California on fire...

[sgtsandman]

Im thinking we might just want to keep the topic focused on the fire.

There's a fire???

 

[sgtsandman]

I use Kingsford...

Lump is better. Kingsford is for cheaters!

 

[sgtsandman]

An interesting discussion on the subject. It's 63 minutes long. So, be warned.

 

[Bill]

I lived in Chatsworth for many years. The San Fernando valley hills burn every year. Nothing new, and mostly it was arson. Now with the new china supplied incendiary devices (20 ways to lite your BBQ) available at your local store, and UAVs dropping drugs & other stuff, it's easy to terrorize the countryside. Typical of when politics gets what it deserves, the crybabies act, out and we all suffer.

The whole area is (was) out of water. That is the LA lifestyle,...out of water.

They actually have plenty of water being moved down there from up here. The last two years have been very wet up until this winter, but just for Southern California. The issue is municipal water systems aren't designed for the conditions they were experiencing at the time. I've done hiking in the hills north of there and remember seeing small areas that were burnt from previous years. The patchwork of previous burnt areas is what keeps that area from having large fires. Although, when you have high winds like they had, I think the flames would have jumped over the areas previously burnt. The fire that destroyed Paradise jumped over a two-mile section that was previously clear-cut and part of it was burnt previously. The wind carried burning embers across that two-mile section and lit the forested area on the other side, which had a lot of live oak, douglas fir, and ponderosa pine. The fire that burn Coffee Park in Santa Rosa went through grasslands, across US-101 and lit a shopping center on fire and on into Coffee Park.

I do wonder what was going on with the reservoir. Not that it was drained in the winter. But that, if I understood what I read this morning, is that it was to replace a liner on the reservoir. I originally thought the liner was for the base of the reservoir to keep the water from draining into permeable rock. If it is for the surface of the water, why couldn't they just roll up the older liner and roll out a new one? Maybe there's an engineering reason.

In regards to incendiary devices, it's just a matter of time before someone lights a huge fire on the 4th of July. We have numerous small fires on the 4th here. All it is going to take is a windy 4th of July and there's going to be problems.

 

[Bill]

An interesting discussion on the subject. It's 63 minutes long. So, be warned.

An interesting discussion on the subject. It's 63 minutes long. So, be warned.

Well, there's this:

 

[Jim Oaks]

It seems crazy to me that during a state of emergency, California is inspecting the fire trucks from other states before they'll let them go to the fire.

Imagine your house is on fire, you local fire department calls another department for mutual aid, but you have to wait for your ciry to inspect the other departments fire truck before they'll let it come to your fire.

I think the fact that it made it 100s of miles to help you is good enough, and I highly doubt any FD would send a truck that they weren't 100% confident would do the job.

 

[Bill]

It seems crazy to me that during a state of emergency, California is inspecting the fire trucks from other states before they'll let them go to the fire.

Imagine your house is on fire, you local fire department calls another department for mutual aid, but you have to wait for your ciry to inspect the other departments fire truck before they'll let it come to your fire.

I think the fact that it made it 100s of miles to help you is good enough, and I highly doubt any FD would send a truck that they weren't 100% confident would do the job.

Jim, what if the trucks weren't inspected and one broke down and blocked the one windy road in and out of a neighborhood effectively trapping those firefighters and other people in an inferno? Now that would deserve some criticism. The inspections took 45 minutes, some of them needed repairs, it's a large Calfire facility just outside Sacramento. All the major highways intersect here so they were driving past it anyway, and it is very likely they would have made the stop there with or without inspections to refuel and pick up additional equipment to take down south with them.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

About the fire engines, most do short hops around towns and seldom take long trips. But to get to California, these same trucks had to drive long distances. I can see a safety inspection just to make sure the brakes and steering are up to snuff.

Also, you can figure at least some of these trucks are from volunteer fire departments. Unfortunately, out my way the volunteer departments have a reputation of being lackadaisical about maintenance and repair because they're staffed by—guess who—volunteers. Some volunteer equipment is pretty old, too, meaning '80s and even '70s trucks.

It's also feasible for some departments to say, "Oh, we'll send that old engine we never use to help in California."

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

A local volunteer fire dept couldn't get their 1960's truck to start for a house fire. It wasn't far away and downhill so they pushed it to the scene...

A big fire department out east (I wanna say New York?) saw the thing in the news and donated them a fire truck they were retiring.

That said I don't think they would have taken that truck to a California kind of fire even if it ran perfectly.

 

[SenorNoob]

Everyone here should know better than to underestimate peoples ability to drive a shitbox. I mean I've only had parking brakes for about six months total since I've owned my truck. The 2 Rangers before that never had parking brakes.

 

[snoranger]

A local volunteer fire dept couldn't get their 1960's truck to start for a house fire. It wasn't far away and downhill so they pushed it to the scene...

The pumps usually run off an engine driven PTO… what good is a non running fire truck?

 

[SenorNoob]

If there is a hydrant close enough, do you need a pump? Just hook up the hoses and grab your gear off the truck.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The pumps usually run off an engine driven PTO… what good is a non running fire truck?

It was 20 years ago, I can't find anything online. Maybe it ran but didn't move, maybe they were trying to coast start it. Maybe it gave them something to do until mutual aid arrived.

If there is a hydrant close enough, do you need a pump? Just hook up the hoses and grab your gear off the truck.

I think the pump is needed to get pressure to really get range out of it.

 

[snoranger]

If there is a hydrant close enough, do you need a pump? Just hook up the hoses and grab your gear off the truck.

Hydrant pressure is limited in most areas to whatever the municipal water pressure may be (around 60 psi + or -, could possibly hit 80). Pump truck pressure can be 120-200 psi… that makes for quite a bit of difference in distant, height, etc. that you can shoot the water.
Granted, a dead truck flowing 60 psi is way better than no truck flowing 0 psi.

 

[SenorNoob]

Lol. Ya got a point there. Tho I suppose it could start looking like the homeowner out there with a garden hose.