SoCal Fires Live Thread 10/28

10/28/03 | Myself

[Ladypixel]

In some areas of SoCal, yes, a million dollar home is not unusual. However, the vast majority of SoCal is still not million dollar homes - even in the burn areas.

I live in SoCal. I know the area in San Bernardino that burned. I also know some of the areas in San Diego that burned. I know the areas of Claremont and Rancho Cucamonga very well, as I live near them. I know some of the mountain communities. I know Hemet, I know Simi Valley...

And I know that if ten percent of the homes in San Bernardino city that burned were million-dollar homes, it'd be an extremely high estimate. The ones in Claremont were 500k-700k homes, usually due to the size of the property that they were on rather than the actual value of the house itself. Many of the homes in Rancho that burned were new duplexes, and averaged somewhere around 250-300k... one block of the Rancho homes that burned were higher, though (I believe somewhere around 550k). Hemet is a horribly cheap area to live in as far as home buying goes, although I don't have averages on their housing prices right now (I'm just trying to get ahold of a friend there to make sure she and her family are alright)...

So yes, a million dollar home in some areas of SoCal is not strange. However, the vast majority of the burn areas right now are not million-dollar homes.

As to whether they were graced by God to have those homes, keep in mind that many of the homes that /were/ in the high-end range that were destroyed were the homes of actors/actresses, TV personalities, ex-politicians, and people who had "family money". The areas that did burn that were million-dollar homes were considered "exclusive" communities.

As a working class person, I have very little sympathy for someone who gets paid $250k per year (that's a minimum; some of the TV news anchors get paid far more) to spend two hours a day, five days a week, smiling at a camera and reading off of a teleprompter. Equally, I have virtually no sympathy for people whose predecessors made the money for them, and who are merely living off of the proceeds.

I feel for all of the victims... but I feel for the ones who spent the time working their posteriors off to build up a good home and life for their kids the most, who have just lost it all. Those are the people who will be most affected by this fire. Their lives will never be the same again.

Regardless of who and what and where and why, the fact of the matter still remains that the damage occurred, and whether or not the people earned what they had, many people still have lost it. And other people are still in danger of losing their homes as the firestorms continue. That's what we should be focusing on, not on whether the homes were richy-rich or not. My initial comment on the subject pointed that out, and I shall continue to point that out.

[Yaelle]

My dad bought a little acre property with a cottage on it at the end of the freeway, with cows around and orange groves, in 1960. He had just started his first practice. The house was a little "expensive" at $14,000.

Today he is retired, and his house in the country is smack in the suburbs in the San Fernando Valley. It's worth more than a million today.

[baseballmom]

KOGO

Caller looking for confirmation

Is Whispering Winds Catholic Camp gone??
Going to check further.

Caller, Don, has worked there with his wife for 25-30 years
obviously concerned.

---

Kentwood Pines, caller, east side of 79 from Julian. Packed up and ready to go. Saying it looks like a war zone where she is. Fire approaching from south and west.

[Ladypixel]

Yuck. Maybe it's time for me to call my friend in Hesperia and make sure she's still alive and kickin' under the smoke...

[PhilipFreneau]

>> Koppel on Nightline: What to do about fire? Experts say California needs way more regulation and housing expenses aren't nearly high enough.

Koppel was trying to take some of the heat off the environmental wackos.

[lainie]

I just took a walk outside. It's otherworldly. and smells TERRIBLE. You can taste the acrid smokiness on your lips. You can hear the air is different -- like if you go outside when it's snowing.

[lainie]

SB scanner= fire jumped 138 at Miller Cyn

[baseballmom]

KOGO caller saying son drove through Wildcat Canyon - it's burned all the way to Joan Embry's place but Joan's place was INTACT.

The Indian Reservation - Barona (?)is like a war zone.

San Vicente Road and Wildcat Canyon Rd is open, he was going to San Deigo Country Estates. East San Diego County

[mo4bush]

Sorry to be so late, I just looked up the address on the map and your person is 4 miles away from mine and yours is on the other side of the freeway. I'm not 100% sure but I think that is good news for you. Sorry I can't give you any further details.

[ArmstedFragg]

What to do about fire?

You know something? There's only two ways to address the wildfire problem: develop every acre of brush land or become much less efficient at firefighting. Why the latter? Because every time we extinguish a fire after it's gone four acres we let the potential fuel load on the rest of the threatened land get higher. Historic fire patterns prior to the fifies or so had more fires, more acres per fire, and fewer big fires. So, the better we get at putting them out, the bigger they're going to be.

Clearing land, prescription burns, etc. are all useful tools, but the cost of doing them to the degree necessary to really "fireproof" the state is completely unmanagable. So.... that's the choices: let the small ones burn more, bulldoze the entire state, or live with this situation.

[baseballmom]

KOGO caller from Julian, saying Harrison Park is gone. Julian Estates - saw houses going up, about 45 minutes ago. Fire is about 1 mile south of town. Can see flames. Fire trucks in town, guy should have evac'd. Julian HS evac center is at 78 & 79.

[lainie]

SB scanner: if fire crosses 138 (it has, a lot), we need 2 hours to shut down railroad.

wtf is that? When there's a derailment they don't get 2 hours notice to stop running the things. gimme a break.

[Central Scrutiniser]

Baloney, its essentially a popup ad. I have sofware that zaps those out in the real world...

[lainie]

has someone started a thread for 10/29? This one seems to have died

[lainie]

that's what I would certainly think!

[baseballmom]

Kentwood in the Pines looks to be just a couple of miles from Julian.

Now reporting about 1200 homes lost in San Diego County

[Free Trapper]

The geomagnetic storm should hit about midnight California time according to an article posted on FR.

This article seems much more informative than the one I read that quoted a different time.

I'd bet midnight is closer,let's hope it doesn't cause problems.