Environment LA Wildfires

[Plugger35]

I thought this deserved a thread here since it is a huge news story and a huge disaster already with the potential to get even worse than it already is.

It's the worst fire disaster in LA's history with at least 5 dead, at least 1000 structures destroyed and over 100,000 people evacuated from their homes.

Despite it being winter there, very dry conditions and very strong Santa Ana winds created a recipe for disaster, no doubt climate change will be blamed.

Some horrific scenes there with neighbourhoods destroyed and cars left abandoned on roads that were gridlocked so people had to flee the fires on foot.

It looks like it is something out of a disaster movie that Hollywood has been so fond of making especially back in the 1970s when they were all the rage.

https://edition.cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-angeles-pacific-palisades-eaton-wildfires-01-08-25/index.html

 

[Worm4]

Drove through the palisades early November and it was extremely dry and plenty of fuel just begging to be lit up around half mile towards the hills north of Malibu.
Drive Malibu to Santa Monica and hundreds of beach houses lining the ocean with the best views imaginable, and now all gone as well.
So sad .

 

[Ocha905]

In the middle of winter ****ing hell.

These “once-in-a-million” disasters are the new normal. Not looking forward to the inevitable Aussie bushfires coming our way.

 

[Plugger35]

Drove through the palisades early November and it was extremely dry and plenty of fuel just begging to be lit up around half mile towards the hills north of Malibu.
Drive Malibu to Santa Monica and hundreds of beach houses lining the ocean with the best views imaginable, and now all gone as well.
So sad .

Yeah I have driven around there too, it's a spectacular place to live with all the hills there with ocean views which is why all the rich people and celebrities are living there, wildfires are a constant threat there though due to the climate and topography.

I don't think anyone there expected anything this bad though, it was a perfect storm of extremely dry conditions and extremely strong winds that turned into a quickly moving fire storm.

There weren't enough firefighters to cope with it so some neighbourhoods were just left to burn with no one there to fight it.

There were also reports that fire hydrants were running out of water so even if firefighters were there they couldn't do much to fight it and the strong winds also made it hard for the planes and helicopters to do water drops from the air.

Apparently the winds aren't as strong there now which should give the firefighters a better chance of fighting it but the fires are still a long way from being under control.

 

[Worm4]

Yeah I have driven around there too, it's a spectacular place to live with all the hills there with ocean views which is why all the rich people and celebrities are living there, wildfires are a constant threat there though due to the climate and topography.

I don't think anyone there expected anything this bad though, it was a perfect storm of extremely dry conditions and extremely strong winds that turned into a quickly moving fire storm.

There weren't enough firefighters to cope with it so some neighbourhoods were just left to burn with no one there to fight it.

There were also reports that fire hydrants were running out of water so even if firefighters were there they couldn't do much to fight it and the strong winds also made it hard for the planes and helicopters to do water drops from the air.

Apparently the winds aren't as strong there now which should give the firefighters a better chance of fighting it but the fires are still a long way from being under control.

Winds have backed off, but pick up again Friday local time unfortunately. No rain in sight.
Palisade Village im worried for. Its currently surrounded by 4 or 5 outbreaks so not looking good there either. The highway all the way down to Santa Monica wont be the same for a long long time

 

[Worm4]

In the middle of winter ****ing hell.

These “once-in-a-million” disasters are the new normal. Not looking forward to the inevitable Aussie bushfires coming our way.

It hasn't really rained there for 8 months and was very dry when I was there 6 weeks ago. The perfect storm so to speak

 

[Plugger35]

This song and video from Hole back in 1998 looks prophetic now.

It hasn't really rained there for 8 months and was very dry when I was there 6 weeks ago. The perfect storm so to speak

I listen regularly to Adam Carolla's podcast, he lives in Malibu and he said they had to evacuate there recently due to a wildfire.

That wasn't anywhere near as bad as this one, I haven't listened to him since this happened but I've got no doubt he will be blaming the California Governor Gavin Newsom for it who he despises and blames for letting California go to rack and ruin.

Questions will be asked if they couldn't have done more to prevent this with fire breaks and clearing away all the dry foliage.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

I don't think I've ever seen fire grow so quicky.

Even this afternoon another fire broke out in the hills north of Hollywood. Within 10 minutes it was massive.

This is what the Mt Wilson camera last captured before going offline.

 

[Ivelisse]

This song and video from Hole back in 1998 looks prophetic now.






I listen regularly to Adam Carolla's podcast, he lives in Malibu and he said they had to evacuate there recently due to a wildfire.

That wasn't anywhere near as bad as this one, I haven't listened to him since this happened but I've got no doubt he will be blaming the California Governor Gavin Newsom for it who he despises and blames for letting California go to rack and ruin.

Questions will be asked if they couldn't have done more to prevent this with fire breaks and clearing away all the dry foliage.

Adam Carolla is a bit of a bullshitting idiot

 

[cats_09]

I've been to LA a couple of times - 07 & again in 2012/13 - while I know some ask why but it was somewhere I loved to visit and had still on my bucket list with somewhere like Long Beach that I hadn't got to

Both trips I stayed West Hollywood, which allows for each access to a walk up Runyon Canyon for the best views of LA and also went to Santa Monica & Malibu - so watching what's happening with these fires, it just hits a little as they're places that have provided good memories in the past

And we kept being told events like these are 1 in 100 or 1 in 1000 year events, but we only have to go back to November 2018 (8th - 21st) and the Woolsey Fires to see the devastation caused by serious winter fires in the area



Here's a map of that fire area:



And here's the current map for the Palisades Fires - it's nearly to the immediate right of where the Woolsey Fires burnt to

 

[Plugger35]

Adam Carolla is a bit of a bullshitting idiot

That is a bullshit take, he isn't an idiot, he is quite smart in fact and he is right about a lot of things as well as being very funny.

Anyway this isn't a thread about Adam Carolla, this is a thread about the LA Wildfires which even Carolla wouldn't be joking about.

 

[rocker_oz33]

From LA woman .

Hills are filled with fire.



I remember the smoke from Ash Wednesday.

Went Merrivile after the fires .
Nice little story book town.
They rebuild.

 

[rocker_oz33]

Stay safe.

 

[cats_09]

Not sure if we've seen the worse of the fires yet, and the conspiracy theorists are already out making noise

 

[rocker_oz33]

Wow.

 

[Plugger35]

People talking about climate change being to blame, they were singing about the lack of rain in Southern California 50 years ago.




I lived in San Diego for about 6 months and it hardly ever rained there, the topography there isn't as wildfire prone as LA though.

They don't have hills and canyons in the posh neighbourhoods there like La Jolla, Torrey Pines or Pacific Beach, they won't burn.

Just one of the reasons San Diego is a much better place to live than LA, less wildfires, less traffic, less celebrities, it's the best.

LA is a nice place for a visit but I wouldn't want to live there, I would happily live in San Diego again though, it's a great city.

.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Wow.

The quite a lot of the Pacific Palisades and a lot of Altadena have been wiped out.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/08/us/video/images-fire-before-after-lcl-digvid

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Palisades Fire | CAL FIRE

www.fire.ca.gov

Eaton Fire | CAL FIRE

www.fire.ca.gov

Sunset Fire | CAL FIRE

www.fire.ca.gov

Maps of the 3 main fires and the current evacuation zones.

 

[Ivelisse]

 

[Chief]

Despite it being winter there, very dry conditions and very strong Santa Ana winds created a recipe for disaster, no doubt climate change will be blamed.

You're saying that weather extremes could not possibly be a result of global warming?

 

[Chief]

Not sure if we've seen the worse of the fires yet, and the conspiracy theorists are already out making noise

And the crazies going on about the sexuality of the fire chief being a contributing factor.

 

[Plugger35]

The Pacific Palisades looks like Gaza right now, thankfully there are less deaths there but it looks like a warzone.

You can tell how fast that fire came in yesterday with all the cars burnt out on the streets there trying to get out.

A guy there said they saw smoke over the hill, they said don't worry the fire won't come over the hill, nek minnut

 

[Rotayjay]

In the current cost-of-living and housing crisis, I think some will be feeling a little bit of schadenfreude at seeing rich celebrities' mansions burning down.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

View attachment 2200792

It can take up to 7 years to get approval for back burning.
California has suffered severe water shortage for many decades. Newsom has been slow to take action.

Newsom Administration Wasted So Much Water, Oroville Just Ran Out – California Globe

californiaglobe.com

 

[Plugger35]

View attachment 2200792

Looks like Trump hates Gavin Newsom as much as Adam Carolla.

To think he is being suggested as a potential Democrat presidential candidate, he would be even worse than Kamala Harris.

I wouldn't say this LA wildfire disaster is all his fault but he would be partly to blame, he is an all talk no action type of guy.

There is a reason more people are leaving California now than going there for the first time in history, it's turned into a shitshow.

This wildfire disaster is a day of reckoning for all the LA celebrities voting for the Democrats, now that some of their houses have burned down they might be changing their tune.