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CR Los Angeles fires thread


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2 hours ago, wood said:

Yeah there was a guy on another board who was up in arms about the Malibu fire, saying there's no good reason for all those waterfront houses to burn, because there's all that water right there!!!!!1!1!!. Why can't they just pump water up from the ocean?'

I had to explain to him that ...

To which he responded "Well then they should have a system that uses the seawater for firefighting, and this whole 'salt water is hard on the pumps' thing is all a bit fuzzy". (seriously, he actually said that)

So I explained that ...

He was still skeptical. Yeah, I know ... shocking.

This is only the beginning. Just as with Elon and Trump and some on this board talking ignorant, simplistic nonsense when it comes to the fires and firefighting, there are plenty of others out there who are sure they know better and aren't trying to hear rational explanations or anything realistic. Saying "This is simply a natural disaster" doesn't even move the needle. Not even a little bit.

There are so many instances where people still think they know better and will armchair QB it to death. Sometimes we get reminded that we as humans do not have all the answers and that Mother Nature is still a powerful force we cannot tame. These fires are a massive tragedy for all involved whether rich or poor. I believe the firefighters have done their absolute best to fight this incredibly massive fire. Hopefully we can come together and help out those in need who cannot afford to rebuild. 

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1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

This is much bigger than state government, regardless of how the American right wants to spin it.  This is a direct result of climate change.  Shit is burning because droughts are deeper and average temperatures are higher, among other things.  Rapidly dealing with a situation like this would require an investment far beyond what any government is willing to spend, yet the politicos still want to point fingers.

Climate change and building a big ass city in a place that is almost a desert, and has been. Relying on water from far away only works for so long. For a place with no rain I see a ton of lawns in some areas.

At some point humans have to ask if where we want to live is where we should live.

Concerning development, water, dry ravines, roads one way in and out. Think Austin developers are listening?

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33 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Climate change and building a big ass city in a place that is almost a desert, and has been. Relying on water from far away only works for so long. For a place with no rain I see a ton of lawns in some areas.

At some point humans have to ask if where we want to live is where we should live.

Concerning development, water, dry ravines, roads one way in and out. Think Austin developers are listening?

The people yearn for the Great Lakes and just don’t know it yet. 

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3 hours ago, wood said:

Yeah there was a guy on another board who was up in arms about the Malibu fire, saying there's no good reason for all those waterfront houses to burn, because there's all that water right there!!!!!1!1!!. Why can't they just pump water up from the ocean?'

I had to explain to him that ...

To which he responded "Well then they should have a system that uses the seawater for firefighting, and this whole 'salt water is hard on the pumps' thing is all a bit fuzzy". (seriously, he actually said that)

So I explained that ...

He was still skeptical. Yeah, I know ... shocking.

This is only the beginning. Just as with Elon and Trump and some on this board talking ignorant, simplistic nonsense when it comes to the fires and firefighting, there are plenty of others out there who are sure they know better and aren't trying to hear rational explanations or anything realistic. Saying "This is simply a natural disaster" doesn't even move the needle. Not even a little bit.

Probably about the same reason SoCal hasn't solved its water problems with desalination plants.

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51 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Climate change and building a big ass city in a place that is almost a desert, and has been. Relying on water from far away only works for so long. For a place with no rain I see a ton of lawns in some areas.

At some point humans have to ask if where we want to live is where we should live.

Concerning development, water, dry ravines, roads one way in and out. Think Austin developers are listening?

I had to drive my MIL to Rivercrest, CA (China Lake NWS) from Vegas through the Mojave.  It was mile after mile after mile of lunar landscape and temps over 110 in June.

LA is a little better off due to proximity to the ocean, but that's what  it was built on.  It didn't need much help from climate change to burst into flames.

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13 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Tell me. slorch, who started it? (hint, it's not #bothsides)

No it isn't.

It's beyond me that it is political at all.

 

"let's find solutions! people are hurting!"

"Fuck that.  It's time to show our ass."

 

Sorry.  That's how it feels to me.  Fuck my feelings.

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1 hour ago, bolverk said:

Because they were started by (((space lasers))), Marge! We don't know how to stop (((space lasers))).

bafkreihxb6vrgzoiclasstoihircjnocz2ncfb5

She is so utterly and painfully stupid. I mean this is a profoundly dumb person who has the intellect of a sand gnat. Her voters are as equally as stupid and ignorant as her for continuing to vote her back in.
 

Yeah we’ll just fire up the cloud seed machine we keep out back for just such an emergency. Can we just send her to Myanmar and let her be their problem? 

Edited by UpperWestside
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10 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

they will likely try to launch a peremptory strike

IMG_3955.jpeg.09003c5a35a16d0fe0dd257d66b8edaa.jpeg

That's hilarious since I just chose an outfit just like that for a reservation I placed next weekend at a lovely Thai restaurant in downtown Nuuk, where I'll be looking at a few real estate investment opportunities to round out my portfolio.

image.thumb.png.52d842edefa8a2098cda9a3dd60b2d6f.png

 

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26 minutes ago, Cousin Strawberry said:

Can you just be honest with yourself that you tolerate Jews in Israel but have contempt for them existing here? How many times have you thought "fuckin' Jew" or "God damn Jew?"  You were on Matt Damon's side in School Ties?

not quite sure what the fuck you are on about.


I take it you haven’t watched the movie he referenced.

Heres the scene dipshit

 

Edited by Incredulity
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14 hours ago, InkaUtexas said:

Climate change and building a big ass city in a place that is almost a desert, and has been. Relying on water from far away only works for so long. For a place with no rain I see a ton of lawns in some areas.

At some point humans have to ask if where we want to live is where we should live.

Concerning development, water, dry ravines, roads one way in and out. Think Austin developers are listening?

a man is holding a stack of money on his head while talking on a cell phone .

huh?

But seriously, west Austin/Westlake Hills out to Dripping Springs is a fire disaster waiting to happen...

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I’m hearing zero from Dems. No outrage at suggestions that aide be used as ransom for policy changes or about how the misinformation is harming Republicans in California. It seems there should be hard pushback over something so basic as providing assistance in the face of tragedy. Am I just not seeing it?

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10 minutes ago, Pig Bellmont said:

I’m hearing zero from Dems. No outrage at suggestions that aide be used as ransom for policy changes or about how the misinformation is harming Republicans in California. It seems there should be hard pushback over something so basic as providing assistance in the face of tragedy. Am I just not seeing it?

Would like to think they are busy actually trying to provide said assistance and will worry about the misinformation later, but probably wishful thinking. On a more personal note, have several Trumper friends who are taking this opportunity to amplify all the misinfo they can find that makes anything "Commiefornia" look bad and rather can't wait to ask why they don't do the same next time we have a disaster and all our local Texas political hero's are asleep at the wheel, like Abbott being wheels deep in Asian ladyboys during Beryl leaving Lt Dan to muddle thru the response to millions of people in Houston going without power in July...

Edited by Evil Bill Obrien
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The absolute gullibility of right wing media consumers is astonishing.  I'm seeing all kinds of "the fires were set simultaneously in a perfect triangle, this is a land grab" to "LAFD was defunded" to "Oregon fire equipment has been turned back because they don't meet emissions standards", and so on and so on and so on.  No critical thought, they just lap it up, and there is no reasoning with them.

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I wish people would stop giving that dumb bitch oxygen but that's the problem with social media. Any moron can get on and say something stupid and then it spreads to gullible morons or trolls like Pronghorn. It doesn't matter if people push back or community notes pop up. People believe what they want to believe. 

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9 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

The absolute gullibility of right wing media consumers is astonishing.  I'm seeing all kinds of "the fires were set simultaneously in a perfect triangle, this is a land grab" to "LAFD was defunded" to "Oregon fire equipment has been turned back because they don't meet emissions standards", and so on and so on and so on.  No critical thought, they just lap it up, and there is no reasoning with them.

Yep. The right wing moron on my FB feed who I've screen-grabbed a post of two of his in the last couple of years is talking about it being another "Hawai'i-like wildfire land grab situation." How do you even begin a conversation with these dipshits.

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5 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Yep. The right wing moron on my FB feed who I've screen-grabbed a post of two of his in the last couple of years is talking about it being another "Hawai'i-like wildfire land grab situation." How do you even begin a conversation with these dipshits.

You can’t. Some people are too stupid to engage. I recently was discussing the election with a caretaker for my dad. I listed about five things that trump had done that would’ve been auto-disqualifiers for other candidates. Her response was “elections are rigged by five people that control everything”. You can’t even have a discussion with some people; they’re lost.

Apparently she gets her disinformation from the best sources.
 

IMG_2141.jpeg.f84f30614df2dc703ffe687458d0341a.jpeg

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16 hours ago, bolverk said:

Because they were started by (((space lasers))), Marge! We don't know how to stop (((space lasers))).

bafkreihxb6vrgzoiclasstoihircjnocz2ncfb5

I love how this nincompoop always feels like she has the great idea that no one ever thought of or was never discussed/vetted among very smart people in their field.

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1 hour ago, Pig Bellmont said:

I’m hearing zero from Dems. No outrage at suggestions that aide be used as ransom for policy changes or about how the misinformation is harming Republicans in California. It seems there should be hard pushback over something so basic as providing assistance in the face of tragedy. Am I just not seeing it?

The NYT is on her: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/12/us/karen-bass-ghana-wildfire-travel-los-angeles.html

 

Quote

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faces criticism for Ghana trip. Bass, who has faced rumors and accusations of cutting Los Angeles Fire Department funding, is now contending with increased criticism for having been out of the country when the fires began. The former member of Congress had spent much of her career working on Africa–US relations and she was en route home after attending the inauguration of a new president in Ghana last Tuesday. Bass defended the trip, saying that she went upon request from the Biden administration and that because she was on a military plane for the diplomatic mission, she was able to stay in constant contact with officials on the ground. In a 2021 interview with the New York Times, Bass said she would not travel internationally while mayor.

Rivals have lashed out. Liberal supporters whose homes burned down have become outraged critics. An online petition demanding her immediate resignation has attracted more than 100,000 signatures. MAGA Republicans and their allies have swarmed social media, amplifying and exploiting the anger.

Firefighters, whose union endorsed her opponent, Rick Caruso, in the mayoral race, have accused her of slashing fire department funding, an inaccurate and misleading assertion. Kristin M. Crowley, the city’s fire chief, when pressed by a reporter for a local Fox News affiliate, conceded that she felt the Fire Department had been failed by city government.

The fallout is threatening Ms. Bass’s ability to lead as the city confronts a long road to recovery from one of the most sweeping disasters in the history of Southern California, as well as a staggering mandate to prepare for the 2028 Olympic Games. Rebuilding from the 1992 Los Angeles riots took decades.

“I think being out of state and not at her post when the crisis broke out is fairly devastating for her,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican political consultant who was an aide to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “This is the biggest disaster in Los Angeles since the Watts riots. You have one job as mayor. It’s to be here and be leading. This wasn’t unpredictable, like an earthquake.”

and I guess it's always more perspective than reality:

Quote

 

James Hahn, who was mayor of Los Angeles from 2001 to 2005, was in Washington when the Sept. 11 terror attacks struck. He could not return to Los Angeles for several days because flights were grounded, but even so, he was criticized for years for being absent from the city. It became a talking point used by his opponents when he ran for re-election and was defeated.

“There was no human being who got back to the West Coast faster than I did,” Mr. Hahn said in an interview. “I was on the first plane that was in the air. It was 60 hours — I timed it — but you would’ve thought I was gone for two weeks instead of two days.”

Mr. Hahn, now a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge in Santa Monica, said the impression still lingers. “To this day,” he said, “people think I took my sweet time getting back to L.A.”

Mr. Hahn said Mayor Bass’s response to the crisis had impressed him. He pointed out that by the time she got back to the city, a state of emergency had already been declared.

“This was an unprecedented event,” he said. “People don’t want to accept that, and I understand they’re in pain. People have lost everything. People have lost their lives. And the first reaction is, ‘Whose fault is this?’ And I think the first reaction should be, ‘How do we help the people who’ve lost everything?’”

 

 

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21 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

exactly. it just so happened that this time it was all the rich peeps that got the brunt of it. amazing how heightened things are when they happen to rich folks

 

and how the government should have DONE SOMETHING to prevent it, when its The Palisades getting burned down. 

 

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We simultaneously work to tear down the government while expecting it to save us.  We constantly want to blame the wrong things.  Government, corporations, churches, fire departments, police departments, the FBI, FEMA, etc...  These are organizations and structures that are not inherently good or bad.  They are led and operated by humans, and its the humans in them that make them good or bad.  And given our late-game stage of capitalism, the humans that lead these orgs and structures have every incentive to operate them in a self-benefiting and society-harming way.

If you aren't in California with skin in the game or volunteering to fix the problem, your opinion means jack all.

Which means this opinion of mine means jack all.

Edited by Goredho
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18 hours ago, Iceman said:

No it isn't.

It's beyond me that it is political at all.

 

"let's find solutions! people are hurting!"

"Fuck that.  It's time to show our ass."

 

Sorry.  That's how it feels to me.  Fuck my feelings.

No it's not. You've been following the last decade. The incoming president responding with a "Gavin Newscum" tweet is the most predictable thing ever as is the fact that his followers are laughing along with it because California, lib tears, etc. You know goddamned well that this is who we are now as a nation, I'm sure you'll keep this in mind next election season, LOL.

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This fire like with recent hurricanes or other natural disasters will bring insurance questions that need to be solved.

  1. Some states may not allow Insurance companies to accurately model the expected risks based on future projections, they can only look backwards. I believe this differs from state to state. If the companies see too much risk, then the state may have to jump in to provide insurance with a public-private insurance company. Then taxpayers may partially be on the hook for payouts.
    • Note, CA recently made some regulation changes that some see as insurance industry friendly to keep them from ending coverage.
  2. All homeowners may also need to accept higher premiums or higher deductibles since damages are increases. Which in turn may impact housing pricing. Future owners may value a house purchase at a lower amount since their annual insurance premiums would be much higher.

The recent disaster damage increases, whether or not someone believes in climate change, can't be denied.

 

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Just now, Brisketexan said:

What I still don't get are the cries about "DEI DID THIS!" - promulgated by multiple posters on this board.

I get that you don't like DEI.  I get that you think it leads to hiring people who aren't the best for certain aspects of the job.

But in THIS situation....nobody can point to a single element of the response that was actually negatively affected by a hiring policy.  80 mph winds, fire that consumed hundreds of houses within minutes of starting, and the winds continued so it couldn't be fought from the air for over a day (the only way to truly get a handle on a massive fire like this).  The LAFD coulda been made up of Billy the Buff White Fireman Straight Outta the 1950s, it coulda been made upn entirely of lesbians with multiple questionable piercings....both groups would have done exactly what WAS done: fight a rear-guard action, help people evacuate, etc.

And they hydrant/pressure issue: dude, Americans are dumb as fuck.  It's elementary engineering and hydraulics (how much water and pressure can you get through a certain diameter pipe, how quickly is the reserve of water drawn down, etc.).  It's all basic math.  And the situation is pretty much the same wherever you go: drop a fire fed by 80 mph winds, tearing through dry conditions, into ANY urban area in America, and the firefighting response and capabilities would be the same: limited tank and hydrant capacity.  We don't build water delivery systems to handle fighting a thousand house fires at once.  We just don't.  And practically speaking, we can't.

There may indeed be some room for criticism as to vegetation management for fire prevention purposes, but again....in these circumstances.....I doubt it would have helped much.

What's fascinating is not just that this became hyper-politicized, but that it's focused on two issues that don't exist/had no influence at all: "DEI" and "they shoulda had massive amounts more water storage and hydrants."  We are a dumb, dumb, DUMB country.

Don't forget the dumb shit like showing a guy holding a small fish with a caption of "this is what CA let their houses burn for."  The dumb is just unfathomable. 

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