NASA Earth Observatory: Fires in Southern California

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I have often thought that some refitted C-130's with a scoop and drop
tank could be employed. They are next to the ocean, you see.
Also, so many homes have swimming pools. Duh!!!!!!! 2 inch pump with a volkswagen engine running on city gas or propane. Save your house anyway.
Oh well.....we have insurance. Is that really the attitude? Or are the Santa Anna winds just a once in 20 years thing?
There is this thing called plastic pipe. Pump some of the pacific ocean up for fire supression. This isn't as hard as going to the moon ,folks.
It just looks like they want to play cheap. Once you get burned bad enough,
you start to re-examin a situation.
" But...what shall I do?" asked Mrs. Frisbee.
The old owl said ..." Ask the rats. ......They have ways. "

Best regards, Dan

C-130s are standing by, as are choppers, but aerial methods can't be employed effectively until wind speeds decline.

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Hi, It would seem that they need 10 times the amount of C 130's currently in the op area. Copters are small and expensive...usefull for spot problems.
Fires like this need a much heavier hand.
What a pity. Quelle tragique.
Best regards, Dan

Check out the new DC-10 airtanker (PDF)

YouTube video from the Zaca fire last summer

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Envisat captures California ablaze

I hope the people can evacuate safe,
The fires looks big from space so are any of the observatories in danger like Palomar, Wilson, Radio arrays etc ?

Anyone have a link to a satellite image?

***Please don't answer this question - it appears to be redundant due to the merging of two threads - question answered.

Southern California on fire, October 2007
This post...



Southern California on fire, October 2007

In this thread...

I think there are three threads now on this...

Not sure if this is politics - but at what point do we stop subsidizing individuals desire to live in places that are cleary prone to natural disasters?

"You can build here - but you can not get insurance and the government will not pay to replace your house if it burns down."

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Spock Jenkins of the Vulcan Jenkins'.

Don't know of any astronomy-related structures currently at risk. There are threats though.

Pasadena Star News (ironic name):

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So far, so good...

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According to an unoffical fire map, it looks like my son's home is in the burn area. Offical sources are maxed out so I can't confirm anything.

My son got his wife and son to safety yesterday. Nothing else matters.

One annoying aspect of the "news" coverage is how much time they devote to the celebrities inconvienced by this fire. Who the hell cares? Why waste airtime talking about celebrities when they could be reporting on where the fire lines are?

Good that they are safe.

I am curious to know - how much was made of the area when your son first moved in? Was it noted to be a high risk location? What were the mitigating factors in the decision (meaning - if it was high risk - because of this we'll buy anyway)? Do they even have high risk fire zones like they do flood zones?

The reason I'm asking you is because with a family member - you will likely have a bit more insight than the average person who thinks, "Well - they must have known they would likely find themselves in the path of a wild fire when they built there!"

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Spock Jenkins of the Vulcan Jenkins'.

I wouldn't mind if they are side stories within a larger story, but when they make an entire story out of the celebrity, or "duh" dribble, then that's when I have the issue.
Examples:
Fire affects TV shows, celebrities
Some actors can't make make it to work.
Smoke poses serious health risk
And the fire is safe?

Because it only affects the local people?
A third of a million people left out of thier homes, and they don't report on the whos, and wheres, and contact information for the friends and relatives.

I don't presume to speak for Larry, but I do have observations from many trips to Orange County. Anything that is not in an urban or densely populated area seems to be in a fire risk area.
All you need is a yard.

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Larry, maybe the information on this page from the Forest Sevice, with a map of active fires, will give you a little more information. Good luck to your son and his family.

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

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

Thanks for the image!

I used to live in LA. In the 80's, I remember Malibu had a terrible fire. Looking at it at night, it seemed as if the hills were covered in lava. It was eerily beautiful.

I feel for the families affected - one report shows 250k evacuated - and agree with Larry that it is annoying to have to listen to how this affects celebs.

OTQ - the earthobservatory image above shows all of Nevada. Anyone know where on that map I might see the craters from nuclear bomb testing in the 40's-50's?

OT: From one of my favorite animated flicks.

So, did these different fires start spontaneously from natural causes?

San Diego local TV reports an exploding power transmission line transformer started one fire, suspected arson in another.

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Best thing to do is not buy houses in dry brush. Eventually, in about 50 years or so, they'll be no dry brush left because everyone's built a house on it, but still....

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

I am curious to know - how much was made of the area when your son first moved in? Was it noted to be a high risk location? What were the mitigating factors in the decision (meaning - if it was high risk - because of this we'll buy anyway)? Do they even have high risk fire zones like they do flood zones?

I honestly don't know. They've lived in Rancho Bernardo for 5 years. There was a big wildfire that came fairly close to their home 4 years ago.*

I don't presume to speak for Larry, but I do have observations from many trips to Orange County. Anything that is not in an urban or densely populated area seems to be in a fire risk area.
All you need is a yard.

This does seem to be the case. Not being from southern California, I really don't know.

They own a townhome. In a way, that might reduce their risk. The home has a stucco exterior with a tile roof. That alone reduces the fire danger. In addition, it has an indoor sprinkler system so that might reduce the damage from a fire.

Larry, maybe the information on this page from the Forest Sevice, with a map of active fires, will give you a little more information. Good luck to your son and his family.

The server appears to be down right now. I'll check back later. Thanks for the source.

The unoffical source seems to indicate their home is in the fire area or extremely close to it. The last official map from 0530 this morning seems to indicate their home is just outside the fire zone. However, it lacks enough reference landmarks (e.g. named roads) to be certain. Either way, it's very close if it hasn't actually burned. A lot can happen in a few hours, too, especially when you consider the high winds they're having.

*The fire four years ago happened just a few weeks after we found out my daughter-in-law was pregnant with our first grandchild. I asked my son if Heidi was pregnant again. He kind of paused and said, "Ah, I don't know." They're trying so it could be a funny coincidence.

I finally was able to view the fire map.

Why am I a little hopeful the fires will reach my ex-girlfriend's place? It should be there in another day or two...

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I live in Rancho Penasquitos, and was under mandatory evacuation since yesterday morning. Woke up at 6:30 AM, had my sister, her 2 kittens, her dog, my cat, and my desktop and my server out the door by 8 AM. She's driving my '04 Sunfire, and I'm in my '73 VW Thing. My condo is just inside the evac area (like, 50 yards inside the evac area) off the I-15 and the 56 freeway.

I'm currently sitting at work, which, if you're looking at the maps, is pretty much where the 805 and 52 freeways meet (the office is on the SE side of the junction). My bosses, who got evacuated last night, are cool with my cat and I staying here, and there's a 24-Hour Fitness nearby for, like, showers, so I'm OK. As long as the fires don't shift (there's a small one burning to the west of Black Mountain, off of Camino Del Sur, which is within a few miles, while the Rancho Bernardo fires to the west of the 15 are also about 5 miles away), my place will be fine.

Right now, the news is reporting that, based on the number of reverse 911 calls in the mandatory evacuation areas, and the 2000 census, we're looking at 513,000 evacuees right now. That's just...dang.

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Sleep? Isn't that that totally inadaquate substitute for caffeine I've heard so much about?

Quantumfoamy.com, my astronomy/astrophotography blog.

I don't know. Doesn't seem right though.

My son is in the Navy and stationed at 29 Palms. Since there's nothing at 29 Palms for his wife and son, they stay in San Diego while he is on duty. He goes home when he's not in his shift rotation cycle. He evacuated his family to the little trailer he rents in 29 Palms so they're all safe. They don't have to worry about fires at 29 Palms. It features a landscape only a little less desolate than that shown in the Apollo moon landings. There's not much there to burn.

Right now, the news is reporting that, based on the number of reverse 911 calls in the mandatory evacuation areas, and the 2000 census, we're looking at 513,000 evacuees right now. That's just...dang.

I can't imagine where all of those evacuees are staying. The 10,000 or so who're staying at Qualcomm stadium are only a small percentage of those who had to evacuate.

Yeah, that's the thing: a lot of people thing San Diego's in the desert, and it isn't desert doesn't burn. There's nothing to burn.

San Diego is mostly high chaparral, and chaparral burns like kindling.

Friends, family, the Del Mar Fairgrounds, local high schools, local churches....or, in my case, at work.

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Sleep? Isn't that that totally inadaquate substitute for caffeine I've heard so much about?

Quantumfoamy.com, my astronomy/astrophotography blog.

SirThoreth,
I wish you the best of luck.

@ Larry Jack
Tell your son and daughter-in-law to stop having babies; they're creating too many fires!

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

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

29 Palms is near an active volcano though...


And near some nice Cambrian layers I like to dig through on occasions.

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I really don't get it.

Fires and earthquakes in California. Hurricanes in Florida. Floods in Texas.

Yet Michigan - which has more land bordered by water than any state with the exception of Alaska and virtually no life threatening natural disasters - is faced with the highest unemployment in the nation and people leaving in droves. I mean - sure we have some annoying weather in the winter - but nothing that will kill you. We've got beautiful forests, mountains, huge sand dunes, islands, you name it. We don't have much in the way of traffic just passing through (we're a peninsula - either you're coming here or you're passing to the south of us). All that water with no worries about sharks or anything.

Our governor just can't seem to figure out how to make this state work.

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Spock Jenkins of the Vulcan Jenkins'.

Hey, quiet there! Ohio has the same "problem". Good, let them all move to California, Floridia and Texas, which, when there isn't some natural disaster, are fighting all the problems from too much growth. We can just keep sitting pretty on our giant fresh water source, deal with a little snow, and be happy as clams. Don't give away the secret.

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

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

Wasn't there a tornado near Lansing last week? I seem to remember a story about an infant that survived it.

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