Southern California on fire

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2007-10-23 11:56am

Mlenk wrote:Seriously, what is up with SoCal and wildfires? It seems that the vast majority of the nations wildfires occur in that one area.

Because instead of controlled burn offs to remove undergrowth to managable levels, Bush made a big deal about selective logging being the answer to forest fires.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2007-10-23 12:02pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:Its getting worse than '02.

At least this time you have been planting varients of eucalyptus trees which explode like frag genades in bush fires in large numbers.

Joviwan · Post by **Joviwan** » 2007-10-23 12:23pm

For years, people have been asking me if the weather ever changes in California. Maybe now they'll believe me when I say that we actually have TWO types of weather: Pleasantly warm, and the state is on fire.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2007-10-23 02:36pm

Joviwan wrote:For years, people have been asking me if the weather ever changes in California. Maybe now they'll believe me when I say that we actually have TWO types of weather: Pleasantly warm, and the state is on fire.

No, no, no. The four seasons of So Cal are drought, fires, earthquakes, riots.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-10-23 03:49pm

Xon wrote:
Mlenk wrote:Seriously, what is up with SoCal and wildfires? It seems that the vast majority of the nations wildfires occur in that one area.
Because instead of controlled burn offs to remove undergrowth to managable levels, Bush made a big deal about selective logging being the answer to forest fires.

There's NO logging on public land in California. The greenies saw to that.

Post by **Broomstick** » 2007-10-23 07:56pm

This is starting to look like something the scope of Katrina. Just more... scorched. A Cripsy Katrina, if you will (sorry sometimes I can't help myself...)

I just hope this disaster is managed better than that disaster....

FSTargetDrone · Post by **FSTargetDrone** » 2007-10-23 08:11pm

Broomstick wrote:This is starting to look like something the scope of Katrina. Just more... scorched. A Cripsy Katrina, if you will (sorry sometimes I can't help myself...)

I just hope this disaster is managed better than that disaster....

In terms of displaced people (speaking of Katrina), this is now, by all accounts (according to MSNBC) the largest movement of civilians in the US since the Civil War.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2007-10-23 08:13pm

Broomstick wrote:This is starting to look like something the scope of Katrina. Just more... scorched. A Cripsy Katrina, if you will (sorry sometimes I can't help myself...)

I just hope this disaster is managed better than that disaster....

Of course it will be, Broomstick, these are Rich White People!

Of course, on Countdown just now, Olberman announced that the Federal Plan is to "Observe and Assist" Gov. Schwa... Swach... The Governator.

Post by **Broomstick** » 2007-10-23 08:17pm

LadyTevar wrote:
Broomstick wrote:This is starting to look like something the scope of Katrina. Just more... scorched. A Cripsy Katrina, if you will (sorry sometimes I can't help myself...)

I just hope this disaster is managed better than that disaster....
Of course it will be, Broomstick, these are Rich White People!

Some of them are rich, white people - but the people bussing tables and cutting lawns and maintaining the pools of the rich and famous are not rich and in many cases not white, either. The rich will flee - the poor will be crowded into stadiums and lose everything they've ever had.

Of course, on Countdown just now, Olberman announced that the Federal Plan is to "Observe and Assist" Gov. Schwa... Swach... The Governator.

At this point I have more confidence in Arnold's ability to handle the government assistance angle than I do anyone working for the Bush maladministration.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2007-10-23 08:40pm

Xon wrote:
Mlenk wrote:Seriously, what is up with SoCal and wildfires? It seems that the vast majority of the nations wildfires occur in that one area.
Because instead of controlled burn offs to remove undergrowth to managable levels, Bush made a big deal about selective logging being the answer to forest fires.

actually Gov. Dukemegian cut out 80% of the fire stations that did controlled burns saying having firemen starting fires was a waste of budget resources. This is where I got my civil service pink slip, so I do remember it.

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » 2007-10-23 08:41pm

This is beyond words bad and to add insult to injury, to WHO it happened to. I hope our government learned more than a few things from Katrina. Dios mío...probably not.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2007-10-23 08:41pm

Darth Servo wrote:
Joviwan wrote:For years, people have been asking me if the weather ever changes in California. Maybe now they'll believe me when I say that we actually have TWO types of weather: Pleasantly warm, and the state is on fire.
No, no, no. The four seasons of So Cal are drought, fires, earthquakes, riots.

fuckin So-Cal flatlanders.

yes, were having rain and Hail on and off in October this year.

Post by **Broomstick** » 2007-10-23 09:49pm

Is it true what I heard? Fire has started on Camp Pendelton and they're moving the marines elsewhere?

Wow, what a mess - this is definitely worse than the usual annual fires.

FSTargetDrone · Post by **FSTargetDrone** » 2007-10-23 11:23pm

Broomstick wrote:Is it true what I heard? Fire has started on Camp Pendelton and they're moving the marines elsewhere?

Wow, what a mess - this is definitely worse than the usual annual fires.

Yes indeed:

Two Fires Break Out On Camp Pendleton

POSTED: 2:20 pm PDT October 23, 2007
UPDATED: 2:52 pm PDT October 23, 2007
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Two blazes erupted on the grounds of Camp Pendleton Tuesday, worsening San Diego County's already dire wildfire crisis, authorities reported.

The fires began spreading Tuesday morning, one in the Camp Margarita area of the USMC installation, behind its air station, and the other in the Las Pulgas vicinity, according to the base's public affairs office.

Though the blazes posed no immediate threat to Camp Pendleton's housing developments, precautionary evacuations were under way Tuesday afternoon in the Camp San Mateo area.

Additionally, a roughly eight-mile stretch of Basilone Road was closed to traffic.

"We continue to watch these fires closely and advise residents to maintain awareness of the current fire conditions and exercise caution," said Col. James Seaton III, the base's commanding officer.

A base spokeswoman said she could provide no information on the size or direction of travel of the fires pending updates due later Tuesday afternoon.

Drewcifer · Post by **Drewcifer** » 2007-10-23 11:38pm

from http://www.cpp.usmc.mil/

1712 October 23, 2007

Camp Pendleton officials have announced that, effective immediately, only key and essential personnel, to include I Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Corps Base personnel, should report aboard the base on Oct. 24 at 7:30 a.m. [....]

[snip]

1315 October 23, 2007

Camp Pendleton officials have announced there are two fires aboard the base.

One fire is located in Camp Margarita 33 Area behind the Marine Corps Air Station, and there is a second fire located in Las Pulgas 43 Area near Basilone Rd. [....]

I don't know if that means evacuation; someone from The Mess can clear that up for us.

Also:

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. (Oct. 22, 2007) - Due to the close proximity of the fires, MCAS Miramar and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing are evacuating aircraft to other military bases in Arizona and California. This is a precautionary measure to prevent damage to aircraft and associated equipment.

-USMC-

link

KPBS, in San Diego, has set up a Google Maps page showing fire locations.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2007-10-24 12:02am

Broomstick wrote:Is it true what I heard? Fire has started on Camp Pendelton and they're moving the marines elsewhere?

Wow, what a mess - this is definitely worse than the usual annual fires.

I think I’ve heard that the last three out of five years in regards to south California fires. Sounds to me like it isn’t worse then it should be, burning a shit-ton is exactly what should be happening and we can blame urban sprawl without any planning for it, same reason why those houses keep falling off hills in the area too. A house with proper construction, proper landscaping and proper upkeep of the landscaping is extremely hard to for a forest fire to burn, especially in areas that lack tall trees.

fusion · Post by **fusion** » 2007-10-24 12:20am

Sea Skimmer wrote:
Broomstick wrote:Is it true what I heard? Fire has started on Camp Pendelton and they're moving the marines elsewhere?

Wow, what a mess - this is definitely worse than the usual annual fires.

I think I’ve heard that the last three out of five years in regards to south California fires. Sounds to me like it isn’t worse then it should be, burning a shit-ton is exactly what should be happening and we can blame urban sprawl without any planning for it, same reason why those houses keep falling off hills in the area too. A house with proper construction, proper landscaping and proper upkeep of the landscaping is extremely hard to for a forest fire to burn, especially in areas that lack tall trees.

No it is a lot worst that usual, how can one tell?

The Sacramento Bee dedicates a huge chunk of its front page to the fires and over half a million are leaving.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2007-10-24 12:37am

Wildfires burn four or five million acres per year in the US, and California has had several previous fire outbreaks which burned over 600,000 acres, one of them was just in 2003. That is far more then the current fires have yet consumed, and the record for a fire in the US is well over 1 million acres.

Yeah a lot of people have to move, because the fires are burning in the huge piles of tinder built up around all human developments, but in absolute terms this is nothing we have not seen before and certainly nothing that should be a surprise. That shit had to burn sometime, and the sooner it’s gone the sooner sounder environmental planning can go into effect. Heck the Yellowstone fire in the 1980s burned over three quarters of a million acres and was impossible to control, only the onset of winter snow did it in. However it was then followed a remaking of the park into a much healthier natural wilderness.

What a newspaper puts on its damn front page is just utterly irrelevant, by that logic the increase in vioxx profits at Merck are just as important as this!

Drewcifer · Post by **Drewcifer** » 2007-10-24 12:52am

By the numbers, this fire season already compares with Cedar Fire, considered to be the worst in California history. Keep in mind that most of the fires right now are burning completely out of control...

fire.ca.gov wrote:Last updated: November 5, 2003 at 6 a.m. - FINAL UPDATE
Start Date/Time: October 25, 2003 at 5:37 p.m.
Administrative Unit: Cleveland National Fores/CDF San Diego Unit/Cedar Fire
Location: Southern San Diego County
Acres Burned: 280,278
Containment: 100%
Control: Estimate for control is November 16, 2003 at 6 p.m
Structures Destroyed: 2,232 residences, 22 commercial properties and 566 outbuildings destroyed. 53 residences and 10 outbuildings damaged. 148 vehicles destroyed.
Evacuations: All evacuations lifted.
Injuries: 13 civilian fatalities, 1 firefighter fatality, 104 firefighter injuries.

In comparison, the current fires have burned 1,600 structures over 420,000 acres and six people have died.

thejester · Post by **thejester** » 2007-10-24 03:27am

Xon wrote:
CaptainChewbacca wrote:Its getting worse than '02.
At least this time you have been planting varients of eucalyptus trees which explode like frag genades in bush fires in large numbers.

Yeah, I couldn't believe that. You live in area where these fires are annual occurances and you plant eucalyptus? That's fucking stupid.

And good luck to all those caught in the California. We cop the same shit every year as well, the only difference seems to be that unlike in California there isn't any really signifigant urban growth into some of the most dangerous areas (namely the highlands); but in areas of bush like national parks, it becomes genuinley scary. Two years ago an area about 30min from where I live and part of the wider district community got hit hard by fires from the neighbouring national park. It was pretty scary waking up to the smell of smoke and seeing all the local CFA members going off to it.

Post by **Broomstick** » 2007-10-24 05:09am

Sea Skimmer wrote:Yeah a lot of people have to move, because the fires are burning in the huge piles of tinder built up around all human developments

Yes, that is what is different - true, there have been larger fires in area but they did not affect human habitations to this degree. 1/2 million to 1 million people on the move due to a natural disaster is a catastrophe.

That shit had to burn sometime, and the sooner it’s gone the sooner sounder environmental planning can go into effect. Heck the Yellowstone fire in the 1980s burned over three quarters of a million acres and was impossible to control, only the onset of winter snow did it in. However it was then followed a remaking of the park into a much healthier natural wilderness.

Agreed that such a thing was inevitable, and in the long run might be a net gain, but it makes it no less painful for those who are losing everything but the clothes on their backs, or the people being injured or killed by this.

Mlenk · Post by **Mlenk** » 2007-10-24 01:04pm

So, according to this guy standing in line next to me yesterday that is presumably from the South (his accent was kind of a giveaway), God is causing all these things to happen to California because of all the heathen, immoral liberals that populate that state.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2007-10-24 01:26pm

Mlenk wrote:So, according to this guy standing in line next to me yesterday that is presumably from the South (his accent was kind of a giveaway), God is causing all these things to happen to California because of all the heathen, immoral liberals that populate that state.

What happens if you go up to one of these fucks and say that the Southern states are the immoral ones, because Jesus said that you will know his true followers by the fact that they feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and house the homeless? The US southern states are more hostile to the poor than the "heathen" northern states, after all. And Jesus didn't seem to give a damn what kind of sex acts people engaged in. Do their heads explode if you point this out?

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-10-24 04:34pm

God would never punish California while I'm here, I balance out all the Godless liberals.

You all can thank me later, right now I hvae to go and burn some evolutionists.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2007-10-24 04:52pm

does he know that So-cal is like mini deep south?