California Fires: Everyone ok?

[ClaraOswald]

Evacuation is up to 70k now?! Last I read it was 30k. That is so scary. I follow various celebrities on Instagram and I've seen several of them have had to leave as well.

 

[cabanafrau]

Hard to believe that something that has prompted 70,000 evacuations isn't huge world news. Regarding snow plows, I have family who live in snow country where only the main roads get plowed, not residential areas. As one of my late Uncles put it "rear wheel driver, 150 pounds of sand in the trunk, you drive"

Things can be both world news and among the stories being reported. World news does not have to mean it's the ONLY story being reported.

I cannot remember a time since I have been cognizant of the news that the Middle East has not been the source of multiple world news stories every single day.

 

[Genie+]

Well, as a retired TV News person, I would strongly disagree. President Jimmy Carter is lying in state, and the cable networks were interviewing people with knowledge of him while showing a static shot of his casket, but there is nothing breaking going on today. Tomorrow, yes, when it is a National Holiday, and the funeral is being held, then that will be a big story.

The BBC had it front and center when I opened it earlier today.

 

[Marrila]

The BBC had it front and center when I opened it earlier today.

It's the headline on SKY News as well.

 

[Christine]

Hard to believe that something that has prompted 70,000 evacuations isn't huge world news. Regarding snow plows, I have family who live in snow country where only the main roads get plowed, not residential areas. As one of my late Uncles put it "rear wheel driver, 150 pounds of sand in the trunk, you drive"

We are wimps here.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Here's some info about climate change and how it relates to wildfires, for anyone interested.

https://www.noaa.gov/noaa-wildfire/wildfire-climate-connection

 

[Dan Murphy]

California forest have been poorly managed for a good

They need to start prescribed burns again to reduce the fuel from these events. California forest have been poorly managed for a good while now.

Typical California fires are not forest fires but rather brush fires, wildfires. Current fires started as brush fires, no forests involved.

 

[focusondisney]

NBCLA, KTLA and KCAL are all currently broadcasting live on YouTube.

Yes, I would assume the local channels would have more coverage than the national outlets

Absolutely! When there’s a disaster in your area… local coverage is always better. You can’t expect a national anchor in another part of the country to have the most accurate coverage. Local stations will have local officials & current information.

 

[focusondisney]

My point is, this is a huge national if not world story at the moment.

I guarantee you most of the world doesn’t see it as a huge story.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Typical California fires are not forest fires but rather brush fires, wildfires. Current fires started as brush fires, no forests involved.

And then the crazy winds just made everything worse.

*Some* people would probably blame windmills for the high winds or something ridiculous like that though, I'm sure.

 

[tvguy]

I guarantee you most of the world doesn’t see it as a huge story.

Well, as others have posted, it seems to be on the front page of many International Newspapers.

 

[Lumpy1106]

We have good friends who are staying with us now - their house is about a block from where the fire in Altadena started. They have a reliable source that reports the house made it so good news there. The cheapest hotel they could find last night was >$400, but they also have 2 dogs which was bumping up the price. Still pretty disgusting that they couldn't get a break on the price though. No matter to us - happy to provide them a place to stay.

Laguna Beach is mitigating the fire danger with goats and they haven't had a major fire in decades;
https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily...to-safety-laguna-beach-fights-fire-with-goats

Edit to add:
KTLA also has an iPhone App. That's been my most reliable source, but if you live in So Cal you really can't avoid the wall-to-wall coverage OTA.

 

[Marrila]

Well, as others have posted, it seems to be on the front page of many International Newspapers.

Might be the top story today, might not be tomorrow. The top story changes frequently.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Such a tragic thing to happen.

I heard that Insurance Companies were allowed to cancel Fire coverage or something like that, I hope its not true.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

We have good friends who are staying with us now - their house is about a block from where the fire in Altadena started. They have a reliable source that reports the house made it so good news there. The cheapest hotel they could find last night was >$400, but they also have 2 dogs which was bumping up the price. Still pretty disgusting that they couldn't get a break on the price though. No matter to us - happy to provide them a place to stay.

Laguna Beach is mitigating the fire danger with goats and they haven't had a major fire in decades;
https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily...to-safety-laguna-beach-fights-fire-with-goats

I have a family member who runs a business clearing brush with goats. Very cool company that he runs. Some good gentle ribbing about the goat farmer at family reunions. I’m envious, heck of a lot less headache than me!

 

[tvguy]

Might be the top story today, might not be tomorrow. The top story changes frequently.

Of course. But with now 100,000 evacuated, maybe it still will be followed closely by Jimmy Carter's funeral tomorrow.
(I Produced somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 newscasts in my career).

 

[Lumpy1106]

Such a tragic thing to happen.

I heard that Insurance Companies were allowed to cancel Fire coverage or something like that, I hope its not true.

That's been an issue for years. DM has a house in the foothills in No Cal and has been lucky to keep fire coverage there. It comes with all sorts of annual vegetation clearance requirements (yes, they do send out an inspection team to confirm) and a HEFTY price increase.

Bad news, new fire just broke out in the Hollywood Hills (Runion Canyon).

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yes, that is always a resource for a local breaking news story, look for the local live streams. My point is, this is a huge national if not world story at the moment.

Have you kept up on the weather events that have been going on in the nation over the weekend and into this week? Are you intimately knowledgeable about their impacts?

The CA wildfire is devastating but there are also other things going on too in the nation.

Your local news is always going to be the best. You'd probably be better off donating to charities/organizations that will help people affected by the CA wildfires than nitpicking on what you perceive should be covered on national news.

 

[Brian Noble]

My son is a grad student at UCLA, and lives a little over a mile from the "be prepared to leave" zone of the Palisades fire (he's just NE of Santa Monica, by like a block). He and his SO have decamped to San Diego to hang out with her sister until it is contained/burns itself out.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Such a tragic thing to happen.

I heard that Insurance Companies were allowed to cancel Fire coverage or something like that, I hope its not true.

In CA they have built in zones designated as the worst you can possibly build in when it comes to wildfires. They build homes that are literally fuel to fires with the landscape around them, how they are terraced as well as the rating of the local fire departments. They've been warned for years not to do this. Insurance companies have been pulling out of CA for a while now though it's not just a home insurance issue. The way insurance works is it's a pool of money and risk spread out across the places an insurance company writes policies in. CA has some major culpability into why they are in the situation they are in with repeated wildfires that are only increasing in devastation and costs. That doesn't take away from the human and animal and wildlife toll it takes for those impacted but there are things that have been allowed that have increased their vulnerability.