucalypt trees).
However, a Melbourne company has requested to us several times to put a battery installation there on about 5 acres of it from memory. That would be industrial land use on class 1 ag land. Apparently, according to them, the LEP is not a problem at all and it would go ahead instantly. Clearly they know more than we do and so I assume the very green council does not object. (Won’t happen while we are alive).
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“I predict planning authorities will get rid of the regulations for the rebuild. They will have to, no choice.”
That’s going to be tough to do.
The bane of the Progressive Regulatory State tends to be grandfathered exceptions. They HATE them, and they live to cancel them out at every possible chance.
Clearing that coast – even of the Malibu rich enclaves – is going to be too tempting for the ultra-environmentalists.
80
The authorities will more likely increase regulations to ensure all new house are totally fire-proof and ultra expensive and with no fire insurance possible who but a handful of super rich will be able to rebuild.
Lots of empty cleared land to buy from destitute previous owners.
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Certainly that is the Australian experience. Leave the forest as is for the same fire risk and demand houses less fire prone at enormous expense to the owner.
40
I follow James Woods (the actor, conservative and Trump supporter) on Twitter. A few days ago he thought his house in Pacific Palisades was gone. He was one of the lucky ones.
James Woods
@RealJamesWoods
Twitter link for short video of his house after the fire
Incidentally, 71% of the Pacific Palisades voters voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential election.
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I just read, about 10 minutes ago that his house is still standing.
He posted it on X, although I didn’t read it myself. It was part of a news report.
50
Video
https://x.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1877851867017015355
00
That’s sort of the point, isn’t it?
If you weren’t in the wrong place at the wrong time, you wouldn’t need any emergency services.
191
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/albanese-seizes-on-los-angeles-fires-to-argue-case-for-climate-action-20250110-p5l3b8
To rusted-on climate change fanatics like Albanese, blaming the LA inferno on climate change:
There has always been wildfires in areas like this. It is a risk that comes with the territory. This current catastrophy is down to an incessant change from common sense to DEI wokeness.
310
Albo is utterly shameless.
230
Perhaps he should be arguing for 20m separation between dwellings in new developments. Frame houses are no different in fire containment than trees on bush blocks.
Photos from Pacific Palisades show between house distances totally unable to prevent the spread of fire from one to the next.
Unless you build with rammed earth and steel roofing and that might even be iffy.
90
Let’s look at the facts rather than pushing the blame onto current officials.
Humans have substantially extended fire seasons in all biomes on Earth: https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-5606101/v1
Fires in California are getting bigger, faster, and hotter: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk5737
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No they havent, they have simply occupied more real estate and are more exposed to cyclic features of nature.
190
If you stopped to think for a moment you might realize that it’s Winter in LA right now … nowhere remotely close to fire season.
80
And yet there is fire. Fire season is all year now in Southern California’s climate.
111
The Santa Ana windstorms are recorded for over 5000 years. The Spanish conquistadors were warned of the winter fire risk by the local clans – and recorded their comments. Old felled trees with a lifespan up to 300 years measured from the cross-sections of the trunks show hard evidence of fire (which these trees had managed to survive) on a semi-intermittent basis of about 20 years per fire.
Santa Ana windstorms are a result of very simple geographical parameters and one simple law of physics – fluids, including air, move from high pressure areas to low pressure areas. Use Google Earth and a bit of nous to grasp this. Don’t try the evasive lie about increasing wind strengths without actual data.
None of which is anything to do with atmospheric CO2 levels, now or 5000 years ago.
70
Garbage.
Dry weather can happen any time, and if they had adequate water, and sufficient people, these fires would have easily been under control. It was not an exceptionally hot day, and they had rainfall not so long ago.
The problem was entirely water management, and land management.
Nothing to do with wind, or climate, or “fire season” … but mismanagement by humans.
40
The arsonist is the prime culprit here. But part of public service is to review performance of assigned functions – like fire prevention and fire fighting.
Humans have really liked fire for some time – one could say the use of fire is the basis of human civilisation. Not surprising we bring more of it
Poor fire prevention contributes to bigger, faster, hotter fires.
50
like this: https://actionaid.org/stories/2019/42for42-fire-trucks-protest
10
So Simon, have you forgotten that humans worked out how to back burn, clear undergrowth, make fire breaks and use water to put out fires centuries ago. Logic would suggest that if you are so scared of climate change that you’d take even more action to mitigate against the dangers. No?
The way leftists respond to the supposed threat of climate change would be like responding to the threat of earthquakes by banning earthquake-proof houses while trying to stop the movement of tectonic plates.
170
California does this stuff better than most. These fire conditions were so extreme, nothing could be done once fire hit suburban areas. No fire break is wide enough for embers carried on 40 knot winds.
013
lol. The fire chief doesn’t even know how the hydrants work! But you go on believing ….
100
Read my reply to your nonsense at 19.3.2.1.1.
10
Simon hasn’t forgotten … he never had any idea in the first place.
The stuff he spouts is whatever clueless concept he just thought up, or what came through in the talking points memo. When challenged, he shrugs, moves on, and goes back to making stuff up.
50
“Let’s look at the facts rather than pushing the blame onto current officials.”
That was a losing statement from the start… Lack of backburn and other fire mitigation work, lack of water to fight this fire, the whole idea of putting out small fires means they don’t burn the fuel load every year…
“These fire conditions were so extreme, nothing could be done once fire hit suburban areas.”
That’s the only bit you said that makes sense.
The officials enforce rules that make the fires unnatural, that’s why the cycle is like it is.
60
NO.
Read my reply to Simon at 19.3.2.1.1.
The Santa Ana winter winds are a regular geographically caused event, with high velocity added to the air flow as it is pushed through the narrow canyons and little valleys of the Palisade hills and small mountain spine by the high pressure cell in the eastern desert area.
If there has been a drier year or two, the bush is tindered (as happens in Aus here with monotonous regularity) and ignition can occur from dry lightning, trees falling across live cables, or even someone’s blowtorch. Of course 100kph winds will carry burning embers 2 – 3 km ahead and start new spots.
As happens here with annoying, monotonous regularity, the argument over back burning (the Americans call it brushwork, I think) always results in detrital forest buildup which explodes when dried out and then lit.
40
“You want to see someone who looks like you”, no stupid, I want to see someone who can haul a firehose to my burning house, don’t care what colour or gender they are, they just need to be able to do the job.
What’s the bet all the requirements to be a firie were reduced so the genders could make the grade.
230
The Climate Realism show checks out the Los Angeles fires and definitely NOT caused by the Demorats CC fantasy.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/01/10/live-at-1-p-m-eastern-la-fires-not-caused-by-climate-change-the-climate-realism-show-140/
90
Interesting statement: “The speed at which the fires spread caught firefighters and residents off guard”
But what happened to their forecasting? Other comments say that the Santa Ana winds come regularly, even annually. Surely they can be forecast, maybe even reliably??
From Wikipedia:
“Typically, about 10 to 25 Santa Ana wind events occur annually.[5] A Santa Ana wind can blow from one to seven days, with an average wind event lasting three days. “
110
Forecasts that were available (via Chiefio) –
“Interesting reading:
(before the fires)
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-national-weather-service-warns-of.html
(after the fires started)
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2025/01/did-la-fire-disaster-have-to-happen.html “
70
He’s a comparison for our stateside contributors. Tony Abbott was the Prime Minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015 and represented the seat of Warringah. Maybe except for the time he was PM ( so roughly equivalent of a state governor in the US) he was an active member of his local volunteer fire brigade. All the time as an MP, or sub minister he very often jumped on the truck and was on the end of the hose fighting fires in his local area. Can you imagine Gavin Newscum doing that??
340
My brother was a member of the same volunteer Rural Fire Brigade that Abbott was in (and remains a member of). True conservatives are never afraid of hard work, volunteer work or charity work.
340
Tony was one of the volunteers who attended a fire in our valley – I think it was in 2020. We will always be very grateful.
230
One of two available Canadair CL215 water bombers taken out by a stray drone, plane suffered a fair sized hole in the left wing leading edge.
110
There should be a death penalty for arsonists who cause death and destruction.
Firefighter reveals two men were caught on camera lighting fire just before Palisades blaze erupted in LA
90
You’re right as rain!
60
It is interesting that the homeowners in worst areas burnt out are the very ones whose are rich enough to be able to rebuild their homes without needing to claim on their fire insurance. 💰💰💰
Not that there will be any Insurance companies willing to pay out a single red cent to the victims of these horror fires. 👹👹🔥🔥
50
The single biggest contributing factor to the devastation was the wind.
Jo did mention this in Thursday’s article and it bears repeating. The dry Santa Ana winds blowing from inland caused wind gusts of up to 160km/hr in Los Angeles at the time of the Palisades fire. A common rule of firefighting is that the bushfire’s rate of forward advance is roughly 10% of the wind speed. At a predicted rate of advance of 16km covered in an hour there would be little chance of containing such a blaze, especially considering inaccessible terrain and when the effect of embers is considered. This is where the high wind has a triple-whammy effect:
1) The fire front moves faster than ground units can keep up. 2) Firefighting aircraft are typically prohibited from trying to fly in the dangerous low-level conditions with strong winds. 3) Even if a pilot decides to risk the mission the water drops are usually too inaccurate in strong cross-winds to be effective.
There is also a limit on most firefighting aircraft from operating at night.
It does not seem possible to have stopped the fire from impacting on the suburbs under those conditions.
Whether the majority of houses could have been saved even after the fire arrived there is a different question. The wind could whip up the spread of fire between houses just as easily. After reports of hydrants going dry there is a question over the local authority’s preparation for suppressing a long line of fire contact in the Pacific Palisades. I’m just saying that DEI didn’t make the wind happen.
110
No, of course DEI didn’t make it happen. It was a long list. But when you prioritise colour and gender over competence, merit and training and attitude, equipment and water and fire prevention and forward planning, you get a totally predictable disaster. The conditions are common and the wind direction is limited.
As if no one knew there was no water in the hydrants? And no knew there was no water in the Palisades dam? Or that they had given away their equipment and were defunded?
But no one was complaining about the obvious risk in these winds. Even the insurance companies walked away, especially after the government legislated that they could not increase payments for the higher risk. Insurance companies could see it coming. Any experienced fireman could as well. These areas were uninsurable, which should be a hint.
The only hope was to stop the fire early, man lit or accidental. Once it is 900C and moving at 16km/hr it is unstoppable. Only a wide firebreak and teams to handle spot fires has any hope. How many Australian suburbs would handle a 100mph dry wind and an established fire front? They will need parks and boulevards as firebreaks when they rebuild. Even terraced slopes.
DEI is only a symptom of a general malaise where incompetence is applauded as progressive. And no fish were harmed in the unnatural dam. And the water was returned to the creeks to run free to the ocean. Too bad about all the houses.
220
As for DEI, in the choosing of people to match jobs and looking at the promotional photographs, who decided large lesbians would make great firemen?
170
‘As for DEI, in the choosing of people to match jobs and looking at the promotional photographs, who decided large lesbians would make great firemen?”
…or Captains of Navy research ships?
80
The Santa Anna Winds are natural. They have been part of California’s natural climate for a very, very, long time. The main difference now is that there are people and people’ things in the way.
170
Australia is a land also of droughts and flooding rains and bushfires. We know. Those are our eucalypts. We have exported bushfires to California, Greece, Spain, Israel. On the other side of the vast Pacific, we get the opposite weather. Alternating rain and drought.
But we do not have America’s vast Western mountain ranges, the Rockies and the Sierras.
These create exceptional non cyclonic winds of cyclonic strength. Unlike most other countries, in my experience. And tornadoes which are also almost unique to North America.
The Santa Anna winds would unroof most of Melbourne, certainly the old Victorian houses. These sit like caps on old brick structure, mainly for the rain as we get no snow and big loads. But a very high wind will lift them, especially flatter roofs. The old roofs used to be 30 tons of slate, but now are light galvanized iron.
After the disaster in Darwin in 1974, Cyclone Tracey, roofs are now tied with steel cables to foundations. But such winds are common in various places in the US, so much they are taken for granted. In fact the imported Asian tumbleweed grows to immense size and races before the Chinooks across the high plains. The ones in the cowboy movies are tiddlers. These barbed demolition balls will strip cars.
Anyway, the strength of the wind and the predictable direction of the wind are both factors which should have been understood in the Pacific Palisades for a long time. No roofs blew off. But once a fire is established, only a large break will stop it.
What is hard to understand is that this was all predictable. Which is why the houses were uninsurable. A bit like those houses on the sand cliffs along the coast. They are doomed without retaining walls and proper wave breaks. We have the same thing in Australia but some people think the government should fix the problem. The government stops private owners from fixing the problem. And the visitors to the area are against beach reinforcement. It’s a recipe for rolling disaster.
It is starting to look like this was all avoidable. And the usual conflict between private builders, councils and the Greens. With predictable disaster as the city decided it would spend the money somewhere else on progressive ideas. Like housing for illegals as with all the FEMA cash. And another example of how elected officials decide to spend your money on their progressive ideas and not on the people who paid the money or the common purposes for which it was collected. Public servants playing as if they are the new Medici family.
160
Bass has sacked Crowly (From the Daily Mail)
30
“Yes”, “No” or “Maybe”?
“BREAKING: LA Mayor FIRES Fire Chief…or Did She?”
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2025/01/10/breaking-la-mayor-fires-fire-chief-n3798699
Read it all and marvel!
10
Every climate change believer is blaming climate change for the fires. That’s okay, I expect it. More interesting is their solution to these fires, “turn the temperature down”.
Nothing else comes to mind. Can you imagine being so inept at thinking? For the argument, I will grant yes, climate change caused these fires. So what will we do about the fire?
Trillions of dollars spent for no reduction in the steady increase of co2. Keep doing the same thing? Nothing else? Seems not.
People are insufferably stupid.
180
Yes and no. “Trillions of dollars spent for no reduction”. Of course. But the money goes somewhere. There’s a whole ecosystem of grifters living on this river of cash, starting with the UN. Do they know it is useless? Of course, but that’s not their problem.
We Australians Federally gift $42Billion a year to improve the lives, specifically of aborigines suffering in the dirt in the outback. that’s enough to give a Million dollars tax free cash every year to every aborigine in the Northern Territory. They would be the richest people in Australia. But they are still sitting in the dirt. And everyone knows it. So like Climate Change cash, it all goes somewhere.
210
That’s certainly true of the elites but they are an minority in terms of absolute numbers. It’s really only the urban counties who vote blue, especially up north. The rural areas vote red. Trump flipped 10 working class counties. One has to wonder how many legal voters actually voted blue? California elections are notorious for “irregularities.”
Then you got the brain washed from the cradle, and those who just want free stuff. Well, ” now (they) ******* get what you get.”
90
Hi Dave ~~ here is how you can help all of you mates in the US….
An Australian CFA firefighter, prepared an external sprinkler-system for his home just prior to our 2009 Victorian Black Saturday Firestorms.
Forward this to your mates and network across the US who live near forests, bushland and high fuel loads.
Video – CFA firefighter saves his home and family from Firestorm
Cheers
Graham
10
Apocalypse Still Unspooling
Who knew that the best way to convert Utopian Woke Democrats back into a reality-based thought system would be to burn their houses down?
100
A definitely well organiser “fuster”!!! –
60 fire truck from Oregon have to pass emissions testing before they are allowed at the fires!!!
Reckoning is that they won’t pass
210
Wow – That is so funny. First time this year that I spontaneously erupted into laughter.
70
LA only has clean fires – no dirty polluting fires in LA. I wonder if the CO2 released is virtuous or bad variety.
120
Later
With California’s vehicle emission regulations they might even be confiscated for illegal entry!
50
It seems they still don’t get how idiotic they are and the world is looking on.
60
The smoke and toxins from 27,000 acres of fires at sub 10% containment can’t compare to the risk from the truck exhausts, which would be pretty clean anyway.
Gotta save the planet, one ridiculous way at a time, until we have destroyed the planet!
20
Here’s the large female fire chief passing the buck If that’s not a sexist expression.
“My stance on this is, when a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water,” Crowley answered when asked about the NYT report. “We don’t control the water supply. Our firefighters are there to protect lives and property and to make sure that we’re properly trained and equipped. That’s my position on this. So, if there’s no water, I don’t know how the water gets to the hydrants.”
So the firewimen had no idea that there was no water in the fire hydrants? And she has no idea anyway of how the water gets there.
Not her problem.
Must not be wasting too much time on drills, live practice and training then. Nor checking the readiness of basic fire fighting equipment, like fire hydrants. Only dry runs then.
Fire them all. Figuratively.
120
In Australia at least, businesses have to pay for regular ‘inspections’ of our mandated fire fighting equipment. It seems in Los Angeles, no one in the fire brigade bothers to check if the fire hydrants work? Must have been just unlucky?
50
Apparently the fire department cancelled the annual testing of fire hydrants in 2024 to save money.
190
And donated fire fighting equipment to Ukraine!
120
This is something I would expect from Blackout with respect to electricity coming out of wall sockets.
80
They just connect the hoses to the hydrants and voila, the water magically appears, it’s above her pay grade to be any more aware.
60
To be fair although the reservoirs were a bit low to start with, when PG&E shut off the power, it was the final nail in the coffin, pumps refilling the hilltop tanks just stopped running.
30
It can be done –
“Getty Villa Used Mitigation and Preparedness to Save Itself from Fire; Will Newsom Get the Memo?”
https://redstate.com/jenniferoo/2025/01/10/getty-villa-used-fire-mitigation-and-preparedness-to-save-itself-from-fire-when-will-newsom-get-the-memo-n2184202
100
I picked up the same story. The Getty is amazing. Although the author seems to sneer at their expenses when it is only what you would do in an area famous for such fires.
80
Just goes to show, women can be functional in important roles, the Getty museum obviously had ground sprinklers and they used them to great effect on Tuesday morning, giving everything a good dousing.
I wonder if they had their own water and backup generators too.
40
Against all the odds, the amazing and incredibly valuable Getty Museum up high on the dunes was entirely saved.
This was how they did it..
“Extensive brush-clearing over the last year, Fleming said, had been completed with the knowledge that fire is a way of life in Los Angeles, and that the region’s frequent periods of drought made a massively destructive fire inevitable. The museum had already pruned landscaping that might catch fire and made sure tree canopies were high off the ground. Low-lying brush had been significantly thinned. The grounds were irrigated Tuesday morning.
Another fire mitigation tool: Firebreaks and vegetation gaps. These could be naturally occurring features or man-made features that allow a fire to be stopped. Also, building and infrastructure design can make a difference. I have been to both of the museum’s campuses, and they are impeccably designed and structured, not just for beauty, but to incorporate these two tools.
And Fleming employed one of the most vital tools: Emergency planning. The Trust’s emergency response procedures were strategically thought out and well-timed.”
Plus you can be sure their fire equipment worked. Including the water supply.
200
Govenor Ron DeSantis on the LA wildfires:
….and this apt rejoinder, quoted from the Comments: (emphasis mine)
140
The people I have known in the Fire Brigade were bored. They worked out all day, practiced all day and hopefully they had no job to do. It was a strange existence, being eternally ready to move quickly with skill and equipment and stop fires fast. Almost over trained.
In the US they are used for odd jobs, like rescuing cats in trees. Just keeping busy on city work.
There is ONLY one job. Put out fires. And be fully ready to do so at any time, night and day.
Then to hear the fire chief say she did not know the fire hydrants had no water just shocked me. What are they doing all day? What sort of excuse is it that there was no water and she had no idea who to call about the water? Not her problem? It’s a two pot mix, fire + water. There is nothing else.
Now that really deserves some sort of prize. Like our Police commissioner in charge of all Victorian fire relief coordination on the worst day of a deadly state wide fire and she went to dinner at the North Melbourne. A woman has to eat you know. Wouldn’t sandwiches do?
But this one wins. No water from the hydrants and in any event, no idea who to call. 10,000 homes destroyed and 10 lives lost but not her problem. Someone else’s fault.
151
“What are they doing all day when there is no fire?”
Maybe they did the rainbow paintjobs on the hydrants, I’d like to think not but what were they doing.
60
Pretty fire hydrants. Pretty useless. It’s not like a fire hydrant has any other job than to provide water for fires. Otherwise they were perfectly functional.
40
Aren’t fire hydrants rather popular with dogs.
50
Former Victorian Police chief commissioner Christine Nixon admits she has “learned a lot of lessons” from the Black Saturday bushfires that claimed the lives of 173 people.
Victoria’s Bushfires Royal Commission released its final report on Saturday, and found Ms Nixon, who recently quit as head of the Victorian bushfire recovery authority, had a “hands-off” style of leadership on Black Saturday.
The report found the actions of emergency chiefs during last summer’s deadly bushfires to be at times both “inadequate” and “confused”, and criticised Ms Nixon’s conduct on Black Saturday, finding she made an “error of judgement” in going out to dinner at a North Melbourne pub as the fires raged.
The report also expressed dismay at Ms Nixon’s failure to mention it when initially giving evidence, but stopped short of finding that she “deliberately” misled the commission.
Ms Nixon admitted that she made mistakes.
50
Our own version of Karen Bass.
This is serious stuff, the Black Saturday fires, King Lake and elsewhere.
40
Christine Nixon, fat, female and functionless.
60
As Ayn Rand wrote “you can ignore reality but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality”.
180
I don’t think the DEI hire has much time left in her job
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14272935/fire-chief-kristin-crowley-fired-mayor-karen-bass-humiliated.html
30
But see # 31!!
00
Looking at news reports on the LA fires gives insight into the perfect storm of Democrat incompetence.
Biden trying to make a coherent sentence about water supply in LA.
Newson unable to explain why the hydrants had no water.
Bass cutting FD budget to focus on homeless; now has more homeless and less to burn.
Crowley having no clue where water comes from to flow out of fire hydrants or not. Maybe the water fairy.
It appears NetZero has been achieved in LA in the task of emergency management. Wall-to-wall incompetence.
If you live in Australia, make certain you have a ready supply of water independent of the mains service and a way to get that water under pressure to anything that can burn on your property.
The atmospheric moisture is building over central Australia but it is currently less than last year. The east coast appears to be well catered for from the perspective of atmospheric water.
70
In Los Angeles, the situation is dire,
Where anyone’s home may catch fire,
As the powers that be,
Are unable to see,
The protection that citizens require.
160
It seems California was a red state until the ’80’s when increasing Latino immigration caused the blue migration, it’ll be interesting to see what happens after this debacle.
50
This fits here (IMO)
“a crisis of competence”
https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/a-crisis-of-competence
This on all fronts –
“R.V. Jones “Most Secret War”
Around about 1930
“T.C. Keeley was my tutor and in addition to physics he offered wisdom.He warned us that if another war broke out there would be s disastrous period for six months while those who had reached high positions on inadequate abilities in peacetime would have to be replaced”
60
This goes with that
“Lessons From The Los Angeles Fires
There are a number of specific lessons we can draw from the Los Angeles fires, but the over-arching one is that Democrats are no longer capable of governing. Let’s look at some of the specific lessons first, and then let Bernie Sanders demonstrate why he and his party should never be put in charge of anything again. And then we’ll close with a couple of brief market notes. ”
More at
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2025-01-10/lesson-los-angeles-fires
30
FWIW
There is a very salty rant on this which anyone interested can find as
“Ok, So Over On This Side…”
at market-ticker
20
Oh!
“If Women Ran The World”
“@Oilfield_Rando – Los Angeles has more lesbians attacking each other than a field hockey tournament”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2025/01/10/if-women-ran-the-world-82/
40
FWIW
Check how long that fire reservoir has been empty!
“The Cement Pond”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2025/01/10/the-cement-pond/
40
We need to think positive here and be thankful that all those beachfront houses will no longer be submerged by the rising sea level.
90
There is a great lesson here for Australia. I remember the last horror bushfire season there was such discussion blaming climate change and the fact that we hadn’t built enough wind turbine quickly enough. Any pushback that suggested failure to back burn or issues with our fire services were swamped by the climate boogeyman narrative. It’s amazing how the narrative changes if you get conservatives in charge federally.
In America post Trump its like they can see the real villains the bureaucrats and alarmists who create the tinderbox environments that turn the situation into the devasting bonfires that follow. It shows me the genuine change that can occur so quickly with the right people running the country.
Yes there are still some media who relish the opportunities to exploit these bushfire tragedies to validate their climate change claims but it seems such comments are muffled and falling on deaf ears.
The freedom in America to blame the bureaucrats and climate alarmists and lefties who instal these virtue signaling peanuts into power is refreshing and exhilarating and i hope that we take the step at the upcoming federal election to get a similar outcome here.
10
Surprising good news amongst the rubble (albeit tragic for those who lost their lives, and likely the number is going to rise) yet only 11 lives have been lost in fires of this magnitude. Amazing
10
A tribute to Modernity, even with failed preparation.
00
Last post, then i’m going to STFU, but Santa Ana winds are the devil, always have been …
50
Pranshu Verma, Will Oremus and Trisha Thadani.. are blaming Musk for everything. Apparently he spreads lies over Twitter about the fires and who is to blame, and is generally a nasty person with false claims and racism.
“As flames have engulfed large swaths of Los Angeles, Elon Musk has been inundating his 212 million followers with posts casting blame for the blazes on Democrats and diversity policies, amplifying narratives that have taken hold among far-right activists and Republican leaders, including President-elect Donald Trump…He downplayed the role of climate change, placing blame on individual female firefighters of colour and lesbian firefighters, including publishing their names and faces.”
What they are really horrified about is that he has 212million followers, more coverage than their darling politicians, and more reaction than the Governor’s ‘rapid-response’ propaganda team.
““If people don’t trust their government, but the government is saying you are in an evacuation zone and need to evacuate people, people might not do”.. what they are told!
..and then they go on to run down Twitter since Musk bought it. Its all so pleasing to read, so good to see, the Left is panicking and lashing out like a two-year-old having a tantrum! Sydney Morning Herald at its best!
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/elon-musk-blames-female-firefighters-of-colour-for-la-fires-20250111-p5l3im.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true
10
I’d get a ticket to Australia tomorrow and bend a knee to Jonova (she’s certainly already attached) if it weren’t for the crocodiles, snakes, spiders, and poisonous brush in Australia. I’m akin to you folks there.
30
Hi Jo,
I have also tried to “break through the glass ceiling” on bushfire | wildfire OPS PLANS here in Australia for the past 20 years.
Nothing changes….
Here is a great testament to Australian ingenuity, courtesy of CFA firefighter Trevor Vienet.
Trevor prepared a DIY home-protection, external sprinkler-system before the 2009 Victorian Black Saturday Firestorms ~~ thus saving his home and family.
Video of Trevor’s home – before and during Black Saturday Firestorm
A Proposal
Could you post his video in a small article yourself — recall that the Grampians bushfires are still active, and summer is not even half over yet.
This gives others time to prepare their homes too.
Cheers
Graham
40
Hi Graham, it’s very interesting. Can we get more detail? How did he power the pump, how many litres per minute of water (and fuel) did his system use, how far around the house were the trees already cleared. How close to the house did things burn. How long did it take the fire to burn past him. People have to make a life or death decision to stay or go…
But if they are going to rebuild wooden homes in the US I’m sure many will want these details. Those with beachfront 20 million dollar mansions could have bought a $20k generator and just pumped ocean water surely… (or out of their pool, but is one pool enough)?
40
It should be noted that targetted preemptive sprinkler systems can incorporate a flow rate that is boggololingly far lower than the mindless amounts of water used to retard a fire once it has manifested ie, when an object an object or a ‘thing’ has definitely caught fire.
Advocacy for a sprinkler system that is ‘able’ to keep walls damp or/and wet is all that is needed…. according to my theory of fire insurance evasion…
Or as said,
30
At least in our case … the flow rate from external roof sprinklers is open ended. The gutters (when cleanish) will drain down into the main take that supplies the water pump. The only loss would be evaporation and although that’s not insignificant … it probably would be the least of your problems during a fire.
Keeping the walls damp, dunno … they are brick so they won’t burn anyhow. I think the biggest danger (in my case) would be fire getting inside the roof frame … where it is all pine beams and that’s what worries me. The interior walls in this house are clad with asbestos … fibro, your friend in a fire! 🤨
30
** Attention ***
This comprehensive information about successful external home sprinkler systems comes from RAMONA CA.
Invented | designed by Joseph Mitchell, his system is known as WEEDS – Wind-Enabled Ember Dousing System.
Here are links to;
1. His business website, a consultancy where he designs a system suitable for you specific home, terrain and vegetation types, etc, and
2. A PDF file with full details about his successes. ** This is a MUST-READ DOCUMENT! **
As an aside ~~ Knowing the deadly history of California Wildfires, why have the authorities NOT been supporting endeavours like this to STOP the CARNAGE?
00
Addendum;
Apologies for linkage lapse…
1. Link to Joseph Mitchell’s website.
2. Link to the 50+ page PDF file.
For anyone planning to rebuild after this catastrophe ~ consult with these guys before progressing with your home designs…
00
I was just discussing today about some kind of external home sprinkler system … will watch that, because I’m interested in doing what I can.
What I noticed watching old videos of California fires is that, although almost all Australian houses are either steel roof, or ceramic roof … the USA has flamible shingles. Perhaps wood, or some similar material.
In Australia, the most common problem is dry gum leaves in your gutters … which I have been cleaning today. It’s not difficult to keep them clean, but it’s a constant chore and people don’t do it. In the USA seems that a spark can do a lot more damage, hitting various parts of the building.
If I was wealthy and living in California, then I would go for this style … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Revival_architecture
30
In a kind of adjacent context with respect to the recent inferno that is much talked about recently, the underground city of Derinkuyu might not require any water at all to survive a phenomena such as fire and therein add a bit of contrast.
“Underground Mega-City | Derinkuyu Is Much Older Than You Think | Megalithomania”
“30,853 views Jan 6, 2025
Explore Derinkuyu and other underground cities in May 2025 with Megalithomania: http://www.megalithomania.co.uk/turke…
Derinkuyu is an ancient multi-level underground city in Nevşehir Province, Turkey, going down 85 metres (280 ft). 20,000 people could have stayed there, along with livestock and food storage. Officially it is no older than 800 BC but evidence suggests that the first levels could be up to 12,000 years old or possibly much older according to historian Omer Demir. It has over 20 km of tunnels, one that may stretch 8 km to Kaymakli, another underground city. It is fitted with huge circular stone doors, massive wells and air vents. Its purpose is unknown but it has been speculated it was to hide from some type of cataclysm or invaders, or may have had a more sacred purpose. Featuring Andrew Collins and Hugh Newman.”
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I don’t think anyone has posted this link, but here is a brilliant blog from a long-term California resident highlighting the underlying causes of the latest devastation there. I learned a lot. Warning, the language can be a bit fruity in case you are easily offended
https://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2025/01/brushfires-it-isnt-just-government.html
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The rich of LA only think of themselves as rich and all who came up through the middle class after WWII. No body sees it for what it really is. These so called RICH are the new middle class. The truly rich, the multi billionaires are the new upper class. They will not own a few acres and a large home. They will buy hundreds of acres and build homes never before to be imagined. It is happening all around the world but the movement is only just happening here. L A will be scraped to the core. Home owners will get pennies on the dollar for their property and then the process of rebuilding will begin by the new upper class of RICH. Kind of like Maui eh ?
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What are peoples thoughts on this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR27KWaZuJg&t=52s
Apparently Gavin Newson and the LA mayor are in on a proposal to create SMART cities in the LA Palisades area, but it can’t just be rezoned while residential houses are there. Problem solved…
This was similar to the Maui fires in Hawaii.
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Good Read!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14276225/afghanistan-veteran-reveals-purchase-saved-la-home-fires.html
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Also (with hindsight) if you’ve got a swimming pool with thousands of gallons of water, and don’t have a gasoline/diesel generator with a water-pump and hoses for back up in the pool houses? You could cover your whole property with water (trees and shrubs too) and in the meantime, help your neighbors property too.
Have read (who knows if it is true) that these properties were built with Asbestos materials throughout the exterior,in the 1960’s/70’s because they had the far sight to know what was coming, sooner or later …
Look back into the sediment of rivers, previous centuries, to see how common these events were, and have been, “pre” The Industrial Revolution.
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