The whole Cali wildfire thing is pretty hard to believe.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Wishing anybody out there a safe time.

[Ace-Garageguy]

So...besides everything else, some clueless civilian's drone, flying in restricted airspace, struck one of the firebomber aircraft...which is now grounded with wing damage.

Smooth move there, sporty.

Stupid NEVER takes time off.

[LennyB]

I can fix just about anything but I can't fix stupid even though it approaches me just about every single day seeking help.

[thatz4u]

Praying for all of our members & friends out there..

[Dave Van]

Living in So Cal 1960-70 they need to go back to methods of that era. Back then the hills were covered with Fire Roads, paths 12-14 feet wide that were kept free of any growth. Controlled burns were common, Water management was very different. All these things were undone via the Green folks.......which must prefer fire over preventive measures. IMHO ONLY 

[Bugatti Fan]

My thoughts go out to all those folks who lost everything, and I mean everything in that devastation, including some poor souls who paid the ultimate price for getting caught up in it all. Rich and influential or just a regular citizen, events like this do not differentiate people by status this has shown.

It does not bear thinking about losing all that one has worked for like your family home and those irreplaceable precious pieces of personal family memorabilia lost that cannot be handed down to following generations.

Things like this bring out the best and the worst in society. Those who go out of their way to help practically by donating things like shelter, clothing and various items to help others now in dire need through no fault of their own. And then of course the bottom feeders of our society, looters trying to take advantage of other people's misery.

The blame game for this utter devastation needs to wait for a while.

This tragic event really puts into perspective the heated discussions on this forum about our hobby that pale into total insignificance compared to the magnitude of something like this disaster.

Edited January 10 by Bugatti Fan

[Joe Handley]

My Sister in Law and her family (husband and 7m/o boy) live in the area, but they’re at least in a safe area, but they know a number of people who lost everything and are considering themselves lucky right now. I also have a friend through Instagram that’s a born and raised Angelino and he seemed pretty freaked out by it when I checked up on him and his family last night. He said it was the worst fire situation he has ever seen there.

[vamach1]

That was my view from the balcony a few nights ago.  Seeing the same flames on the tv and on the balcony are something else.

I’m gone from VAMach1 to FLMach1 to CAMach1 and next year will move again and be AZMach1.  As others have pointed out, very sad for the residents but they whether they were duped and forgot common sense that there needed to be better preventative measure as others have mentioned has sadly come to roost.  This will only make housing even more expensive but I hope for the short time I am here people realize perhaps going back to having an infrastructure and policies that will mitigate future fire damage is needed.  Letting millions of urban residents with beliefs and ideologies they have been taught that are supposed to save the planet hopefully will realize for this area decades of poor decisions were made. That is a shame as this a beautiful state and the people in the areas with the multi-million dollar houses should perhaps be more concerned about whether there is enough water to put out fires around them if they decide to stay and rebuild.  If nothing changes I think many will not wait around and move elsewhere and start over.   I have met some great people here in just a short time and as long time residents they have seen a lot of change most of which has not been for the better.

[RSchnell]

It's pretty incredible the scope of all the fires going on right now. I ran across these photos while reading up on it this morning.

 

[Xingu]

There are going to be a lot of quality vehicles destroyed when this is all said and done.

Some folks ignore the early warnings and have to move out quickly, I fear some pets and farm animals are getting left behind.

[Ace-Garageguy]

 

[Dave Van]

I saw video footage of a guy with old school blow torch being held by some people that caught him starting fires. What kind of Satan processed people are running wild out there???? NOT  the So-Cal I grew up in. Thx

 

MY 60's So-Cal home......

 

[slusher]

 I feel so sorry for everyone one losing their home. I saw some that had to leave their cars carrying pets in their arm and all cars was bull dozed  too add to the lost.  I am praying fo all who lost homes and the firemen and firewomen  fighting these fires. Many will build back and many I don’t think will.  Many are under insured and some didn’t have insurance. The older homes build before 1975  could not  be insured.  I watched a news special and many was people was interviewed.  As far as blame that will come out in time..

Edited January 12 by slusher
Typo

[bobthehobbyguy]

17 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

My thoughts go out to all those folks who lost everything, and I mean everything in that devastation, including some poor souls who paid the ultimate price for getting caught up in it all. Rich and influential or just a regular citizen, events like this do not differentiate people by status this has shown.

It does not bear thinking about losing all that one has worked for like your family home and those irreplaceable precious pieces of personal family memorabilia lost that cannot be handed down to following generations.

Things like this bring out the best and the worst in society. Those who go out of their way to help practically by donating things like shelter, clothing and various items to help others now in dire need through no fault of their own. And then of course the bottom feeders of our society, looters trying to take advantage of other people's misery.

The blame game for this utter devastation needs to wait for a while.

This tragic event really puts into perspective the heated discussions on this forum about our hobby that pale into total insignificance compared to the magnitude of something like this disaster.

Well said. You sum it up well.

 

[Brian Austin]

Wait for all the facts, folks.  While the situation itself is unimaginably tragic, the rumor-mongering, social media misinformation and conspiracy theories that have been circulating after the recent hurricanes and wildfires is worse.

Re: "Sad to say but it was just on the news that some migrant gangs are starting some of the new fires for some reason. ..."

Latino immigrants bravely helped fight the fires, untrained, on their own, just to help the community.  So, please just stop.

 

Keep in mind the price Catherine O'Leary paid as scapegoat for the great Chicago fire.  The story involving the cow was made up.

Edited January 12 by Brian Austin

[Bugatti Fan]

Since my last post I read a two page article in the Daily Mail, a British national newspaper. It was all about the wealthy including business people and various celebs holed up in the most expensive hotels in Los Angeles after being advised to evacuate their homes. Still living it up in the lifestyle they are used to. Rich women getting botox and other beauty treatments done discreetly, wining and dining  like first class passengers on the Titanic, and feigning faux distress when the reality is they probably have other mansions all over the place to go and live in. A bit of an inconvenience if the mega rich lose a property that they can afford to have rebuilt out of their spare change. They can afford to fiddle in a posh hotel while Rome burns.

Not so for normal folk who's one home was their main possession lost in this catastrophe. My sympathy goes out to them more than the mega rich who can recover fast from this. It will be interesting to see how much the mega rich celebs genuinely help others less well off rather than use it as a means for self promotion.

Maybe I am being a bit cynical ?

 

Edited January 12 by Bugatti Fan

[stitchdup]

1 hour ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Since my last post I read a two page article in the Daily Mail, a British national newspaper. It was all about the wealthy including business people and various celebs holed up in the most expensive hotels in Los Angeles after being advised to evacuate their homes. Still living it up in the lifestyle they are used to. Rich women getting botox and other beauty treatments done discreetly, wining and dining  like first class passengers on the Titanic, and feigning faux distress when the reality is they probably have other mansions all over the place to go and live in. A bit of an inconvenience if the mega rich lose a property that they can afford to have rebuilt out of their spare change. They can afford to fiddle in a posh hotel while Rome burns.

Not so for normal folk who's one home was their main possession lost in this catastrophe. My sympathy goes out to them more than the mega rich who can recover fast from this. It will be interesting to see how much the mega rich celebs genuinely help others less well off rather than use it as a means for self promotion.

Maybe I am being a bit cynical ?

 

i could give you a long complicated answer but the truth is everytime we suffer they get richer. to them we are just another resource to be used and abused and they have great pr teams to tell us how urinating in a bottle or working 80 hours a week is good for us when they really mean good for them. they dont care about us in truth but hey we have big screen tvs so they cant be that bad can they?

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 1/12/2025 at 1:40 AM, Brian Austin said:

Wait for all the facts, folks...

Anyone who's been paying attention knows that today, "facts" are often cherry-picked, "interpreted", denied, or just flat made up depending on the agenda of the one reporting said "facts". This is NOT a "political" statement, but rather a sad reflection on human nature in general.

That said, there are certain irrefutable and undeniable hard facts emerging about this horrific situation, available to anyone with web access.  They're painting an interesting picture.

One fact is that two people (as of yesterday) in the general area have been detained in relation to behavior that could ultimately implicate each of them as an arsonist having some responsibility for at least one fire.

One person, apparently a middle-aged male carrying a propane torch, was seemingly emotionally disturbed or under the influence of something.

The other, an older female, was caught in the act of setting a fire that was extinguished before it spread.

There are other undeniable facts regarding the situation that I'll refrain from mentioning so as to not veer too close to anything "political", but they are, likewise, available to anyone with web access and possessing rudimentary critical thinking skills.

Edited January 13 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY

[bobthehobbyguy]

11 hours ago, Brian Austin said:

Wait for all the facts, folks.  While the situation itself is unimaginably tragic, the rumor-mongering, social media misinformation and conspiracy theories that have been circulating after the recent hurricanes and wildfires is worse.

Re: "Sad to say but it was just on the news that some migrant gangs are starting some of the new fires for some reason. ..."

Latino immigrants bravely helped fight the fires, untrained, on their own, just to help the community.  So, please just stop.

 

Keep in mind the price Catherine O'Leary paid as scapegoat for the great Chicago fire.  The story involving the cow was made up.

Well said. Unfortunately the truth spreads a lot slower than everything else.

[bobthehobbyguy]

On 1/10/2025 at 8:13 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

So...besides everything else, some clueless civilian's drone, flying in restricted airspace, struck one of the firebomber aircraft...which is now grounded with wing damage.

Smooth move there, sporty.

Stupid NEVER takes time off.

Saw a piece in the news that the FBI is looking for the drone owner. The pieces of drone have been recovered. The drone type has been identified. The owner faces felony charges. Whoever was responsible should come forward and take ownership of their stupidity.

[Ace-Garageguy]

45 minutes ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

...Whoever was responsible should come forward and take ownership of their stupidity.

In well over 70 years on this planet, I've rarely seen anyone do that.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Yeah i agree Bill. However besides the violating the airspace there are other potential charges. The drone operator recklessly endangered the lives of the pilots. The lost of the plane to fight t he fire which has taken lives could also contribute to the death toll. Not coming forward is not going to help them.

I also suspect that the video was being taken to share on social media to generate likes so it is extremely likely the drone operator will be found.

 

Edited January 13 by bobthehobbyguy

[Dave Ambrose]

A reminder that we do not allow political postings!

There have been a ton of conspiracy theories, misinformation, and outright lies about these fires. Please refrain from speculating about the causes and the like. 

[rattle can man]

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by the fires, including first responders and their families too. I know everyone whose house/ business burned will have some tough choices ahead of them.  Hopefully they find the cause/ culprits, the looters, the drone operators and the scam artists sooner rather than later.

[bobthehobbyguy]

12 hours ago, rattle can man said:

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by the fires, including first responders and their families too. I know everyone whose house/ business burned will have some tough choices ahead of them.  Hopefully they find the cause/ culprits, the looters, the drone operators and the scam artists sooner rather than later.

Well said. This is what we should be direction our energies into. There are plenty of other places for other discussions if you really feel the need.