Is there a thread about the LA fires?

[Lelophants]

I can’t see one anywhere. Scary stuff.

The additional rain in the summer didn't help because it made things grow very well - and then the excess growth dried out in the autumn drought so double weather whammy - lots and lots of lovely flammable material
but isn’t this just Normal climate pattern ? Some years are wetter some are drier,
California is the 5th largest economy in the world,
you’d expect more serious measures to have been taken, to prevent such disasters

That's a good idea

Breitbart? Oh my.

I've emailed Gavin and told him about my idea 😁 Maybe he will offer me a job as senior town planner. Oh and I also mentioned your excellent idea of underground electricity so you can come too!

I think there has been a thread on the Royal Family board - the general consensus is it is all Meghan's fault

I had read that many of the houses did not have fire insurance as insurance companies considered them too big a risk. It is interesting to see how such a wealthy community will respond to this - I think they have been generally insulated from the worst effects of climate change. I do hope they don't rebuild those ugly box houses on the beautiful Malibu coastline.

No, not normal - climate patterns that are normal in their cycles, but with extremes at both ends.

I'm sure there is some finger pointing that will be well-deserved, but it's also worth remembering that some of these fire mitigation measures simply weren't possible. Many of these are areas are extremely tightly packed residential communities with houses 100 years old and older that sprang up bit by bit in close proximity.

It sadly reminds me of the bad bush fires in Australia (the last bad round was 2019/20 in NSW).

Interestingly the zoning laws at present ban apartment blocks. With the need for rapid housing they may relax the laws to speed up rehousing.

The palisades fire alone has destroyed an area larger than Manhattan. It’s insane.

Do you think we’re likely to get more in the uk?

It must be terrifying living even 50, 100 miles away from the fires. It all seems to depend in which way the santa ana winds blow.

There are a lot of people who have been affected who are not wealthy and are now utterly fucked. Be empathetic

A friends son was ordered to evacuate yesterday but then told to stand down. She's very worried.

They only need to cover the cost of the build thought, not the purchase of land etc that comes with a sales price.

that said lots of properties have been refused insurance for years now.

i don’t know why people always talk about needing insurance for a mortgage. There is absolutely nothing to stop you cancelling or not paying your buildings insurance, even if a lender asks for proof at the point they lend. It’s nothing like a robust requirement.

Anyone found connected to the fire through the act of arson is fucked ,that will be one helluva jail sentence.

Why don’t the trees burn down?

There was reports of tree's exploding due to intense heat
That's as hard one to comprehend obviously must be terrifying to witness.

Yes, very much so. The Black Summer fires were horrific. What people on this thread don't seem to be getting is it is winter in California now. To have fires of this magnitude anywhere in winter is extraordinary.

Usually the USA shares/lends massive aircraft and helitankers for firefighting to Australia for their fire season, as the two countries fire seasons are at different times of the year. If this carries on there will be no ability to help each other out with equipment or personnel.

Even with everything thrown at them, the Black Summer fires only really ended when substantial ongoing rain came. I think they are similarly completely at the mercy of the winds now and wind directions, and until they die down or change direction more vast swathes of homes and properties will burn. Horrifying.

Yes that's the thing. It should be the wet season now. It hasn't arrived. Fire season is typically in the autumn when everything is dried up from summer and the Santa Anas start.

My homeowner's insurance (and property tax) in the US is paid via escrow with my mortgage, so my lender absolutely knows if I have kept it, since they pay the insurer. You need an escrow waiver to avoid this and it will be revoked if they find out you didn't pay your insurance or taxes. Even if you did do that, if anything happened and your house was destroyed, the bank could repossess the property because you were in violation of the terms. Not only that, federal law permits lenders to forcibly insure a property if the owner fails to maintain insurance.

The uninsured will largely fall into two categories: 1) People who paid off their mortgages; and 2) people who had basic coverage but were not insured for fire. Despite reports of people having their insurance cancelled overnight, CA requires 60 days notice for non-renewal. That was a big issue last year.

The Palisades fire is in a wealthy area, but the Eaton fire is by Altadena, which is much more of a middle class area. There are other smaller fires too.

I think the big issue with insurance is that there will be so much money to pay out the companies will do everything they can to avoid it to stop themselves becoming bankrupt

We had a fire in a commercial factory . It took three years and paying a lot of money to an independent company who fought on our behalf for the insurance company to finally pay up. Luckily our insurance was so comprehensive we won. I really pity ordinary families .

Imagine paying off your mortgage only for your house to be burnt down and left with nothing.

Isn't it because they hold so much water?

Some of the celebrities that lost their houses are big supporters of the shit show government they have in LA. Pay attention to official news and facts coming up on why the fire could not be contained.
California will stop supporting this non sense government after this disaster. Sad that this had to happened for people to see the damage years of extreme neglect has caused. Unfortunately, poorer or middle class will suffer the most. The rich and famous not so much.

The minor celebrity scramble will be interesting. Although some have very expensive houses, most of their assets will be in the property and then wiped out from the cost of having to rebuild.

If they are something of a one hit wonder or a faded star no longer in favour, who has been living off past earnings, then that actually could be difficult.

They will either have to take substantial cut in lifestyle - just like everyone else - or they will have to find another income source.

Something tells me that reality TV programmes are not going to have a problem attracting interesting names for a couple of years...

@dottiehens i don’t know anything about the LA/california govt or officials and will watch with interest. I saw Trump mouthing off about Newsome but just assumed that was Trump hating on his previous opponent.