Paradise Fire/Camp Creek Fire 11/08/2018 (Sacramento, Yuba City: association, estimate, electric)

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

I'm not sure what you think I said, but it was about watching the documentary on the fire. It sounds like you misunderstood.

Maybe I did and yes, I know you are watching the video, but it sounds like you think those of us who do not live there or didn't live in Paradise should not be posting. That was how I saw your post.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by nmnita

Maybe I did and yes, I know you are watching the video, but it sounds like you think those of us who do not live there or didn't live in Paradise should not be posting. That was how I saw your post.

No, I was saying that my post warning people that the documentary could be disturbing, so to carefully consider before deciding whether to watch, was not addressed to people who actually lived through it. It was a response to a (quoted) Paradise resident, who said a warning wasn't necessary, because they were there, they were in the fire, fleeing.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

No, I was saying that my post warning people that the documentary could be disturbing, so to carefully consider before deciding whether to watch, was not addressed to people who actually lived through it. It was a response to a (quoted) Paradise resident, who said a warning wasn't necessary, because they were there, they were in the fire, fleeing.

Thanks for clarifying that: Sorry I took it as a direct hit for those post but don't live in the area.

[opossum1]

I came across a couple of articles about rebuilding Paradise...seems like a lot of emotional and/or reckless decisions are being made.
First off, half of the proposed safety measures when rebuilding homes had been rejected...for reasons such as we like trees and like vegetation right next to the house, want wooden fences (including connected to the house) and wooden houses versus initially proposed concrete construction. Another reason for rejecting proposed measures is basically we don't want government to tell us what to do with the land...well why demand FEMA funds, then? It's pretty clear that there won't be private insurers willing to take on these homes, I think, and they'd be eventually insured through the state program (guess who's on the hook for paying up in the event of the next fire, taxpayers)

Secondly, it doesn't look like they're holding off issuing building permits until evac routes are built or at least right of way secured. Seems like there's not even a possibility of building additional road out of town. They only want to build some more connecting roads in town, especially to connect those long dead-end streets (where people were getting trapped), but as it was said, there're families who're there for several generations and they might not want to give up their lots for these routes....so they're not even sure they can secure lots for additional roads in-town. Pretty sad picture: can't really keep making PG&E a scapegoat.

[CCbaxter]

Yes, every time a regulatory issue crops up the first reaction is to sweep it aside. The reasoning is that they want to expedite people’s return to the area and ‘haven’t they suffered enough’. These decisions may have lasting consequences but time will tell.

[opossum1]

People say it's not going to burn for a wile because of how major this wildfire was, despite the fact that new wild vegetation in this region tends to be more fire-prone than older established plant communities.

In Paradise, council members rejected a plan to ban combustible materials within 5 feet (1.5 meters) of homes...Policing people's plants, Zuccolillo said, would "kind of go against the fabric of our town. ... We don't want big government telling us what to do."

In 2018, the same realtor Zuccolillo said:

Council member Michael Zuccolillo said the town will need federal and state funding to rebuild

State Farm requires at least 3 feet of clear space in fire zones... they don't insure there anymore, though.

There's a picture of first rebuilt home, and in the final version it has a wooden fence attached directly to the house.
https://images.wsj.net/im-117279
Clearly, it's not just plants that weren't banned within 5 foot zone, in terms of combustibles. You can see more pictures of this home online and there're charred pinetrees right next to the wall, one looks like 2 feet away.

[opossum1]

Originally Posted by CCbaxter

The reasoning is that they want to expedite people’s return to the area

It's not just that, apparently. The reasons fire safety rules aren't being followed again are:

Town leaders are under heavy pressure to keep Paradise both affordable and forested.

"If you take away all the trees, it's what we're here for, is for the trees," resident Vincent Childs told town council members in June as they prepared to vote on new building safety standards.

[Reziac]

A little something to, uh, brighten your day:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEGzKU0i-aY

[2sleepy]

Newsom rejected the PG&E plan to pay victims and exit bankruptcy

In a stunning rebuke to PG&E Corp., Gov. Gavin Newsom late Friday rejected the utility’s plan to pay Northern California wildfire victims and exit bankruptcy.

In a letter to PG&E Chief Executive Bill Johnson, California’s governor declared that the company’s proposal doesn’t go far enough to make it “positioned to provide safe, reliable and affordable service.”

“The resolution of this bankruptcy must yield a radically restructured and transformed utility that is responsible and accountable,” he wrote. Among other things, he demanded an entirely new slate of directors who are subject to state approval, and a structure that would allow PG&E’s operating license to be transferred “to the state or a third-party when circumstances warrant.” https://www.sacbee.com/news/californ...38350708.html?

[mgforshort]

Previously I had seen claims that more than 60% of wild fires were caused by humans. There was a long piece today in the Sacramento Bee where they claim that about 95 % of all wild fires are human made, be it arson, accidental, or negligence like in the case of the Camp fire by PG&E.