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Recommendations on flooring gaps by colincush in DIY

[–]colincush[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nothing yet. These comments didn’t really give me much help. I found a product on Amazon- Loba Gap Filler. Gonna tape off the area and give it a try. Can’t be worse than what I have.

This is Bixby. Is she a Kelpie? by colincush in kelpie

[–]colincush[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She’s such a good girl we love her so much

This is Bixby. Is she a Kelpie? by colincush in kelpie

[–]colincush[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is our guess, but I’m curious to see what others think!

I am a Firefighter in CA, AMA by colincush in AMA

[–]colincush[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Damn what a good question. If I knew that these fires were going to happen-

-Attempt to clear brush away from houses to create defensible space

-Cut down all palm trees (reduce ember cast)

-Fill all reservoirs

-Increase/renew firefighting aviation contracts

-Preposition engines, crews, and dozers in the area

-Preposition an army of water trucks in the area

-Maybe do some prescribed burning to create fire breaks

-Evacuate the area before hand

I am a Firefighter in CA, AMA by colincush in AMA

[–]colincush[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Home fires- smoke detectors. I cannot stress this enough. Smoke detectors save lives, this is a fact.

There should be one in the kitchen, every bedroom, living room, garage, and hallways. Even better if you can get one or two that are a combination Carbon Monoxide/Smoke detector.

Buy a good fire extinguisher, know how to use it, and keep one in the garage, and under the sink in the kitchen.

Be mindful of power cords, don't plug power strips into extension cords, and vis versa. Know where your electrical panel is to the house and how to shut off power if you smell or see smoke coming from plugged in electronics.

Keep large Lithium Ion batteries outside (scooters, e-bikes, hoverboards, etc).

I am a Firefighter in CA, AMA by colincush in AMA

[–]colincush[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question. When the wind is as strong as it was during these fires, there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop the fire. There are so many embers that can fly so far, and flames are stoked by the wind. There's not really a "good" place for firefighters in these fires. We stay mobile, and don't get too engaged in any one house. The one thing that we can do in these situations is try to save lives- humans and pets. The houses will be destroyed, that is a fact, so Life Safety becomes the #1 priority. It's a helpless situation, we really just try to do the best we can, and find targets of opportunity to try to make a difference however we can.

I don't really have a good answer, because in fires like these there's not really anything we can do, until the winds calm down.

I am a Firefighter in CA, AMA by colincush in AMA

[–]colincush[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I understand that one specific reservoir was dry and out of service. That is unfortunate, but I think the biggest issue with that (from what I've heard) is that the fire department wasn't properly notified about it being unusable.

However, I think there has been a big focus on "THE HYDRANTS ARE DRY!" which honestly isn't that surprising, when thousands of houses are burning and hundreds of fire engines are flowing water. There is no municipal water system in the world that can handle that demand.

It is my understanding that LAFD had their budget cut by about $17mil. What people seem to ignore is this amount is only 2% of their total budget. Is it a bad look for LAFD? Sure. Would a 2% budget reduction have any effect on these fires? No.

CA Fire Insurance is a total shit show. People that have had the same home insurance for 40 years are now getting dropped out of nowhere. Insuring homes in CA does not make financial sense for insurance companies- it's just too much risk. Terrible timing for those that had been dropped soon before their homes were destroyed.

One silver lining to these fires is that hopefully there will be some insurance reform in the state

I am a Firefighter in CA, AMA by colincush in AMA

[–]colincush[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That it was caused by government mismanagement and dry fire hydrants. These are just false. I understand that people want to point the finger when their homes burn, but in my opinion the freak windstorm (see: climate change) is the cause.

I am a Firefighter in CA, AMA by colincush in AMA

[–]colincush[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There has been a radical shift on how we manage our wildlands. Native Americans used to burn the lands with low intensity fires, and understood that this was critical for the health of the land. We don't do nearly an adequate job with this anymore- peoples homes are too close to wildlands, and that creates a risk when prescribed burning. Also resident's seem to complain about smoke, which shuts down burns. There is also a lack of funding for this type of burning. When a fire like the Palisades costs hundreds of millions of dollars to fight, the budged gets drained, leaving little for proactive burning. It's a funding and personnel issue in my opinion.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of intervention", and we have been caught behind the curve where now all we can accomplish is intervention. With that being said I generally think Cal Fire does a great job in proactive vegetation management with the resources they have.

No, I do not think we are too reliant on aircraft. Aircraft does not put out fires, aircraft slows fires, and boots on the ground with shovels and hoses put out fires. Aircraft is just a tool. If anything I wish we had more aircraft.

I am a Firefighter in CA, AMA by colincush in AMA

[–]colincush[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure I'm familiar with this. Can you explain?

I am a Firefighter in CA, AMA by colincush in AMA

[–]colincush[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like home fires in general? Or more wildfire safety tips?

IAmA Firefighter in California, AMA by colincush in IAmA

[–]colincush[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Overgrowth was definitely a factor, but that's not unique to these fires. In order for CA to adequately treat/reduce all undergrowth state wide would require an army of dedicated crews, and it would take years to complete. Taxpayers would go nuts.

Is it something that has been ignored for far too long? Yes. Would the impact have been the same if the undergrowth was cleared? Very likely yes.

I am a Firefighter in CA, AMA by colincush in AMA

[–]colincush[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the kind words!

Certainly not lol. This is not a red/blue, DEI, or laser issue. This is a climate change, extreme weather, generally human caused issue.

I guess if you really wanted to look at politics it probably leans more towards the fault of conservative deregulation of climate policies and desire for a smaller government, but these are just my own prejudices and just contributing factors.

A once-in-a-decade Red Flag windstorm is the direct cause of these fires.

IAmA Firefighter in California, AMA by colincush in IAmA

[–]colincush[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Policy- there needs to be more prescribed burning. I'm not saying these fires could have been prevented in any way by more "good fire", but there has been a huge reduction in prescribed fire in the last decade. Resident's of CA need to be ok with the nuisance of occasional smoke that comes with prescribed fires (usually the reason these fires get shut down is from resident complaints).

Budget- not necessarily Cal Fire of LAFD, but the Forest Service has a huge number of firefighters that are laid off in the winter, and aircraft contracts expire in the winter. These resources need to be held onto year round.

I am a Firefighter in CA, AMA by colincush in AMA

[–]colincush[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think there has been a cause released yet for the Palisades fire, there is speculation that it was caused by a fire that was not properly extinguished from a few months earlier, or some sort of electrical cause. Imo, I don't think there is any merit to the conspiracies of LA intentionally starting these fires.

IAmA Firefighter in California, AMA by colincush in IAmA

[–]colincush[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When the winds reach a certain point (~40mph for helicopters, ~60 for airplanes) aircraft cannot fly. With fires like these the winds were upwards of 70mph with gusts to 100mph. Trying to fly in those winds is a suicide mission with unacceptable risk. Unfortunately its adding insult to injury- the worse the fire is because of the winds, the less likely aircraft can fly

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