WND: With California Gov. Jerry Brown blaming future wildfires on President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, it’s worth examining the reasons the state has always been prone to devastating fires.
First, it’s worth noting that fires in the dry brushy environment of the state are normal and unavoidable. They have always been around, though with higher populations in ever greater density, with more homes built on more hills and more canyons, the damage these infernos cause becomes ever more spectacular.
How far back was Southern California observed to be a land of smoke and fire? In 1542, the first Spanish ship sailed the coast and dubbed either Santa Monica Bay or San Pedro Bay as “the Bay of Smoke.”
- California is mostly desert. It normally doesn’t rain in Southern California from June through September – at all. Rains can begin in October or November, but not necessarily and usually not heavily. March, April and May precipitation tapers off, meaning it’s unusual. In 1979, I moved from New York to L.A. and was astonished to see the reaction to the first light rain falling in November. People came out of their houses and apartments to stand in the street in admiration and wonder – like you might expect. It was like watching children react to the first snowfall in winter back East. By the way, California has been a desert for thousands of years. It’s not because of man-made activity, increases in carbon dioxide or catastrophic climate change.
- Southern California has always had an unusual seasonal weather pattern that causes winds to blow from East to West, rather than from the normal pattern around the world, which is West to East. They are called Santa Ana winds, but they were originally called Satana winds by the early Spanish settlers – Satan winds that bring dry heat from the Mojave Desert to the heavily populated coastal areas. These winds occur beginning in the fall and often through December.
- There’s not enough rainfall in California to support its heavy population – especially without dams and reservoirs that politicians are reluctant to build. Even unusually heavy rains in the winter often lead to catastrophic fires in the summer and fall because of the combustible brush that grows and later dries out as a result of the previous winter’s moisture.
- Sun lovers have flocked to California in huge numbers, and population has exploded due to heavy immigration from Latin America and the world over since the 1960s, increasing the demand on water supplies. As a result, government has often rationed the use of water by homeowners who would otherwise use it to protect their properties from fires in dry areas.
- The increase in building to accommodate the burgeoning population means more homes on hills and canyons that are the most likely to be scorched by devastating fires at some point. Escaping them for a decade or two or longer defies all odds. I lived in one of those hillside areas with fantastic views, but fires are always a threat, and many of those properties have little access to conventional firefighting abilities. Read more
I always thought that California wildfires were caused by an overabundance of flaming faggots.
All that money to spend on trains to nowhere, but nothing to built desalination plants with. Plenty of room near the beach in front of Barbra Streisand’s mansion.
Vietvet- It’s from all that STD in Frisco. They’re burning, all right.
Defensible space. I’ll say it again, DEFENSIBLE SPACE.
I see many of these homes built “in the wild” and allow vegetation too close to their homes. Firefighting 101, keep the vegetation away and keep dead shit off the roof. Don’t stack flammables against the structure. Put sprinklers on the roof if it’s combustable. If you’ve got a pool or pond, buy a float-a-pump.
As a former firefighter in a large western city I can tell you that some of the losses could have ben prevented. People move out into the country from the city and have little clue how to protect their property. Some do just stupid stuff to make it even worse.
#10 – KARMA (No offense to Cali Conservatives. They do exist)
Brown also prevented homeowners from cutting brush around their houses. The brush that feeds these fires grew abundantly last year when there was a lot of rainfall ending the drought. With moderate rain the past few months, it has become a major fire hazard – along with illegals who start the fires.
Some of them build homes on the edge of a hill supported by beams and all packed together.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/97/7c/4e/977c4e52fa934b0dc8df9ba5b06d7179–house-on-stilts-hollywood-hills.jpg
The Wrath of God.
My Geology Prof. told about a lawsuit in Cali. where people on a hillside all had pools.
After a mudslide all the pools wound up in the bottom guys yard.
He sued the for trespassing.
I think he lost the case.
There is your Cali. mentality.
We are ordered by the state to have defensible space. But the environuts won’t let you cut a tree. Neither will the HOA’s.
10. Primitive illegals who start fires.
Never buy in an HOA.
Insurance companies exist by spreading the risk from a few to the many. I wonder how many homeowners outside these government sactioned tinderboxes are paying somebody else’s insurance because of Governor Brown and the limo liberals in his cabal.
1.There’s not enough rainfall in California to support its heavy population –
Or OPM, either.
Insurance 101…….Share the risk.
Socialism 101…….Share the wealth.
What’s the difference?
I remember the story of a California farmer who disked the fields around his farmstead as a wildfire approached. His actions saved his structures, but he was later fined a significant amount for violating state and federal wildlife protection laws.
Australia has similar asinine restrictions and they also blame Climate Change for the increase in property damaged by wild fires each year.
Californians are enamored of wooden homes. They love to build quaint wooden cottages amidst dry grasses, chaparral, eucalyptus and oak. I admit, it is quite picturesque, but they potentially pay a high cost every time a dry wind blows.
Building codes requiring fire resistant or fireproof materials and construction would significantly reduce property loss. If government is reluctant to act, insurance companies could affect change by boosting premiums for wooden structures and significantly discounting fire resistant and fireproof structures.
We have a similar problem in Washington with people continuing to build in mountain forests and flooding river valleys. One forest fire and they’re toast. One flood and they’re all wet. It’s happening every year.
Good rules:
1. Don’t build in a flood plain.
2. Don’t build in a mountain forest.
3. Don’t build next to a volcano.
4. Don’t build near an earthquake fault.
5. Don’t build anything in a Democrat-controlled city like Seattle!
The solution to all California’s problems is building a high-speed rail from nowhere nowhere else at the cost of $1 Billion per mile. [sarcasm] One of our Congress critters husbands got contract, isn’t that a surprise?
I was going to say “Satan”
In most of the Country there are four seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Here in the West we have Winter, Spring, Fire Season and Fall.
It’s always been that way.
Jerry Brown is a freaking idiot, he’s always been that way.
And Jerry Brown knows all of that too. And yet like all leftists he’s willing to lie through his teeth.
@ACParker
Anybody that requires a building code to tell them that a cedar shake roof is a fire hazard should consider remaining in their mom’s basement instead of becoming a home owner.
Anybody that allows a HOA to dictate to them what they can do with their property especially when it concerns safety should do the same.
Many years working as a land surveyor have left me convinced that there is no shortage of people out there that don’t have a clue wishing to tell others what they can do with their property and more than willing to use the power of government to make their wishes come true. Fire is just Mother Nature’s way of telling people like this that stupid hurts. Kind of a cleansing effect when you think about it.
Don’t forget that the islamic terrorists called for it’s sympathizers to start brush fires, including instructions on how to do it, so add “unrestricted immigration from muslim countries” to the list.
25 years ago, when Oakland suffered a devastating brush fire, one neighborhood lost all the homes except one; that of a structural engineer. Cement-stucco exterior walls, closed soffits, tile roof, and a few other treatments allowed his house to survive. We have the technology, just need the common sense and commitment to do what needs to be done.
BTW, the latest Building and Fire codes have urban/wild-land interface zone requirements, but the adoption of them is optional, and seldom enacted due to opposition from developers, HBA, and affordable housing advocates.
@hanoverfist: That guy should’ve put up a sign:
“USED POOLS FOR SALE. SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED.”
It’s always been this way: first the drought, then fire; then rain, then the floods & landslides.
Then they go build right back in the same place again.
Flip is right. HOA’s are evil. Condo Boards too. I’ve always said Democrat politicians are spawned by HOA Boards and Condo Boards. Some persnickety fuss-budget asshole gets on a HOA or Condo Board and all of a sudden the power to lord it over his neighbors goes to his head. Next he’s running for Dogcatcher. Then it’s City Council. Then it’s county Commissioner. Then State Senator. The n it’s Governor. Then they go Federal and become either a Congressman or Senator.
The power, it’s intoxicating.