California Fires

[easysurfer]

Surprised there isn't that much coverage in the news, compared to the floods. I know someone who lives in the wine country area of CA. She was away on vacation and has pretty much nothing to come back to. House burned down and worse, probably lost her pet cats.

Seems like a disaster of some sort happens each week.

 

[gayl]

My sister has been evacuated but let back into her home. Her son was also evacuated, and let back to one of his houses in Rohnert Park but not the one in Bennett Valley. From what I understand most of Bennett Valley is gone. I guess it only matters if you live near here or if you're going to be trying to buy Napa, Sonoma, or Mendocino wine in the next three years. Several of the wineries along Silverado Trail and Highway 12 are gone. But not all. It's kind of strange. It burned right up to the vineyard at William Hall, and William Hall is perfectly fine. Now if the fire only burns the top of the plants the roots may come back. The grapes left on vines may be perfectly fine as well, although they will have a smoky taste from now on. Just this year's crop. That's the interesting thing about it. And I just saw that the winery across the street from where my mother lived is on fire. I guess it's about time to get those guys out

I don't live there. I live in Diablo Valley. So as long as the vines on the other side of our mountain, that would be Livermore, are fine I'm good. And my family all have their primary homes (although we all know folks who don't )

 

[RockyMtn]

Very sad up in wine country. Was there three weeks ago and spent several days in Calistoga and Napa areas. The grape harvest had begun and people were in great spirits.

So far I know that one friend's house burned to the ground in Santa Rosa and another acquaintance here in Az had two friends who lost their houses as well.

 

[TrvlBug]

Friends of family members in Santa Rosa have lost their homes. Our family members think their homes are OK (they are in shelters), but are not absolutely sure. Lots of folks still unaccounted for with 13 dead. Many had no advance warning and were lucky to put on their shoes and get out. We live about 2 hours south and could smell the smoke from all the fires.

 

[97guns]

My brother was evacuated yesterday then let back in to his house, then evacuated again and he slept in a hotel. He built a small 900sq ft house on acerage right outside Santa Rosa and was supposed to take delivery of his new pre fabbed home 2 weeks ago but it got delayed. At this moment he doesn't know if his property has been burned or not, they have the road closed.

 

[38Chevy454]

I agree, not as much coverage on news here. I have seen pics of entire neighborhoods burnt to the ground. Very sad heartbreaking pictures of the devastation. Many people were barely able to get out with little more than the clothes on their backs! Not even a chance to get anything else. 50-70 mph winds feeding the flames, can't outrun that type of fire speed.

 

[haha]

From what I understand most of Bennett Valley is gone. I guess it only matters if you live near here or if you're going to be trying to buy Napa, Sonoma, or Mendocino wine in the next three years.

An extremely charitable viewpoint.

Ha

 

[Meadbh]

Very scary. Reminds me of the Okanagan Mountain Park Fire of 2003 (before I lived here). We had a record breaking fire season in BC this summer, but thankfully our wine country was spared. Wishing everyone in N. CA all the best.

 

[meierlde]

BTW the best coverage seems to be on the weather channel, the main cable news sources dwell on politics instead.

 

[Another Reader]

SFGate.com is of some use.

ETA: Death toll is now 17 and expected to increase.

 

[easysurfer]

Many people reported missing. So fatalities expected to rise.

Heartbreaking and mind boggling to see on news of areas just burnt to the ground.

 

[ocean view]

I think all of us in California know that wildfires happen and if you live in a rural area there is a risk. But for all those people who lived in Santa Rosa in tract homes surrounded by asphalt, wildfires were not a risk they ever considered. Now the rest of us need to change our mindset. When the conditions are right, no amount of concrete and asphalt will protect your home.

 

[Brat]

The conditions in Santa Rosa aren't quite the same as the Cascades because of the Santa Ana Winds but the amount of flammable material in our forests is scary. We had a wildfire that started in early September along the Columbia River above and just west of Bonneville Dam. The embers jumped the Columbia. I 84 was closed for weeks. I think it is still burning.

I looked at the homes that were burning, even tile roofs didn't slow the fire down. This is really scary.

Air quality in the Bay Area worries me. My SIL lives near Mountain View, has pulmonary fibrosis and uses oxygen. This is not good.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I'm surprised there was not more on the national news because David Muir, the ABC anchor, was on the ground and reporting from there today.

I get many Facebook feeds from wineries and the tourist groups from Napa and Sonoma as we like to visit there, and some of the pictures are pretty devastating. We been worried especially about the Safari West Animal Park. They have 800 animals, some really large like giraffes and cape buffalo, that would not be easy to move. The staff and guests evacuated and took the smaller animals out in their cars. Here is what Safari West staff posted Tuesday evening on Facebook: "Tonight a skeleton crew including some keepers and a veterinarian will continue to tend to the animals and do what they can to defend the preserve. At this point our fences are still intact with all animals contained, accounted for, and safe. Since the fire continues to grow and remains at 0% containment we do not know what tonight or tomorrow will bring. Please keep us in your thoughts as we work to protect Safari West."

 

[donheff]

DW and I have tickets to fly out there in a couple of weeks to visit her brother in Sonoma. We plan to do some cycling there and near Healdsburg if conditions permit. Hard to get a handle on how widespread the damage is.

 

[bclover]

Surprised there isn't that much coverage in the news, compared to the floods. I know someone who lives in the wine country area of CA. She was away on vacation and has pretty much nothing to come back to. House burned down and worse, probably lost her pet cats.

Seems like a disaster of some sort happens each week.

Wow? it was all over the news here in Philly. so very sad.

 

[cathy63]

We're in the Bay Area this week visiting our Moms. There's pretty extensive coverage on all the local media stations. They've gone back to regular programming now, but break in for any new evacuation orders or press conferences.

Here's a photo I took of the sunrise in San Francisco Monday morning after we were awakened by the smell of smoke.

 

[cathy63]

And for those who are interested in the fire perimeters, here's a very good map that we've been using.

http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=11487c248b3a407cb6fd446ce8ef73d8&extent=-122.9142%2C38.3433%2C-122.736%2C38.4602

 

[Rianne]

We're in the Bay Area this week visiting our Moms. There's pretty extensive coverage on all the local media stations. They've gone back to regular programming now, but break in for any new evacuation orders or press conferences.

Here's a photo I took of the sunrise in San Francisco Monday morning after we were awakened by the smell of smoke.

Wow. Can't imagine what the smoke does to the lungs, body. The devastation is mind blowing. And they're talking about nuclear weapons in Washington?

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

BTW the best coverage seems to be on the weather channel, the main cable news sources dwell on politics instead.

This. I don't tend to watch the cable news coverage, anyway...but I was surprised at the lack of coverage. I first learned of these fires from the Weather Channel on Sunday (maybe Monday?) night. They were discussing it and had a live video of the enormous fire burning in Santa Rosa. You could clearly see that it was a populated area and that it was a *VERY BIG DEAL* (it looked like something filmed for a "The World is Over!" movie)...so, I switched over to the cable news folks and they were saying NOTHING.

It's all very sad.

 

[gayl]

So now they're saying 90% of the grapes have already been harvested with only 10% to go. Only five wineries are confirmed destroyed, but we won't know the full extent until this is all out

My sister shop is reopening part-time today. They're a block south of the fountaingrove hotel which of course is gone

 

[RobbieB]

It's very smokey here in the central valley. You can smell it as well as see it. Yeah, good time to stay indoors.

 

[TrvlBug]

Just stepped outside and you can really smell it here...mid-Peninsula, which means the winds have kicked up. On my walk early this morning, no smell, but that 800lb Gorilla on my chest affected me to the point I kept it short and on the level.

 

[ERD50]

This. I don't tend to watch the cable news coverage, anyway...but I was surprised at the lack of coverage. ....

I don't watch much news, but the OTA Chicago-area stations all seem to be covering it. Including the sad "human interest" stories of some victims standing next to their burnt out home, just the fireplace standing.

Is there a website that documents the minutes of coverage of a topic at various news shows? That would be interesting.

Any natural disaster is sad, so many people affected. This is a little worse for me, as from what I understand, many of these people were not in areas where fires like this are expected? It's still sad when a fire goes through any area, but if you build a home in an area where fires are common, it's a little harder to muster up too much empathy. In some cases, it's a matter of "when", not "if", so if you chose to build in a place like that, well, I think you just have to accept the outcome.

-ERD50

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Latest Facebook update for Safari West: We now have a good crew working back up at the preserve and are happy to report that the animals are doing amazingly well. While Safari West is standing, there are repairs to be made and much work to be done.

In related news:
Seventeen fires erupted in a period of about two hours when it was unusually windy. The experts are looking at downed power lines and arson as possible causes. PG&E was fined recently for failing to maintain power lines for a big fire in 2015 and they were also responsible for the San Bruno explosion for not maintaining pipelines, so they are going to be looked at pretty closely this time:

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...obe-Cause-of-Fast-Moving-Fires-450303083.html

"After the current wildfires broke out, The Mercury News found that Sonoma County dispatchers sent fire crews to at least 10 locations for sparking wires, exploding electrical transformers, fallen power lines and other electrical problems in Sunday night's high winds. "