A question regarding Ca. fires - Page 2

Nancy Drew · ‎03-11-2010

We have always had fires in fire season. My parents have lived Woodland Hills for over 60 years. The difference is population explosion and water shortages due to over populated area. We have always had droughts also. Less water, more people, not a good combo. My last Halloween and my last fire season here. Thank goodness. No longer enjoyable living here.

Wrong is still wrong just because you benefited from it.

qbetzforreal · ‎08-28-2010

Native Californian and an Angeleno here- brush fires, mudslides are part of the package of living here.

Beth-QVC · ‎06-14-2015

Moved:

challenging moderation

suzyQ3 · ‎03-09-2010

@bikerbabe wrote:
My understanding:
More extremes swinging between rain and drought .
Greater population densities in high fire risk areas.
Debate over how to handle thinning out dead under growth due to drought and bark beetles. (Environmental debate plus incredibly expensive.)
Also, criticism leveled at Pacific Gas & Electric for not doing more to upgrade their infrastructure in recent decades - Fires caused by sparking power lines in high wind events. The wind event right now is particularly bad.
That being said, large wildfires have always been around but, yes, they seem to be more frequent and due to the population growth, affecting more than just forests but people as well.

@bikerbabe, good rundown of the many contributions. I will add that your first one is a result of climate change.

~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

@bikerbabe

Yes, that just about sums it. It's what the experts have been saying.

ann1989 · ‎02-24-2019

The news said if just a speck of debris hits an electrical wire that is made airborne from the wind, it can cause the wire to spark. I just never heard of that before that this was such an easy thing to happen. Maybe it's that the sparking wires are old and easier now to spark and then land on a tree or a structure.

squeaks · ‎03-11-2010

We hsven’t had rain in 154 days.

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

@Tyak wrote:
I don't and never have lived in Ca. but I don't remember these types of devastating fires except in recent years. Did you have them 20 years ago, to this extent? If so, OK I just don't recall them but, if not, what's changed in that time?

@Tyak I was wondering about that too. However I went out to Sonoma three summers ago and I was surprised to see how brown everything was. That's when I realized there had been a continuing drought for some time.

september · ‎03-09-2010

I moved to California about 33 years ago. Right off the bat, there were some devastating fires near to me, including the Pebble Beach and Oakland Hills fires.

however, we were never faced with what is going on right now...having the power company turn off the switch due to dry, windy conditions

september · ‎03-09-2010

@Nancy Drew wrote:
We have always had fires in fire season. My parents have lived Woodland Hills for over 60 years. The difference is population explosion and water shortages due to over populated area. We have always had droughts also. Less water, more people, not a good combo. My last Halloween and my last fire season here. Thank goodness. No longer enjoyable living here.

I expect to leave the weekend after Halloween! Just waiting to hear when the car transport will do the pick up. Mixed feelings, but an overall sense that it's the right thing to do