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| Re: Sometimes paradise is not so nice [message #275802 is a reply to message #275779] |
Mon, 22 October 2007 14:29   |
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Barbara Boehmer
Messages: 9104
Registered: November 2002
Location: California, USA
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If you think you may be in danger from fire and/or smoke, please take your family, your pets, and anything important that you can grab quickly and evacuate. Fire moves a lot more quickly than you think and the smoke may suffocate you before the fire gets to you. When it gets too smokey, your vehicle won't start, so don't wait until the last minute. You may also encounter traffic jams as many people try to evacuate at the last minute and fire engines are trying to get in at the same time.
It has been bad here (western Riverside County) too, but I don't think it is quite as bad as where you are. No flames are visible from here, but the house filled with smoke suddenly yesterday. I am not sure if it has dissipated or I have just gotten used to it. The sky is kind of hazy. I am not sure if the smoke came from the Fontana fire northeast of me or the Ontario fire northwest of me or something smaller and closer or what.
The night before last we had 85 mph winds and I awoke in the morning to find that most of the branches from the large elm tree in the center of my front yard had broken off and landed on my fence, my car in my driveway, and the gate across my driveway. I was concerned that if I needed to evacuate I would not be able to get out. I eventually managed to drag the branch off the gate so that I could open the gate and use a set of loppers to cut enough small pieces off to allow me to get my car out from underneath. The car is a little scratched up, but no broken windows or major damage. I think the fence kept the heaviest portion from landing on the car. I hired some people to cut the rest of the pieces up with chainsaws and take them away and they did that this morning. I have been leaving the television on most of the day, listening to the ongoing news coverage of all of the Southern California fires.
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| Re: Sometimes paradise is not so nice [message #275806 is a reply to message #275799] |
Mon, 22 October 2007 14:36 |
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Barbara Boehmer
Messages: 9104
Registered: November 2002
Location: California, USA
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Senior Member |
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Anacedent,
I don't know how much of the news you have had a chance to listen to, so you may already know this. Because there are so many fires, all of the counties that normally help one another out: Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, and Ventura have run out of fire engines. The governor has declared a state of emergency, which enables California to ask for help from other states. I hear that help is enroute from Arizona and Nevada.
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| Re: Sometimes paradise is not so nice [message #276012 is a reply to message #275799] |
Tue, 23 October 2007 12:14 |
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Barbara Boehmer
Messages: 9104
Registered: November 2002
Location: California, USA
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Senior Member |
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Anacedent,
Did you evacuate? You post your location as where the surf meets the turf in Southern California, which is the slogan of the Del Mar horse race track, so I have been assuming that you are in Del Mar, although I suppose it could be used to describe Malibu or any of the rest of the coastline. I heard on the news that the entire city of Del Mar was evacuated last night and it showed a huge plume of smoke headed that way, from the northeast. If that is where you are, I hope you got out. We are having a brief lull in the winds here, but they are supposed to increase again in a few hours, so I am going to see if I can make it to the grocery store and back before then. I expect there may be a lot of fallen trees and road closures and such.
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| Re: Sometimes paradise is not so nice [message #276018 is a reply to message #275779] |
Tue, 23 October 2007 12:24 |
MarcL
Messages: 455
Registered: November 2006
Location: Connecticut, USA
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Senior Member |
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Barb,
Whereabouts are you? I am in Connecticut, but Corporate is in Foothills Ranch and they are close to evacuating from what I understand.
Try to hang in there.
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| Re: Sometimes paradise is not so nice [message #276031 is a reply to message #276018] |
Tue, 23 October 2007 12:56 |
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Barbara Boehmer
Messages: 9104
Registered: November 2002
Location: California, USA
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Senior Member |
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MarcL,
I am in a rural area called Pedley, which is zoned for low-density residential and light agriculture, where many people keep horses and dairy cows and lots of other animals and fields of crops, mostly wine grapes. It is part of a larger unincorporated area called Jurupa, which is in western Riverside County, just west of the incorporated city of Riverside, just north of the Santa Ana river. I am northeast, by about 20 miles I estimate, of Foothill Ranch, which is on the other side of the Cleveland National Forest. The winds are blowing from northeast to southwest, so they blow from the mountain resorts in the northeast, like Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear in San Bernardino County, then south and west across Riverside and Los Angeles counties, then further south to Orange and San Diego counties and further west to Ventura county, so those along the coast, where Anacedent is, ultimately get the smoke from all of the fires to the northeast. Things are not too bad here right now. Anacedent is in a much worse spot.
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| Re: Sometimes paradise is not so nice [message #277938 is a reply to message #277901] |
Thu, 01 November 2007 05:09 |
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Littlefoot
Messages: 21823
Registered: June 2005
Location: Croatia, Europe
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Senior Member
Account Moderator |
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My country is miserably small if compared to yours (Australia and the USA); however, every year our fire departments fight massive fires along the Adriatic coast.
Usually all that is affected are woods, bushes, very rarely houses and people in general. This summer we saw a tragedy - there was a team of 13 firemen who went to extinguish fire on an un-inhabitated island. Something happened - public still doesn't know what as investigation still isn't over. The result is: 12 of 13 of them burned to death. 6 died immediately, 6 of them during several days, and only one survived (although 60% of his body was burned).
There are rumours that there was military debris there which caused an enormous fire. The other say that helicopter, that brought those people to the island, accidentally released fuel which splashed firemen and caused such a heavy burns.
The major irony is that there was really nothing to save there - low bushes, dry grass and rocks. Unbelieveable ...
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| Re: Sometimes paradise is not so nice [message #385273 is a reply to message #277938] |
Sun, 08 February 2009 20:38 |
rleishman
Messages: 3728
Registered: October 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Senior Member |
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The state of Victoria (lower-right corner on the Australian map) is currently hosting the country's greatest natural disaster - less than 100km from the state capital - Melbourne.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/our-darkest-day-20090208-810q.html
Our hottest day on record (46.4C - 115.5F) combined with high winds have fed bushfires that have wiped out 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres - somewhat more than the size of Netherlands) of forest and farmland, including the complete destruction of the townships of Kinglake, Kinglake West, Buxton, and the alpine resort town of Marysville.
So far the fires - many of which are laid by arsonists - have taken over 100 lives and continue to burn and threaten larger towns.
Anyone wanting to help can contribute via the Red Cross http://www.redcross.org.au
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| Re: Sometimes paradise is not so nice [message #385481 is a reply to message #385442] |
Mon, 09 February 2009 19:04 |
rleishman
Messages: 3728
Registered: October 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Senior Member |
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The city of Melbourne is quite safe. It is quite sprawling though - 70+km from the CBD to the outskirts - and there are some very outer-lying areas that may be threatened. Fortunately (for Melbourne's outskirts), the winds have swung around to their predominant South-Westerly (what we get 90% of the time).
I heard that (the former town of) Marysville is now being declared a crime scene.
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| Re: Sometimes paradise is not so nice [message #389343 is a reply to message #388323] |
Sat, 28 February 2009 23:00 |
rleishman
Messages: 3728
Registered: October 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Senior Member |
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Yeah, this is true, but you need to understand the geography of Melbourne to put it in context. Looking at the attached map, you can see that Yarra Glen (which we sometimes think of as an outer satellite suburb) is still some distance from the densely populated areas (where the roads are straight and closer together) around Doncaster / Nunawading / Croyden.
So, scary as this is for those living in the outer-east of (Greater) Melbourne, the city itself is in no real danger. (yet?)
Having said that, we're due on Tuesday for some more strong Northerly winds like on Black Saturday.
Thanks to all those interstate, Kiwi, Yank and Canuck firemen who have come to help.
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Attachment: Melbourne.JPG
(Size: 140.73KB, Downloaded 3171 times)
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