Subj : Re: LA Fires
To   : AL
From : Dumas Walker
Date : Tue Jan 14 2025 08:56:00

> > Preparation would have very much prevented these fires from being so
> > destructive, especially when you *know* you are in a long-term drought.

> Prevention and preparation are always good but these fires are in built up
> areas, more or less in the city. I'm not sure there is much underbrush there o
> what activities are done to clear it or how much of a difference that would
> make.

If you look at the fires on a map, two of them (Hurst and Eaton) are on the
edge of where civilization meets the Angeles National Forest.  IIRC, Eaton
is the one that affected Altadena.  When they show footage on the news, a
lot of it shows the destruction in the suburban areas, while other footage
shows the fires up in the hills above town (where the forest is).

The Santa Ana winds fan those flames in the hills and cary the embers down
into the populated areas.

The fire that seems to get the most attention is Palisades, which seems to be
farther away from a forested area than the others.  Not sure what the
current hypothesis is, but it is the one that was suspected to have started
in someone's backyard and has (apparently) damaged a more affluent area
(Palisades and Malibu).

> This reminds me of a time in my youth when I was in the Yukon somewhere around
> Yellowknife. All I had to do to start a fire was gather a few handfulls of
> needles that were laying on the ground all about and that was enough to get th
> fire started. At that time of year those needles lay on the ground everywhere.
> Thankfully heat and drought are not issues in the Yukon.

Dry needles are good kendling, IIRC.  Didn't they have a big fire around
Yellowknife, or someone in the Yukon/NWT, in pretty recent times?  I took
note of it as it is an area I hope to visit someday (along with Alaska).


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