Southern CA fires - Live Thread 10/27

10/27/03 | Myself

[lainie]

if people would just clear the fuel

!!

Hate to tell that guy, but in infernos like these, a perimeter won't necessarily get you anything. 50' and 100' firestorms!

[meyer]

If fire gets into Lake Arrowhead, this is where all the beetle damage is. I hunt there and the forest is all dead. The Jeffrey pines there will go up like Roman Candles. If the fire gets into those huge stands of dead trees the whole mtn will burn down.

THis is the place where the news reported was the worst fire dange in the nation this summer. USFS has been logging the trees to head off disaster but it thje usual case of last-minititus.

As far as the woods is concerned, the fire is probably the best way to get rid of the beetles now. But, there's so much to lose up there that thinning and clearing would have been the best path to removing them in the first place. They could have cleared a bunch of bad wood and burned it in the middle of the desert somewhere where it couldn't harm anything else.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

The Jeffrey pines there will go up like Roman Candles.

Are those the ones with the bark that smells vaguely of butterscotch? I remember when hiking in the San Jacintos near Idyllwild, I saw large stands of dead conifers up on the ridges. Are these the ones that have succumbed to bark beetles? And is it just the Jeffrey Pines? When I hiked through that area I remember someone mentioning a pest killing trees. Until that point I just thought the trees were dying as part of a natural cycle.

Having hiked through the burn zone south of Mount Laguna, which lasted at least 15 hiking miles, I have a profound respect for the damage wildfire can do.

[restornu]

[ErnBatavia]

Old Womyn Springs Road Awww, c'mon - do they REALLY spell it "Womyn"? ;-)

Not quite yet...but even Yucca Valley has a Starbucks, so the change can't be far from coming....

[PhiKapMom]

That's what the spokesman for LA County was saying -- once it turns into a firestorm, it takes out everything in its path and has its own wind driving it.

[Gabz]

They really think of California as Hollywood, and not much else.

I totally understand what you are saying. But the east coast bias is also apparent here on the east coast. They really think it is NYC, Boston and D.C. and Miami for vacation.

We have mountains, forests, farms, and more conservatives than we are given credit for.

Has anyone out side of this region ever heard of the DelMarVa peninsula????

Don't feel alone in being biasly ignored by the media.

[lainie]

man alive.

[nicmarlo]

Not normal during the 25 years I lived in So. Calif. (I moved away 10 years ago).

[okimhere]

Thanks. I see you made it thru the night. Has the danger to you and your house gone away??

Earlier today, I saw a reporterette telecasting from the 76 station site in Devore but there were a lot of burned out sheds or something behind her. There are so MANY fronts to cover, they can't get to them all, I know.

[SCalGal]

west. west. It's west.

[lainie]

I suppose it could be switching back & forth, or the stillness might have let some smoke start wafting my way. But yeah. How close are you to the mountain range? I'm ten miles north up the valley floor.

[meyer]

Hate to tell that guy, but in infernos like these, a perimeter won't necessarily get you anything. 50' and 100' firestorms!

I'm no expert but judging from the near horizontal flight pattern of embers I saw on TV last night, 1000 yards would be an appropriate fire break width. These are huge fires.

[lainie]

It's so dry, embers scatter around via winds, and spark new "hot spots"

[nicmarlo]

"Must not sleep.........the clowns will eat me."

LOL!

[NorseWood]

Sorry, I found out that we are seeing flames from clear out in Chatsworth.

[Ladypixel]

Not only has the danger subsided, but the area of the Grand Prix fire extending from La Verne, CA to Rancho Cucamonga, CA has been determined to be 100 percent contained. The remainder of the Grand Prix fire east of Rancho Cucamonga is being considered part of the Old Waterman fire.

I do know that Devore was on full mandantory evacuation status. Still trying to hunt down updates on that area.

[ErnBatavia]

used to drive on icy 18 at nignt with my motorcycle!

Years ago, I "Ferried" a big old moto-cycle down from Big Bear to my pal's house...I went just a bit wide on a corner and damn near took the 1000 foot ride to death.

(I stopped to take a dump as soon as we got down to Ontario...it was highly necessary)