__________________
Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by ignorance or stupidity.
Isaac Asimov

I wouldn't build my house on a bomb just because after all it won't go off unless somebody lights the fuse.

I would say my view is quite the opposite of short sightedness.

__________________
Spock Jenkins of the Vulcan Jenkins'.

Everybody's got to be somewhere---and you've decided to live...where?

__________________
*

No reports of massive fires in northern Mexico, Tijauna area, though the KPBS Google map shows them spreading across the border.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0...8ac31fe3357571
Are the geography and ecology of that area any different from SoCal? Or is it that there are many fewer people living outside the main cities, in the tinderbox countryside?
John

A guy I know in SWG lost his place in the fire. I'm linking a trio of Youtube vids of his tour of the place yesterday.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CgDpo06qsQ
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF-GEmjikGw
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yxZPS7G7qI

Pretty harsh.

__________________
The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

Swg?

__________________
*

I prefer to maintain a degree of anonimity - but I have indicated that I live in Michigan. West side of the state to be more precise.

We really don't have much in the way of extreme weather or natural disasters around here. Plenty of snow to shovel in the winter - but we're far from the hottest or the coldest. No volcanoes, earthquakes, extreme flooding, or hurricanes.

Pretty tame from a natural threat perspective.

As has been said earlier in the thread - the economy stinks - but you can't have everything.

My questions are sincere - I really don't understand why so many people choose to live in areas that appear to be in the path of this type of event. People staying near where they were born is one thing - but many of these areas are growing exponentially. And the transplants are coming from places similar to where I live that would appear pretty tame by comparison. Clearly my timing is not very sensitive. I apologize for that.

__________________
Spock Jenkins of the Vulcan Jenkins'.

Here in today's newspaper, I have seen His majesty Mr.Arnold Swazneger, the governer of California, visited the fire spot there. But how this fire was spread, was it a natural fire in the forest!, or it was just undertake to burn the dry leafs surround with the trees by the forest man !. But sometime due to the fast winds the fire can take a damon's size by spreading all over in the forest.

I believe that much of this area is not forest (trees), but grassland. This climate normal goes through periods of being very dry and very flammable. In that state, it doesn't take much for it to start burning.

__________________
At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

My questions are sincere - I really don't understand why so many people choose to live in areas that appear to be in the path of this type of event. People staying near where they were born is one thing - but many of these areas are growing exponentially. And the transplants are coming from places similar to where I live that would appear pretty tame by comparison. Clearly my timing is not very sensitive. I apologize for that.

By and large, people move to places where they can find work. That's why the population isn't growing (and may be decreasing) in places like North Dakota. Sure, you might be able to live cheaply but unless you're retired, you might not be able to make a living there.

For the most part, the employment prospects in San Diego are pretty good. Also, San Diego is a very beautiful place with a terrific climate and lots to do. It's an expensive place to live but people manage somehow. The downsides are the occassional wildfires and earthquakes.

My youngest son has lived there for 14 years. He went through a series of earthquake aftershocks (epicenter was closer to LA, IIRC) about 10-12 years ago. They had another set of serious wildfires 4 years ago. I don't know of any other earthquakes or wildfires during that 14 year period but I could be wrong.

Why do people live along the eastern or Gulf coasts when those areas get hit by hurricanes? Why do people live in much of the midwest or south when those areas get hit by tornadoes and floods?

I believe that much of this area is not forest (trees), but grassland. This climate normal goes through periods of being very dry and very flammable. In that state, it doesn't take much for it to start burning.

That's true, at least by what I've seen on my visits there. I saw some of the damaged areas from the 2003 wildfires. There weren't many trees there. Mostly, I saw grassy fields with some brush. Grass and brush wildfires can spread extremely fast especially with those high winds spreading embers all over the place.

Map showing Palomar Observatory, just east of the conjunction of the Poomacha and Witch (Creek) fires. The westbound Santa Ana winds are over and resumption of the "normal" onshore eastbound winds have begun, allowing aggressive aerial water/retardant bombardment with five C-130s and numerous helicopters.

__________________
*

It isn't grassland; it's chapparal. Chapparal is its own kind of ecosystem that has evolved around fire. Many of the plants, for example, have seeds covered in a waxy coating that means they can only germinate after a fire. Interestingly, creosote releases its waxes into the soil when it burns, which actually makes the soil fireproof. This means that a major danger following a season of wildfires is landslides, as the hills once covered in creosote are more in danger of flooding. After the fire we had when I was in high school, the county seeded the slopes with grass in hopes of keeping them where they were.

Why did I live there? Why have I since moved to a region that is not merely also prone to earthquakes but, in fact, has a great big unexploded volcano in view on a clear day? Because the climate suits me, for one. If you like warm, dry weather, for example, you're going to live in a region with fire danger. (Actually, I don't like warm, dry weather; I was born in LA County.) In addition, human civilizations have pretty much always been in flood danger, because humans build alongside rivers. This is for both agriculture and commerce; these are still things that influence where people live today.

__________________
Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Palomar update:

__________________
*

my sister-in-law lives in that area. it is a combination of shrub trees in valleys,dried grass on hills. The further from the coast, higher altitude and more trees. Planted trees where people live. Looking at photos of burned houses, the trees are burned, but the grass is green.

__________________
"If you don't understand it, don't screw with it".

They said they shot and killed a suspected arsonist the 25th near the University of San Bernardino, however, there's no proof he was there to start a fire, as he ran from the university police and was shot when he tried to run one of them over. He could have been there to perv the co-eds.

Oh, and I was going to go hiking Sunday, when the fires started. I like to hike in the winds and nobody else is there and I have the park to myself. However, I thought if a fire started, I'd have people coming after me with pitchforks.

__________________
All moderations in purple.

You ain't nobody 'til you've been banned.

An emerging industry, perhaps---privatized emergency response:

__________________
*

Oops!

__________________
*