LIVE THREAD>>> California Wild Fires

[Smokin Joe]

Bullshit.  Water pressure is achieved by placing a water tank on top of a hill or tower.  Pumps are needed to refill the tank.  But if the tank has water in it, then you have pressure.  Biden is a lying POS.

What you say is true about the water tanks (towers) keeping pressure in the system. It is the height of the column that determines pressure, not how much water is in it. The tanks are designed to keep that column height during peak usage hours, and contain enough water to do that, generally, but the amount of water used in fighting a substantial fire (one of those pumpers has a 1000 gpm rating), can draw that tank down, especially if multiple users are tapping the system at once. You have to pump water back up into the tank at the top to regain pressure, and keep doing so to maintain volume. If the city pumps for the water system were without power, they could not do so, and eventually the system would lose pressure, and run dry.

You would think there would be backup generators to keep the pumps going, but those would likely have to run on those nasty fossil fuels Californians seem to have so much trouble with...

[DCPatriot]

Michael Smith

I just heard that when Newsom came into office, Cali had a $100 billion surplus and after four years they are looking at $78 billion deficit.

And now they don't have enough firefighters, enough equipment or enough water (after having record rain and snowfall less than a year ago).

Listen, my Cali friends, if you look outside today and don't wonder what the hell your elected officials have been doing with your money and what you got for all that money pissed away, I can't help you. Newsom is to blame, Bass is to blame, the Democrats in control of your one party state is to blame - but here's the issue - the people who voted for them and put them in the positions they are in are to blame for them.

A Democrat house burns as quickly and as hot as a Republican house, so if you are a Democrat and don't understand that fact, God help you because He is the only one who can.

I love California. It is gorgeous, the climate is perfect, and it has so much to offer. So with all that going for it, why is it turning into Haiti? 

People will say this isn't the time for politics and I agree - but hell, folks...Cali has been a one party state for decades now. You haven't had a real Republican governor since Pete Wilson - maybe not since Ronald Reagan. How in hell can Republicans be the problem? 

Folks, California is the land of movie magic, but Tom Cruise is an actor - Ethan Hunt isn't going to parachute in and solve your problems - because he isn't real. Movies are based on the suspension of disbelief, but that doesn't really work in a firestorm. At the end of the storm, your house is gone - and your insurance, too.

Fix it, please. America is begging you.

And attacking people like me for pointing it out won't help you solve it.

[rangerrebew]

Why fire hydrants ran dry as wildfires tore through Los Angeles
 
ALTADENA, Calif. — Firefighter Ryan Babroff hurried to a nearby hydrant, hoping to connect his hose and douse the massive flames consuming homes in this mountain community northeast of Los Angeles.

But when he pried it open, no water came out. The hydrant was empty.

The longtime Cal Fire volunteer said he encountered at least four dry hydrants as he tried to battle the Eaton Fire in Altadena on Wednesday. Fellow firefighters had to drive to neighboring Pasadena to fill their trucks.
 
“How do you fight a fire with no water?” Babroff said.

As wildfires tore through greater Los Angeles this week, one of the most exasperating obstacles firefighters have come up against are hydrants with no water. In Pacific Palisades, hydrants failed after three tanks each holding a million gallons of water went dry within a span of 12 hours, officials said. Across the city in Altadena, residents said they futilely tried to extinguish flames with water from pools and garden hoses.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/health-and-safety-alerts/why-fire-hydrants-ran-dry-as-wildfires-tore-through-los-angeles/ar-BB1rcI6T?ocid=widgetonlockscreen&cvid=3cd85c34860e4d89b01bac5ffa8bef68&ei=41

[rangerrebew]

Lots of guesses, lots of excuses, but the bottom line is not one public official is responsible for the devastation response.

[rangerrebew]

US anti-Israel activists blame Israel for Los Angeles wildfire crisis
Story by Luke Tress • 11h

US Jewish groups condemned anti-Israel activists on Thursday for blaming the Los Angeles wildfire crisis on Israel.

Several anti-Israel groups and commentators linked the war in Gaza and US military spending on Israel to the catastrophic fires.

Code Pink, a far-left activist group, said on Instagram, “When US taxes go to burning people alive in Gaza, we can’t be surprised when those fires come home.”
 
The group also said it was pressuring California Senator Alex Padilla at his Washington, DC office, tying the war to climate change.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/us-anti-israel-activists-blame-israel-for-los-angeles-wildfire-crisis/ar-BB1rcSDz?ocid=widgetonlockscreen&cvid=3cd85c34860e4d89b01bac5ffa8bef68&ei=74

[rangerrebew]

This is a classic example of why you absolutely cannot trust anything a leftist says.  In fact, this statement is worthy of a certain Mr. A. Hitler.

[rangerrebew]

Gay Choirs, Trans Cafes And Social Justice Art: What LA Spent Money On While Cutting Its Fire Budget
Story by Eireann Van Natta • 12h

The City of Los Angeles cut funding for its fire department and allocated thousands of dollars to various progressive programs, including a “Midnight Stroll Transgender Cafe” and a Gay Men’s Chorus.

Fires swept through Southern California on Wednesday, destroying hundreds of homes in Los Angeles County, and high winds only fueled the destruction. The Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, was slammed for slashing the Los Angeles Fire Department’s (LAFD) budget by $17.6 million for fiscal year 2024 to 2025, Fox 11 reported, citing LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia.


Bass claimed in a press conference that none of the reductions made “would have impacted the situation that we were dealing with over the last couple of days.” She added that the city is “in tough budgetary times.”

Los Angeles allocated $100,000 to the Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department for a “Midnight Stroll Transgender Cafe,” according to its 2024 to 2025 budget. The funding’s purpose is to “support a safe haven for unsheltered transgender individuals in Hollywood,” the document noted.

 https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/general/gay-choirs-trans-cafes-and-social-justice-art-what-la-spent-money-on-while-cutting-its-fire-budget/ar-BB1rbAX5?ocid=widgetonlockscreen&cvid=3cd85c34860e4d89b01bac5ffa8bef68&ei=118

[rangerrebew]

So, thousands of people were burned out of their homes, their lives in ruins, no vehicles to try and use to recover.  Isn't it worth it to know that gays have choirs, trannies have nice cafes, and nice art, good or not, from social justice warriors?

[rangerrebew]

 Los Angeles Utility Didn’t Implement Common Wildfire Safety Measures
Story by Katherine Blunt • 8h

One of the utilities delivering electricity to fire-ravaged areas of Los Angeles hasn’t implemented an increasingly used safety protocol intended to prevent its equipment from igniting blazes, a measure that every other big California power provider has in place.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power hasn’t developed a plan to proactively shut off parts of its system during windstorms to reduce the risk of sparks from its power lines, regulatory filings show. Other California utilities do so periodically when fire risk is high.
 
As dangerous winds threatened to buffet Los Angeles, LADWP’s system remained energized until the windstorm caused significant damage and knocked out power for tens of thousands of customers.

The causes of the wildfires blazing in and around Los Angeles, which have killed at least five people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings, are under investigation. It remains to be determined whether power lines played a role in any of them, as they have in past fires in California and elsewhere.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/health-and-safety-alerts/los-angeles-utility-didn-t-implement-common-wildfire-safety-measures/ar-BB1rc62s?ocid=widgetonlockscreen&cvid=3cd85c34860e4d89b01bac5ffa8bef68&ei=139

[rangerrebew]

Hey, didn't the same thing happen in Lahaina?

[rangerrebew]

‘Firestorm Of Lies’: The Real Reasons Behind California’s Outbreak Of Fires
by Dr. Matthew Wielicki  Jan 9, 2025

In a recent CNN interview, Dr. Michael E. Mann attributed the devastating Pacific Palisades Fire primarily to climate change, stating, “15 of the worst 20 wildfires have occurred in the last 15 years.” [emphasis, links added]

A dramatic statement from Dr. Michael Mann… but is it the whole truth?

https://climatechangedispatch.com/firestorm-of-lies-the-real-reasons-behind-californias-outbreak-of-fires/
As California battles yet another inferno, it’s clear that the real accelerants are not atmospheric CO2 but decades of poor planning and policy missteps.



Before diving into the historical perspective, it’s important to acknowledge and summarize the excellent work done by others in analyzing the factors behind the Palisades Fire.

[rangerrebew]

Jon Keeley: “L.A. Fires Not The Result Of Climate Change”
“Chaparral fires have been around for at least 20 million years,” says a leading US government scientist. “What’s changed is we have people on the landscape”
Michael Shellenberger
Jan 08, 2025
 
Two people are dead, and 80,000 have been forced to evacuate neighborhoods in Los Angeles thanks to fires raging out of control. According to the media and some scientists, climate change is causing the fires. “Researchers believe that a warming world is increasing the conditions that are conducive to wildland fire, including low relative humidity,” reported the BBC.

But one of the country’s top fire experts disagrees. “I don't think these fires are the result of climate change,” Jon Keeley, a US Geological Survey scientist, told Public. “You certainly could get these events without climate change.”

Keeley has researched the topic for 40 years. In 2017, Keeley and a team of scientists modeled thirty-seven different regions across the United States and found that “humans may not only influence fire regimes but their presence can actually override, or swamp out, the effects of climate.”

https://www.public.news/p/jon-keeley-la-fires-not-the-result

[rangerrebew]

“Chaparral fires have been around for at least 20 million years,” says a leading US government scientist. “What’s changed is we have people on the landscape”
 

[rangerrebew]

2021 Study found: ‘100% of all [Santa Ana] fires are the result of human ignitions, either intentionally or accidentally’ – Found ‘higher temperatures’ & ‘precipitation…did not appear to play a substantial role’ in fires
By Marc Morano
January 9, 2025


Published in the journal Science Advances – Science Advances is the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) open access multidisciplinary journal
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abh2262

Abstract
Autumn and winter Santa Ana wind (SAW)–driven wildfires play a substantial role in area burned and societal losses in southern California. Temperature during the event and antecedent precipitation in the week or month prior play a minor role in determining area burned. Burning is dependent on wind intensity and number of human-ignited fires. Over 75% of all SAW events generate no fires; rather, fires during a SAW event are dependent on a fire being ignited. Models explained 40 to 50% of area burned, with number of ignitions being the strongest variable. One hundred percent of SAW fires were human caused, and in the past decade, powerline failures have been the dominant cause. Future fire losses can be reduced by greater emphasis on maintenance of utility lines and attention to planning urban growth in ways that reduce the potential for powerline ignitions.
…
In summary, SAW (Santa Ana wind) speed is an important factor determining area burned, but SAW events by themselves do not predict large fire events; over 75% of all wind events result in no fires. Even extreme winds do not always result in large fires, e.g., events with two and three extreme SAW days had little or no area burned. Thus, a major limiting factor to large fires is whether or not there is an ignition that escapes initial attack during the wind event, and the probability of this increases with the number of fires ignited. The importance of this factor cannot be underestimated, as in all months the effect of number of ignitions during a wind event is a major factor determining area burned. In the southern California region, 100% of all SAW fires are the result of human ignitions, either intentionally or accidentally. Over the past 71 years, the sources have changed markedly, with arson, and especially powerline failures, becoming more frequent in the latter part of the 20th century (27, 28). This pattern is evident in other regions subjected to autumn wind-driven fires such as the North Bay counties in the state, where powerlines have become a major source of fires. Two factors account for this: a history of inadequate maintenance of powerlines and increased expansion of the power grid (4). The former potential cause is being addressed by utility companies; however, the role of how to manage population growth in ways that would minimize expansion of distribution/transmission lines vulnerable to SAW winds has received little or no attention.

https://www.climatedepot.com/2025/01/09/study-finds-100-of-all-santa-ana-fires-are-the-result-of-human-ignitions-either-intentionally-or-accidentally/

[mountaineer]

Probably started by a crack pipe.

Gee, I hope Hunter's drugs didn't go up in smoke.

[mountaineer]

Police arrest Señor Climate Change (who may or may not have crossed the border illegally) for setting one of the L.A. fires.

[Lando Lincoln]

Police arrest Señor Climate Change (who may or may not have crossed the border illegally) for setting one of the L.A. fires.

I’m thinking this is too big to try controlling the narrative.

[mountaineer]

Several people - whether vagrants, illegals, punks or just morons - have been seen and even filmed setting fires, tossing gasoline on existing fires, etc. There's a certain disturbing nihilistic element to the entire situation.

 Los Angeles residents execute a leg hook takedown before making a citizens arrest after finding a man allegedly trying to start fires: view video on X at https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1877723720581583149

[mountaineer]

Libs of TikTok
@libsoftiktok
JUST IN: Two Super Scooper planes were deployed to help fight the fires in Los Angeles. The planes scoop up water from the ocean and drop them over the fires. One of them was just grounded with wing damage after it was hit by an unauthorized civilian drone.
3:58 AM · Jan 10, 2025

Libs of TikTok
@libsoftiktok
Two Super Scooper planes were deployed to help fight the fires.
One was hit by a drone and is now out of service.
Does the US not have firefighting planes?? Why do we have to get these planes from Canada? Why only 2??
4:08 AM · Jan 10, 2025

[mystery-ak]

Canadian ‘Super Scooper’ Aircraft Grounded After Colliding with Drone over Los Angeles Wildfires

A Canadian “Super Scooper” aircraft fighting the Palisades fire in Los Angeles had to be grounded Thursday after it hit a civilian drone in the smoke-filled skies above the blaze, local fire department officials said.

CNN reports the specifically designed CL-415 firefighting planes are used to scoop up more than 1,500 gallons of ocean water to drop on active fires. Two have been leased by L.A. County to help current operations.

The plane in question, Quebec 1, “sustained wing damage and remains grounded and out of service,” Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Erik Scott said, adding there were no reported injuries.



“We hit a drone this afternoon — first one,” Marrone said.

Fire services have been operating two Canadair CL-415 firefighting aircraft as well as several other aircraft to try to try and stem the fires racing across Southern California.

“Flying a drone near a wildfire is dangerous and can cost lives,” the FAA said in its statement, adding it’s a federal crime to interfere with firefighting efforts on public lands, punishable by up to a year in prison.

There’s also a civil penalty of up to $75,000 for drone operators who interfere with emergency and wildfire responders during temporary flight restrictions, it said.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/01/10/canadian-super-scooper-aircraft-grounded-after-colliding-with-drone-over-los-angeles-wildfires/

[mystery-ak]

Barbra Streisand: Winds Pushing Los Angeles Wildfires Are ‘Due to Climate Change’

Hollywood star Barbra Streisand declared on Thursday that the strong winds carrying wildfires across Los Angeles are “due to climate change” and demanded that “this coming government better address” it.

https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2025/01/10/barbra-streisand-winds-pushing-los-angeles-wildfires-are-due-to-climate-change/

[mystery-ak]

Death Toll Rises to 10 as Los Angeles Wildfires Regather Strength, More Evacuation Orders Issued

Wildfires laying waste to vast areas of Los Angeles have now claimed 10 lives and devoured nearly 10,000 structures, with five fires still burning Friday as dry desert winds fanning the flames regathered strength. One estimate of the damage and economic loss already caused by the catastrophic fires stands at $135-$150 billion.

https://www.breitbart.com/environment/2025/01/10/death-toll-rises-to-10-as-los-angeles-wildfires-regather-strength-more-evacuation-orders-issued/

[mountaineer]

But at least the fire department is full of lesbians, so it's all good.

https://twitter.com/KTmBoyle/status/1877535186641936662

[mystery-ak]

 Mel Gibson: Loss of Malibu home in LA fires ‘devastating’
by Matt Spears - 01/10/25 8:39 AM ET

    Actor, director Mel Gibson was in Texas when fire began
    Gibson tells NewsNation he has never such an intense fire
    Thousands of structures destroyed by the fires; 10 have died

Film actor and director Mel Gibson said Thursday that his Malibu home has been destroyed by the wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area, calling the experience “devastating.”

“It’s emotional,” Gibson told “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” in an interview. “I had my stuff there. I’ve been relieved from the burden of my stuff because it’s all in cinders.”

Gibson also noted that he was in Austin, Texas, appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast when he learned the fire had broken out. He says that while speaking with Rogan, he was “ill at ease” because he’d heard his neighborhood was in flames.

“I thought, ‘Eh, I wonder if my place is still there,'” he said. “When I got home, sure enough, it wasn’t there.”

Gibson added that he was surprised by the intensity of the damage and by what seemed to be the randomness of which houses were destroyed in his neighborhood.

“(The area) was completely toasted. I’ve never seen such a complete burn,” Gibson told Vargas, saying he isn’t sure if he’ll rebuild there but that he was grateful for the generosity of those living nearby and the fact his family was safe.

more
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5078029-mel-gibson-malibu-home-burnt-california-wildfires/

[mystery-ak]

 Biden says intentional power outages to prevent more fires led to California water shortages
by Alex Gangitano - 01/09/25 5:31 PM ET

President Biden said Thursday intentional power outages in the Los Angeles area that were administered in order to prevent more fires from starting were partially to blame for water shortages as officials battle historic wildfires near the city’s limits.

In a briefing with administration officials from the White House, Biden said generators were on the way and that he talked to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) about the water shortages. He explained that utilities were shut off out of concern about sparking more fires that are devastating neighborhoods in and around Southern California.

“What I know from talking to the governor, there are concerns out there that there’s also been a water shortage. The fact is the utilities, understandably, shut off power because they are worried the lines that carried energy were going to be blown down and spark additional fires,” he said. “When it did that, it cut off the ability to generate pumping the water, that’s what caused the lack of water in these hydrants.”

He added that Cal Fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, is bringing in generators to help with the shortage of water coming out of the hydrants.

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5077659-biden-california-wildfire-water-shortage/