Wow, SoCal is getting toasted...

[Manedwolf]

It's a giant doobie, but BAD weed. Hey, California, what happened to that no-smoking law?

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

I've been up all night.  Slept about an hour, between midnight and 1 AM.  So far my area (Rancho San Diego, near Valhalla High School) hasn't been evacuated.  We can see fire on Mt. Miguel, but it's not really coming this way.  Seems to be burning west, sort of parallel with my area. 

[Manedwolf]

It seems like they're devoting an inordinate amount of effort to protecting Malibu and the empty homes of the stars, fighting the Canyon fire, which is 8% contained, rather than letting that one do whatever and shifting all resources down to San Diego to deal with the fires heading for the ocean and entire communities, including hospitals...or even just over to the ones in San Bernardino county.

Also:

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department reports that two 18-year-olds were arrested overnight. They are suspected of looting in the Ramona area.

After the 1906 San Francisco quake, looters were shot on sight. Same with the Seattle fire. I think that'd be a more effective deterrent? A looter in a disaster has absolutely nothing to offer humanity. And if they evacuated a hospital, I'd expect the druggies to have a go at it looking to ransack the pharmaceutical storage for oxycontin and opiates.

This is also why I live here, not in a place where this can happen. That's just a little intimidating!

[Creeping Incrementalism]

I guess I'd have more sympathy if these people didn't do it to themselves, year after year.  It's a known wildfire zone--hell, the flora in the area uses fire as part of its reproduction cycle!  If they'd build with stone and concrete instead of virgin redwood, they wouldn't be in it this deep.

Idiots.

What part of California isn't a fire zone?  The state gets no rain for six months a year.  15 years ago we had a huge fire in an urban area (Oakland-Berkeley "firestorm").

I've never seen a suburban home made out of redwood... but as far as stone and concrete go--that is more susceptible to earthquakes, and I'm not sure how the costs and additions would be in comparison to wood frame houses.  Does anyone know how that works?

Most of the flat areas in California have long been built up, so often any new houses have to be built in the dry hills.  And even if 500 houses burn every few years, the chances of your house being one of those is very small.

One thing that could be done is strict enforcement of effective building and fire codes in the more prone areas to keep trees and brush a good distance from houses and neighborhoods.

[Manedwolf]

http://www.scansandiego.net/cgi-bin/index2.pl

[CAnnoneer]

The way to build here to be fire-and-quake-proof is with thick reinforced concrete, like Hearst Castle. But, it is expensive and has to be done on a strong bedrock due to the large weight of the structure. So, most construction here is a skeleton of steel H-pieces plus wood. So, yes, it will burn like a torch, unless you control the surrounding vegetation.

[Manedwolf]

The way to build here to be fire-and-quake-proof is with thick reinforced concrete, like Hearst Castle. But, it is expensive and has to be done on a strong bedrock due to the large weight of the structure. So, most construction here is a skeleton of steel H-pieces plus wood. So, yes, it will burn like a torch, unless you control the surrounding vegetation.

Or one of those concrete dome homes.

Also, CA's least popular children's costume this Halloween:

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

Mandatory evac for Rancho San Diego.  We're loading up the cars and bugging out to bug out location numero uno.

[The Viking]

Mandatory evac for Rancho San Diego.  We're loading up the cars and bugging out to bug out location numero uno.

Good luck man.

[cosine]

Mandatory evac for Rancho San Diego.  We're loading up the cars and bugging out to bug out location numero uno.

Check in when you're able to let us know how you're doing.

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

Evac order cancelled.  It was a mistake.  We'll likely have to leave, but not quite yet.  Pray they can knock down the fire on Mount Miguel.

[Creeping Incrementalism]

Hey-zuse effing kee-rist.  "Run for your lives. Oh wait.. uh, nevermind."

Anyone remember all those bug-out threads on THR during Katrina?  I have so much crap I'd need to sort through, deciding what to take and leave, and finding things I haven't thought about it months of years, that it would take me several days to prioritize and get out everything I wanted.

[Manedwolf]

Hey-zuse effing kee-rist.  "Run for your lives. Oh wait.. uh, nevermind."

Anyone remember all those bug-out threads on THR during Katrina?  I have so much crap I'd need to sort through, deciding what to take and leave, and finding things I haven't thought about it months of years, that it would take me several days to prioritize and get out everything I wanted.

That's why I have that pre-set. Important papers are in an acid-free envelope in an Aloksak in the safe, grab and go. Both cats have folded soft-carriers with rain covers in the front hall closet, each contains a reflective harness with a leash and their contact-info nametags, along with water pouches, dryfood samples, squeeze-to-start warming packs and collapsing food dishes in the pockets. There's a bag of calibers for the pack-and-go firearms, including the Sub-2000 that wouldn't raise eyebrows when hidden. And then there's a massive drag bag with wheels, waterproof, in that closet. It was meant as an SUV rack bag that turns into a luggage cart sort of thing. That's full of everything else, from sleeping bag and medical supplies to generator radio/cellcharger, water pouches, food, heating packs, etc. Campsite in a bag, basically. Propane cylinders are in orange dryboxes in the carport, as are empty gas cans. So it's like a sequential thing out of the house with cats and supplies in tow.

[longeyes]

I think we all need to use this as an object lesson in getting our essentials organized in case of the need of quick retreat.

I've been slowly but surely copying anything copyable into digital form on several flash drives.

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

My neighborhood hasn't been evacuated yet.  I'm 50 miles away, working an evac center that was setup at one of my clinics.  140 evacuees, probably 30 volunteers.  Feels good to be doing something other than watching the news.