Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Prayers for Paradise, CA

Gotcha , thanks add

I was born and raised in Chico and have family all over the area.

Looks like my best bud lost his house right up Skyway behind the Burger King. Aunt and Uncle lost theirs east of Skyway. 2nd Aunt and Uncle have a large spread in the crosshairs near 10 Mile House Trail.

Paradise is basically gone. Based on some of the videos I have seen (burned skeletons inside of torched cars) I cannot imagine the death toll isn't into triple digits.

It is now officially the worse fire in the history of California, surpassing the Oakland Hills fire (which I was part of, oddly enough).

But the Woolsey fire may pass them all up by the time it's done.

Higbean, please give your deputy buddy my best wishes and sincere condolences. My father and grandfather were career CHP and know a thing or two about sacrifice, but not to that extent.

T,

Having lived a big portion of my life in this state, and others in the west, and having lived very near areas where there were mega fires (Rodeo Chedeski in AZ, the Laguna fire in the 70's in SoCal, and a few others), I'd say you're quite close to hitting the nail on the head there. I was in my teens in the Laguna fire area and heard the talking heads pronouncing at that time that fire suppression methodologies must change, money MUST be spent on proactive approaches, and folks have to start accepting the situation if they choose to live at the urban/wildland interface. That was nearly 50 years ago, not much has changed, but then again, we're still trying to find a solution to the need for cheap migrant labor too.

I mentioned some of this in the threads about the Carr and other fires nearby this summer. Until our Local, State, and Federal governments figure out a way to fund fuel reduction in areas with little marketable timber, until they figure out a way to get landowners to clear around their residences, until they figure a way to put protection zones around communities, these events are going to continue to happen. Regularly.

My heart aches for those a few hundred miles south of me right now. The news guy just said the North winds are going to return this weekend. Humidity was down to 10% here today. Clear skies predicted for the next week or so too, no rain in the forecast. We just have to pray nothing starts in our area again this year. A 39K acre fire within striking distance this summer and one last summer is enough for awhile.

Those of you with loved ones in the area, or who live there yourselves, my condolences for any losses you've incurred, especially if they involved a life.

Geno

PS it would not disturb me if a mother ship arrived and removed Mr Newsome from our planet tonight, not in the least. And hopefully room for a few others.

Valsdad.... Fair assessment.

I'd also add that lack of moisture played a HUGE part of this fire... I've read from more than one expert that the *soil moisture* in Butte County is amazingly, HISTORICALLY low right now and that was a major contributor. The GIS map I saw, the exact area where the fire happened stood out to me like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the state. Add to that high winds, low humidity, and a ridiculously low dew point, and well.....

2 Fire friends of mine in the area said there is no schooling they've ever received that explains 10 acres to 90,000 acres in one day.

Good to read you Geno.

The TV station I saw online showed a hellacious canyon that was consumed in the bottom with smoke, from the aerial view there is no fighting the fire in that Canyon besides by air.

My son hasn't sent any information, not even sure if he has a staging area for the fire crews.He unfortunately, between last and this year, has had a sharp learning curve with these big fires. PG&E made a radio announcement about possible outages on Wednesday ( I am 99% sure it was Wednesday I heard this) and I am surprised at the possible coincidence. And yes, this area, from where I am up to the northern border, has been declared extremely dry and before the wind Thursday they cautioned this could happen.

I went and saw my son filling a drill to finish the last 180 acres of his farming boss' operation yesterday ( I am copying a PTO driven sprayer system they have, needed to verify valve locations), one hour later he was called to strike team, and another hour later he was in Chico.

Very sad, he said he saw the vehicle with folks trapped inside!!!!

The photos from space are insane.

Just brutal and unforgiving. I used to camp that way as a kid with a dear friend and family.

My son and his family had a harrowing experience trying to evacuate. Stuck in bumper to bumper traffic with fire on all sides, family van getting hot, kids screaming.

You can [bleep] off with the California hate that I read above. These are real people regardless of politics.

Thankfully, my son's home was spared. Hell, we just built it last year so it's a huge blessing. Meanwhile, the beautiful town of Paradise is in smoldering ruins.

So glad to hear everyone and their property is safe. Give those grandkids a huge hug when you have a chance!

+1.

Damned terrible stuff. I thought my day was bad and been feeling sorry for myself (and cussing central Cal) for being stuck in 99 traffic for hours today and a pink slip from a well-intentioned but absolutely incorrect CHP officer. Now I have read this. Sorry for folk's trouble. Hope your friends and families are safe. Dang.

Glad to hear you and yours are safe tonight Higster!

Got friends there in Paradise... they got out with their skin and the clothes on their backs...

and that's about what they have left now....

Absolutely duck911, lack of rain leading to low soil moisture, combined with a decent spring and good early growth of brush/ grassy fuels has a whole lot to do with the recurring fires. Usually our fire season has run its course by now, not this year. Our area is actually somewhat lucky, in that we got about an inch of rain in October. But I'm within 50 miles of the OR border or so and most of the moisture is staying well above us this fall even. Dew Point here yesterday at 1355 was -1 with an 11% humidity level. I'd say it was dry and good conditions for a fire.

And you're friends are correct. My wife was stunned this evening when they gave the acreage figures. She's a CA native and has seen a bunch of fires too. Jarbo Gap had a 70+ MPH gust this morning before the winds died down some. Must have been like turning the blower on in the forge.

Geno

PS Thanks Jim

PPS this was last year, my very first girlfriend's house in Oroville. She'll have friends in the Paradise area who are now affected. She was extremely lucky they saved her house...........and flag. Her friends might not be so lucky.

Its a terrible mess.

For some reason it is still acceptable that this kind of thing happen.

My nephew lost his house in Paradise, we have not found out about his in-laws yet. A lot of people were upside down on the value of their house in this area.

Been a crazy couple days around here.

Chimney and his dads gun safe is all thats left and he's pretty worried about looters.

Safe is through the floor but he's not sure if it was locked.

His wife left her wedding ring by the sink when she was doing dishes.

I bet the rear axle is salvagable from the brand new truck he bought two weeks ago.

Hoping they can gain ground on the fire today before the winds tomorrow.

They are in good spirits but they have a long road ahead of them.

Thanks, but I said something stupid yesterday and deserved to be called out on it.

I have been out of state for the last week and really didn't comprehend the magnitude of this firestorm until I drove back into California last night and saw the monstrous smoke cloud that engulfed me as I came through Red Bluff...I was stewing with anger since the results of the election showed that Gavin Newsom is our new governor and anticipating the horrendous results of that.
I had no right to bring that into this thread...

I've lived through two recent evacuations and the fact that my brothers are a Sheriffs deputy, a CHP and my son is involved in every one of these monsters should temper my political beliefs with some basic human decency.
That region of California is actually very conservative, all of I-5 up there is lined with John Cox for governor signs.

I just watched my first news coverage of the fire this morning, all I can say is that I feel horrible.

Once again, I apologize and my heart aches for the victims of this horrendous event.

I understand why you are frustrated. Like I mentioned in a different thread Sal, you're going to be dealing some serious ptsd if you don't get yourself out of there, or wrap your head around something besides the political situation. Sorry for everyone affected by that terrible fire.

What I want to know is how much of this damage and life loss is California’s Pacific Gas and Electric going to be held accountable for. If the electric company starts a fire of this magnitude are they held liable like a citizen is?