Thousands flee LA wildfires

Things are not looking good for Encino and Tarzana.
While they're certainly not out of danger I would think that, as the Santa Anas strengthen again, the winds will tend to push the fire away from these particular areas.
 
By Kara Reinhardt, Editor at LinkedIn News

After some success this weekend, firefighters in Los Angeles face the return of "gusty Santa Ana winds," and potential for "explosive fire growth" through Wednesday, a National Weather Service official said. The death toll has climbed to 24, and more than 40,000 acres have burned. Warnings or evacuation orders have hit much of Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Santa Monica, Calabasas, Brentwood and Encino. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the fires could be the country's costliest natural disaster and signed an order lifting requirements for rebuilding.
 
Although my mailing address is Pasadena I am a resident of the little 'village in the city' of Altadena. Been evacuated since the beginning, walking distance to Eaton Canyon. After several days in a hotel near LAX we relocated to a friends house nearby. We are very lucky, our house is in some kind of pocket area that did not burn despite fires in all directions and all hell to the north and east. We have a 100 year old oak tree in our backyard that if it caught fire our place would be toast.
Yesterday they pushed up the control area and I can now freely access my house , before that I had snuck in a few times. Mostly wind damage and pervasive burnt smell in the house, no power or gas. we would stay there with gas (and flashlights & candles), just run the fireplace for heat but no gas. The devastation is real, our church is gone, 37 members lost their homes. Five public and several private schools are gone. All of the cute village downtown area is gone.
I can't wait to get in, our immediate area looks good but I guess we are on a grid and the houses/ruins a couple blocks away are holding things up.
Who knew that retirement would be such an adventure?
 
Although my mailing address is Pasadena I am a resident of the little 'village in the city' of Altadena. Been evacuated since the beginning, walking distance to Eaton Canyon. After several days in a hotel near LAX we relocated to a friends house nearby. We are very lucky, our house is in some kind of pocket area that did not burn despite fires in all directions and all hell to the north and east. We have a 100 year old oak tree in our backyard that if it caught fire our place would be toast.
Yesterday they pushed up the control area and I can now freely access my house , before that I had snuck in a few times. Mostly wind damage and pervasive burnt smell in the house, no power or gas. we would stay there with gas (and flashlights & candles), just run the fireplace for heat but no gas. The devastation is real, our church is gone, 37 members lost their homes. Five public and several private schools are gone. All of the cute village downtown area is gone.
I can't wait to get in, our immediate area looks good but I guess we are on a grid and the houses/ruins a couple blocks away are holding things up.
Who knew that retirement would be such an adventure?
Hi yakers,

My thoughts are with you. My son and his family's home is just west of Lake and just a few blocks north of New York, inside the evacuation/destruction zone. Their home survived the flames with minimal damage, but maybe 40-50% of the homes in their immediate vicinity were destroyed. They also were in a couple of times while the fire was still going but declining, grabbed some documents, but it sounds like the smoke damage is going to be quite serious/toxic. Doubtful if any contents are salvageable and interior might need to be gutted. As noted above, my grandson's school was destroyed. And his father in law lives closer to you, just south of New York, west of Eaton Canyon. Less smoke damage there, but also wondering about the mitigation that will be needed.


FYI - my office building burned decades ago, and the contents that were not salvageable due to smoke damage (my office didn't burn, though it had heat/smoke damage) surprised me. They initially moved my desk to an adjacent building with just a quick wipe down, but after becoming ill just sitting at it and breathing, it was apparent that they just couldn't get into those nooks and crannies to clean up all melted plastic and other stuff that now covered the desk surfaces and it was trashed (not just mine, a bunch of us had the same experience). For the good of your health, be careful about getting back in to an unsafe environment. They're talking lead, arsenic, asbestos, mercury, etc. from the destroyed buildings that got into the air and has now likely infiltrated most of the surviving buildings to some degree or other.
 
Came across this today with useful info on how fire does its thing in the canyons. Also historical interest of the Bel Aire fire of 1961. I did a lot of work in those areas but starting in 1992 at which time it was mostly all rebuilt.

 
Came across this today with useful info on how fire does its thing in the canyons. Also historical interest of the Bel Aire fire of 1961. I did a lot of work in those areas but starting in 1992 at which time it was mostly all rebuilt.

Great old video. :cool:

Reminds me of the time I sat on my wood shake roof with a garden hose in the early 1980's after my move to Thousand Oaks.
 
I knew that voice sounded like Cannon. Interesting to note that what was considered a major disaster in 1961 consumed about 4% of the homes destroyed in this month's firestorm.
 
First our hearts break for all suffering through these horrific events.

I was thinking about starting a separate thread on the subject of fire safety but thought it would probably stir things up around here again so I will post briefly here.
These events have us looking around at our home, neighborhood and community and questioning if it could happen here? I think it could as we are in a typical track home neighborhood with home after home close to each other with plants and trees planted right next to the houses. Our house included as we all like to bring a little nature right to our backdoor so to speak. We will be making some adjustments to our landscaping for sure. The post in this thread where people have taken proactive measures to safeguard their homes have us thinking we should probably be better informed about how to hopefully prevent something like this from happening where we live. I found a set of very well done videos for those interested in learning more about fire safety and prevention for your home and community.


There is also this website for those looking to try and get your community involved. This is pretty important since it's the embers in the air that spreads the fires in a lot of cases.
Mods if you think this conversation is worth discussing in a separate thread please feel free to move it.
 
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And a new one today. The Hughes fire on the east side of Lake Castaic. 5000+ acres. Evacs ordered west of the lake too!
 
While there's certainly risk of the Hughes fire spreading, you couldn't ask for a nicer firebreak than a lake on the downwind end.

Edit: I may have spoken too soon. It looks like the fire has snuck around the south end of the lake. If it hops I-5 things could get ugly pretty quick.
 
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While there's certainly risk of the Hughes fire spreading, you couldn't ask for a nicer firebreak than a lake on the downwind end.

Edit: I may have spoken too soon. It looks like the fire has snuck around the south end of the lake. If it hops I-5 things could get ugly pretty quick.
Look like it is to the outskirts of Castaic.
 
Look like it is to the outskirts of Castaic.
Yes, but the local winds along the I-5 corridor are from the NNW and there's an endless conga line of helicopters grabbing water from the lake and dropping it on the fire. It's going to be a long night, but there's a decent chance they'll hold the line on this one.
 
Yes, but the local winds along the I-5 corridor are from the NNW and there's an endless conga line of helicopters grabbing water from the lake and dropping it on the fire. It's going to be a long night, but there's a decent chance they'll hold the line on this one.
Stay safe!
 
FireAid benefit concert
A massive live event by many musical artists is being live streamed to raise funds for the residents affected by the wildfires. So many artists, organized in such a short amount of time:

Billie Eilish. Lady Gaga. Alanis Morissette
Earth Wind & Fire. Olivia Rodrigo. Dave Matthews & John Mayer
Gracie Abrams. Rod Stewart. Graham Nash
Jelly Roll. Stevie Wonder. Green Day
Katy Perry. Sting. John Fogerty
Joni Mitchell. No Doubt. Pink
Stephen Stills. Stevie Nicks. Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Black Crows

and quite a few more . . .
 

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