California fires

[Joseph Bulock]

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The devastating wildfires in Southern California have caused at least $1 billion in damage in San Diego County alone, officials said Wednesday, as easing wind gave firefighters hope that they could begin to gain ground against the flames.

 

The fires, in their fourth day, had destroyed 1,500 homes and caused at least a half-million people to flee - the largest evacuation in state history. At least 1,200 of the damaged homes were in San Diego County, and officials believe that number will rise.

 

"Clearly, this is going to be a $1 billion or more disaster," Ron Lane, San Diego County's director of emergency services, told reporters during a news conference.

 

How the hell do they come up with 1 BILLION dollars worth of damages? Every single home would have to average $666,666 in value. While I know San Diego is expensive I seriously doubt that number.

 

 

 

That's actually a decent average for a home out here. A three bedroom house in a decent neighborhood is easily over 1 mil. San Diego is cheaper in some areas, but sections of Escondido are very upscale, and some of what has been damaged are very expensive vacation homes out in the wilderness. Also, many structures that are not houses have been destroyed. That number is actually probably a bit low.

[taks]

yup, a friend of mine lives in a small 3-bedroom affair out there with probably only 1500 sq. feet and his home was upwards of $750k a couple years ago, maybe more (well, maybe less now due to the housing slump).

 

is the airport in san diego threatened at all? we had a consultant out the past few days and he's flying back to the san francisco area via san diego as i type.

 

taks

[Gfted1]

Wow. I guess if I ever find my way out there again Kelverin is buying the drinks.

Edited October 24, 2007 by Gfted1

[taks]

hehe, you forget that people in san diego don't get paid that much more, their homes are simply worth more. they're all broke paying the mortgage. my buddy had an interest-only loan, and in spite of also working for qualcomm (he's in the highest demand engineering field) making big bucks, he was broke. we of the lesser home values get the occasional steak while those in his shoes eat mostly baloney.

 

taks

[Bela]

The airport itself is not threatened, and according to our CBS affiliate, there are no reports of delayed or diverted flights.

 

For those who are curious, our PBS station has been updating a map with the locations of the evacuation areas, burned areas, shelters, etc. Click here.

 

(Speaking of the PBS station, one of their transmission towers burned down in the Harris fire...)

 

Mr. Bela and I live in San Diego, and the fire that we are concerned about is the Witch fire. But we are west of 15 and south of 56, so we have not been evacuated, although you can probably imagine it doesn't smell very good here right now. We've got several friends who have been evacuated. We live near a canyon, so we've also been concerned about pieces of ash being blown into it and starting a new fire. Also, is apparently is already 94 degrees (F) right now! (It's about 1:40pm.) We've been avoiding running the AC to conserve power. Yay heat.

 

For those who are curious, the weather pattern that is causing this problem is the Santa Ana winds.

 

Other random tidbits...

- I was pretty concerned about the animals at the Wild Animal Park, but the officials seem to think that the animals will be safe, as the plants are heavily irrigated and there are a lot of fire breaks around the enclosures. They did move some of the critically endangered species (such as the condors) to another area, however.

- Palomar Mountain, home of the Palomar Observatory, is on fire, but I have not heard word about the observatory itself. Apparently it was designed with fire in mind, so perhaps the structure itself will be safe, although I can't imagine that the particulate matter is very good for the mirror.

 

Fortunately I don't have any interesting pictures (we have not seen flames, and the air has been blowing most of the smoke/ash towards the ocean, so the skies are fairly clear where we are), but I took these on Monday. You can see how the palm fronds are almost horizontal (they are being blown west/southwest). At our place, the worst winds were on Monday (it was quite difficult to sleep with all the howling and rattling).

[taks]

The airport itself is not threatened, and according to our CBS affiliate, there are no reports of delayed or diverted flights.

cool, he should be OK then.

 

Mr. Bela and I live in San Diego, and the fire that we are concerned about is the Witch fire. But we are west of 15 and south of 56, so we have not been evacuated, although you can probably imagine it doesn't smell very good here right now.

i lived in melbourne, FL, during all the fires in volusia county back in 2000 (i think, it's been so long i'm not sure of the actual dates). the smell was awful. i lived 60 miles south and even there you couldn't see more than a few hundred yards and the smoke was choking. palm trees have a distinctive odor and it burns your throat when they catch fire. ugh. the problem then wasn't high winds, however. on the contrary, there was NO wind, which is not unusual for the florida coast in the summer (we call the ocean lake atlantic, for reference, because it was so calm due to a lack of wind). that summer just happened to also be desert dry.

 

taks

[Guard Dog]

Here is a rotten potato in the stew: Officials: Arson Behind Santiago Fire

[Tale]

I have an alibi. Texas is nowhere near California.

Edited October 24, 2007 by Tale

[Musopticon?]

It isn't? Well, damn. Where am I supposed to lug this oil can next?

[LadyCrimson]

*peeks in*

 

I'm glad to know everyone from this forum so far has escaped any major injury or damage. Hope it continues that way.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I like how fires are near-physically impossible where I live.

[taks]

I like how fires are near-physically impossible where I live.

you either live in an ice cave, or there is nothing combustible save yourself where you live.

 

taks

[Guest The Architect]

It isn't? Well, damn. Where am I supposed to lug this oil can next?

 

Wouldn't happen to know where Accept lives, would ya?

 

Cause if so... you know what to do.

 

[ghosta]

One of the most serios problems is that california is in a water shortage, but hay it could be worse Arizona has almost no water.

 

We havn't had a drought or fire season in California this bad in over 10 years

This is clear evedience of climate change.

[Tale]

One of the most serios problems is that california is in a water shortage, but hay it could be worse Arizona has almost no water.

 

We havn't had a drought or fire season in California this bad in over 10 years

This is clear evedience of climate change.

Or that there is a god and he hates hippies.

 

I like to consider alternative explanations.

[taks]

oh yeah, anecdote over what... a decade? hehe... the drought is due in part from a lack of cyclone activity in the northern hemisphere, i.e. less moisture in the air. this is on schedule to be the lowest cyclone level (ACE index) since 1977, 30 years not 10.

 

i guess it doesn't help that some idiot started at least one of the fires. we had the same problem here in COS right before i moved in to town. it is known as the "Haykin fire." some chick was pissed about something, probably a boyfriend, and torched the mountaiins. grrr...

 

i think god is making a resurgence, too, and he is definitely lining up with eric cartman: hippies are bad. better make sure not to grow my hair back out. gotta chuck all the dead shirts, too!

 

taks

Edited October 25, 2007 by taks

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I like how fires are near-physically impossible where I live.

you either live in an ice cave, or there is nothing combustible save yourself where you live.

 

taks

 

Hey I didn't say it was impossible. Just very close to being impossible. And I was reffering to major fires that spread fast.

 

Seriously, when fires start here, the only thing that burns is the thing that was set on fire. The rest lives... And this is just the St-Laurent Valley, nothing about the north coast (which is filled with forests, and mountains).

[Tale]

Is that a challenge?

Edited October 25, 2007 by Tale

[taks]

LOL! tale wants to torch WILL!

 

is the st. laurent valley very wet or very arid with no vegetation? fires are scary here because there is actually a lot of vegetation (near the mountains) but we are a desert (14 inches of precipitation a year in COS). that's why the haykin fire got so much attention: it could have been devastating to the CO mountains.

 

taks

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

And maybe the fact it was started by some idiot instead of natural causes... and while we're at it, maybe terrorists started all the fires!

[Bela]

This is clear evedience of climate change.

Or that there is a god and he hates hippies.

You are aware that San Diego is, like, 99.99999999999% Republican, right?

 

Personally, I blame Utah. That's where the weather map showed the big ol' high-pressure "H". Blame Utah!

[Tale]

This is clear evedience of climate change.

Or that there is a god and he hates hippies.

You are aware that San Diego is, like, 99.99999999999% Republican, right?

 

Personally, I blame Utah. That's where the weather map showed the big ol' high-pressure "H". Blame Utah!

Hey, lots of hippies got rich off the .com era.

[blue]

Nothing like this has ever happened to California; the fires from 4 years ago do not even come close to this disaster.

 

Southern California Wildfires

 

 

October 2007 *

18 fires

7 dead

426,000 acres burned

1,664 structures destroyed (inc 1,436 homes)

over $1 billion in damage

 

 

October 2003

15 fires

22 dead

740,000 acres burned

4,847 structures destroyed (inc 3,631 homes)

over $2 billion in damage

 

 

* as of 10/25/07

[blue]

You are aware that San Diego is, like, 99.99999999999% Republican, right?

More like 47% Rep / 30% Dem.

 

Seriously, tho, there's a strong anti-tax sentiment in San Diego, and it's repeatedly doomed initiatives to create a robust countywide fire department. This has been a controversial topic even before the 2003 Cedar fire. In San Diego there exists no agency comparable to the Los Angeles County FD. (The County is distinct from city services and it possesses its own aviation fleet.) Unincorporated areas of San Diego depend upon state services and a hodgepodge of poorly-equipped local agencies. This disorganization partly explains why San Diego blazes grew while L.A. wildfires were contained. The same pattern occurred in 2003.

Edited October 26, 2007 by blue

[Bela]

You are aware that San Diego is, like, 99.99999999999% Republican, right?

More like 47% Rep / 30% Dem.

47% isn't like 99.9...%? I was only off by 52.99999999999%.