LIVE THREAD>>> California Wild Fires

[mystery-ak]

FEMA to pay for more firefighters as California blazes burn beyond capacity
Funding will provide reimbursement to the state for up to 75% of the costs it incurs as a result of fighting the fire
By Alec Schemmel Fox News
Published January 8, 2025 1:24pm EST

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will reimburse California for costs associated with hiring more firefighters and controlling the raging wildfires that have ripped through Southern California.

News of the Fire Management Assistance Grants trickled in Tuesday, and by the evening the White House put out a statement from President Biden confirming the move. FEMA confirmed the measures on Wednesday, in an announcement laying out some details about the grants.

The funding will provide federal reimbursements for up to 75% of "eligible firefighting costs" incurred by the state, as California seeks to shore up its firefighting force and put out the wildfires that have killed at least two people and driven thousands from their homes. Eligible costs include expenses for field camps, equipment, materials, supplies and mobilization or demobilization efforts attributed to fighting the fires.

more
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fema-pay-more-firefighters-california-blazes-burn-beyond-capacity

[mountaineer]

New York Post: LA fires could cause over $50B in damages — making them the most expensive in California history

... The total damage of the wildfires – which are spreading through the Pacific Palisades at uncontrollable rates due to high windstorms – will likely cost between $52 billion and $57 billion, according to an AccuWeather estimate.

“This is already one of the worst wildfires in California history,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in a statement. “Should a large number of additional structures be burned in the coming days, it may become the worst wildfire in modern California history based on the number of structures burned and economic loss.” ...

[mountaineer]

Seen in L.A.: arsonists are just randomly setting fires all over the city knowing that the fire department doesn’t have the water or manpower to put them all out.
 

https://twitter.com/hubermanlab/status/1877236580676493784

[DB]

So...

The wealthy California elites who drove policy were all for saving the Smelt and keeping things "natural" until it affected them... Many will still blame "climate change" to rid them of their responsibility/gilt.

[mountaineer]

The insurance company(ies) applied to the California state regulator for rate increases, due to the increased numbers of fire-related claims. The state denied thiose rate increases. Policies were cancelled, therefore, because the insurer no longer could afford to do fire insurance business in the state. Insurance companies, like all other businesses, need to make at least some profit to stay in business.

[Lando Lincoln]

Took a stroll at TOS. Saw this:

[DB]

In short, price controls always result in shortages. Lefties never learn.

California burning is the accumulation of thousands of state government regulations all coming to fruition.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

FEMA to pay for more firefighters as California blazes burn beyond capacity
Funding will provide reimbursement to the state for up to 75% of the costs it incurs as a result of fighting the fire
By Alec Schemmel Fox News
Published January 8, 2025 1:24pm EST

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will reimburse California for costs associated with hiring more firefighters and controlling the raging wildfires that have ripped through Southern California.

News of the Fire Management Assistance Grants trickled in Tuesday, and by the evening the White House put out a statement from President Biden confirming the move. FEMA confirmed the measures on Wednesday, in an announcement laying out some details about the grants.

The funding will provide federal reimbursements for up to 75% of "eligible firefighting costs" incurred by the state, as California seeks to shore up its firefighting force and put out the wildfires that have killed at least two people and driven thousands from their homes. Eligible costs include expenses for field camps, equipment, materials, supplies and mobilization or demobilization efforts attributed to fighting the fires.

more
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fema-pay-more-firefighters-california-blazes-burn-beyond-capacity

The only way the federal government should pay any money is to force the state to spend its own money to prudently manage the causes of wildfires in the first place, such as brush removal, water impoundment, etc.

[rangerrebew]

California Caught Off Guard By Massive Fires After LA Fire Dept Spent Years Pushing ‘Racial Equity’
Story by Nick Pope - DCNF

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) committed significant resources to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives before the outbreak of massive fires that devastated the Los Angeles area overnight.

The LAFD has implemented an internal “racial equity plan,” subjected employees to diversity training and is currently led by Chief Kristin Crowley, “the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief in the LAFD” and a staunch supporter of the initiatives. As strong winds fed the wildfires on Tuesday evening, former Republican Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso reported that some fire hydrants were running low on water as the department scrambled to mobilize firefighters.
 

The department’s racial equity plan, adopted in 2021, asserts that the LAFD is a better firefighting organization for focusing on the demographic characteristics of its personnel.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/fire-and-rescue/california-caught-off-guard-by-massive-fires-after-la-fire-dept-spent-years-pushing-racial-equity/ar-BB1r9UIx?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=0d61282ba6814bb895651d8a0791d96d&ei=32

[rangerrebew]

The department’s racial equity plan, adopted in 2021, asserts that the LAFD is a better firefighting organization for focusing on the demographic characteristics of its personnel.
 

It appears they were wrong.

[mystery-ak]

Los Angeles wildfires: Authorities battling looters on top of blazes
At least 2 arrested on looting charges, LA sheriff says
By Michael Ruiz Fox News
Published January 9, 2025 9:27am EST

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman warned residents of looters and vowed to punish them Wednesday amid reports of looting in the county as firefighters struggle to contain multiple wildfires raging in Southern California, including the massive Pacific Palisades fire.

"While the community rallies to support one another, we are also aware of the individuals who are targeting vulnerable victims to preying on this misfortune, seeking to exploit the vulnerability of those who have already endured so much," the DA said in a statement.

"Let it be clearly known that those who seek to illegally profit from the pain and suffering of others—whether through looting, fraud, theft, burglary, or any other form of criminal activity—will not go unpunished."

more
https://www.foxnews.com/us/los-angeles-wildfires-authorities-battling-looters-top-blazes

[PeteS in CA]

Water tanks went dry in Pacific Palisades, hampering efforts to fight fire

https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildfires/california-fire-water-tanks-went-dry-palisades-rcna186860

Immense demand for water to fight the fast-moving Palisades Fire led all three of the community’s water tanks — and some fire hydrants — to temporarily dry up in the last 24 hours or so.
...
Janisse Quiñones, chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said the Palisades water system sustained four times its usual demand for 15 hours straight. That made it difficult to refill water tanks quickly enough to maintain pressure, she said, which in turn disrupted the water supply to hydrants in the hills. According to the water department, crews trying to reroute water at one point had to evacuate because of the fire’s intensity.
...
Pacific Palisades, an affluent community of roughly 27,000 west of downtown Los Angeles, has hilly terrain and high elevation, making it harder to move water. Water tanks help by maintaining enough pressure to pump water uphill, but when demand on the system is heavy, it’s difficult to maintain that pressure.
...
The water department said it filled all available water storage tanks in Los Angeles ahead of the fire. Since Tuesday night, it has dispatched 18 trucks carrying thousands of gallons of water to support firefighting efforts.

Sorry, Cali-Bashers, California's reservoirs were not allowed to run dry due to the Delta Smelt or some other such ignorant silliness. What actually happened is that the Land of LA did not place enough fire-fighting water storage in the high-altitude Pacific Palisades area, and the usage exceeded pumping capacity and trucking capacity from the fire system's low altitude storage. In other words, poor planning at the county level in the face of growth and Santa Ana winds, which can be near hurricane force and are very low humidity. Whether insufficient water was the only problem, or the fire would have done pretty much the same due to insufficient staffing and equipage ...

Regarding the Delta Smelt, these give some history of the cases, https://www.kqed.org/news/10404260/supreme-court-rejects-appeal-of-delta-smelt-ruling , https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-wont-rehear-delta-smelt-defenders-challenge-to-central-valley-project-water-contracts/ . The bottom line in all of it is that Federal courts and agencies imposed water flow requirements through the Delta, not the State of California. For extra credit, find the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on GoogMaps or Mapquest to see how far the Delta is from The Land of LA. In the real world, the people screwed over by the Delta Smelt cases are Central Valley farmers who lost water access, not LA residents who live hundreds of miles from the Delta.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Got desalinization plants?

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/california-regulator-rejects-plan-desalination-plant-2022-05-13/

Nevermind.  The Cali-Krats reject those, too.

[rangerrebew]

Morning Joe Airs Deceptive Edit Of Dem LA Mayor Bass Stonewalling Reporter On Fires
Mark Finkelstein
January 9th, 2025 9:52 AM
 
 
Karen Bass MSNBC Morning Joe 1-9-25Democrat Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass flew off from her city this past Saturday. As per this report [emphasis added]:

"Her departure coincided with escalating warnings from the the National Weather Service about strong winds and 'critical fire conditions' across Los Angeles. By Tuesday, fires had erupted in Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Malibu, and other regions, causing widespread destruction."

Bass had flown to the African nation of Ghana to attend the inauguration of Ghanian President John Dramani Mahama.

When Bass finally made it back to Los Angeles on Wednesday, a Sky News reporter at the airport asked her repeated questions, specifically whether she owed the residents of LA an apology for her absence. As you'll see here, the questioning continued for 90 seconds, during which Bass utterly stonewalled the reporter, not saying a word.

https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2025/01/09/morning-joe-airs-deceptive-edit-dem-la-mayor-bass-stonewalling

[roamer_1]

The only way the federal government should pay any money is to force the state to spend its own money to prudently manage the causes of wildfires in the first place, such as brush removal, water impoundment, etc.

This is pretty typical out west to allow an influx of interstate agencies - Smoke jumpers and range-land/wild-land fire fighters that will be pouring in from other states. Montana has people going down. I know two kids that are on call and packing.

NONE of us can handle the force of people needed to control a conflagration, so reciprocal responses are very commonplace.

[DefiantMassRINO]

So, an insurance companies actuaries will able to determine that risk was high, but Government officials weren't?

Goverment is the problem when it gets in the way of competent people and businesses.

Government Greaseball will probably ask for a Government solution and aid while railing against evil, greedy insurance companies.  That's the liberal failure handbook.

[American Girl]

Excerpt:
While the Left frantically blames climate change for California’s catastrophic fires, a glaring truth is emerging: mismanagement and failed leadership are fueling this disaster. Nowhere is this more evident than in Los Angeles, where Mayor Karen Bass’s priorities appear disastrously misplaced.

A leaked letter from L.A. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, written just last month, exposes alarming concerns about the city’s readiness for wildfire season. Instead of addressing these pressing issues, Bass slashed the fire department’s budget by $23 million and jetted off to Ghana, leaving her constituents to fend for themselves.



She's a DEI Hire Loser!

Falling on deaf and incompetent ears.  CAN YOU HEAR IT NOW Mayor?

https://www.rightjournalism.com/wow-leaked-letter-from-fire-chief-kristin-crowley-proves-mayor-karen-bass-should-be-investigated-screenshot/

[DefiantMassRINO]

Did Al Gore invent the Santa Ana winds when he invented the Internet and Global Climate Change?

[mountaineer]

The LAFD is very diverse. It's run by lesbians named Kristin or some derivation thereof.

https://twitter.com/Sultanknish/status/1877166537557106721

[DefiantMassRINO]

Not only does D.E.I. promote potentially unprepared people to positions of authority, it also drives the most capable, most competent, and most mobile persons out of the organization.

It's the first domino to fall in a spiraling descent of organization ineffectiveness and failure.

In the end, competent, experienced people will need to be brought in to rebuild the organization if it hadn't completely collapsed.

[mystery-ak]

Henry Winkler
@hwinkler4real
·
10h
THERE IS an ARSONIST here in LA . May you be beaten you unrecognizable !!! The pain you have caused !!!

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1877242914041970764

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1877336432882135389

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/MAGAVoice/status/1877145673788715433

[GtHawk]

FEMA to pay for more firefighters as California blazes burn beyond capacity
Funding will provide reimbursement to the state for up to 75% of the costs it incurs as a result of fighting the fire
By Alec Schemmel Fox News
Published January 8, 2025 1:24pm EST

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will reimburse California for costs associated with hiring more firefighters and controlling the raging wildfires that have ripped through Southern California.

News of the Fire Management Assistance Grants trickled in Tuesday, and by the evening the White House put out a statement from President Biden confirming the move. FEMA confirmed the measures on Wednesday, in an announcement laying out some details about the grants.

The funding will provide federal reimbursements for up to 75% of "eligible firefighting costs" incurred by the state, as California seeks to shore up its firefighting force and put out the wildfires that have killed at least two people and driven thousands from their homes. Eligible costs include expenses for field camps, equipment, materials, supplies and mobilization or demobilization efforts attributed to fighting the fires.

more
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fema-pay-more-firefighters-california-blazes-burn-beyond-capacity

But, but, I thought FEMA was out of cash? Amazing that they are Johnny on the spot for California, as they should, but they should have been for those in North Carolina and other states that were so severely impacted. And that POS Biden warned Trump not to make things political and seek retribution?