Any information about the Pacific Palisades Fire

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by ckissick

I keep hearing abut the Santa Ynes Reservoir in Pacific Palisades. They say it was drained last February to repair the liner. But looking on Google Earth, it had water in it in 2009, then was empty in 2011 and has been empty ever since. It was empty in January of last year. So it's been empty for 13 or 14 years. That's a long time to make a repair.

Good researching. All of the media mentions implied that it was a recent decision by DWP to drain that reservoir.

Now in normal conditions, the nearby 3,000,000,000 gallon Encino reservoir would have made up for the lack of the Santa Ynez

But with winds over 30 mph, the water dropping aircraft were grounded.

[Crowbob]

Oh. Oh well then, in that case, it's been empty for years, no problem!

Excellent resource management I'd say.

[jyl]

Tell me about “best practices” for new home construction in wildfire risk areas.

CA has Chapter 7A that requires fire resistant roofing, siding, decks; ember screens on windows; cleared space; etc. AFAIK it doesn’t say anything about steel studs and trusses. If fire has penetrated to the studs/trusses, is it too late anyway?

[Baz]

Good segment!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by jyl

Tell me about “best practices” for new home construction in wildfire risk areas.

CA has Chapter 7A that requires fire resistant roofing, siding, decks; ember screens on windows; cleared space; etc. AFAIK it doesn’t say anything about steel studs and trusses. If fire has penetrated to the studs/trusses, is it too late anyway?

In some of these extreme situations, can’t the extremely high external temperatures cause the wooden framing to spontaneously combust in addition to interior furnishings?

[sc_rufctr]

[Yorkie]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

In some of these extreme situations, can’t the extremely high external temperatures cause the wooden framing to spontaneously combust in addition to interior furnishings?

About 900F wood will spontaneously combust. Lower if connected to something that is radiating heat.

[speeder]

It's already coming out in the LA Times that the readiness was probably botched by the LAFD in light of the high wind warnings for days before Tuesday, Jan. 7th. There will be plenty of time later for post mortem analysis and I'm sure that it will be brutal.

That said, this was a climate driven fire with sustained 50+ mph winds, (gusting to 80 mph), and it was growing by hundreds of feet per minute. The burning embers were being blown horizontally at a speed and distance never seen before by anyone. Those videos of sparks flying like they are coming off of a grinding wheel gives an idea of how wild this wildfire was. The fuel on the ground was a dry as tinder and it was a cataclysmic disaster.

The idiots, yes, idiots on the internet and TV suggesting that this was caused by "mismanagement" of resources in CA. or even thinking that this was a forest fire(?) are intolerable. People are hurting and I for one have even less than my usual zero tolerance for fools. Good people are offering sympathy and help, the rest are offering BS. Pick a side.

[onewhippedpuppy]

After this is over I hope there will be an honest postmortem done to look at how the situation can be better prevented and or fought in the future. The people of CA deserve that. Unfortunately as with anything that has become political I doubt that will happen.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

After this is over I hope there will be an honest postmortem done to look at how the situation can be better prevented and or fought in the future. The people of CA deserve that. Unfortunately as with anything that has become political I doubt that will happen.

Matt, an evaluation can be as thorough and honest as the day is long but that won't matter. Conspiracy theory culture has been fully realized, matured and most importantly monetized. Never underestimate the power of stupid people and the self-reinforcing culture they are able to create around them in the social media bubble.

I am honest to god thinking of selling a car to take a year off and write a book on the subject. Our country is F'ed as evidenced by this fire.

[Crowbob]

Good luck with the book.

But, there is nothing conspiratorial about the disaster of LA going up in flames that could have been mitigated or possibly even prevented.

There is no excuse if it’s true that there was no water in the hydrants.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I don’t mean a fake media investigation Shaun, I mean a genuine introspective look at this disaster at the local and state level to identify what could have been done better. But I’m not sure such honesty exists anywhere anymore, probably wishful thinking.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I don’t mean a fake media investigation Shaun, I mean a genuine introspective look at this disaster at the local and state level to identify what could have been done better. But I’m not sure such honesty exists anywhere anymore, probably wishful thinking.

I didn't either Matt. I mean a real thorough investigation by state and federal officials with actual facts, evidence and testimony that draw reality-based conclusions. That won't matter. It's all about monetizing and politicizing an alternate reality for profit and power. It's that simple.

Anyway, enough said about that, it's a separate thread.

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by speeder

People are hurting and I for one have even less than my usual zero tolerance for fools. Good people are offering sympathy and help, the rest are offering BS. Pick a side.

Exactly how I feel about the situation and some of the posts in this thread.

Everything in this world has become, pardon me, fuel for the fire of politicization and polarization. Man, I want the greatest generation back. They'd kick our collective asses.

[Baz]

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

I didn't either Matt. I mean a real thorough investigation by state and federal officials with actual facts, evidence and testimony that draw reality-based conclusions. That won't matter. It's all about monetizing and politicizing an alternate reality for profit and power. It's that simple.

Anyway, enough said about that, it's a separate thread.

Yeah agreed. Like I said, not sure that exists anymore.

[techweenie]

"no water in the hydrants"

Here we go again. 3 million gallons were poured on the Pacific Palisades before the three dedicated tanks were exhaused and water pressure was unavailable under 3000 feet. Below that level, the hydrants continued working.

Per the streaming interview on X, it takes approximately 1,000 gallons *per house* to extinguish a fire under more normal circumstances.

These were not normal circumstances. Embers were reported to have traveled up to 2 miles in the wind. That means had firefighters been in the highest elevations, they could have had their exit routes blocked and we'd be looking a firefighter death toll...

Would 117,000,000 gallons from Santa Ynez reservoir have stopped the firestorm? Maybe. Maybe not.

Sadly I have to agree that the "post mortem" on procedures and preparedness is almost certain to be colored by political self-interest.

[techweenie]

Eaton fire containment just jumped to 35%
Palisades now at 19%

[onewhippedpuppy]

I wonder if anyone has ever looked at fire suppression foam for these sorts of extreme circumstances? It’s a common product in aerospace, airport fire trucks utilize it and most hangars have a foam based fire suppression system. It may be super expensive and hard to deploy in sufficient volume, I have no idea. I do think it’s at least moderately corrosive, so it probably would kill plants. But it definitely would do a better job of clinging to surfaces in a windy environment than water.

[techweenie]

https://www.perimeter-solutions.com/en/