Posted on 10/22/2007 11:29:32 AM PDT by Smogger
Tracey Martinez, a spokeswoman with the San Bernardino County Fire Department, said officials believe the Rim Forest fire is related to a 1.5 acre blaze that firefighters dealt with Sunday.
Winds are soaring at 60-to-70 miles per hour late this morning.
"Resources are very strained," Martinez said. "We cannot use air attack right now. We have a lot of fires in California."
The county cannot bring its entire force to bear in the mountains because firefighters must be stationed around the county in case any more blazes ignite elsewhere, she said.
But the county did pull back its firefighters from the Malibu blaze, she said.
I would not be surprised if these fires were all a result of arson. They seem to be multiplying at a high rate. Probably some enviro-whacko wanting to gin up some Global Warming “evidence” to further their “religion.” ......
The majority of them are arson.
I’ve been in SoCal during the Santa Anna winds, and I know they can be fierce. I was almost blown off an overpass on my motorcycle near Palm Springs once. Nearly scared me to death......
There is a video of some dude yesterday trying to fight the fire with his hose....the wind blew him off his yard and down into burning embers....
Some don’t realize the size of the super rugged topography, and what erratic strong winds can do.
They don’t realize you can clear your brush back 200 yards, and with a wind blown wild fire moving at 45 plus miles per hour, hot embers can travel for *miles* into neighborhoods and everywhere else.
I’ve seen hot embers flying at 60 miles per hour, getting sucked up under roof eves, in areas far away from the actual fires.
Some here are just ignorant of the situation.
A good pump and a swimming pool full of water can be a great help for affected homes.
I presume he didn’t have insurance. I’d just leave and take what irreplaceable items I could carry in my car.........
That’s not my point. And, as someone who has fought many brush fires, I’m not “ignorant.” My lake place nearly burned from “ember” blown in rough topography (been to the Ozark Mountains?)
Here is what I’m talking about:
http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/consumer/a/healthyforests.htm
You get around badlands, and it's impossible for anything but air-borne fire fighting. And you have to experience the Santa Anna winds going on for a few days to really appreciate it.
Watch the fires hose water streams on some of the videos...Many times even with high capacity hoses, the water is blown almost sideways.
Bottom line is, if your in the path of a wind blown wild fire, blowing thousand of hot embers, your in big time trouble, pool pump or not.
I spent nearly two years in San Bernadino, at Norton AFB, in the early 1980’s. Beautiful country up there in the mountains.
The air quality in general is so much better in recent years. I arrived in March, 1982, and couldn’t see any mountains. The air was opaque for weeks before it cleared enough for me to believe that anything was there.
I presume he didn’t have insurance. I’d just leave and take what irreplaceable items I could carry in my car.........
***
If it’s that bad, insurance or no insurance, I’d leave. Your life is more important than your possessions.
I think I may have seen that...is he the guy that rolled right thru his prickly pear cactus?
There's a reason for all those windmills in that San Gorgonio Pass - it's said to be the ninth windiest place on the planet.
Footnote - the Santa Ana winds don't affect that area. They start funneling down around San Bernardino and the passes to the north and west of there.
That's where I was. West on I-10 at the off ramp to Yucca Valley and 29-palms. I learned what "venturi effect" meant big time.......
Open soffits have been banned in our county building code, as have wood decks (which sucketh because I've got redwood). The roof vents now have to have metal gratings. The fire marshal wants tiled decks (which weigh a bunch in earthquake country). All decks must also be enclosed underneath.
As usual, these are good ideas in some places and a stupid waste of money in others. That's what you get with government regulation.
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