California Wildfires 2018

[MsFacetious]

Australia's bush fire season has started already, but no live lost yet. Our worst fire claimed 180 lives only nine years ago.

I remember that one.
My daughter's girlfriend lives in Australia so now I watch those closely as well.

 

[JerseyGirl]

CA - CA - Malibu, Bone Fragments found on Latigo Canyon Road, Nov 2018

 

[KALI]

The town of Paradise is so like my town, Fallbrook, Ca.
Except we have twice the population.
If we got an alert to immediately evacuate we have mostly 2 lane country roads.
Filled with low hanging electrical wires that have been here for 40 years plus.
Surrounded by dead trees due to our 7 year and ongoing drought here in Southern California.
You, may say that I am parinoid (sorry no spell check keyboard)
I say that less then a year ago 27 horses died and many homes were lost and I was terrified.
The fires burned right up to the ranch where my 25 year old mare resides.
Thankfully, my horse and we survived. Due soley to a shift in winds.
In my opinion, the very liberal government in California is focased on anything TECH.
AKA. MONEY.

 

[Lilibet]

After six weeks of wildfire smoke this summer in Southern Oregon, I got a text alert tonight from our city that there will be more smoke from controlled burns taking place tomorrow and in the future up in our watershed. As much as I hate the smoke they produce, I am happy to endure it if it keeps us a little bit safer in the future.

Like Paradise and Kali’s Fallbrook, we are in an area that is difficult to evacuate if the worst happens. We have about 5000 fewer people than Paradise, but our land area is smaller, so our population density is greater. There is one road we can take from our part of town leading to the main way out to the freeway. They won’t have to tell us twice to be ready to evacuate. We will be gone!

Quoting the link:

Tomorrow, crews will conduct a controlled burn on 60 acres in the upper Ashland watershed. All trails will be open. The controlled burn is near Corp Camp and Upper Missing Links trails area.

After another long, difficult wildfire season, we heard many people and leaders asking to “make it better”. We’re in year eight of doing just that in the Ashland Forest Resiliency Stewardship Project (AFR). Scientists and forest managers agree that tree and brush thinning along with proactively using fire, limits wildfire intensity and protects communities. The preponderance of science points specifically to the need to proactively use fire to reduce fuels through controlled burns. Smoke is inevitable in Southern Oregon, but through active stewardship projects like AFR, we can choose the safest conditions for making smoke. Wildfires don’t leave us many good choices.

Pile Burning in Ashland Watershed
Controlled Burning Begins: Year Eight of Ashland Forest Resiliency Stewardship Project - Ashland Forest Resiliency Project - City of Ashland, Oregon

Comparison: Ashland, Oregon - Paradise, California

 

[Hatfield]

Dave Toussaint‏ @engineco16 3h3 hours ago
#Update #CampFire 11/24

- 87 fatalities, 475 missing
- 153336 acres 98% contained
- 13954 single/multi family homes destroyed
- 514 commercial buildings destroyed
- 4265 other structures destroyed
-Total of 18733 structures destroyed
- 570 structures damaged


Very happy to see the fatalities staying fairly steady and the missing still declining...

Glad to see things finally settling down but those totals and numbers are staggering and very sad.

 

[Hraefn]

I was in Chicago visiting family over the Thanksgiving holiday and almost every one of them was having issues with asthma, sore throat, lung capacity. They all thought they were getting sick. I showed them the video of the smoke path from the recent CA fires and told them their breathing issues were probably due to that. Lo and behold, as soon as some rain and snow blew in, every one of their issues cleared up. These fires affect the entire country.

 

[MsFacetious]

Absolutely. This summer was the first time I actually had to be treated for my asthma in more than 16 years. It was horrible.

 

[Tripod]

From the previously posted FB link for Butte Co. Sheriff, the number of missing people has gone down to 25 and the fatalities remain at 88.

 

[MsFacetious]

WOW, that is amazing!

 

[pandamonium]

#CAMP FIRE UPDATE 12/06/18
Fatalities stands at 85 and Missing down to 6 individuals!!!
The updated numbers from today, related to the Camp Fire, are as follows:
• The number of unaccounted for individuals currently stands at 6.
• The number of accounted for individuals currently stands at 3,277.
• Zero human remains were located today. The fatality count to date stands at 85.
• Of the 85 fatalities, 35 have been tentatively identified, and 47 have been positively identified.

 

[pandamonium]

I saw this on my FB and it is so true . . so many people (including several of my family members) but literally everyone knows somebody affected. It will take years to rebuild and get back to some sense of normal. Many are having to move out of the area or even out of state. Please continue to keep everyone in your thoughts:

For my family and friends outside of Butte County, it is hard to understand the magnitude of what has happened up here. Everyone we know, everywhere we go, everyone we speak to, has a horrifying story to tell about the Camp Fire. If they weren’t trapped in the fire, or lost everything, they have family members, close friends and coworkers who did. I made a quick run to the store this evening for a few basics. While in the toothpaste isle, I overheard a little boy squeal with delight when he ran into his teacher. The kids have been out of school almost a month. They hug and she says school resumes tomorrow, arrangements have been made to bus his class to Oroville so he can be with his classmates again. Teacher says it’s going to be a good day. The little guy leans into his mom and says he wants to go to his old school. As I walk away, his mom gently reminds him, “Honey, we can’t go back, remember? Our house and schools are gone.”

A few minutes later and a few isles over, I’m looking for my brand of face wash. Next to me, two women are talking, they’re old neighbors, one found a trailer and one is living in a motorhome and they consider themselves blessed because they can park in Chico and stay close. Then, they talk about the neighbors, friends and family members who have scattered to other parts of the state because they lost not only their homes but their jobs burned up too. I abandon my search for my brand of face wash to give them privacy as they weep talking about their neighbors who perished in their car trying to escape. Extra gentle, hypoallergenic face wash seems trivial in the face of such tragedy.

At the checkout, a young man was in line behind me. On the belt he set a pup tent, tarps, blow up mattress, sleeping bag, a flashlight and some snacks. I asked him if he was sleeping outside, he said yes, the motel where he had been staying gave away his room today. I offer to pay for Uber to take him to a shelter. He politely declined so I offered to pay for his camp supplies. He shook his head and said “I’m fine for money. FEMA gave me some. I didn’t have renters insurance, but my landlord already gave me my November rent and deposit back. So I’m all good.” I say but it’s bitter cold outside. He assured me he’ll be fine and warm in his tent and he’s got a plan for a place later this week. I offer a hug, which he accepted and he hugged me back so tightly I want to take him home with me, but instead I mumbled take care of yourself, and left blinking back hot stinging tears and choking down a giant lump of sorrow in my throat.

These are the stories told over and over, every day, in every store, in Butte County. Please pray for our community and donate to the Camp Fire survivors if you can.
#ButteStrong

 

[Tripod]

I saw this on my FB and it is so true . . so many people (including several of my family members) but literally everyone knows somebody affected. It will take years to rebuild and get back to some sense of normal. Many are having to move out of the area or even out of state. Please continue to keep everyone in your thoughts:

For my family and friends outside of Butte County, it is hard to understand the magnitude of what has happened up here. Everyone we know, everywhere we go, everyone we speak to, has a horrifying story to tell about the Camp Fire. If they weren’t trapped in the fire, or lost everything, they have family members, close friends and coworkers who did. I made a quick run to the store this evening for a few basics. While in the toothpaste isle, I overheard a little boy squeal with delight when he ran into his teacher. The kids have been out of school almost a month. They hug and she says school resumes tomorrow, arrangements have been made to bus his class to Oroville so he can be with his classmates again. Teacher says it’s going to be a good day. The little guy leans into his mom and says he wants to go to his old school. As I walk away, his mom gently reminds him, “Honey, we can’t go back, remember? Our house and schools are gone.”

A few minutes later and a few isles over, I’m looking for my brand of face wash. Next to me, two women are talking, they’re old neighbors, one found a trailer and one is living in a motorhome and they consider themselves blessed because they can park in Chico and stay close. Then, they talk about the neighbors, friends and family members who have scattered to other parts of the state because they lost not only their homes but their jobs burned up too. I abandon my search for my brand of face wash to give them privacy as they weep talking about their neighbors who perished in their car trying to escape. Extra gentle, hypoallergenic face wash seems trivial in the face of such tragedy.

At the checkout, a young man was in line behind me. On the belt he set a pup tent, tarps, blow up mattress, sleeping bag, a flashlight and some snacks. I asked him if he was sleeping outside, he said yes, the motel where he had been staying gave away his room today. I offer to pay for Uber to take him to a shelter. He politely declined so I offered to pay for his camp supplies. He shook his head and said “I’m fine for money. FEMA gave me some. I didn’t have renters insurance, but my landlord already gave me my November rent and deposit back. So I’m all good.” I say but it’s bitter cold outside. He assured me he’ll be fine and warm in his tent and he’s got a plan for a place later this week. I offer a hug, which he accepted and he hugged me back so tightly I want to take him home with me, but instead I mumbled take care of yourself, and left blinking back hot stinging tears and choking down a giant lump of sorrow in my throat.

These are the stories told over and over, every day, in every store, in Butte County. Please pray for our community and donate to the Camp Fire survivors if you can.
#ButteStrong

Thank you for sharing all of this. I still follow some of the FB pages created during this awful disaster, and will for a long time. Many, many more stories will be known in time, I expect. They all touch my heart and my prayers are with you.

 

[cybervampira]

California Fire Gives Rise To Online Sleuths

[...]

Working on laptops from their living room sofas, home offices and kitchen counters, they communicated in online chat groups and divvied up hundreds of posts. They used public databases to find property deeds, court records and bankruptcy filings, and logged onto people-finding sites like Ancestry.com, BeenVerified.com, the online White Pages and others. They looked for cellphone numbers and email addresses and names of friends, relatives, neighbors and associates who might have clues.

In the four weeks since the fire started, the search angels have connected nearly 250 people with the relatives and friends they were searching for. They are one of several missing persons groups that sprung up on Facebook with the intention of helping strangers in a time of need, harnessing the power of social media and dogged investigative work.

[...]

 

[margarita25]

( @IQuestion, been thinking about you, how are you recovering and how have you been since you lost your home in the 2017 California Wildfires. Your experience on rebuilding and everything associated with that is valuable to hear about. Unbelievable what 2018 brought. Hope you are doing well.)

 

[margarita25]

California Fire Gives Rise To Online Sleuths

[...]

Working on laptops from their living room sofas, home offices and kitchen counters, they communicated in online chat groups and divvied up hundreds of posts. They used public databases to find property deeds, court records and bankruptcy filings, and logged onto people-finding sites like Ancestry.com, BeenVerified.com, the online White Pages and others. They looked for cellphone numbers and email addresses and names of friends, relatives, neighbors and associates who might have clues.

In the four weeks since the fire started, the search angels have connected nearly 250 people with the relatives and friends they were searching for. They are one of several missing persons groups that sprung up on Facebook with the intention of helping strangers in a time of need, harnessing the power of social media and dogged investigative work.

[...]

Wow!!!

 

[margarita25]

I saw this on my FB and it is so true . . so many people (including several of my family members) but literally everyone knows somebody affected. It will take years to rebuild and get back to some sense of normal. Many are having to move out of the area or even out of state. Please continue to keep everyone in your thoughts:

For my family and friends outside of Butte County, it is hard to understand the magnitude of what has happened up here. Everyone we know, everywhere we go, everyone we speak to, has a horrifying story to tell about the Camp Fire. If they weren’t trapped in the fire, or lost everything, they have family members, close friends and coworkers who did. I made a quick run to the store this evening for a few basics. While in the toothpaste isle, I overheard a little boy squeal with delight when he ran into his teacher. The kids have been out of school almost a month. They hug and she says school resumes tomorrow, arrangements have been made to bus his class to Oroville so he can be with his classmates again. Teacher says it’s going to be a good day. The little guy leans into his mom and says he wants to go to his old school. As I walk away, his mom gently reminds him, “Honey, we can’t go back, remember? Our house and schools are gone.”

A few minutes later and a few isles over, I’m looking for my brand of face wash. Next to me, two women are talking, they’re old neighbors, one found a trailer and one is living in a motorhome and they consider themselves blessed because they can park in Chico and stay close. Then, they talk about the neighbors, friends and family members who have scattered to other parts of the state because they lost not only their homes but their jobs burned up too. I abandon my search for my brand of face wash to give them privacy as they weep talking about their neighbors who perished in their car trying to escape. Extra gentle, hypoallergenic face wash seems trivial in the face of such tragedy.

At the checkout, a young man was in line behind me. On the belt he set a pup tent, tarps, blow up mattress, sleeping bag, a flashlight and some snacks. I asked him if he was sleeping outside, he said yes, the motel where he had been staying gave away his room today. I offer to pay for Uber to take him to a shelter. He politely declined so I offered to pay for his camp supplies. He shook his head and said “I’m fine for money. FEMA gave me some. I didn’t have renters insurance, but my landlord already gave me my November rent and deposit back. So I’m all good.” I say but it’s bitter cold outside. He assured me he’ll be fine and warm in his tent and he’s got a plan for a place later this week. I offer a hug, which he accepted and he hugged me back so tightly I want to take him home with me, but instead I mumbled take care of yourself, and left blinking back hot stinging tears and choking down a giant lump of sorrow in my throat.

These are the stories told over and over, every day, in every store, in Butte County. Please pray for our community and donate to the Camp Fire survivors if you can.
#ButteStrong

Thank you for this post.

 

[margarita25]

California's largest utility provider could face murder charges for wildfires, AG says

“Pacific Gas & Electric Co., or PG&E, could potentially face a range of criminal offenses if any of the wildfires broke out as a result of the utility failing to properly operate and maintain power lines, per an amicus brief filed in US District Court Friday by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.”

Snip

“According to the brief, potential charges range from minor misdemeanors related to clearing vegetation around power lines up to "homicide offenses like implied-malice murder and involuntary manslaughter."“

 

[JerseyGirl]

A month of remembrance: A tribute to Camp Fire victims

 

[Suglo]

A month of remembrance: A tribute to Camp Fire victims

What many don’t know is that there are still a couple of people missing and some that have yet to be identified including a disabled 20 year old girl. It’s heartbreaking. Her mother is listed towards the bottom of this list (no bio yet - 40 yo Christina Heffern) and I think her grandmother who also perished is yet to be listed as identified either.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Missing dog found 101 days after fire

A dog called Kingston has been reunited with his owners 101 days after he went missing during the deadliest wildfire in California's history.