Any information about the Pacific Palisades Fire

[onewhippedpuppy]

What’s the current status of the fires? I read that they are only partially contained, are they at least away from populated areas? It’s hard to find a good comprehensive update from afar.

[kevin993]

Has anyone seen anything about EVs catching fire? With much chatter about how difficult EV car fires are to extinguish and LA being a place with a lot of EVs, I expected to see something somewhere. Did people evacuate all of their EVs so there weren't many in the fire? Were they there and burned and just burned themselves out while firefighters focused elsewhere?

[jyl]

I’m reading that high winds are expected for Sun/Mon but the Windy app shows only 5-10 mph blue and for the next couple days. Confused.

[DRONE]

Was in Laughlin Nevada this weekend and was surprised to see how little water the mighty Colorado flow was flowing by?
I guess replenishment will start once the fires burn out?

[kevin993]

Good news. Sounds like no air assets currently actively engaged. Helos are on station to address flares or hot spots.

High winds and lower humidity through Wed, so not done with weather yet.

[techweenie]

Current status

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by kevin993

Logistics predictions (trying to stay out of the politics):


2) The clean up process will take MUCH longer than home owners expect. Approvals, permits, and assessments from public sector and insurance companies. What is required? From whom? In what sequence? What is dependent on what? Most homeowners will have zero experience and struggle to learn on the fly. It will take a LONG time before anyone pivots from clean-up to rebuilding.

...

7) There are going to be lots of pain points on utilities, property taxes, etc. A homeowner with a pile of ash is not going to be thrilled about writing a $30k property tax check or paying a water bill based on broken valves.

Re #2: Throw in the California Coastal Commission for the oceanside properties in Malibu.

Re #7: Property tax (or at least half of the annual bill) is due on April 10th. It's going to be interesting to how City Hall dances around it. People obviously won't want to pay for homes no longer present. But I don't know how the city will be able to make its payroll and pay its bills without such a significant amount of money. That's a LOT of homes gone in the expensive side of town (OK, maybe not Altadena, but Palisades/Malibu). And then, once people re-build, will they be reassessed at current tax values? We've got Prop 13 here, which benefits long-time homeowners. Will there be some sort of grandfathering of old tax values for a fire-induced re-build?

[jyl]

https://www.youtube.com/live/N5DPKfHeH4I?si=IM5rT08LYou7ULmx

Very good podcast just now - first part is current fire status, then talks about what happens next from different angles including health. Probably different from most other media you’ll see on this topic.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by jyl

I’m reading that high winds are expected for Sun/Mon but the Windy app shows only 5-10 mph blue and for the next couple days. Confused.

There really hasn't been much wind these past few days. Tuesday and Wednesday of last week were crazy windy. But Thursday not so much. And this weekend has been pretty still, too. But yeah, I see those predictions for winds to pick up Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by jyl

https://www.youtube.com/live/N5DPKfHeH4I?si=IM5rT08LYou7ULmx

Very good podcast just now - first part is current fire status, then talks about what happens next from different angles including health. Probably different from most other media you’ll see on this topic.

Stopped listening when the guy didn’t know what month it is.

[Noah930]

A little humor here:

My former boss drove his Ferrari to work last Wednesday. He's had it for about 8 months, but I've never seen it before (we still work in the same office). He normally dailies a Tesla. He lives in the hills of Calabasas. I thought it was because he didn't want to go to work, only to lose his house while at work and the Ferrari in it. (That happened to one of our anesthesiologists, who went to work on Tuesday, wasn't allowed to go home that evening, spent the night in a hotel, and watched his neighborhood burn down on TV.) Actually, he confessed that he had lost electricity, and he didn't want to rely upon the Tesla. He's got a household of Teslas (wife, daughter, son, etc), so the gas-powered Ferrari was the most reliable car in the stable.

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by kevin993

Logistics predictions (trying to stay out of the politics):

1) The surge of demand for housing will boost home prices in nearby neighborhoods. People who need homes are going to buy or rent in places near to where they were. Some will leave the area altogether (especially those who were considering leaving CA already).

2) The clean up process will take MUCH longer than home owners expect. Approvals, permits, and assessments from public sector and insurance companies. What is required? From whom? In what sequence? What is dependent on what? Most homeowners will have zero experience and struggle to learn on the fly. It will take a LONG time before anyone pivots from clean-up to rebuilding.

3) Demand for contractors of all types will increase. Supply will emerge but contractors will have more work than they can handle. Some will be licensed. Others will not. Frustrated homeowners will struggle to get appointments, get on a list, get attention, and get work done.

4) Insurance will not be sufficient to pay for temporary housing and rebuilding costs in many cases.

5) Government agencies and staff is not equipped for anything of this scale. They are not accustomed to the volume or the need to be nimble. There will be bottlenecks an delays.

6) Some people will try to "buy" their way to getting things done faster. In some cases, that will work. In others, it won't. At a minimum, it could be a factor that drives up costs and graft.

7) There are going to be lots of pain points on utilities, property taxes, etc. A homeowner with a pile of ash is not going to be thrilled about writing a $30k property tax check or paying a water bill based on broken valves.

8) Urban planners will want to re-imagine the burned areas and re-zone or re-plan them from a clean sheet of paper. Agree or disagree, different visions will delay rebuilding pace. At a minimum, new builds will cost more because of building codes and heightened sensitivity to fire risk.

9) Pacific Palisades and Altadena are two very different areas of LA. Different demographics, topography, etc. There will be differences in handling, treatment, pace, etc. Comparisons will be inevitable.

10) CA fire/natural disaster insurance is going to be bumpy and take time. Increased premiums, changes to coverage, govt role/backstop, etc. At present, premiums can't adequately reflect risk.


Terrible in all respects. Best wishes to all impacted.

Newsom pledged to streamline the permitting process, aiming for 120 day turnaround.

We will see…

[Scott Douglas]

I heard one report that said the Gov was going to throw out all the reg's required normally for rebuilding in the coastal area to help speed up the rebuild process.
We'll just have to wait and see how that goes.
I really feel for all those who find themselves homeless now.

[Crowbob]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Re #2: Throw in the California Coastal Commission for the oceanside properties in Malibu.

Re #7: Property tax (or at least half of the annual bill) is due on April 10th. It's going to be interesting to how City Hall dances around it. People obviously won't want to pay for homes no longer present. But I don't know how the city will be able to make its payroll and pay its bills without such a significant amount of money. That's a LOT of homes gone in the expensive side of town (OK, maybe not Altadena, but Palisades/Malibu). And then, once people re-build, will they be reassessed at current tax values? We've got Prop 13 here, which benefits long-time homeowners. Will there be some sort of grandfathering of old tax values for a fire-induced re-build?

Enter Federal Bailout.

[javadog]

I found this short clip fascinating. These guys are rock stars.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1839296743476113?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=0NULKw

[Noah930]

^^^

In all fairness, Paradise, CA is a lot different socioeconomically than the Palisades.

I've heard it's madness at the Beverly Hills Hotel right now. Fully booked. It's not funny, but it's funny. Years ago, when a friend had to evacuate for a fire in Agoura Hills, he went spent the week there. Though admittedly it was partially because it was one of the few places where he could bring along 3 large dogs and a parrot.

[Bill Douglas]

Rebuild.

Who's going to rebuild them. There are no unemployed builders looking for work. They are busy already.

[techweenie]

If the undocumented are taken away, rebuilding will take at least twice as long.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by techweenie

Stopped listening when the guy didn’t know what month it is.

That’s a little harsh - livecast and he hasn’t slept much

Zeke is the real deal, I watched him through the Camp and Caldor fires, the latter we were in South Tahoe and his info was the most sober and reliable we were getting

[look 171]

Originally Posted by techweenie

Newsom pledged to streamline the permitting process, aiming for 120 day turnaround.

We will see…

Yeah right! Try getting anything through the city of LA? Is not Newsome, its the people. Lazy folks will always be lazy, and they simply do not care. Similar emergency happened to me trying to get a roof of a building closed up before the rain the the man behind the counter said, that's his problem its mine and refused to do anymore work. This is going to be a bad one for everyone involved.