Northern California Fires

[C C]

Thanks for the updates, Yazata. The range of this calamity is obviously increasing concern about SS.  

Apparently the theme song already being played is "excessive urban development into the wildland". Vaguely reminiscent of Houston's unregulated growth of gobbling up the wetlands that once served as a buffer to stormwater. Even when / if there is management of these interfaces between people and nature, the administrators seem to underestimate the magnitude and scale of the eventual mega-disaster, or the size and coordination of forces needed for combating it and providing rescue. Or the mega-disaster is deemed too rare to warrant the expensive, constant maintenance of that level of preparation.

"Response crews have sometimes had to focus on saving homes over fighting fires, said Jessica Gardetto, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Land Management, stretching emergency efforts thin. She attributed this to a growing number of people living at the edge of nature...."

- - -

[Secular Sanity]

Well, my house is still here.  Lots of my friends have lost their homes, though.  Two people are dead, several injuries.  We got a robo call around 2:00 am telling us to evacuate.  One friend of my mine forgot to grab her daughter’s glasses.  We tried to get them to let us back in to her area but they said it was too late. 
 
I'm back home and I live on a hill.  I can see quite a bit from up here.  The fire was across the highway but it jumped over about 5 miles north of my place.  The mountain directly across from me was the main one in trouble. I was upstairs watching the planes and listening to the scanner app.  I was watching them as they were trying to save a house.  The bucket on the helicopter wouldn’t up open up, though.  The fire guys were trapped.  A bomber dropped some fire retardant for them, and then they got the hell out, but right after that drop, they said that our county was completely out of fire retardant.   They had to fly 60 miles south to load more.  That was about the same time that the fire jumped. 
 
Today it’s making its way around behind me.  The coastal winds might be my worst enemy.  The smoke is so thick that I can’t even see my neighbor’s house.  I have power but no gas.  It’s cold so I’m taking a break underneath my electric blanket right now. 
 
There’s plenty of defensible space around my house and I used fire resistant material when I built it.   I might be okay.  I don’t know, maybe not, but I upped my insurance policy just in case.   It took me two years to design it and another two to build it.  I know, I know, it’s just bricks and mortar, as they say, but it still sucks.
 
The smoke is giving me a headache.  I’m tired, sore, and dirty, but like C C said, I’m alive, and my house is still standing.
 
My older son is here today. He’s down in our canyon clearing some more fire trails.   I’ll probbaly just clean my house today.  Nobody wants to come here now, but after it’s over, and if my house is still standing, they’ll need a place to stay. 
 
On a more positive note, the night before the fires started, my youngest son won his first MMA fight in South Africa.  The people there are great, really nice.  The president of the association’s wife videotaped it live for us.  They’re working on getting his next one, which will be pay-pre-preview airing in the United States.  His deck commander drove him and a few other marines home that came to support him.  They totaled their car on the way home.  Hit a kudu.  Didn’t kill it, though, and no one was hurt.  He said it was one of the craziest nights he’s ever had. 
 
I'm not sure if I'll have continued cell coverage or wifi.  It's been in and out, but you can email me if you have any questions, and I'll try to answer them.

See you later.

[Zinjanthropos]

SS.... hope everything goes well. Didn't know you were directly affected. SOunds like you've got a lot going on. Good luck

[Yazata]

Hey SS, I'm glad your house is still standing. I was worried about you (and still am worried, to tell the truth).

If you haven't already, you probably should get your important papers like IDs, bank and credit cards, check books, insurance documents and the most sentimental stuff together in some form you can grab quickly if you have to leave in a hurry again. It will be easier to put your life back together.

[C C]

My older son is here today. He’s down in our canyon clearing some more fire trails.   I’ll probbaly just clean my house today.  Nobody wants to come here now, but after it’s over, and if my house is still standing, they’ll need a place to stay. 

Glad to hear you're not alone, and still have power. Never even considered the interim isolation that might result from being one of the "lucky ones" in a ravaged community or area. Hope this isn't the equivalent of some "eye of the hurricane" and the hell-flames do steer clear of you. Scores of cell phone towers down but they've got roving units trying to provide sporadic communication.

On a more positive note, the night before the fires started, my youngest son won his first MMA fight in South Africa.  [...]  The president of the association’s wife videotaped it live for us.  They’re working on getting his next one, which will be pay-pre-preview airing in the United States.  His deck commander drove him and a few other marines home that came to support him.  They totaled their car on the way home.  Hit a kudu.  Didn’t kill it, though, and no one was hurt.  He said it was one of the craziest nights he’s ever had. 

Win or loss, motherhood will take mixed martial arts fighting over being in a potential combat zone any day. Don't like antelope-like critters or any other unexpected bugbears jumping unexpectedly out of the bush during celebratory moods, though.

[...] The people there are great, really nice. [...]

They truly are, though I'm probably reflecting more on people in some of the rural areas rather than event organizers, etc. Makes one wonder how South Africa could possibly have the murder / assault statistics that it does.

Take care, SS. We're a "best wishing" for you in as SkyDaddy-less a way as possible.

- - -

[Yazata]

http://www.nixle.us/city/ca/santa-rosa/

https://www.google.org/publicalerts/aler...ource=paws

https://srcity.org/610/Emergency-Information

https://twitter.com/nbcbayarea?ref_src=t...r-event%2F

[stryder]

I hope all is well once it subsides. I wish I could offer more than platitudes to aid in defence or deal with the aftermath.

The only thing I can offer currently is looking into a way of reducing such destruction occurring in the future, but that's little conciliation for happens now. I hope you, your family and your neighbour Stay's as safe as it can Secular Sanity.

[Yazata]

The Sonoma Sheriff just held his 9:30 press conference and says that lots of new evacuation 'advisories' have gone out in the last few hours. Lots of that is precautionary since they aren't really sure where the fire will go when the winds pick up this afternoon (as predicted). He says that the advisories mean that if you don't need to be there and have somewhere else to go, go now.

He says that Sonoma County fatalities are still at 11 confirmed. But he says that nobody is out looking for bodies yet (that comes later) and those 11 have just been found in the course of deputies doing something else. So the numbers are almost certain to rise when they start combing through the ruins.

He doesn't have a number on injured, but he knows that there are come critical burns in hospitals and additional less serious injuries.

The missing persons list has hit 670, but 110 names have been found alive and scratched off. He says that people will worry and report the name of a loved one they can't contact, then the loved one will get in touch, everyone is happy, but nobody tells the Sheriff. So he is asking people who report missing persons to notify his office when those people turn up.

He says that there were several arrests for curfew violations overnight that he suspects of being potential looters, but things have been quiet on that front. There are several hundred police from multiple agencies (San Francisco, San Mateo, National Guard MPs and all over) patrolling areas where people have evacuated, so things are pretty secure.

[Yazata]

Update about where I live, in the south San Francisco Bay area. This area is geographically a basin, surrounded by hills. Well today it's a basin filled with smoke, visibility is decreasing and the smoky fire smell is strong.

The rest of this post is devoted to Mendocino County.

Most of the SF Bay Area media is concentrating on Sonoma and Napa Counties, since they are Bay Area counties. But more rural Mendocino County to the north of Sonoma (fully 100 miles north of San Francisco, that shows how big this event is) is getting hit very hard by the fire disaster too. They say that Redwood valley, Potter valley, Pine Mountain and Cave Creek have been evacuated. It isn't clear how many of those places have actually burned, but here's a video that somebody fleeing Redwood Valley took:

https://www.facebook.com/agentimon/video...095368063/

Something about Mendocino in San Jose Mercury News here:

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/10/me...ering-too/

Here's something from the San Francisco Chronicle on life in Willits one of the larger Mendocino towns, which is basically cut off with no cell or landline phones and no cable TV. The town is swelled by evacuees from other places who apparently are gathering at the public library since it seems to be the last place with internet. It's where the local officials are giving their briefings.  

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Three...267006.php

The Mendocino Sheriff is giving updates here:

https://www.facebook.com/MendocinoSheriff/

and here:

https://twitter.com/MendoSheriff

This list of information sources will be useful

https://twitter.com/wyattwd/lists/redwood-complex-fire

I just live-streamed the Mendocino Sheriff's press conference from the county headquarters in Ukiah. The next one is scheduled for 2 PM tomorrow. Check the twitter and facebook accounts immediately above for where to find it. Today's press conference can be replayed on video too. I believe that this should lead to it:

https://www.facebook.com/theukiahdailyjo...143806328/

A Cal Fire representative said that they are making good progress in Redwood and Potter valleys and are now mopping up (his words). Reporters asked about Redwood Valley and received a more detailed update. The news is that the north end down to about midway in the valley was hit hard. Fire is still active there and helicopters and ground fire crews are currently working it. They say that they don't believe that any additional structures have burned since early in the fire, but they are still working to protect some. The southern end of Redwood Valley is "looking good" and largely untouched.

They say that they think that the area between Redwood Valley and Potter Valley is currently at risk and they are moving crews there.

There are lots of horses in this rural area and they say that there are currently about 90 evacuated horses in their large animal shelter.

A Cal Fire meteorologist (from Eureka, Cal Fire is like an army, it draws on local resources from all over the state on mutual-aid in emergencies) says that strong winds shouldn't return before the weekend and will last a couple of days and then decline. There may even be rain by later in the month that should put an end to this. Cal Fire says that on Sunday night, the fire was advancing about 2 miles per hour at the peak of the event during the night when all hell broke loose.

They have all kinds of air assets in Mendocino, including 13 helicopters from various agencies from Cal Fire's own airforce to the National Guard. There are also fixed wing retardant bombers, including a 747 and a DC-10, but Mendocino County has to share them with Sonoma and Napa Counties.

The Mendocino Sheriff says that the Sheriff's Office has a continually updated list of which houses and structures have burned and which are ok in the fire-affected areas, so that people can call the Sheriff's office and check without having to enter evacuation areas that remain dangerous and where fire crews are working.

[Yazata]

TV is saying that the Atlas fire, east of the city of Napa, is moving east into Solano County in the direction of Fairfield (pop. 111,000) and is currently out of control and only a few miles from this big suburban city.

Latest death toll at 21 for the whole region, according to KRON TV.

Edit: SF Gate now raises the confirmed death toll to 23 (and nobody's really started searching for fatalities yet).