Posted on 08/30/2009 1:48:13 PM PDT by kellynla
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today urged residents in fire evacuation zones to flee as firefighters predicted another difficult day battling a wildfire that has burned 35,000 acres and threatened more than 12,000 homes from Acton to Altadena.
Schwarzenegger noted at a morning press conference that three residents in Big Tujunga Canyon suffered serious burns trying in vain to save their homes Saturday.
"There will be people who don't listen," the governor said at the fire command post in Lake View Terrace. ". . . Move as soon as [firefighters] say to move."
Although thousands of homes are covered in the evacuation orders, many residents have stayed behind, with some vowing to fight to protect their homes from the Station fire.
The fire line now extends about 19 miles east to west. The governor and other elected officials praised firefighters for successfully protecting subdivisions in the foothills.
With temperatures expected to reach the mid- to high 90s today in the fire areas, officials said they were anticipating extreme fire conditions, mirroring Saturday’s, when flames leapt as high as 80 feet and spread at a rate of about 2.5 miles an hour.
More than 2,000 fire personnel now are deployed fighting the Station fire.
In the Acton area, mandatory evacuations have been ordered along the 14 Freeway from Soledad Canyon Road to Crown Valley Road and along Aliso Canyon Road from Soledad Canyon Road to Angeles Forest Highway.
The California Highway Patrol has also closed the onramps and offramps to the 14 Freeway at Soledad Canyon Road, Agua Dulce, Escondido Canyon Road, Red Rover Mine Road and Crown Valley Road. They said they were concerned that fire behavior in the area could become extreme as they were expecting the wind to shift about 10 a.m.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
I'm a logical man, I know humans can protect their property from most ravages of nature, if allowed to.
Here's one example of tying Humanity to the burning pole:
Taking advantage of a provision allowing states to make recommendations regarding the managment of their national forests, on July 12, 2006 Gov. Schwarzenegger petitioned the federal government to protect 100 percent of California’s roadless forests. http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/wild-forests
Men can build anywhere. We are men, not animals.
no, actually those that live in the Canyons and dangerous fire areas are not allowed to clear brush around there house.
It has gotten so extreme one freeper was on here during the lake arrowhead fire a few years ago explaining how he had a DEAD pine tree near his drive way not far from his house on his own property and he could not take it down without permits. in order to get a permit a ranger (or some bureaucrat) had to inspect the tree which can take up to 4 years.
Didn’t we just get this story last year or was it earlier this year. Honestly I’m sick of hearing about California Fires. It’s not a news story anymore. It would be a story if we didn’t have fires. Most but not all of these destructive fires are as a result of stupidity. That’s the stupidity of poor forest management, poor planning, environmentalist run amok etc.
That’s amazing to me. I live in the mountains in northern California. If we don’t clear our brush etc. we get a ticket, or have it cleared for us and then have to pay for it. The fire departments patrol in the spring and early summer.
yes that is how it should be. but it isn’t around here.
Post #7 well said.
Kellynla:
I wasn’t always a native of WI. And we are not allowed to build in flood & wetland areas here. When we are hit by tornadoes in teh summer and heavy snows in the winter, we (or our insurance companies) pay for the damage — not the taxpayers. Why should Californians be allowed to build in fire areas and slide areas where they are repeatedly hit by disasters? I am a native Californian, dating from a family that settled there in the 1880s. The disaster areas are well known to the natives.
And no, I didn’t know that Californians weren’t allowed to clear their properties by law. I thought they were just stupid! Perhaps Californians should elect people to pass different laws, if that is the case.
That’s a smart aleck remark, I know, but I did grow up with people who don’t think very far in the future — “the brush is pretty, the trees enhance my lot and protect my privacy, I don’t want my neighbor to cut his trees, I like the shade,” ad nauseum! My mother had trees peeling the roof off of her house a while back. It took my husband a month to repair the damage. When they’d all grown back, and more, on our next visit, we hired a tree cutting service and removed the offending trees.
I have an old friend in Berkeley who has sued to force his neighbor trim his trees (for the Bay view) and has also sued the same neighbor to prevent him from cutting his trees that might expose an unpleasant view. Go figure! This same man (an attorney) at one time purchased that same neighbor’s house (from a different owner) and carved up the lot to add 10 feet along the side of his own house to park an extra car. In addition, he got the telephone company to move their pole from his house to the neighbor’s house because it intruded on his view. Then he sold the house with the reduced lot and offending pole to somebody else at a higher price than he paid. I don’t know if the buyer is the same person my friend keeps suing. Same house, though.
I had many friends who lost their homes when the Berkeley/Oakland fire swept down the hills about 15 years ago, destroying everything in its path. Thank God I had moved away years before, but that did not stop me from shedding tears over the tragedy. People can be very protective of their vegetation, I know. I used to be one of them. But, it is not a good idea in an area prone to fires with no fire station on the corner.
I’ve often wondered how the American pattern of building and landscaping developed. If you go to England, or Ireland, you will notice that people do not allow vegetation to encroach upon their houses. Gardens are out by the roads with courtyards or terraces up next to the house. In many areas there are no foundation plantings, especially on the really big houses and castles, but even on the little cottages. At first that looked strange to me, as I drove by miles of cottages both in town and in the country in Ireland; but eventually I decided that it was a pretty good idea — no dryrot or termites destroying your foundations, no leaks in the basement! And the people looking OUT of the house enjoy the gardens, rather than the other way around. The only vegetation near the houses, all the way around, is in pots and containers. It’s lovely when you get used to it.
We don't have hairbrained leftist policies either.
Our natural disasters are mostly snowstorms and the occasional tornado.
You guys border the largest ocean in the world, for crying out loud.
“We don’t have hairbrained leftist policies either. “
The Angeles NATIONAL Forest is FEDERAL LAND, genius.
you wasted a lot of time typing
the fires are on FEDERAL LAND
My thoughts and prayers are with all of the people and fire fighters in the path of the fire.
EnvironMentalists preventing land management are the problem behind many forest fires. They have historically wanted to let everything grow, not be managed.
And for the person that said let the government take this property over and kick the people out, you should be ashamed of yourself. On a site such as this advocating more government control.....that is just amazing.
The Forest Service and the Federal Government let my parents home burn in the Rodeo Chediski fire of 2002. The home was built around 1917 and had a metal roof and all brush cleared away. It was the forest surrounding the home that was the problem.
EnvironMentalists prevented thinning any of the trees. Unfortunately, more trees/brush just means more fuel for the fire.
California could institute common sense land management, in spite of homes being there. (Goats can be utilized to help reduce brush/grass in some places.)I know that it is not the fault of the people who happen to live there....
FYI...AGAIN! the Angeles NATIONAL Forest is FEDERAL LAND not controlled by CA...sheeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzz...more FR geniuses
Link to map that shows how much land the government owns already.
http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/291-federal-lands-in-the-us/
The state government of California is stuffed with ecofreaks who are essentially destroying the state.
Here is some more info on who owns the land mass of the US just in case anyone wants to see the facts.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1749440/posts
What kind of friend is that? really?
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