SoCal Fires ... is this a new thing???

[Rex Dopey24]

Originally Posted by sir clinksalot

These news people amaze me.

They are interviewing these people near the flames, who have houses there and then say comments like "These people really should be leaving and not clogging up the streets with cars and people so the firefighters can get through".

Uhm ... what is it exactly you are doing???

Of course, were all watching anyway.

the news reporters are just going crazy with stories.

[Ranger Rick]

Natural History Museum: Research and Collections: Botany

EXHIBITS
On the second floor a unique exhibit, "Chaparral: A Story of Life from Fire", demonstrates fire's importance in the life cycle of chaparral through a multimedia presentation that surrounds the visitor with the sights, sounds and even the smells of a chaparral ecosystem

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From the LA Natural History Museum. If you are living in Socal, you need to see it.

[PirateMunkee]

Originally Posted by MonstersGoBoo!

Just wanted to post a picture of the severity of the Porter Ranch fire.

LAist: Here's a Photo Showing How Intense the Fire is

It's insane.

Holy Effen Crap!!!!! I've seen brush fires before but never with that much intensity.

[Rex Dopey24]

im starting to dislike southern california because of that lol. I wish it had seasons like back in the east.

[kelkan]

As someone who lives near Porter Ranch and yes it threathen to go into Simi but Thank God, it didn't this year This area of the valley seems to be hit the last several years and not pleasant..( ashes and smoke)... 118 FWY closes and causes traffic nightmares for everyone

[whamo]

As a native Californian, Santa Ana wind fires have always been around. Has their ferocity or frequency increased? Yes, global warming, population bomb exploding, and intentionally set fires all contribute. It's easy for a nutcase to drive to a lonely spot on the road, light a flare, throw it in the weeds, and leave as all hell breaks loose.

[knittingknerd]

Originally Posted by Rex Dopey24

im starting to dislike southern california because of that lol. I wish it had seasons like back in the east.

There are seasons near me! I know what fall leaves look like now?! It's cool!

(Sorry... as a newly Pac-West person...I've never seen fall until driving up the 5. So cool!)

[GoofyWife]

I found this quote by a 20-year veteran of Riverside County Fire today. I've lived in So Cal all my life (nearly 1/2 a century - yikes!) and neither my husband or I could remember fires as destructive as those in the last 3-5 years. Here's the quote and the link:
The Associated Press: Wind-blown fires destroy hundreds of Calif. homes


Capt. Leonard Grill, a 20-year veteran of the Riverside County Fire Department, watched for flaring embers in a Yorba Linda neighborhood late Saturday.
"It's gotten worse and worse every year. I can't keep track of them anymore," Grill said of recent destructive wildfires. "These used to be the out-of-the-ordinary fires, once-in-a-career kind of fires. Now they're every year. "

[Rex Dopey24]

these damn arsonists.

[steamboatpete]

Every time the winds picked up between July and December, the fire bugs roll out of bed jonesing for a fix of arson.

[Mac Daddy]

They've had some big ones since I was a kid, but not every freaking year like it's been lately. I remember in....I'll say 1980 we had a HUUUUGE fire in the Inland Empire. They called it the panorama fire because the smoke stretched out across the valley and took over the entire horizon. I watched that thing start as a mere wisp of smoke below Lake Arrowhead until it raged across the Cajon Pass and kept going towards Mt. Baldy. At night, the entire mountainside lit up and from Redlands, all you could see was ridgeline after ridgeline in flames. As I lived up in the mountains in Forest Falls back then, I was positive that we would have to evacuate quickly as the winds were gusting near 100 mph.

But think about the past few years. These fires have been COLOSSAL and THOUSANDS of homes have been lost! Santa Monica, Laguna, Simi Valley, Arrowhead, San Bernardino, San Diego...TWICE, Sylmar, Yorba Linda, Camp Pendleton...the list goes on and on. And we didn't even SEE the fires in Northern CA for the past two years! Half of the Sierras have gone up in flames.

Freaking drought conditions have ruined our state. I remember talking to old timers up in the mountains who remember the snow coming almost every year...how cold and wet it was back in the 60's and 70's. There were some gorgeous falls on our side of the canyon, Bridal Vale Falls, much like those in Yosemite, but they would only run if we had some serious snow. I think I only saw them running once in the 80's.

And now? We could easily see another winter of less than 10 inches of rain. We're already behind.

Thousands of dead trees have been cut down in my old home town. Many more will die this year if we don't get any rain. Yes, the population has exploded out into the hillsides, but the other half of that problem is the ongoing drought and stupid, stupid Santa Ana winds that bring us the heat and low humidity when we need them the least.




End of rant for now...