It's fire season again

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Mr. Coffee said:
That works if (1) all of the fire-prone areas needing fuel treatment have marketable timber, and (2) the timber companies remove other fuels (notably debris and ladder fuels) when they harvest.

Neither of those things are true.

Thinking this is exclusively a California problem, or a problem of dysfunctional liberal communist governments in western states, is flat out wrong. California is just at the tip of the spear.
Click to expand...
So, what are your proposals?
 
Sierratim said:
So, what are your proposals?
Click to expand...

Glad you asked:
  1. Do something effective about climate change. If we have to start by beating climate change deniers with a stick that is at least a start.
  2. We have great tools for evaluating wildfire risk. Along with dramatically increasing prescribed burning and other fuel reduction, use those tools to do fuel reduction where it will do the most good.
  3. Along with the above, have carve-outs for EPA regulations and local air quality rules that permit prescribed fire to happen in a timely fashion. This is really important because generally the time window for safe prescribed burning is very short, and even small delays might postpone such efforts for a year or more.
  4. Since about half of new homes being constructed in the West are in areas vulnerable to wildfire, put in place ferocious regulations on construction and landscaping that will make those new homes more resistant to fire.
  5. There are many programs, both at the state and federal level, that provide matching funds to private landowners for fuel reduction projects. However, almost all of those programs are designed to protect timberland. Similar programs should be developed to protect homes and be fully funded. A key insight as to why this will work is that the fire safety of most homes can be dramatically increased for a relatively small amount of money, on the order of $1500.
  6. Related to the above, laws need to be passed at the state level that prohibit HOAs and local governments from preventing homeowners from taking reasonable and well-documented measures that will increase the survivability of their homes. I personally know of people in Colorado who have been in court for years in an effort to remove trees and ladder fuels from their property in order to make their home more defensible in a wildfire.
  7. Most homeowners insurance require that homes be rebuilt on site. Change the rules so people aren't forced to repeatedly rebuild in a location extremely vulnerable to wildfire.
  8. Wildland firefighters are trained to fight fire in undeveloped areas, not in the middle of a housing development. Fire departments are trained to fight structure fires. Neither organization is very well trained at fighting a wildfire that interpenetrates with a developed area. Fix.
  9. Copy programs like this one in Boulder County, CO.
None of those solutions are perfect, and while they will make our ugly situation less heinous we are still in an ugly situation. This stuff also is going to cost money. All in can say is that things are tough all over, and not dealing with this crap has a price as well.
 
Drove by Santa Rosa few months ago. Huge homes replaced homes that burnt few years ago. And the fires now are burning close to Santa Rosa. Why is the state allowing rebuilding in areas that are clearly at risk for recurrent fires. It's like rebuilding homes in a flood plain. The gov should simply say no. Not allowed, or simply not insure such properties.
 
Last edited:
AleksR said:
Drove by Santa Rosa few months ago. Huge homes replaced homes that burnt few years ago. And the fires now are burning close to Santa Rosa. Why is the state allowing rebuilding in areas that are clearly at risk for recurrent fires. It's like rebuilding homes in a flood plain. The gov should simply say no. Not allowed, or simply not insure such properties.
Click to expand...
I'm sure there's a State 'taking' issue involved; once a property is developed there are 'entitlements' should the State determine that it it can't be used for its originally approved purpose. Rebuilding in a wild land fire zone is like being approved to build in a flood plain, but with insurance. I'm not an attorney, just an engineer that invests in real estate so YRMV.

Of course the govt doesn't insure these properties, private insurers do. In our area insurance renewals are a HUGE issue. Properties outside estabished fire protection districts are very expensive to insure; think Lloyds of London rates. Our rates are up 50% over the last couple of years, but still relatively affordable, and there's a fire hydrant at our property corner that we paid to install with a fire station 2 miles away we pay taxes to support! I believe the cost of insurance will govern rebuilding activity across the State as wild fires become more of an urban issue; think Santa Rosa's suburbs.
 
Mr. Coffee said:
Glad you asked:
  1. Do something effective about climate change. If we have to start by beating climate change deniers with a stick that is at least a start.
  2. We have great tools for evaluating wildfire risk. Along with dramatically increasing prescribed burning and other fuel reduction, use those tools to do fuel reduction where it will do the most good.
  3. Along with the above, have carve-outs for EPA regulations and local air quality rules that permit prescribed fire to happen in a timely fashion. This is really important because generally the time window for safe prescribed burning is very short, and even small delays might postpone such efforts for a year or more.
  4. Since about half of new homes being constructed in the West are in areas vulnerable to wildfire, put in place ferocious regulations on construction and landscaping that will make those new homes more resistant to fire.
  5. There are many programs, both at the state and federal level, that provide matching funds to private landowners for fuel reduction projects. However, almost all of those programs are designed to protect timberland. Similar programs should be developed to protect homes and be fully funded. A key insight as to why this will work is that the fire safety of most homes can be dramatically increased for a relatively small amount of money, on the order of $1500.
  6. Related to the above, laws need to be passed at the state level that prohibit HOAs and local governments from preventing homeowners from taking reasonable and well-documented measures that will increase the survivability of their homes. I personally know of people in Colorado who have been in court for years in an effort to remove trees and ladder fuels from their property in order to make their home more defensible in a wildfire.
  7. Most homeowners insurance require that homes be rebuilt on site. Change the rules so people aren't forced to repeatedly rebuild in a location extremely vulnerable to wildfire.
  8. Wildland firefighters are trained to fight fire in undeveloped areas, not in the middle of a housing development. Fire departments are trained to fight structure fires. Neither organization is very well trained at fighting a wildfire that interpenetrates with a developed area. Fix.
  9. Copy programs like this one in Boulder County, CO.
None of those solutions are perfect, and while they will make our ugly situation less heinous we are still in an ugly situation. This stuff also is going to cost money. All in can say is that things are tough all over, and not dealing with this crap has a price as well.
Click to expand...
I agree with just about everything you suggest. Unfortunatley, in general, it's too late for this for season.

Just so you know, California has implemented what many locals consider to be ferocious buillding standards requiring fire sprinkler systems, noncombustabile sidings, etc. Of course this will have no impact on the 12 million or so housing units already built in the state.

So, what about next fire season, and the 12+/- million housing units that have no particular fire resistance? Climate change mitigation is a decades long issue that we need to get on with, but only programs like Boulder's will do it for next season. Our local County's Fire Safe Council, like Boulder's, works tirelessly to educate property owners and to subsidise efforts where they can (wood chipping, etc). We bought in spending thousands on our property. Still not enough. None of our neighbors have done a thing.

Berry Creek had the right idea, but they ended up being a "dollar late and a dollar short", as they say.

Nearby Grass Valley's plan is further along and could actaully help this fire season and will most certainly help next year. My personal wish is that our beloved Nevada City had the same foresight.

So, what next? We, as the voters, need to elect representatives that have the political will to implement the longer range programs that @Mr. Coffee suggested. Lacking that, we're all on our own. Not good.

I'm just an old retired engineer, but this is how I see it.
 
Sierratim said:
... we're all on our own.
Click to expand...

That is what I have been saying since 2014 and 2015.

As for your neighbors, I council persistence. The full-time residents in my area really came together after 2015 and we started doing a bunch of constructive work cooperatively, and that probably will dramatically increase the odds of saving our homes and our lives. The part-time residents (a majority) have been more problematic, but we made progress in recent years by being very consistent and persistent about the fire risk, by leaning on the caretakers they hired to recommend minimal fuel reduction, and having contractors I hired for fuel reduction work contact the part-timers as well. So things are dramatically improved in my tiny corner of the world, largely by being a squeaky wheel.

As for elected officials, that is an uphill fight. After the 2014 fires there were a series of town hall meetings in my county that turned in self-congratulatory political ads for our county commissioners, who as far as anyone can tell did nothing at all but make the situation worse. Two of those commissioners got the boot in 2016. The one that survived seems to do little but send racist facebook posts these days. I still think local government does far too little, and while the state has a receptive governor and public lands commissioner, most of the legislators in this part of the state come from the opposition party, and wouldn't cooperate with anyone on general principles, even if it would do everyone a lot of good. Our US Congressman won't even show up here. So this fight is kind of like Hercules cleaning the stables.

My own next steps are to use an inexpensive Wal-Mart Pool as a cheap 1500-gallon water tank, and purchase a much more expensive firefighting pump. One of the things keeping me springing for any pump is that I've yet to find one that checks off all of the boxes.
 
I think I mentioned in an earlier post the local utility was scheduled to remove 260 'fire hazard' trees in town. All in their utility easements, 1/2 on City property. Demonstrations, tree sit-ins, a lawsuit, and a Court issued stop work injunction quickly followed. This in the town that has made no other wild fire plans. It continues to amaze me that at least some of us here think we're somehow immune from the realities of our annual fire season.

California has now passed 4 million acres burned this season. Several large fires are still out of control.
 
When people say, "Why does the the govt allow people to rebuild their homes after a wildfire (or a flood or hurricane or tornado or [insert disaster here])", nobody has an answer about who is to reimburse the homeowners for their land. Is the govt going to? Is that federal, state, or county? Is it the insurance companies, who only insure the value of the buildings, and not the value of the land, as far as I know. Not to mention that the insurance companies always cover their own hiney first and often have exclusions targeted to the likely disasters of the area.
 
An old friend that studied art and architecture at Berkley years ago shared with me his plans for a ferro cement ocean front home built in a circular shape, like a globe. The idea being that when the San Andreas fault kicked up the home would roll down and float in the water as the bottom part was ballasted.

Building codes for flood or fire prone areas now include some measures like sprinkler systems and there are building products infused with retardents that can help to shield the exterior of a home from fire but none of them address the intense heat that can be generated by an out of control blaze. As stated the best that can be done is reduction of fuel as far as fires go as well as paying attention to historical instance of catastrophic events in the general area. I saw the other day that at this time the upper midwest is considered to be the area most immune to natural disaster.

I feel for the folks that have lost their homes as it has to be hard, especially with all the other things going on in our society.
 
The Western US is still struggling with one of the worst fire seasons on record. Our utility just announced a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) for our home and business. This is scheduled to impact over 1,000,000 people by Sunday afternoon due to high winds over our very dry state.

Over 4,000,000 acres have burned to date. 31 known people have been killed. It's not over yet.

There is no rain in the forecasts, though temps are cooling, finally.
 
Seems wrong that the Cascade passes are getting snow before the Sierra Nevada.

NIFC Reports about 8.6 million acres overall in the US this season. 25% higher than the 10 yr average. Alaska had a quiet fire season or it would be even worse.
 
Our power was disconnected about 90 minutes ago as a part of the local utility's Public Safety Power Shutdown (PSPS) program that de-energizes power lines during fire season when high winds are likely. Winds had been picking up all day and are expected to have gusts reaching up to 50mph down some of the river canyons. I just heard that 450,000 people have had their power cut, so far. Power is projected to be out until TUES evening.

Gotta love that whole house backup generator!

We had gotten several text mesages from the utility advising us of the upcoming PSPS, each one with updated time fames so the shutoff was no surprise. I'd checked the oil, cycled the generator, and confirmed our propane tank level (80%!), as had our business that is also impacted. The business office is closed on SUN, but their generator is full autostart so no tenant is inconvenienced. I'll turn our generator off manually when we head to bed, but the business generator will run 24/7 until power is restored.

Gotta love fire season...😖
 
Finally cooled down in our desert and now it's supposed to blow 40 tomorrow. This is the worst year for just about everything except bike sales...
 
Winds of 94mph were reported at Lake Tahoe today and as high as 140mph at remote mountain passes. Probably the strongest wind storm this year by far. Humidity in the Sierras was reported to be 15%-5%. Half Moon Bay on the Pacific had humidity levels drop from 94% to 12% as strong off shore winds pushed warm dry air to the coast.

New fires have broken out south of Redding to our north, Foresthill to our south, and Solano county to the west. 90,000 are reported to be under evacuation orders near Los Angles as strong winds prevent fire fighting aircraft from taking off.

Winds should be easing by tomorrow afternoon. Temperatures are predicted to rise later in the week. There is no rain in the forecast.

Our power has been cut since Sunday afternoon. My wife is an expert at cooking dinner on the woodstove! Chicken stew tonight, yummm.

Our power may be restored by late tomorrow night. Loving that generator!
 
Our power came back on about 30 minutes ago. It's been off since SUN at ~3PM. Our winds peaked yesterday afternoon with local gusts in the 60mph range. Utility helicopters were surveying local power lines for possible damage earlier today. Other than a bunch of pine needles and leaves on the walks and drive, we have no damage.

Nice to have grid power back, but the whole house generator certainly takes the edge off. The 'worst' part is walking out in my slippers in the AM to 'fire up' the genset, then back in to turn the coffee on while the wife stays 'snug as a bug in a rug' waiting for her morning coffee. Hey, happy wife, happy life...🤣

Stil no rain in the long range forecast though nighttime temps are dipping down into the 30's now. Fires continue to burn...😕
 
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