CA fire 'victims'

[Hugh R]

In the mid west, they have a tornado SEASON, I look at that devastation and reflect that to a large extent, I can control my brush fire exposure. Besides a good amount of my 18 acres burned last Spring, so not as much fuel available for this year, which is good because we had lots of rain.

[Hugh R]

My immediate backyard.

[strupgolf]

Hugh, I can't see how YOUR yard could burn. It seems to be in a area that is not too hot. how far were you from the fires last year that we saw on TV? BTW, I'll be in LA on June 23 for a week. Maybe we can get together for a ride down the highway?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Beautiful place Hugh, I wish my backyard looked like that.

[944Larry]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

Here are just a few samples of my fire trap back yard.

crap-looks like Northwest Florida, except for the rocks.

[Hugh R]

This is my backyard just beyond the "green" picture I posted above. These were taken last June IIRC. It gets very hot here, sometimes. 105 and no humidity. Beyond the green that you see, which turns brown by June, and I whack it down, I'm mostly surrounded by grasses, brush and oak trees. I keep 200 feet or more fire break, and insure the house to the hilt.

[Hugh R]

The red you see in about the middle of the pic below is my roof. I'm surrounded by hills. The area in the foreground burned, the area in the background beyond the house burned about 10 years ago.



In the 14 years I've lived here, every fire (five of them) started on the other side of the hill on the I-5 freeway. Shown in the pic below. All are believed to have been tossed butts, plus one car fire. Most of what you see in the pic below is my property, facing the freeway. Not useful property, but I have a huge hill between me and the I-5. In the backyard, you can't hear the freeway noise at all. The hill between me and the freeway is about 500 feet in height.

[Craig 930 RS]

I hear ya. My sister had a house in the hills above Oakland/SF; the entire area burned about what ... 10-12 years ago.

Gee....eucalyptus trees STUFFED within the houses and they burn like a MF. Duh.

[daepp]

It's weird to think I've driven past your house a hundred times without knowing it

I see that you have kept your trees trimmed of lower growth. The forest service near us strongly encourages just that so any fire will move through very quickly and just scorch the lower trunk of the tree. It supposed to make for a much "cooler" fire that leaves the area faster.

[BeyGon]

I guess those people in Texas are at fault for building in the wrong spots too.
Fires are bad, blaming anyone except the person setting them is worthless.
People shouldn't build on the beach, the flat lands, the mountains, the mid west, hurricane areas, tornado areas, earthquake areas, near freeways, avalanche areas, within 200 miles of nuke plants, etc, etc.
I forgot the flood areas of the mid west. Taxes pretty much help in all disasters.

[dhoward]

Same thing applies to people who live along the rivers here....

[RWebb]

actually there are ways to build in smart(er) in every area

in New Orleans build close to the river (there is a natural levee there) or on Esplande Ridge (old river levee)

in a flood plain, don't build at all, or build/modify just like that gray house in the Porsche floating thread that is active today

in fire country, build compactly, avoid houses way back in the woods or chaparral, and do not build on top of a hill - if you break some of the rules (like Hugh), at least get rid of all the brush every year (like Hugh) - make sure there is a wide gap in the tree canopy all around the house, and be sure you have 2 ways to exit the area in case one is blocked by fire; a pond and a big pump for water...

[Zeke]

I think he nailed it.