SoCal Fires

[Bill B]

2 major fires jumped up Tuesday.  1 in Pasadena/Alta Dena (Eaton) and the 2nd in the Pacific Palisades (Palisades Fire).  Fierce winds are driving these fires. 

As of 930 pm the Eaton is at 400 acres with numerous homes lost.  The Palisades Fire is at 2921 acres with multiple homes lost.  It's burning towards Santa Monica.  The wind is keeping any air craft from flying.  Winds don't die down until Friday. At my house in the mountains we got rain and snow, hopefully this will protect us. 

Prayers to all in the path of this hellatious Fire storm.  Bill

[MarkT]

'Tis the season, Santa Ana winds blow, fires burn... it's unfortunately an annual thing.

[Brewcrafter]

Unfortunately there are at least a couple confirmed fatalities.  Saw video this morning of responders using dozers to push abandoned vehicles off the roads to allow emergency equipment through.  Checked my weather station, and here in the Riverbottom of the 909, here are the meteorogical factors:  Average Wind last 24 hours - 24kts, Highest reading last 24 hours - 43 kts.  Rainfall totals for 2024 Calendar Year - 8.35".  The kicker on the rainfall, over 8" of that was between 1 Jan and 12 Feb.  Hope these conditions abate quickly.  Received many updates on my phone in course of the night; for those not "in the know", the Watch Duty App is a very useful resource for updates. - john

[alantani]

pretty scary!!!

[foakes]

John is exactly right.

"Watch Duty App" seems to be the best for accurate and up-to-the minute complete information as to evacuations, personnel, equipment, percentage contained, predictors, and maps.

It is used by most fire agencies also.

I also use flight tracker to follow and ID aerial suppression efforts.

Best, Fred

[Midway Tommy]

This is absolutely crazy!    Pretty soon no one in California will be able obtain HO insurance even if they could afford it.    

[jtwill98]

It doesn't help if this is true - Los Angeles fire hydrants are OUT OF WATER because the county REFUSED to refill reservoirs.

I saw that message on X and another note in the news.

We have multiple reports of water hydrants in Southern California running out of water as devastating wildfires rip through the Los Angeles area threatening tens of thousands of homes.

Not trying to drag politics here just reporting what I saw earlier.

[jurelometer]

It doesn't help if this is true - Los Angeles fire hydrants are OUT OF WATER because the county REFUSED to refill reservoirs.

I saw that message on X and another note in the news.

We have multiple reports of water hydrants in Southern California running out of water as devastating wildfires rip through the Los Angeles area threatening tens of thousands of homes.

Not trying to drag politics here just reporting what I saw earlier.

It looks to me like folk trying to make political hay out of the situation. From what I have read, the problem is that this is a dry desert area without much groundwater.  The water system was designed to deliver the volume of water needed for normal municipal usage and fighting large fires requires a lot more.  The local reservoirs have more water than normal right now.  They just can't pump it fast enough.

From the Associated Press:

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was pushing water from aqueducts and groundwater into the system, but demand was so high, it wasn't enough to refill three one-million gallon tanks in hilly Pacific Palisades that help pressurize hydrants for the neighborhood.

...
 
About 40 percent of Los Angeles city water comes from state-controlled projects connected to northern California, and the state has limited water deliveries this year. Yet the southern California reservoirs these canals help feed are at above-average levels for this time of year.

https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-california-climate-603512236222f82c77901db1039e959f

Determining what can or should be done about water delivery capacity is bound to be complicated and would require actual knowledge on the issues and therefore not a useful topic for those politicians that prefer to just point fingers at other politicians.

-J

[jgp12000]

Cut the fire department budget,tear down dams,& protect the smelt. I think someone should be held accountable for destroying their own state,it's freaking criminal !!!


Politicians & knowledge shouldn't be allowed in the same sentence,since we do have a no politics rule....bahaha

[Crab Pot]

I have an opinion on the water pressure/volume, but I don't want to get banned.

Praying for everyone in this fire/windstorms path.

I have a buddy who fly's a Cal Fire spotter aircraft marking the drop areas for the big boy tankers to start their drops. His aircraft is not grounded, and his crew is providing recon, but the tankers are due to the wind. They were making drops yesterday that never made it to the ground, be it water or retardant.   

Crazy.

[Gfish]

The pertinent conditions came together at the same time. Very low RH(relative humidity), high sustained speed Santa Anna winds with gusts up to 100mph and nice thick fine fuels from 2-relatively wet past winters.
The politics should interesting and even amusing at times. Should be plenty of it given the given the economics of the affected zip codes.

[Ron Jones]

I grew up in Cucamonga. The first year we moved into the house all the windows on the North side were blown in, the builder had no idea about Santa Annas.

I had a lot of friends and dated a lot of girls in Pasadena, and spent a few lifetimes running around in those hills fishing and hiding from humanity.

Winds blow, fire burns, and maybe living in a toilet bowl where this has happened for millennia isn't a great idea after all (even though I love that valley.)

The Man

[Swami805]

I've been thru several of these fires, no way any amount of water will stop it. Low humidity, parched fuel, high winds, there's no stopping it. It's burning more than a football field a minute and throwing embers a mile down range.
Everyone's pipes are burned and the water free flows down the hills resulting in very low water pressure 
Under normal conditions they have plenty of water to fight a regular fire

[Gfish]

I was thinking that watching some video. The water streams could be evaporating before hitting the hottest part of the fire(need hit the base, but it looks hard because they can't get close enough due to the intense heat). Will be interested to see if the sources of ignition are found.

[Crab Pot]

Wasn't implying it could be stopped but little to no water pressure at the hydrants is a man-made problem.