Posted on 04/12/2007 3:05:36 PM PDT by La Enchiladita
LOS ANGELES, Apr. 12, 2007 - Fires erupted in the hills above Los Angeles, damaging or destroying several homes, and in high desert brush Thursday as dangerous north winds swept dry Southern California, knocking out power to thousands and triggering a fatal highway pileup in a blinding sandstorm.
About 150 firefighters and water-dropping helicopters battled a 15-acre blaze in grass in the hilly Beverly Glen area above the city of Beverly Hills, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Ron Myers.
With windspeeds upward of 50 mph, fires erupted on the roofs of homes and several were damaged or destroyed but there were no specific details, Myers said.
Beverly Glen is a neighborhood of expensive homes on the south face of the Santa Monica Mountains.
Firefighters also battled a structure fire in Beverly Hills but it was not immediately known if it was related to the brush fire, which erupted about 1 p.m. Myers said.
Southern California is extremely fire-prone after a dry winter. Downtown Los Angeles has recorded less than 2½ inches of rain since July 1.
Power outages hit about 29,500 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers and 2,000 Southern California Edison customers, said spokespersons for the utilities.
(Excerpt) Read more at abclocal.go.com ...
Shake roofs are so dangerous. They go up like a matchbox. I don't understand why building codes don't prevent builders from using shake shingles in wildfire areas.
I am not in a wildfire area, but still, I feel so much safer with a tile roof over my head. I think someone would have to throw a fire bomb inside my house to get it to burn. It is all stucco and tile on the outside.
It's still windy here, but the palm trees are back standing 12 o'clock straight up.
You're right, despite all the natural disasters which occur here, there's still much to be thankful for.
Hey, did you hear that Imus got fired? :)
Codes do forbit shake for new construction in most communities. However, most of the housing in the desirable hillside neighborhoods was built before those changes, and they weren’t made retroactive. As Karl pointed out, the BelAir fire was one of the early examples and there have been regular incidents every five years or so that continue to providing evidence of the silliness of putting a wood roof on a house that’s near a lot of frequently burning wood.
The scariest thing, which happened today, is when you get flying brands and ‘new starts’ five blocks away from where the fire is. That kind of situation can very easily run through a block of homes before you can react to it. The Glendale fire somewhere around the mid eighties was an example of that kind of spotting.
When you combine flamable roofs, poor access, large amounts of natural fuel, and limited water supplies major losses of homes are inevitable. About the only thing open to conjecture is ‘when’?
That's right. Very scary.
You seem to know about building codes. When a house is sold in a wildfire area does it have to be brought up to code, ie: the shake roof repaced with non-flammable material? I flat out wouldn't buy a house with a shake roof anywhere, unless I was prepared to re-roof it.
Nor would I care about the politics of the firefighters who came to save my home, save the land and the wildlife... not one whit.
Sorry about your bad experience, Knitting. I can only imagine what it is like.
I have the feeling it's being thoroughly discussed... somewhere.
Dittos. :-)
Codes are a really weird topic in this state. Every community has its own rules, then in many instances they pick and choose among the standard codes which are going to apply to their community. In the communities with which I’m familiar, the building codes are applied at the time of construction and at the time any significant remodel is done. So, if you had to pull a building permit to do a re-roof you’d probably run into the non-flamable requirement. Absent that, at least in the cities I’m familiar with, the old roof stays.
Just kind of an interesting factoid... a few years back, in Oxnard, a guy bought a house, then ripped off the original roof and put a shake roof on it in violation of the code. There’s been a multi-year court battle there with contempt citations, jail time threatened, the whole thing. The city’s not going to give up ‘til the guy tears off the shake. I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually the city’ll have to do it and put a lien on his property for the cost.
Yep, and I should know that. My husband has been vice-chairman of the planning commission in our town here in the Central San Joaquin Valley for several years.
...a few years back, in Oxnard, a guy bought a house, then ripped off the original roof and put a shake roof on it in violation of the code.
Well, that's just crazy. It's not like a shake roof is particularly attractive, although I guess it might go better with certain types of architecture than tile or composition roofing material, still there is good reason why they aren't allowed in certain areas of this state.
I am all for property owners rights, and I hate government controls as much as the next guy, but many of the building codes are for the the homeowners own good in the long run.
Well, God bless and protect the firefighters. They do a heck of job under very difficult and dangerous conditions.
It was the worst wind we’ve ever had out here at the compound. The A.V. has its share of bad wind days, but this week has blown them all away. HA! I made a pun.
We had a fire up here, too, in Palmdale. I think they made quick work of it, since I couldn’t find info about it anywhere.
Ben, did you have any damage from the bluster?
KNX said earlier that it’s believed to have been started by blown-down power lines.
Thanks, I hadn’t heard that one.
Wind advisories have just expired. I agree, the wind has been like nothing I’ve seen in an eon...
Fox11 reporting from Palmdale now.
Every few years, in the hills near Mulholland Drive, a little spark ignites. That spark is quickly fanned into flame by the Santa Ana winds, and begins a relentless march westward. The City and County of Los Angeles marshal all their resources, thousands of men, aircraft, bulldozers, crew carriers and fire trucks, and spend millions of dollars in labor costs. And their efforts do not go unrewarded... they usually manage to save.... the Pacific Ocean.
SOME OF THE PEAK WIND GUSTS TODAY (SINCE 6 AM PDT) INCLUDE LOS ANGELES COUNTY LOS ANGELES INTL AIRPORT.................WEST 38 MPH. DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES....................NORTH 39 MPH HAWTHORNE...........................NORTHWEST 44 MPH. LONG BEACH AIRPORT......................NORTH 41 MPH. BURBANK.................................NORTH 48 MPH. VAN NUYS................................NORTH 46 MPH. WHITTIER HILLS......................NORTHWEST 56 MPH NEWHALL.................................NORTH 46 MPH. SAUGUS..............................NORTHWEST 65 MPH. CAMP NINE...............................NORTH 64 MPH. CHILAO..............................NORTHWEST 51 MPH. CLEAR CREEK..............................EAST 64 MPH. SANDBERG................................NORTH 69 MPH. WARM SPRINGS........................NORTHWEST 75 MPH. WHITAKER PEAK.......................NORTHWEST 86 MPH. PALMDALE............................NORTHWEST 52 MPH. POPPY PARK..........................NORTHWEST 65 MPH. LANCASTER...........................NORTHWEST 54 MPH. VENTURA COUNTY CAMARILLO................................WEST 37 MPH. PIRU....................................NORTH 39 MPH. ROSE VALLEY.........................NORTHWEST 54 MPH. SANTA BARBARA COUNTY SANTA BARBARA AIRPORT...............NORTHWEST 45 MPH. LAS FLORES CANYON.......................NORTH 43 MPH. MONTECITO HILLS.........................NORTH 47 MPH. SANTA MARIA.........................NORTHWEST 40 MPH. SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY SAN LUIS OBISPO.....................NORTHWEST 37 MPH. MORRO BAY...........................NORTHWEST 39 MPH. CARRIZO.................................NORTH 45 MPH.
No damage here but the neighbors must be about pretty darn tired of racket from the wind chimes.
Were you at the University?
Traffic wasn’t as bad as the email alert we received. I think most of the signal problems were north of Wilshire — I go south down the 405 parking lot so it wasn’t anymore congested than any other day.
This regarding the Franklin Cyn fire yesterday (one home lost, two others damaged? not sure.)
Oh my! Kind of reminds me of the Cedar fire a few years back in San Diego County. The biggest complaints heard were from the environmentalists who whined and moaned about all the habitat destroyed. One of the main reasons USFS couldn’t get to the scene early on was that those same environmentalists had opposed maintaining fire roads.
oh yes, Councilman Jack Weiss was all over television blaming his own city for the fire.
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