Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

LA wildfires force thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

theregister.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 691 posts

Re: LA wildfires force thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

#121

Post by esalman »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #69
wk_end wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately there's increasingly few places where natural disasters, of one sort or another, aren't inevitable. The PNW also burns regularly now, never mind the enormous earthquake looming under us that we're terribly unprepared for. Even the northeast is starting to get buried in smoke in the summer and hit by storms like Hurricane Sandy. Tornado Alley knocks out much of the midwest. What's left of the US? Desert…

> there's increasingly few places where natural disasters, of one sort or another, aren't inevitable Sure. That doesn’t mean you can’t mitigate damage. Not e.g. building on the Houston flood plain is one such example [1]. [1] https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/...

Huston regularly gets battered by hurricanes.

Re: LA wildfires force thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

#122

Post by gonzo41 »

throwaway249281 wrote: post #115

There's a lot of fingerpointing but as Daniel Swain put it: 1. This was completely expected and forecasted both short and long term by regional climate and weather experts. Two very wet winters caused fuel buildup followed by an extremely hot and dry year. 2. There is very little that can be done in these situations. 100 mph gusts of embers can't be fought with hoses and air attack isn't possible in high winds. 3. Ha…

You need to do fuel reduction burns during winter (when it's wet) so you can reduce the load. They do this near my house in Australia every few years, it's somewhat terrifying to have a slow roll bushfire roll around the house, but it can be managed with care.

Re: LA wildfires force thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

#124

Post by [deleted] »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #14

With much of California, Texas and Florida property damage is concentrated where folks built where they shouldn’t have [1]. (At times nudged on by subsidised insurance [2].) Is that true in this case, too? (Being so close to LA, it doesn’t strike me that it could be.) If not, is my general thesis off? [1] https://www.npr.org/2023/11/06/1204923950/arizona-california... [2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article…

[deleted]

Re: LA wildfires force thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

#125

Post by rvnx »

crystal_revenge wrote: post #119
segasaturn wrote: post #51

Los Angeles Fire Department funding was cut by over $23M only a few months ago. The fires are currently being fought by a skeleton crew of remaining fire fighters and volunteers. Can't say if that funding would have prevented it, but cutting it definitely has not helped. Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/los-angeles-fires-m... Edit: Changing a word, "gutted" -> "cut"

> by a skeleton crew of remaining fire fighters and volunteers. I think you're missing a major contributor which is California's prison population [0]. Prisoners getting paid around $3-$5 a day make up ~1/3 of California's wildfire fighting service. Maybe you consider them to be "volunteers" but that seems to be missing some important context. 0. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-history-of-califo...

(Very interesting info you found!)

It seems to be a great way to reengage in the community and feel useful as a human being (and see people being grateful to you).

Not so sure the $5 are the driver here.

Better than watching a cellmate all day.

Re: LA wildfires force thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

#126

Post by segasaturn »

ChrisClark wrote: post #76
segasaturn wrote: post #51

Los Angeles Fire Department funding was cut by over $23M only a few months ago. The fires are currently being fought by a skeleton crew of remaining fire fighters and volunteers. Can't say if that funding would have prevented it, but cutting it definitely has not helped. Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/los-angeles-fires-m... Edit: Changing a word, "gutted" -> "cut"

2% means gutted? 2% less funding means only a skeleton crew is left?

The city of Los Angeles and the Mayor have been requesting volunteers from the public, due to lack of manpower. According to their website [1] the salary for firefighters in Los Angeles is $85,000 to $125,000 (rounded). Assuming the average ($105,000), that amount of funding could have paid 161 firefighters salaries for the entire year, not including benefits (unsure how that is priced in), and much more than that if they were part-time which most of the force are.

https://www.joinlafd.org/salary-and-benefits

Re: LA wildfires force thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

#127

Post by mistrial9 »

segasaturn wrote: post #51

Los Angeles Fire Department funding was cut by over $23M only a few months ago. The fires are currently being fought by a skeleton crew of remaining fire fighters and volunteers. Can't say if that funding would have prevented it, but cutting it definitely has not helped. Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/los-angeles-fires-m... Edit: Changing a word, "gutted" -> "cut"

this is disinformation. CalFIRE at the State of California had a 10x budget increase in the 2020 time frame under Gov Newsom. LA County has budgets larger than small countries. Fire suppression is a priority.

These fires have spread quickly and it is true that fire fighters are spread thin.

Re: LA wildfires force thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

#128

Post by nradov »

segasaturn wrote: post #79
defrost wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone tweeted $23 million .. your linked article (thank you for source) follows that with: City budget documents show the department’s more than $800 million budget decreased by around $17 million compared to the previous budget cycle. Which makes the cuts less than %2.12 "Gutted" as a descripter seems extreme and the details that matter are whether these reductions simply trimmed fat, or denied something essential…

I'm not sure why the percentage matters? Whether it's 2% or 20%, it's still millions of dollars that could have been used here. More broadly, why are we cutting fire department budgets when wildfires are becoming more frequent, more intense and a year round phenomenon due to global warming? If you want to trim fat in the government there are much bigger targets to go after than an essential service like firefighting.

Which other fat targets should local governments cut? Please be specific and quantitative.

Re: LA wildfires force thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

#129

Post by giraffe_lady »

rvnx wrote: post #125
crystal_revenge wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> by a skeleton crew of remaining fire fighters and volunteers. I think you're missing a major contributor which is California's prison population [0]. Prisoners getting paid around $3-$5 a day make up ~1/3 of California's wildfire fighting service. Maybe you consider them to be "volunteers" but that seems to be missing some important context. 0. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-history-of-califo...

(Very interesting info you found!) It seems to be a great way to reengage in the community and feel useful as a human being (and see people being grateful to you). Not so sure the $5 are the driver here. Better than watching a cellmate all day.

I wonder if they have favorable consideration when applying to fire departments after they get out.

Re: LA wildfires force thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

#130

Post by timeon »

segasaturn wrote: post #51

Los Angeles Fire Department funding was cut by over $23M only a few months ago. The fires are currently being fought by a skeleton crew of remaining fire fighters and volunteers. Can't say if that funding would have prevented it, but cutting it definitely has not helped. Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/los-angeles-fires-m... Edit: Changing a word, "gutted" -> "cut"

I would be more concerned about Climate Change. No amount of money will help.
Post reply on HN