Stories on the Fires?

[Guest ncm2169]

What's happening out there buds? :*

 

8:30 pm PST, CNN is reporting that many "$multi-million" homes in/near Yorba Linda do not have fire sprinkler systems.

 

Sorry to seem harsh, but if that's true, the idiots deserve to burn down. x(

[+ deej]

>What's happening out there buds? :*

>

>8:30 pm PST, CNN is reporting that many

>"$multi-million" homes in/near Yorba Linda do not

>have fire sprinkler systems.

>

>Sorry to seem harsh, but if that's true, the idiots deserve to

>burn down. x(

 

 

Nothing at all judgmental about you, eh?

 

Never mind that the homes with sprinkler systems are still burning down AND they're lowering water pressure and hampering firefighters.

 

You've decided who the poopy-heads are. Woo Hoo for You.

 

For the impartial, it's going to be a VERY tense night in LA and Orange counties. The winds are still howling and driving flames that might normally settle down for the night. Not tonight.

 

I'm sure anyone in the path of today's fires will appreciate your good thoughts, folks. Leave the judgment at the state border. Nobody needs that.

[Guest ncm2169]

< Nothing at all judgmental about you, eh?

 

Cool your jets dude. I asked after I saw a CNN story which made the same commentary. :*

[+ deej]

>I asked after I saw a CNN story which made the same commentary.

 

CNN called people idiots? Cool.

 

Not sure I'll be tuning in any time soon.

[Guest ncm2169]

IIRC, the gist of CNN's story was that if the folks that could afford their own fire-retard systems had them, it would relieve the pressure on the rest of the public system.

 

< Shrug >

[SoCal]

< shrug >

 

That's nice...we're fighting for our lives, homes, families here. What do you possibly know about what's going on here outside of the MN state lines? CNN? Fox? what a joke.

 

I thank gawd every day you do NOT represent me in any way, shape, form. How did you ever?

[Guest ncm2169]

I feel your pain and anger. Please direct it at CNN. I didn't invent the story, and I am sorry if anyone thought I did. As I said in my post, if that's true ...

 

That said, I do not apologize for my opinion that millionaires ought not to be able to sponge off public services which are legitimately reserved for the most vulnerable. I admit my "they deserve to burn" comment was over the line ... "they deserve to suck hind tit" would have been a preferable choice of words.

 

But again, that's the CNN storyline. So get mad at them if you don't like it. x(

 

As for "representing" you, I have no clue what you're talking about. I can only assume you're lashing out in frustration, and I totally understand. I probably would too.

 

Good Luck in getting everything under control. :o :o :o

[+ deej]

>IIRC, the gist of CNN's story was that if the folks that

>could afford their own fire-retard systems had them, it would

>relieve the pressure on the rest of the public system.

 

Was that before or after they called people idiots?

 

Where in their in-depth analysis of usage of the public water supply did they call people idiots?

[Guest zipperzone]

>That said, I do not apologize for my opinion that millionaires

>ought not to be able to sponge off public services which are

>legitimately reserved for the most vulnerable.

 

"Sponge"? "Legitimately reserved for the most vulnerable"?

 

It seems to me that millionaires pay taxes too and probably a hell of a lot more that the "most vulnerable".

 

Since when are they not entitled to the same services? And where does it state that "public services are RESERVED for the most vulnerable"?

 

Good job you ain't in Sacramento.

[Cooper]

WHAT CNN REALLY SAID

 

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Wildfires driven by hurricane-strength winds tore through Southern California on Saturday for the second day in a row, destroying hundreds of homes, displacing thousands of people and forcing freeway closures and rotating blackouts.

A firefighter sprays water on a mobile home in vain Saturday in the Sylmar section of Los Angeles.

 

More high winds Saturday night could continue to hamper efforts to contain at least four fires in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Orange counties, officials said.

 

More than 10,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the northern San Fernando Valley, and 8,000 acres of land have been scorched by the Sayre fire since it began Friday night. Five firefighters have received minor injuries.

 

The brush-fueled Sayre fire erupted late Friday in the steep terrain of the Angeles National Forest on the outskirts of Sylmar, about 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It is named for the street where it was first spotted.

 

As of Saturday evening, fire officials said, about 20 percent of the fire had been contained.

 

Wind gusts up to 80 mph combined with low humidity and unseasonably high temperatures fueled the fires.

 

At least 5,000 residents of Sylmar were ordered to flee early Saturday. Since then, at least 500 mobile homes at the Oakridge Mobile Home Park near Sylmar and 165 homes were destroyed and at least 1,000 more were threatened.

 

Authorities said it's too soon to tell whether anyone was killed at the Oakridge Mobile Home Park. Police and fire personnel worked to drag one elderly woman from the park as flames were tearing into it, according to L.A. Police Chief William Bratton.

 

Deputy Police Chief Michael Moore said that extreme heat and other dangers have made it impossible for search-and-rescue teams to work their way through the mobile home park. They plan to investigate Sunday, he said.

 

Augustine Reyes and his family left their home in Sylmar about 2 a.m. Saturday when they could no longer stand the oppressive heat and smoke encroaching from the hills behind their home.

 

When Reyes returned to survey the scene Saturday afternoon, all that remained were heaps of charred rubble.

 

Reyes dabbed his eyes with a bandana as he worried over how to describe the loss to his 7-year-old son. "He's autistic and doesn't do well with change, so this is going to be very hard to explain to him," Reyes said.

 

The raging wildfires were moving ½ mph to 1 mph, said Los Angeles Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Mario Rueda, forcing the closures of most freeways in the valley, including Interstates 5, 405 and 210.

 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for Los Angeles County on Saturday afternoon, one day after he made the same move in nearby Santa Barbara County.

 

By Saturday afternoon, the Tea fire, named after its suspected place of origin in Santa Barbara County, was about 40 percent contained after destroying more than 100 homes and burning 1,800 acres since Thursday in the upscale community of Montecito.

 

A 98-year-old man with pre-existing medical problems who was evacuated to a hotel died Friday, though medical officials said it may be impossible to determine whether the move caused his death.

 

South of Los Angeles, a brush fire that began in Corona has moved into Yorba Linda, destroying at least 265 apartments and homes and scorching 800 to 1,000 acres, according to CNN affiliate KTLA.

 

The blaze started about 9 a.m. north of California Highway 91 in Corona. Strong and erratic winds quickly fanned to flames, initiating the evacuations of at least 14,000 people from the area and engulfing entire apartment buildings in flames, KTLA reported.

 

A second fire is also making its way through Orange County.

 

In Los Angeles, Villaraigosa declared a city emergency early Saturday morning and called for the public's cooperation in conserving energy as potential blackouts loomed.

 

The fire threatened high-voltage transmission lines along southern California's Interstate 5, causing the utility company that serves Los Angeles to orchestrate rotating power outages in some districts for nearly an hour Saturday.

 

The I-5 corridor through Sylmar is a major utility corridor carrying power to the city's Department of Water and Power and other utilities from plants in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest.

 

"The LADWP turned off these lines to ensure the safety of firefighters and the public," the utility said on its Web site. Power was turned off to the Mid-City, Crenshaw and Harbor Gateway neighborhoods for 45 minutes.

 

The Sayre fire jumped I-5 Saturday as it headed west toward areas burned last month by the Sesnon fire in Porter Ranch.

 

By Saturday afternoon, people were taking refuge in evacuation shelters set up in three high schools in the area, officials said.

 

Horses and other large animals were being taken to a makeshift shelter in Hansen Dam Park. A mobile kennel was set up at Sylmar High School, and small pets can be taken to the Mission animal shelter.

 

Residents in the Granada Hills and Puerto Ranch communities were among those ordered to leave their homes Saturday, said Deputy Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore.

 

"This fire is moving so quickly that they can't wait," Moore said, warning residents not to wait until they see flames to get out.

[+ ArVaGuy]

So how many undeserving millionaires lived at the Oakridge Mobile Home Park?

[Guest zipperzone]

>

>

>So how many undeserving millionaires lived at the Oakridge

>Mobile Home Park?

 

None - they just owned the park.

[+ deej]

The trailer park images are just gut-wrenching. Everything is burned to the ground, as far as the eye can see. The only thing left standing is the cinder-block walls between neighborhoods.

 

It will be a miracle if they don't find bodies in the debris. (Haven't so far, but they're still looking.) That park was overtaken so suddenly the firefighters abandoned their hoses. There are hundreds of feet of charred fire hoses on the ground.

 

It was a blast furnace with a 70mph tail wind.

 

(70 mph is a weak tornado, 75 is a cat 1 hurricane, just for reference.)

[Kevin Slater]

My nephew goes to Westmont College, which I guess is where the fire originated. He says it started near some tea gardens right off campus where everyone goes to smoke because they're not allowed to smoke on campus. Just spreading the gossip along...

 

Kevin Slater

[Guest ncm2169]

That's what is posted on their website.

 

With all due respect, it is quite common with news organizations for there to be differences in a posted story and the actual broadcast. Happens all the time. :*

 

Once again, I express my sympathy to anyone caught up in this horrible tragedy.

[+ deej]

Different fire.

 

The so-called Tea fire was Santa Barbara area, well north of this weekend's fires.

 

That's the one that threatened Oprah's place. Her evacuation plan included having the dogs taken to the Four Seasons in my neighborhood. I'll say hi for ya. ;-)

[Kevin Slater]

Thanks for setting me straight, as it were.

 

Kevin Slater

[+ deej]

Straight was never a consideration with you, big boy.

[+ deej]

Just to conclude the story...

 

Of the ~600 homes in the Oak Ridge mobile home community, almost 500 homes burned to the ground in approximately 20 minutes.

 

No bodies have been found.

 

Considering the community is heavily made up of persons of a certain age who may not move as quickly as perhaps we'd wish in an emergency, the LAFD's success in getting everyone out is nothing short of astounding.

 

The loss of property still boggles the mind, but the complete lack of a death toll is amazing. And that story is repeating all over SoCal.

 

Pay it forward. Hug a firefighter!

[Lookin]

I read that police car tires exploded as officers drove the residents out to safety. Totally amazing rescue effort.

[+ deej]

Thanks for pointing out my under-reporting, Lookin!

 

I really was remiss in not mentioning LAPD, county agencies, state agencies, county and state agencies from around the region who sent personnel and equipment, etc.

 

The only entity that wasn't present was FEMA and, honestly, when they do show up in CA we tend to shrug and say "we've got it handled".

 

I still say hug a firefighter.

[Lookin]

> I still say hug a firefighter.

 

 

Oh, alright, if you insist.

 

http://www.joinlafd.org/images/MaleFace.jpg

[BARR1965]

>I still say hug a firefighter.

 

Well I did not hug a firefighter but when I was at the gym yesterday morning, I talked and personally thanked 2 of the firemen that were there at the beginning of the Triangle Complex Fire. I found out that one of the injured firemen was from the station close to my house. He is doing fine now. I live about 1 ½ mile were the fire began and the injured fireman station was a mile from where I live.