MTFCA Forum

Hope no member is in the Los Angeles fire zone and loses life, property, house, vehicles, or other possessions.

My wife was just asking me if anyone I know is in that area (she gets concerned about my friends). I told her I know a couple people are close to there, but I wasn't sure how close. We are hoping all is okay for the hobby there, but know a lot of people will be suffering severe losses.
The Santa Ana winds and fire is a bad combination. Linda grew up in Huntington Beach and still remembers the winds.

Photo of fire from airplane window. It’s reached the ocean now.

The Santa Anna Wind is a recurring weather event that is not going away. Re-building the burn areas and future development ought to consider that reality. As things stand, fires cannot be controlled under Santa Anna wind conditions. This has been demonstrated repeatedly.

Fire has now erupted in Pasadena.

Not positive, but this has most likely occurred in the foothills. The low-lying areas are subject to the winds, but the fire threat is less in those areas because of accessibility.

There are a large number of antique and vintage car owners that live in Pasadena and the surrounding cities.

Let's all hope for the best for our friends in those areas. I personally know people in those towns. Some of them post here on the forum. I'm lucky, my house, although located in Los Angeles County, is far from a frequent fire area.

It's a sickening sight.

My wife tells me she read that Will Rogers' ranch home (a historic state park) was destroyed. Also that a motor motel built (?) by William Randolph Hearst that was slated for restoration was also destroyed.



While we are of course more concerned about the people involved and their tragic losses, fires of this sort almost always do destroy great places which may be rebuildable over time and historic places that can never be truly replaced.



All so very sad.

I have seen that part of California and how the houses are built up the hills like a wedding cake. Some of those roads are at 15-20% grade and barely wide enough for 2 cars. I can understand why people were getting out of their cars and running down the hills. Make you feel like you live on the side of Pikes Peak. Might be fun to drive your antique car up there, but hell coming down.

Hope everyone gets out alive. Cars can be replaced.

I understand that many insurance companies are no longer selling Home Owners policies in California because of the number of wild fires.
Also heard that failing infrastructure is the cause of many of these fires due to 80+ year old power poles getting broken by the Santa Ana
winds. The cost of rebuilding because of inflation has gone up exponentially. Also have any of you noticed that there are many more man
caused fire now days than there use to be???
Craig

As time goes on and the fires continue the failure of infrastructure planning is beginning to finally be recognized according to news reports and past history. There have been fires in the past and with the devastation and damage that’s happened this time maybe there will be some changes made.

The full cost of this disaster will far exceed the monetary cost.

I suspect arson. It would be ironic for this to happen mostly in the wealthier neighbors and around homes of famous people if it were not planned.
Norm

To make matters worse, our state is removing three northern dams that used to supply much needed water for our state. That shows you the mentality of our state government!

TXGOAT2 wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:11 am

The full cost of this disaster will far exceed the monetary cost.

The cost of the disaster isn't just to be measured in a dollar value of the loss of building & housing structures. Consider the impact on the remaining property values and how that will affect Stat, County & City taxes in 2024 & the future. Los Angeles cut $17.5M from fire department budget months before Palisades Fire; signed by Mayor Karen Basse. It has been estimated that California has lost between $52 billion to $57 billion in preliminary damage and economic loss has occurred from the fires, not counting this one.

Generally, California's wildfire season starts in June or July and runs through October, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association.
However, January wildfires are not unprecedented – there was one in 2022 and 10 in 2021.

Bottom line: The Media needs to distinguish between these two questions;of
"What was the cause of the Los Angeles fire?" and "What is the reason for the Los Angeles fire?"
THE CAUSE": High winds (seasonal Santa Ana winds and drought (known) in the area, which has made vegetation very dry and easy to burn.
THE REASON: Local & State Government administrators' policies. Choosing to cut Fire Department budgets, lack of Forestry Management, infrastructure (an area’s fire hydrants will run out of water because the storage tanks couldn't be filled at the same rate as the water was being used)

Failures of the administration in California will be felt for years. Surely the people that live there will begin to see it by this disaster that’s unprecedented.

I grew up in the area so am very familiar with the locations of the fires. They wouldn't have started with the Palisaids fire and spread east. They would have gone west toward the ocean.The Sunset fire would have started near the Hollywood sign and moved west toward Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. And the Eaton fire would have started north of Altadena and move west toward the Rose Bowl and La Canada . Perhaps north toward Mt Wilson. So these were separate fires and most started in inhabited areas This was certainly started by arsonists. It is also interesting that these were all in expensive neighborhoods where celebreties live. I think it is a terrorist attack. I actually grew up in Glendale and Montrose and used to go to the beach at Santa Monica and Zuma Beach which is between Santa Monica and Malibu. These are definately at least 3 maybe more separate fires. To keep on topic, many antique and classic car owners in the area as well.

I live in Pasadena.
Two friends lost their homes & garages with multiple model T's & A's.

The whole situation is horrible. I feel for all who have been affected by this. Let's put politics aside and simply pray for our fellow man.