I just want to let folks know I'm OK I do have friends however that have lost homes and property. One in particular had several pre 60s fords, trucks mostly, if the fires missed his ranch it's a miracle but my hopes are dim. Please keep all of So Cal in your prayers thanks Rich Kelley.

 

God be with all of you out there. Fire is a nasty thing to mess with, especially when mother nature is cleansing the earth with it.
Jimmy

 

As a summertime forest/wildland firefighter I know how frightening it is. I've been in front of that wall a time or two and I don't envy those fighters trying to stop that mess. God Bless.

 

cobraguy,

You & all SoCal residents have my empathy & prayers!

My wife is a State Forestry Administrator here in the Bikini State, & we went through a similar violent, destructive, series of Wild Fires and Fire Storms here in 1998. 800,000+ acres, hundreds of houses, thousands of neat old cars/ trux all gone now.

Fortunately, her agency which is in charge of all Florida Wildfire control & issues from Prevention, to Suppression, Combat, & Fire Incident Management, had been working on MIMS plans due to a similar series of conflagrations which several Firefighters perished while fighting them, several years earlier ( Black Friday).

It was MIMS (Major Incident Management System) plans the Div of Forestry had in place that prevented loss of life here, in spite of nearly a million acres of fire storms in a two week span.

IMHO. . .the media has fallen short where you are because they have not made public this critical, basic FACT. Anyone who was in Scouts, or Fire Prevention & Awareness Programs has learned the "TRIANGLE of COMBUSTION" theory. OXYGEN is one of the 3 parts. Fires several acres big, consume or transposes incalcuable amounts/ quantities of oxygen per second.

Within that, Fire intensity + Oxygen consumption are inversely and directly proportionate to each other. That equation = "a self feeding" event. Unfortunately oxygen-deprivation in atmosphere has impacts & implications lay people do not know, or consider.

Vehicles will not run if internal combustion powered. Life has no available oxygen to breathe, suffocation is a result. Fires reaching Storm intensity generate their own climate & climatic dynamics. This is why people die. Even Fire Firgters who have knowledge & have been trained, get caught from time to time.

At wild fire intensity fires move fast, but at fire storm intensity a fire is explosively quick, instantaenous, sudden. There is no time to do anything, generally........ When the storm status/ pitch has been reached, fires produce cyclonic fire tornadoes, fire devils, radical "chimney effects" & supercharging at point of combustion.

In a few, to several moments it takes for a wall of fire to cross over a person, they generally sufocate from oxygen deprivation.

So like I said, cobraguy, I truly feel for y'all & pray for your safe preservation throughout this "bad deal" you are in the midst of. Be careful, take care, think smart, and good luck to ya....

FBp

 

Jimmy, Jim, and Pete: Thanks for the replies. This is day 3 and it continues to rage. Now the places in the mountains where we go to get away are gone or on the front lines. My wife is from the east coast of the Sunshine State (Cocoa Fla.) and has seen hurricanes and tornados up close she has also been thruogh earthquakes out here. She says this is first time she was really scared to the core.

 

Hang on Cobra. Get on a boat and get the heck out of there.
The number of of stupid people I see tossing lit cigarette's out there car window really pisses me off. What ever happened to the smokey bear commercials we'd see as kids?

44

 

Not just the smokey commercials, but remeber Fire Prevention Week in school? We drew safety posters and had contests to display our work. I even came home one time and coordinated a planned fire drill with my family.
Speaking of commercials, remeber the 'Stop, Drop, Roll' commercial?