Southern California wildfire forces evacuations

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: NBC News

A wildfire in Southern California quickly spread across 4,125 acres Saturday, destroying at least one home and two structures and forcing evacuations in several neighborhoods.

The Apple fire in Riverside County, about 75 miles east of Los Angeles, was being fought by 375 firefighters with dozens of fire engines and air support. But it remained 0 percent contained Saturday afternoon.

As it moved north into San Bernardino County, evacuation orders were issued for two areas, Potato Canyon and Oak Glen, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

Firefighters worked in scorching heat that reached 107 degrees Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. About an hour southwest, in Coachella Valley, temperatures hit 120 degrees.



Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/weather/southern-california-wildfire-forces-evacuations/ar-BB17s7uk?li=BBnb7Kz

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I told them to rake the forest - Donald Trump

[OnlinePoker]

1. Trump may have said it poorly, but there are examples of mitigation that works

Here is an article with video of the efforts one community near where I grew up in south central BC has been doing to lessen the wildfire risk by cleaning up the surrounding forest. One positive is it employs students to do the work during the summer.

https://cfjctoday.com/2018/08/01/wildfire-mitigation-efforts-reducing-the-risk-in-logan-lake/

[Sapient Donkey]

9. Is this something that isn't done in California?

As a kid I distinctly remember having state firefighters come for presentation and they talked about all the stuff they did when not fighting active fires. Has something changed in CA since the 90's, or is there anything to suggest California isn't doing enough it? California is a large state with a lot of forest.

[Hekate]

2. First thing: oh gods, how close? Then: how incredibly brutal for the fire fighters...

Answer: not at all close to us
But bad. Fuel driven, in the mountains, which are rugged.
Evacuate when told, people.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Those temps. on top of fire heat, working in heavy clothes...sheesh

I keep thinking... didn't the previous fires use up all the fuel last season...how much is left to burn?
It's becoming an annual event to evacuate in those areas.

[Hekate]

4. We have an interesting ecological cycle here, composed of native & invasive plants...

Basically, California evolved to burn. There are seeds that won’t germinate without passing through fire first, but it has to be the right season. If the seed contains too much moisture, it can steam to death in its hull.

Everything greens up nicely in whatever winter rains we get, but within only a few weeks of the last rain, all the hillsides have crisped up and are golden brown. The seeds of these annuals are dropping like mad. What remains is flammable.

There are some species of trees that can survive a flash fire that cleans out the weeds, but if the fire goes on too long or there’s too much fuel in the form of dead or diseased trees, that can be fatal to a tree that might otherwise have survived. I have a 200 year old California Live Oak out back that survived a regional fire about 3 years ago — the trunk was charred and it was surrounded by the ash of the foot deep litter of fallen leaves that used to surround it, but it was okay. The house was saved by human efforts, but if the house had burned it might have taken out that tree as well. Eucalyptus, an import, burns like hell. Chaparral, a dry land native habitat, also burns due to the resinous nature of the bushes.

I forget how much of California is federal land, but it’s a lot, a massive amount, and very little of that is anything approaching flat and accessible. California is a ruggedly mountainous state. I’ve lived near the Los Padres National Forest for 40+ years. There’s areas further south and inland where the pine bark beetle has been killing off forest trees for a couple of decades. As far as I know, they can’t be removed with anything approaching cost-effectiveness, so the best we can hope for is a big fire, as far as I know. And do you think an idiot like Trump knows any of this, or even cares? Hey, Uncle Sam, we could use some more water-dropping helicopters and borate bombers over here, to protect all the towns on the margins of that federal land.

Thanks for asking. Hope this isn’t TMI.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Never too much info, Hekate

Mr. Dixie is Orange county native, born there 70 years ago when there were zillions of orange, citrus trees.
All that is gone, of course.
He and I worked in SF until we retired in 2005.
At first we had rather desperately;y been looking for some place affordable in No. Cal. so I got to see a lot of the little towns, and his brother lives in Clear Lake, we thought about that too.
Quite frankly, being of only moderate means may have saved us from the fires up there if we could have bought a place
as it turns out. His brother has had to evacuate twice in the last 5 years.

Which explains why we are in the South. 1/3 the cost of housing for a lovely secluded house and land.
and no fire worries despite the woods all around, too much rain in summer b/c afternoon storms in hot weather.
But, we both have family on the West Coast, I hate what they have to go thru seeing so much destruction, and that so many memories of an earlier time are being destroyed.
Plus it's a red state, of course. Luckily, we are of the hermit persuasion...

[Hekate]

6. It's how we ended up in Ventura...Plus my 72 yo DH is still working from home...

We had the good fortune to buy a little house in Goleta, next door to $anta Barbara. I don’t know when it was ever considered “affordable” but with both of us working we just plugged along until we paid it off. Wanted a different place when I was retired and he was close (so we thought), absolutely could not find an affordable upgrade in Goleta or Santa Barbara even with the paid off house and the life savings, plus the lot was too small to add on. Took me about 10 years to give up on my own county, though.

My husband’s brother has always lived in Ventura, and post-retirement he renewed his Realtor’s license. I decided to ask him for help. It took a lot of looking, even so, but Ventura just is not as “precious” as SB, and we found the dream home. My BIL, for whatever reason, kept looking at that house through the eyes of someone a generation younger who would gut it and paint the paneling white. But the fact is, it absolutely suits me and is everything I ever wanted. The people who custom built it at age 60 and lived in it for 30 years pretty much had my taste, and built solidly. Well, I might not have chosen knotty pine for the family room, but it works very well. Bookshelves everywhere. The kitchen is not a gigantic trophy kitchen, but it has every feature I ever wanted. And there is that massive oak tree out back.

However, it is in a little valley in back of the foothills, and we no sooner moved in and had our housewarming than we almost lost it in the Thomas Fire. We were evacuated for 2 weeks. Best I can do is remind myself there’s a place in this country called Tornado Alley, and we are not in it.

I am so happy for you that you found the place you want to be. I know it means so much.

[ucrdem]

7. not looking good . . .

Apple Fire update: 20,500 acres scorched, 7,800 ordered to evacuate; 0% contained
Palm Springs Desert Sun - updated 3:55 PT (45 minutes ago):

More than a thousand Southern California firefighters and multiple aircraft worked Sunday to battle the Apple Fire near Beaumont, which had spread to more than 20,000 acres, sent smoke drifting to Arizona and continued to threaten thousands of homes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The massive blaze, which began Friday evening as two smaller fires that eventually merged, continued to grow — fed by low humidity, a slight breeze, thick vegetation and triple-digit temperatures.

By midday Sunday, the Apple Fire had scorched 20,516 acres — more than 32 square miles — destroyed three structures and was 0% contained. About 1,360 firefighters and multiple aircraft were battling the blaze and dropping water and fire retardant from the air. Earlier Sunday, some official reports had said the fire was 12% contained, though Cal Fire Capt. Fernando Herrera confirmed there has never been any containment.

About 7,800 people from 2,600 residences had been ordered to evacuate. No injuries had been reported as of midday Sunday.

https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/wildfires/2020/08/02/apple-fire-cherry-valley-grows-near-beaumont-evacuations-ordered/5565702002/
..........
It's going to be a long fire season

[tinrobot]

8. And so fire season begins again in California

It's been really hot here for the past week. This was pretty much inevitable.

It's going to cool down starting tomorrow, hopefully that will help with containment.

[Brother Buzz]

10. Oh, the humanity!

I knew what they were trying to say, but I had to laugh when I was informed one home and two outhouses were destroyed.