Posted on 01/15/2025 12:17:22 PM PST by Red Badger
I agree that the expedient objective is, put out the $@&!^!@( fire!
But from seafaring experience I have great respect for the corrosion on steriods which results from bi-metallic materials in saltwater and from aluminum in saltwater with a low voltage stray current applied. Eats it up. Muy rapido!
But still, the corrosive damage is negligible compared to the imperitive of killing the fire. The houses on Malibu/Pallisades that were between the PCH and the ocean should have had pumps cascading seawater down on their roofs. The cost of that would have been a fraction of a percent of the deductible they are facing.
I just remember reading about this—I couldn’t give you a source.
how would you pump seawater to cascading down on their roofs when there’s no electricity to run the pumps?...
I’ve heard it too but just let it go. Today I found this.
https://darwinawards.com/legends/legends1998-03.html
Scuba Divers and Forest Fires
1998 Urban Legend
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/corpus-crispy/
An urban legend? Another story that was too good to be true.
This has to be the height of stupidity. They hesitate to use salt water because it might hurt the plants but they have no qualms with letting fire hurt the plants.
R. T. Ridley in an article "To be taken with a Pinch of Salt: The Destruction of Carthage," published in the journal Classical Philology, Vol. 81 (1986) 140-146, was able to show that no ancient sources mentioned that Carthage was sown with salt, and that 19th-century scholars also did not assert that. He thought that the story started with The Cambridge Ancient History in 1930 in a chapter written by B. Hallward.
In the Bible, Abimelech destroyed Shechem and sowed the site with salt (Judges 9:45).
A couple of other scholars reacting to Ridley found examples in the Middle Ages of cities reportedly being sown with salt (by Attila in 452, and by Frederick Barbarossa in 1162), and it seems that the modern misconception regarding the case of Carthage began a little earlier than 1930.
False
Fire fighters routinely use sea water at sea to fight fires. On land fire fighters pulll dirty water from ponds, etc.
Afterwards, they back flush and clean pumps and systems.
Salt water is a non issue.
Land near seas and salty waters are routinely flooded. The air nearby oceans is salty. A non issue.
Roadways are routinely coated with salt when snow is coming. A non issue.
For the fire equipment, a rinse with fresh water will remove the salt just like it does from anything else.
A generator is a good way to provide electricity on demand. Or you can pre-fill elevated tanks.
Gas or diesel powered pumps down on the beach side. I dunno, Iām thinking about this from the safety of Las Vegas, where seldom is heard discouraging word. And we have essentially no natural disaster risks.
We have many salt tolerant plants here in Florida, mainly because Florida is just a big sandbar sticking out in the ocean. Salt water flows over the land during hurricanes and they come right back. We’d be glad to send some to California!...............
Yeah, Carthage comes to mind.
i live in the big bend area of florida... aka hurricane alley...
i have three standby generators ready to roll in case of emergency...
what happens in vegas stays in vegas...
you might want to educate yourself about suwannee county florida and the numerous fresh water springs that people enjoy throughout the area...
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