California on fire again

California's Fires Have Burned Mulholland Highway Almost Beyond Recognition
Jalopnik

The scale of California’s fires are beyond anything of living memory, and new photos of The Snake, that infamously crash-prone section of the Mulholland Highway, look like they were taken on another planet. Read the full story

Rode this section many times in 1984-85.

 

This part will grow back quickly. Northern California will take decades though.

 

Yes it will. And the horror that so many experienced cannot be under stated. But mother nature is an amazing thing. There are species of trees and growt that do rely on fire to regenerate and I think you will see positive results that way begin in a few years. Too bad mother nature can't bring back the human losses though.

I can't help but worry about a few of our members here that I think live near the fire in the LA area. I just hope they are OK and their properties safe.

 

I'm glad the Rock Store survived.

 

I had to go to Pt. Magu yesterday so I took PCH all the way from Santa Monica. The damage is somewhat noticeable, if you’re not familiar with the area but I tried to go up Kanan to Mulholland and there you can really see what the fires did. You don’t have to know the area, it is definitely noticeable! They had a CHP turning people around right where Mulholland turns left down towards the Snake. I got turned around there so I tied to go through Latigo canyon and was turned around after a few curves up from Kanan. They had Decker (23) and Mulholland blocked of where they meet PCH but Kanan was open so that’s why I tried going that route.

I wish I had a helmet cam as what I was able to see when looking off the road was crazy. Some places, which are set back from the road are hard to see when just passing by but if take a good look you can see where some places you to stand. You can also see how some places got really lucky. The burn marks on the ground go just about right up to the structure but no damage to it was visible. A lot of work crews were out pulling new lines along the poles and a few other roads were blocked off. In one shopping center, a few of the insurance companies had some pop up tents and trailers setup, I assume to make it easier to deal with them. Not sure how long it’ll be before things are back to normal but it was a sad sight to see that’s for sure.

 

Lots of residents having to move out of the area, and likely the state is inevitable.

With 12-14,000 homes destroyed, it will takes years to rebuild the housing stock. Plus, there are few homes for sale, and rentals are near zero already. What is a family or person to do?

Even if hundreds of contractors move to the area, there will be severe shortages for materials like concrete. Plus, all this demand will force prices of rebuilding way up, making it affordable for many people.

Beyond that, many jobs no longer exist, so people will move away.

I do work for insurance companies, and have worked many fires with them. The devastation is near total total, and some people can't deal with the possibility of it happening again to them, of rebuilding, or even living in a construction zone for many years to come.

Many will never live in the area again!

Another issue for all rural areas, and likely every property owner with insurance in CA will be the cost of insurance. My old neighbors live east of Redding CA. They told me their fire insurance has gone from about $2000/yr in 2013, to over $11,000/yr when there latest renewal came last month! They said many neighbors can not find a company willing to renew or write a new policy!

With the cost of insurance for homes in severe fire zones going sky high, and new fire regulations for buildings and property, look for many more people being forced to move. I also read that a legislator is proposing a surcharge on every property insurance policy sold to pay for fire related costs.

Sad for all, and likely expensive for all too...

 

It is very sad to see so much destruction.
Here we’re also used to big fires that unfortunately are getting more frequent.
There is shock at the latest fires in Queensland where for the first time ever, fires have gone into rainforests.
It was considered an impossible scenario until now.
Premiums get shared by everyone here, so a big fire puts up prices for everyone.
Building codes have dramatically changed in fire prone areas, with fire proof windows and cladding plus cinder guards on gutters are now compulsory.
I’ll be there in a week, so some of the places I wanted to see are probably a no go.
I feel for the people who have lost everything. And more so for the families who lost people.

 

That is a special kind of stupid if that turns out to be the cause but might save PG&E from bankruptcy.

 

Took a ride out that way today. Kristy's Roadhouse, formerly Rustic Canyon Grill Grocery is no more. The Rock Store is still there, but the trailer park / coop across the street lost more than 1/2 their homes. Bridge on Mulholland at Troutdale is out, must have been one hot fire. Also pic from the overlook at the top of the Snake. Mulholland west of Kanan is open at least to Decker, but really dirty and a moonscape. Plenty of burn downs along Decker.

 

If you get up enough speed, I think you could make that bridge Lee!

 

There's no ramp, and I am not Evel Knievel.

 

There equipment failure minutes before the fire started, and roughly two miles from my home.


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There's quite a few people live within a couple miles of that old Rocketdyne / Boeing facility.
Have you been through Blacks Canyon?

 

Live right down the road.



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The sad thing is though, I think anyways, no company is going to pay anything. Even if this power company gets broken up, who ever purchases, or takes over the running of the power grid, the workers maintaining the system basically stay the same. Is everyone confident it is managements or owners fault that maintenance was not up to par? Was it the workers who were slacking in their responsibilities, or was it a recipe of both?

It is the consumer that is going to pay a huge part of this financial toll. Even if it is to be found out that the owners bear all responsibility and the power authority is broken up to either smaller companies or even back to a large single company, the system looks like it is in dire need of upgrading of a caliber not yet seen in California, or probably many other places in North America. Our infrastructure is getting old and money needs to be spent soon to bring it back up to date before we end up with third world like infrastructure. New owners just don't throw money at this system without expecting to get that money back. That is from the consumer with higher rates.

Civil suits may not be the answer because any judgement against the company, is again, covered by the consumer with increased rates. The real answer to making those responsible to pay, it to find criminality in what individuals do and punish them in your justice system. That too is a cost to the consumers and all tax payers, but for one, it is spread over a larger group of people ie society. Secondly, an individual feels the pain of their guilty acts such as imprisonment or fines or both.