OT - The town of Paradise, CA has been destroyed by fire
dracorn
Posts: 2,379
This really, really sucks. My mother and father-in-law have lived there for 40 years. My daughter grew up there. I've been watching the local station on line, and seeing the places I knew, places I have shopped, places I have eaten, the high school... all burning.
My 83 mother-in-law made it out early and is now staying with her son-in-law's parents in the town of Chico. But I heard they are now evacuating the south side that faces the foothills. Their house is on the other side of town, but they are gathering belongings just in case.
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Comments
they are in my prayers ....
Thank you.
That's horrifying. My heart goes out to all affected.
I'm so so sorry! So glad you mother in law is okay!
These fires are so devestating, glad your mother in law was able to get out early.
I saw some of the pictures. It must look like end-times to those people!
I also read about the people who where killed in their cars. And all this will seem small when Yellowstone decides to blow. I hope I'm not alive to see THAT.
Geez, I'm so sorry to hear this. My prayers are with you and your loved ones.
It's a terrible thing to see happen. Very glad to hear your family is safe, and evacuating and getting ready to move again early. Fires can move incrediblyl fast, and seeing one on TV isn't the same as being close to the wall of heat, the roar, the chaos. If the fire is that close it can easily be too late. I'm in the LA area (not too close to any fire areas) and the coverage in the news is constant - as it should be. So many people are effected by this, here. Good luck to your family, may they stay safe.
I have heard that parts of California don't do controlled burns anymore. Is that true?
I've just been reading about this on the BBC news site, where it says that there are two fires in California, still burning, and that the one that destroyed Paradise devoured the equivalent of eighty football pitches a minute. I'm not unfamiliar with the size of football pitches and can't really get my head round the scale of destruction at that speed. Eighty football pitches worth of land, covered and destroyed in a single minute. Minute after minute, for who knows how long. How absolutely, utterly terrifying. It sounds like a miracle that people escaped that at all. I'm thinking of all those at risk and hope it's brought under control soon. I'm sorry to hear of your family's losses, dracorn, but relieved to hear that they're safe.
..seeing the effect of the fire up here in Portland OR. Had a very "red" sunset tonight.
UInfortunately they reckon that 84%+ of "WildFires" are caused by humans in one way or another, including some that are blatant Arson.
yeh; we're idiots it seems. :(
To OP, tough to know what to say at these times; sorry seems so inadequate.
I can't speak for California, but even up here in Washington State, getting the Department of Ecology to sign off on a controlled burn is like pulling someone's last tooth. Though to be fair, "controlled" can be a pretty loose term when you're depending on wind patterns not to shift.
EDIT: Finally got a look at Paradise, CA via Google Earth and now that I get a look at the area (heavy forest inside river canyons), I don't think this is really a space that a controlled burn would have helped much. Call me Captain Hindsight, but you'd need to spend tons of cash thinning the forest around and within the city before controlled burns are really feasible. More to the point, though I'm sorry for the OP and all the people affected by the fire. I know not everyone made it out, but I hope everyone is safe for now.
Update:
My mother-in-law is now staying with us until Paradise is rebuilt in enough for her to return. Miraculously, her house is still standing.
Here is a map which shows which structures are burned, and those which are not. The amount of red is depressing.
https://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/news/Camp-Fire-Maps--500331361.html
Mod edit :- To fix the link
That link doesn't work @dracorn but I don't need to see the map, the television footage has really shown it's just a decimated area.
Thinking of everyone affected and hope that wind dies down sooner rather than later, like now. Glad your mom has you to help her.
Seems most homes that weren't burned are along some sort of valley, river, or small protected hill, mountain, or clffside.
It’s devastating. I hope your family are safe. Sorry to hear you’ve all been affected by this.
...we are seeing smoke from the fires up here In Northwestern Oregon, mostly higher in the atmosphere. Sun was red/orange in colour yesterday in the the late afternoon, and there was a slight noticeable haze closer to the surface (not as thick as we experienced during the summer with the fires we had here but still visible).