Large Scale Central

Fire

Ok, going from the news reports, it seems California is going up in smoke. I know we have members there, including some near the fire zones. Time to check in…

Way north of me, north of LA… and one north of Sacramento.

We have had long, dry summer and very few fires to speak of for a season… so not unexpected.

Greg

Greg Elmassian said:

Way north of me, north of LA… and one north of Sacramento.

We have had long, dry summer and very few fires to speak of for a season… so not unexpected.

Greg

My sister just informed me that my cousin has lost their home and everything, including her two cats, in this fire north of Sacramento. They were evacuating, but got stuck in traffic and had to flee the car leaving it to burn.

About 80 miles north of Sacramento was the town of Paradise. All is lost, homes and business. Over 75,000 acres burnt and only about 5% under control.

I just got home from work and wanted to go out back and run some trains but the sky is dark and grey, visibility is about one or two miles.

Not a good day to be outside, and I’d probably feel a little guilty having a good time playing when so many have lost everything.

I know we’re not suppose to talk politics, BUT, most all logging has been banned, in California, and now the forests are not being managed as they ounce were. I’ve lived here all my 61 years and, in only the last couple of years, I never remember hearing about complete communities or even whole towns burning to the ground. It’s not global warming it’s poor governing!

Paradise is lost in California!!!

Adam

Yeah, awful, I did some research and saw people died in their cars, pretty unusual, but I would guess the country roads could not handle a mass exodus.

Really sorry to hear that.

Adam, when you say I know I am not supposed to do this but… stop right there… a rule is a rule. starting wrong can get a thread locked…

edit: thanks Adam for not taking it personally… just we have had good threads locked before… and I agree with you about not maintaining our forests…

Adam Dziuk said:

About 80 miles north of Sacramento was the town of Paradise. All is lost, homes and business. Over 75,000 acres burnt and only about 5% under control.

Paradise is lost in California!!!

Adam

That’s where she lives/lived. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)

Another issue in California is smoke. The Paradise fire, like most large Northern California fires, blows smoke down into the Bay Area. Like last year’s Santa Rosa fire, heavy smoke has closed schools and other outdoor venues in places many miles from Paradise. Not quite sure what the situation is in Southern California but I am about to find out, as I am currently en route to Pasadena (Craftsman Heritage) and Anaheim (Disneyland).

Greetings from Chico, just down wind from the CAMP fire. Yup, Paradise lost a school, bunch of business, and over 6K homes. We are 10 miles west of Paradise. The fire started south of Paradise, took out the west end of town and headed north to the rural area where our daughter and family had to evacuate. They know some homes close to theirs burned so we are preparing for an expansion (daughter, husband, their youngest daughter, and his grandmother—and 4 cats and a dog) in our household. Learned Sat am their house is gone. You gotta do what you gotta do. We were ready to evac (interesting how a rarely used word “evacuation” quickly becomes used so often we abbreviate it) last night but the threat has softened a bit today. Here is a link to our local paper.

Self hijack: My trestle project, posted in August is coming along so slowly. I do have two thirds of the piers planted and now realizing how short the bents will be. Giving some serious thought to a 3’ viaduct at one end and some form of a 2’ truss bridge at the other end. I have documented much of the work with pictures and hope to start a progress/build thread soon.

Bill Gebhardt

Todd Brody said:

My sister just informed me that my cousin has lost their home and everything, including her two cats, in this fire north of Sacramento. They were evacuating, but got stuck in traffic and had to flee the car leaving it to burn.

I’m sorry they lost everything, but I’m glad they made it out alive. I hate fires.

Bill,

Saddened to hear of your families loss, thankful that they got out, so many didn’t. Ya, gotta take family in no matter what,

they need the support and love.

My Sisters families had to double up for several months after the Carr Fire losses, they now have a

place of their own again, small and temporary but at least their own.

Stay safe yourselves, your not that far from the disaster.

It was great seeing you and Marilyn last month, glad you came up.

Rick

I am really sorry to hear about the losses from these fires.

So far we are lucky that fires have not been an issue here on the desert. We are not out of the woods yet. It is extremely dry and it would take very little to cause major problems.

Sorry to hear of their and others losses, hope they are able to get back on their feet soon, I think I will just stick with the hurricanes even as bad as they are, God Bless

Bill, Todd, so sorry to hear of your tragic family stories.

Tim, Adam, others, thanks for your alerts and reports.

The fires down here have burned all the way to the sea. Fire that burned to Malibu in the same general area that burned in the 1990s but now there are alot ALOT more houses built in the areas since then. It’s the older areas that habh burned in Newbury Park that are more surprising. These high wind zones are almost impossible to stop a wind blown fire once it starts. Sky is full of Ash here today.

Wow. Our prayers are with you all!

I live in San Mateo, CA on the San Francisco peninsula, and it’s been so smokey here for the past few days that the sun looked like an orange ball beyond the haze overcast and with orange looking sunsets. I stayed indoors.

Today is better, with some haze with a bit of blue in the sky.

-Ted

Adam Dziuk said:

About 80 miles north of Sacramento was the town of Paradise. All is lost, homes and business. Over 75,000 acres burnt and only about 5% under control.

I just got home from work and wanted to go out back and run some trains but the sky is dark and grey, visibility is about one or two miles.

Not a good day to be outside, and I’d probably feel a little guilty having a good time playing when so many have lost everything.

I know we’re not suppose to talk politics, BUT, most all logging has been banned, in California, and now the forests are not being managed as they ounce were. I’ve lived here all my 61 years and, in only the last couple of years, I never remember hearing about complete communities or even whole towns burning to the ground. It’s not global warming it’s poor governing!

Paradise is lost in California!!!

Adam

Adam,

Edit: I just deleted my reply. Greg is correct. A rule is a rule. Let me just say Forest Management sucks in California. JMHO

Here in San Diego, the way the city makes firebreaks is a joke. We live near the edge of a canyon, and the city sends a small crew out once every several years to clear the brush between the houses and the canyon. Except they never really clear it. They just thin out the brush slightly, barely even noticeable, and certainly not enough to deter a fire.

In the backcountry the forestry service tells people they need to clear everything in a 100’ swath of “defensible space”. I don’t know why the city doesn’t do that.

Gary Armitstead said:

Adam Dziuk said:

About 80 miles north of Sacramento was the town of Paradise. All is lost, homes and business. Over 75,000 acres burnt and only about 5% under control.

I just got home from work and wanted to go out back and run some trains but the sky is dark and grey, visibility is about one or two miles.

Not a good day to be outside, and I’d probably feel a little guilty having a good time playing when so many have lost everything.

I know we’re not suppose to talk politics, BUT, most all logging has been banned, in California, and now the forests are not being managed as they ounce were. I’ve lived here all my 61 years and, in only the last couple of years, I never remember hearing about complete communities or even whole towns burning to the ground. It’s not global warming it’s poor governing!

Paradise is lost in California!!!

Adam

Adam,

Edit: I just deleted my reply. Greg is correct. A rule is a rule. Let me just say Forest Management sucks in California. JMHO

No forests were harmed… grass lands, scrub oak and scrub pines that no one harvests anyway. Down south it’s that manzanita and scrub brush … Just the facts.