Quote:
Originally Posted by speeder
I apologize for being snippy upstream on this thread. Tempers are running short around here among unimaginable heartbreak...and I'm talking about people like me who did not even lose their house.
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Apology accepted Denis. Tempers and emotions are running hot right now and I get that.
I was born and raised in SoCal and lived there for 65 years. Half of my friends are CAL FIRE or LEO and though many have now retired, several young cats were on the fire line in Alta Dena. One of them is a Captain in Sierra Madre and said he did not sleep for 3 days during the worst of it. Another retired out of Air Attack as Battalion Chief and he is PISSED that so little prep was done knowing how tinder dry the vegetation was all over SoCal with maximum heavy winds coming.
You are right that none of them imagined that things would get so far out of control. Once the winds rose to 70mph, they basically had one job and that was to get people out of the way before the fire raged through their house. I think we can count this part as a success with only 25 deaths so far.
Having dinner tonight with a neighbor who is retired LAPD Rampart District. She has some stories to tell.
Peace and better days!