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LA wildfires force thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

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

#281

Post by jonstewart »

ravenstine wrote: post #88
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 really don't understand how SoCal and California residents in general find the the state's response to wildfires in the last decade to be acceptable. Not only have fire departments seen cutbacks, but so has the forestry needed for preventative measures. What really bugs me is what I find to be a disinterest and lack of belief in vastly expanding the fleet of water dropping aircraft. Letting fires burn to the extent…

Hundreds or thousands of planes???

“Federal agencies are responsible for managing 200 to 300 wildland fire aircraft.” - Nat’l Interagency Fire Center, https://www.nifc.gov/resources/aircraft

“CAL FIRE’s fleet of more than 60 fixed and rotary wing aircraft make it the largest civil aerial firefighting fleet in the world.” — CAL FIRE, https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/fire-protection/aviation-...

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

#282

Post by kristjansson »

someonehere wrote: post #258

[flagged]

So Newsom made NorCal ship all its water to SoCal, but it’s Newsom’s fault the hydrants ran dry in the Palisades last night? Or that the brush was dry?

Come on, at least try to be self-consistent if you’re going spout this stuff.

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

#283

Post by joe_the_user »

gonzo41 wrote: post #122
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.

This was a wealthy area built within canyons and other natural areas. Controlled burns are possible in some areas but I can't imagine it would have been possible there.

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

#284

Post by darth_avocado »

defrost wrote: post #277
darth_avocado wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More information since my last comment, at least half the budget cuts indeed impacted large scale disaster response capabilities. https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california-wildfires/la-w... > The budget reduction, approved last year by Mayor Karen Bass, was mostly absorbed by leaving many administrative jobs unfilled, but that left about $7 million that was cut from its overtime budget that was used for training,…

I have a serious interest in emergency service budgets (in Western Australia, although personnel from here do travel to California to assist in our off season). So.. cheers for the update and context, that does highlight a 'loss' of $7 million in training alocation from an over 800 million budget. Do 'we' hold the state of California responsible here for allocating less overall, or the LA Fire Chief for perhaps not m…

The blame starts with the mayor and top brass of the city government. The literal job description involves running the city based on money they have, including prioritizing what’s important. Fire departments and emergency services are the last departments that need budget cuts. Obviously some blame does also fall on the fire chief, but fire departments are usually well run and from the looks of it, there seems to have been an effort to absorb most of the cost cutting in vacant admin positions. Whether there was an opportunity to make cuts elsewhere from the FD’s pov, we’d need to look at the data more closely.

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

#285

Post by gammarator »

kethinov wrote: post #214
dawnerd wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We do. And we have setbacks you must maintain and keep brush cleared. But there's still only so much you can do.

A lot more could be done: https://www.slowboring.com/p/a-better-approach-to-forest-man...

These aren’t “forests” like in other parts of the West so much as cliffs covered in dry, scrubby brush. I’m pessimistic that they could be systematically cleared or burned in a controlled way.

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

#286

Post by pizza »

Many neighborhoods and landmarks along PCH in Malibu just gone. There's nothing left. Hard to fathom or overstate what the impact of all this will be. Every year I go down to the beach at sunrise on January 1st with my dad. We pulled over somewhere, don't know where, along the way, to catch the sunrise. Today when I first woke up I opened twitter and saw a video of the charred skeletons of the houses right where we were standing just one week ago. Recognized it from the background of the picture I took of him. Fucking insane.

edit: much of today has been giving me flashbacks of the Woolsey fire. the only way, probably, this fire today is better than the Woolsey fire, is that there likely won't be a mass shooting the very next day, like what happened back then, at the Borderline shooting.

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

#288

Post by Mistletoe »

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…

>very little that can be done in these situations

I don't agree with that. People can choose to not live there. There is an entire country to live in and we keep crowding in what seem to the worst places to live and then act surprised when it goes badly. Climate change is going to make some places uninhabitable, that's why we tried to prevent it, but no one cares.

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

#289

Post by anon291 »

Stevvo wrote: post #211
kamikazeturtles wrote: post #192

> The National Guard - along with thousands of firefighters (many of them prisoners working for $10 a day or less) - have been deployed to help tackle the conflagration. I hope their compensation is a little more than $10 a day! By the looks of the fire, those guys/gals are heros.

Worse, upon release, none of them will be able to gain employment as a firefighter; you need a clean record for that.

Well good, since professional and volunteer firefighters are the most common arsonists. People with violent criminal records should not be in those fields at all.

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

#290

Post by anon291 »

mulmen wrote: post #242
s1artibartfast wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are volunteering and usually get time reduced for doing so.

I'm still uneasy about it. They're in a vulnerable position and the alternative is unpleasant because of the same people offering the "opportunity". The pay is only legal because they're prisoners. If it was a fair wage I'd be more comfortable although still uneasy.

They're being provided with a full life while the rest of us pay for it. If, at market rate, their earnings make up for the expense the state pays for them, I'd be willing to let them earn it, but I doubt any are earning that much.
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