LA Wildfires

What are American houses built of? Are they timber framed? The houses just seemed to crumbled.

When people stop planting eucalyptus trees in the middle of housing this sort of thing will become rarer.

Ditto huge swathes of Australia, Portugal and other wildfire flashspots around the world.

Will we hear the broadcast media highlight this? Not a chance. It doesn’t fit the climate change narrative.

Planting a eucalyptus tree next to your house is tantamount to planting a small LPG tank there. Also junipers, no matter how pretty they look.

Wyllow3 time will tell.

When I mentionned this to friends who lived next to a humongous eucalyptus tree in Surrey- and others in the Midlands, they seemed very surprised they were massive fire hazards. In the South of France junipers are now banned for this reason, and also because they cause so many strong allergies.

Juniewoonie

What are American houses built of? Are they timber framed? The houses just seemed to crumbled.

Yes Juniewoonie - the houses need to crumble as built in the earthquake zone…. Each to their own.

Wyllow3

Its good to see neighbouring states like Texas (which is also a very high risk state for wildfires) offering and giving help).

And Mexican fire fighters have flown in. I bet they were given a visa quickly 😉

Nobody listens to what that meddling little shit Musk says. Hundreds of houses are being destroyed and people are dying and he's making political capital out of it. His staggering ignorance of world affairs was exposed when he went to Europe, so people just ignore him now. Even Donald Trump's tired of him and his money. He should go back to stealing other people's ideas and enriching himself in the process.

Simpatico again Claremont! 😁

What are the disadvantages of the eucalyptus tree?
One of Eucalyptus' main drawbacks is an extremely high rate of transpiration that causes detrimental effects on the environment. Compared to other trees in the country, Eucalyptus contributes much more to draught through transpiration 18–20 times higher.

Also:

Why not to plant a eucalyptus tree?
Fire Hazard:
Eucalyptus trees contain oils that are highly flammable, contributing to intense fires. Their presence can increase the risk and severity of wildfires, posing a threat to nearby communities and ecosystems.23 Nov 2016

Don't believe what people who have been making political capital out of the situation say. The main problem are the 90-100mph winds, the reason. so many buildings have been destroyed and people have died.. Because of the wind the fires are travelling so fast they become impossible to outrun. Hoses become useless and planes carrying water are exposed to great danger. What is interesting is how they started, because they started in the city. The people making political capital out of the situation are disgusting. Even somebody from Fox TV said lesbians were the cause of the fire.

This is a long read but it explains an awful lot. Controlled burning.

cepr.net/publications/us-forest-service-decision-to-halt-prescribed-burns-in-california-is-history-repeating/

loopyloo

Yes. This is in the richest country in the world in an affluent area.
How on earth was it allowed to get to get to this state?
Even I knew they were short of water in California now.
Feel so sorry about this.

Americans seem to have a completely different attitude to weather and to housing than we do.

THe states that are affected by inudation from the sea do nothing to prevent that, in the cyclone belt houses are not built to resist high winds, and the states that have snow in winter still have telephone lines above ground.

In consideration of all this, how can you be surprised that nothing much has apparently been done to prevent wildfires spreading?

And quite honestly, once fires of this magnitude start, they are extremely hard to stop, whether you have enough water or not, especially in gale force winds.

Joe Biden sent in thousands of Military, planes and Fire Fighters to assist in controlling the fires started by Arsonists, from what I have read on The Guardian and also the English El Pais Newspaper.

We have a Chocolatier dear friend of many years in Santa Monica and he has been helping those who are in tragic despair over losses of homes and also university students affected and driving them to safe zones and places to shelter.

It is totally devasting and truly a grand loss for the state of California.

Obviously there are rich and not so rich people living in these burning areas, who have/will lose everything. As in any catastrohic event many people come forward with offers of help - so I find it horrendous that various hotels and similar establishments have increased the cost of their accommodation!! Surely in these devastating circumstances they should be offering FREE places of safety!!

The fires are dire, yes, but nothing to do with 'climate change'.

one of the reasons as to why the planet's temperature is increasing is the amount of cremations. some local authorities use the heat to warm up swimming pools etc but most don't. so the excess heat is pumped into the atmosphere. I'm not saying that using land for burials which could be used or housing is the answer either. then people want chimineas or fire pits in their gardens . Log burners are also popular as there is the belief it reduces fuel costs.
We live in a strange world when many countries don't have enough clean water but in the UK use drinking water to flush toilets. There are some public toilets in Brighton which "suck" waste and I know of some others where the volume of water is significantly reduced.

The fires are horrific and the aftermath will be traumatic for all involved. But I have to say it is incredible that anything Donald Trump says is almost universally treated with contempt. He has been talking about forest management and water supplies for years. The fires started in forests and due to the very high Santa ana winds traveled to urban areas where they completely went out of control. Forest management involves clearing the forest floors of dry highly combustible material and removing fallen trees. Common sense as in done in Finland for example . Arson is also a factor as it was in Australia, in fact people were jailed for it and quite rightly so. Just because Trump says something it does not make it incorrect. Maybe if they had listened it only to him but to others who were saying the same. Lessons will be learnt etc. meanwhile people are dead and homeless and have lost everything

Lilyflower

The fires are dire, yes, but nothing to do with 'climate change'.

Thats strongly disputed.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70qj7kyppjo#:~:text=This%20is%20when%20relatively%20small,they%20become%20difficult%20to%20control.&text=In%20California%2C%20the%20risk%20of,change%2C%20according%20to%20some%20models.

Just above on this thread we have had competing information - the fires started in the forests, the fires started in urban areas...California "should" have done this or that -

Trumps statements were not new on what could have been done, it's common fire prevention knowledge, but I suspect its the scale of the costs that held California back, just as it is all over the states on for example areas subject to heavy/disaster flooding...

Here is a CBS fact check on Trump claims

www.cbsnews.com/news/fact-checking-trump-claims-los-angeles-california-wildfires/

Lilyflower

The fires are dire, yes, but nothing to do with 'climate change'.

Such comments are quite staggering.

McBab- did you watch the video I posted with Trump totally mocking any attempt at saving water in regions where rain and water have been almost totally lacking recently?

Please wake up. This has nothing to do with climate change and will just be used by the climate lobby to foster vested interests. In the past the earth has been much hotter than this and the air more full of carbon - which is good for greenery. Whatever we are doing to the planet - and goodness knows it's plenty - human generated climate change did not cause these fires. Arsonists caused them. And the fire hydrants were empty. Now why do you think that might have been?

The theory that arsonists started all the fires is ludicrous. If you'd just read the fact check on what Trump has said on the hydrants you'd find the facts not the myths.
www.cbsnews.com/news/fact-checking-trump-claims-los-angeles-california-wildfires/

He'll lie or obfuscate about anything that suits.

Just one example along with the hydrants and reservoirs:

"Trump claims there is "no money in FEMA"

Trump also lobbed criticisms at President Biden in a social media post, claiming the current administration is leaving him "no money in FEMA."

FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund was rapidly dwindling last October after Hurricane Helene and a series of major disasters, but Mr. Biden signed a bill in December that added $29 billion to the fund

On Wednesday, the agency told CNN they had approximately $27 billion left in the Disaster Relief Fund. CBS News has reached out to confirm the current balance.

In a statement, the White House said FEMA has approved Fire Management Assistance Grants to reimburse California for firefighting costs.

Please wake up indeed- do you know the state of the reservoirs in California and the reason why there are such shortages?

I don't know enough about these Los Aneles fires to know how they started.

Forest management involves clearing the forest floors of dry highly combustible material and removing fallen trees. Common sense as in done in Finland for example . Arson is also a factor as it was in Australia, in fact people were jailed for it and quite rightly so.

However, what Mcbab says about clearing forest floors of combustible materials is true. It is also true that many fires in Australia were started by humans, either deliberately or not and the ban on clearing forest floors as contributed to the rapid spread when fires do start.

No-one is denying that a range of factors are the cause- but denying climate change, extreme heat, lack of rain which has depleted reservoirs and water tables- is nonsensical.