California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby Cordelia » Mon Nov 19, 2018 8:50 am

^^^Thanks, PufPuf & Joe. I also wondered if, for some reason, structures built in commercial zones follow a stricter building code. :shrug:

Being 3,000 miles away I only speculate, of course, based on what I view and read (my own experiences of Machiavellian rascals who thrive in Washington environs skewer my views, I know). But, at their most benevolent, I think many movers, shakers (and developers) will make use of the quote by Rahm Emanuel, cited in the video I posted up-thread: "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."

Listening to an interview last week with state & governmental officials about what help would be available for Paradise residents who were already impoverished and have nowhere to go, the take-away I got was Leave The State. It will be interesting, (2-3 years hence, will I even remember?) to look for change in the demographics of Paradise after it's rebuilt and see if there's affordable housing for poor people and those on fixed incomes.

For now, I'm respectfully dubious; according to yesterday's WAPO...
‘It looks like a war zone’: Search and rescue teams continue work in California fire

Image
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/na ... 2824a25ac8


...in a grab for land, there could be a war going on.
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Nov 19, 2018 11:29 am

Image
Image


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5vl_s9UXVI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwL6GWYg34M

Image


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxjSuQXPAak

Calif. Authorities Raise Wildfire Death Toll To 80, Lower Number Of Missing Persons
Emily SullivanNovember 19, 20182:40 AM ET

Jacob Saylors, 11, walks through the burned remains of his home in Paradise, Calif., Sunday. His family lost a home in the same spot to a fire 10 years prior.
Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

Authorities in California have added an additional fatality to the official death toll of the Camp Fire, bringing its total number of deaths to at least 77.

The number of those unaccounted for decreased to 993 — about 300 fewer than Saturday's count, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said on Sunday.

At least 80 people have died throughout California since wildfires broke out earlier this month. Three of fatalities were from the Woolsey Fire in the southern part of the state.

Authorities have not yet declared an official cause of the fires and are investigating their origins.

In a Camp Fire incident update Sunday night, authorities described their progress in containing the deadliest wildfire in state history.

"Crews have continued to work in steep and rugged terrain to implement direct and indirect control lines which will aid in stopping the fire's forward progress," they said. "Firefighters and utility cooperators worked within the fire's interior to patrol for heat and remove hazards."

Multiple California Urban Search & Rescue Task Forces and Human Remains Detection Canine Search Teams are assisting the Butte County Sheriff Department with the search and recovery of missing persons, authorities said.

The fire itself has grown smaller to 150,000 acres, and is now 65 percent contained. Authorities say they expect full containment by Nov. 30.

Over 5,300 personnel are battling the flames. More than 10,360 homes have been destroyed — the entire community of Paradise was reduced to a wasteland of ash and burned out buildings and cars.

Authorities continue to maintain a live evacuation map and structure damage map.

About 500 miles to the south in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, the Woolsey Fire is still burning.

At 96,949 acres, the fire is 91 percent contained, authorities said in their Sunday night update. Dry winds continue to pose a challenge to responders, who anticipate strong offshore winds that will lower humidity into Monday morning. Over 1,080 personnel are actively fighting the flames.

Nearly all evacuation orders have lifted, but that doesn't mean evacuees will be able to return to their homes. Damage assessment teams have counted 1,452 destroyed structures so far. They're 90 percent through examining structures affected by the fire.

Crews are remaining diligent and providing services to residents as they return to their homes, authorities say. They expect full containment by Thursday.
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/19/66912574 ... ing-person
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby elfismiles » Mon Nov 19, 2018 12:46 pm

She's been speaking about this 'plan' since at least 2015.

I won't link to it but this is the video description.

Deborah Tavares with Jeff Rense, April 30 & May 1, 2015, on the plan to burn up Northern California, intentional depopulation of the area along the northern .


Laodicean » 16 Nov 2018 21:46 wrote:<snip>


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHKIBN2my2Y

This vid was posted back in Feb. 2018. People are commenting on the video now since Paradise lost.
<snip>
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby Cordelia » Mon Nov 19, 2018 2:43 pm



As usual, he thinks it's about him.

In a historical context, a rake (short for rakehell, analogous to "hellraiser") was a man who was habituated to immoral conduct, particularly womanising. Often, a rake was also prodigal, wasting his (usually inherited) fortune on gambling, wine, women and song, and incurring lavish debts in the process.


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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby Joe Hillshoist » Mon Nov 19, 2018 7:51 pm

Rake in that Pommy rich thug sense is the perfect description of Trump.

What people do after disasters in terms of exploitative opportunistic capitalism isn't the same as creating them.

I don't think its possible to create the sort of fire storms we see these days using DEW or anything like that on their own.

Its needs long term conditions - drought specifically. I have heard (but don't know for sure) that the areas around Paradise haven't had rain for 211 days before the fires. Most of that time was summer so everything dries out then the vegetation that dies cures losing even more moisture.

This in turn affects local relative humidity which is a huge factor in fires.

Here's an example.

This year where I live we had serious fires in winter. We had fire "running" at night time when the temp was below 10deg C. That's unheard of but because the humidity, relative humidity and moisture content of fuel was so low it happened. One night it was near 0 deg C!!!

So we'd light a back burn at night and it'd burn like a hot summer day (even tho it was a cold winter night.) That's fucked up.

Then we had less than 1 mm of rain across the entire region one day.

The following night nothing would burn even tho it seemed as dry as the previous night and early morning that day. Even in places it didn't rain the atmospheric humidity was enough to stop the propagation of the fire. That tiny bit of moisture effectively ended the fire threat (for a few days) and it wasn't even enough to wet the ground in places.

OK in summer this wouldn't happen cos the summer heat would keep the humidity low and so such a small amount of rain would have little effect but it illustrates how dry conditions have to be across an area for fires with the intensity of the Camp Fire to behave the way they did.

If you think weather manipulation was responsible for the droughts of the last 12 or so years ... maybe it is ... but its also what was predicted decades ago as a result of Global Warming.

The amount of energy needed to manipulate the weather is pretty huge. The more I sussed it out the more it seemed like a very unlikely thing to be happening with the price of energy going thru the roof the way it has recently.
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby Cordelia » Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:24 pm

Image

Heavy Rain Could Trigger Mudslides in Fire-Weary California

Northern California, which is already reeling from the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history, is now bracing for heavy rainfall this week.

The forecasted rain could bring much-needed relief for the firefighters battling the Camp Fire in Butte County. However, it could also bring new hazards due to possible ash, mud and debris flows triggered by the rain.

The Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise, has burned more than 150,000 acres and killed 79 people, according to Cal Fire. Nearly 1,000 people remain missing, Reuters reported.

Up to 4 inches of rain this week could help beat back the inferno, which is currently 70 percent contained. But the weather forecast has brought extra stress to wildfire-weary residents.

Some evacuees are camping out in tents or their cars. Cady Machado told KTXL-TV she is staying in a tent at a Walmart parking lot with her husband and baby. With the incoming rain, Machado said she will send her child to her sister's home in Arizona.

She and her husband, however, have other plans. "There's a nice bridge with my name on it to go underneath where I won't get flooded out with my husband," she said.

https://www.ecowatch.com/california-wil ... 77543.html



(Dear God, cut them a break.)

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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby Joe Hillshoist » Wed Nov 21, 2018 6:10 pm

Heavy rain nearly always follows humungous fires. Eventually. (Ie always too late.)
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby seemslikeadream » Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:53 pm

He alerted people to the Thousand Oaks shooting, then warned of the California fires that came next

By Colleen Shalby and Soumya Karlamangla
He alerted people to the Thousand Oaks shooting, then warned of the California fires that came next
Many Ventura County residents who learned about the approaching wind-driven Woolsey fire relied on the @VCScanner Twitter account of Thomas Gorden, who has amassed a following of thousands by sending out alerts while listening to police scanners. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
For the last 10 years, the sound of police scanners has served as Thomas Gorden’s preferred soundtrack.

He doesn’t pay attention to every bit of information broadcast from the handful of devices he owns. But there are certain words and conversations he’s learned to key in on.

On Nov. 7, a call went out that someone had been shot outside Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks. Then another. Gorden listened to the drone of 911 calls picking up in the background. He realized there was nothing typical about this shooting.

“When [officers] went inside and said they’re going to need a lot of ambulances, that’s when I realized this was a mass shooting,” said Gorden, 22.


Gorden tweeted from @VCScanner — his Twitter account that has amassed a following of thousands — alerting many in the area to the shooting, including the first Los Angeles Times reporter on the scene.

Jess Weihe had just been about to close her laptop when she saw Gorden's all-caps tweet about the shooting.

She stayed awake for several hours, anxiously refreshing her feed for more updates. Many in Thousand Oaks shared a similar story of a sleepless night after seeing the tweet that rattled their community.

“Early on, the not knowing is the scariest part,” said Weihe, who lives in Newbury Park.

Within 24 hours, another disaster hit Ventura County. First one fire, then a second.

Gorden heard the call for the Hill fire in Ventura County. As that blaze grew, the Woolsey fire started to burn in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. As it headed toward Oak Park, Gorden began tweeting. At one point, he worked for 48 hours straight without sleep. He didn’t slow down until this weekend.


“A lot of people are saying that they found my information more helpful than what officials were putting out,” he said, “or were able to evacuate earlier than other people who evacuated Oak Park after all the gridlock.”

Gorden, who lives with his parents in Simi Valley, got his first scanner 10 years ago and started the @VCScanner account in 2011. His most recent job was installing chair lifts along residential staircases, but he left his job in August due to chronic pain.

Sometimes, he heads out to a crime or fire scene and shoots video, which he sells to news television stations. Video he shot after the Borderline shooting made it onto CNN, he said.

At home, the scanners are always on.

The first wildfire he actively covered was 2013’s Springs fire in Ventura County. But it was last year, during the Thomas fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, that people started paying more attention.

“I learned a lot from that one,” he said. “People need to leave before there’s an evacuation order. You can’t rely on authorities to always get you out on time.”

In the case of the fires in Ventura County, Gorden said he heard from people who saw his tweets about 30 to 45 minutes before the official evacuation orders.

Many said they relied on the account when they could smell smoke or see a fire but hadn’t yet received an emergency alert.

Cal Lutheran University senior Annabelle Worrall was in shock from the shooting, which took the life of Justin Meek, who graduated from the school in May.

She was sitting across from her roommate at a table when she got a Twitter notification from @VCScanner about a wildfire. They couldn't believe it.

“Everyone was still freaked out from that day,” said Worrall, 21.

Worrall went to her house in Westlake Village, and a few hours later, she had to evacuate again. She eventually ended up in Pasadena.

“We’re just exhausted. I’m exhausted,” she said.

Police scanners aren’t foolproof methods for learning about emergencies, and authorities caution against reporting on what’s overheard. There are rules Gorden abides by when it comes to sharing information. Tactics that could compromise the safety of police officers, for example, are something he never touches.

“Certain things shouldn’t be tweeted,” he said.

Gorden’s @VCScanner account following grew from 6,000 to 26,000 after the Thomas fire and has doubled to 55,000 since this month’s back-to-back episodes.
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la- ... story.html
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby Cordelia » Fri Nov 23, 2018 3:02 pm

Despite the best efforts of celebrity chefs this video is utterly depressing. After the feast those with housing went home; those without went back to their tents in the rain. (Can't embed the video.)

Thanksgiving in the ashes of Paradise, California

Thursday, November 22, 2018 - 01:39

https://www.reuters.com/video/2018/11/2 ... =484735385
(Leave it to the sensitivity of The Media to end the segment w/a reference to 'smokers'.)

California Wildfires: FEMA focuses on housing survivors as they prepare to spend Christmas holidays in shelters

By Kunal Dey · Published On : 06:49 PST, 23 Nov 2018

Here are the current numbers pertaining to the wildfires as released by Cal Fire and the Los Angeles County Fire Department:


Camp Fire
Location: Butte County
153,336 acres burned
95 percent contained
84 fatalities confirmed
563 unaccounted for
18,886 structures destroyed (14,243 residences, 514 commercial and 4,129 other buildings)

Woolsey Fire
Location: Los Angeles County, Ventura County
96,949 acres burned
100 percent contained
3 fatalities confirmed
1,643 structures destroyed, 364 damaged

Officials are trying to figure out where to deploy the 80 trailers
that are stationed at the site of what used to be McClellan Air Force Base in Northern California. Frank Mansell, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said that it will likely take weeks for the trailers to be placed for use.

https://meaww.com/california-wildfires- ... s-shelters


Homeless are probably 'better off' in tents than in FEMA trailers anyway. :(
(Spokesmen speaking a lot of official gibberish in the article.)
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby Cordelia » Sun Nov 25, 2018 9:17 am


California wildfires could usher in a "new wave of homelessness"


https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/9k4 ... melessness


From linked article:

Before the fire, Paradise had a population of around 25,000, 14 percent of whom lived below the poverty line. Average household income also fell well below the state and national averages. “One of the reasons this population lived in Paradise in the first place was because it was relatively affordable and relatively close to services, which was a nice nexus for the population we served,” Mayer said.

Many of the people who fled the fire in Paradise initially set up temporary encampments elsewhere — like in a Walmart parking lot in Chico, a town about 17 miles west, for example, or in front of a nearby Lowe’s. According to local news reports, dozens opted to settle in those informal encampments rather than seek refuge at the six official Red Cross shelters over concerns of a Norovirus outbreak at some shelter locations. (County officials said that, as of last week, more than 145 people had become sick.) The Walmart encampment, the biggest of them, even evolved into an official donation spot.


“My understanding is that FEMA is working to bring some trailer communities to the area. But that’s a solution that will last for a year or so,” he said. “In order to absorb a population like this, it’s going to take five to ten years. Most won’t be settling locally; they’ll be compelled to go somewhere else.”


Where will this newly homeless population be compelled to go? Out of Paradise's population of approximately 25,000 residents, how many are now homeless and/or without a job and in 5-10 years how many will have been absorbed by America's chronically homeless population?

Maybe many will eventually be boarded on buses to leave towns, as detailed in an in-depth study w/sophisticated visuals published by The Guardian a year ago.

Bussed out:

How America moves its homeless people around the country

Each year, US cities give thousands of homeless people one-way bus tickets out of town. An 18-month nationwide investigation by the Guardian reveals, for the first time, what really happens at journey’s end

By the Outside in America team

20 December 2017

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng- ... ntry-study


(How does England deal w/its homeless population?)
More than 150 Grenfell families still don't have a home 16 months after fire

https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/02/more-tha ... e-8100232/
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby Cordelia » Fri Nov 30, 2018 12:10 pm

Camp Fire Worsens Northern California's Housing Crisis

November 27, 2018

Thousands of people displaced by the deadly wildfire in Butte County are scrambling for places to live. FEMA is helping, but the sheer number makes the process a slow one.

There was already a housing crisis in Northern California, and the wildfires there have made it worse. After the deadly Camp Fire this month, FEMA says more than 17,000 people have applied for housing assistance. Many evacuees say they are struggling to find safe, affordable places to live. There aren't enough apartments or motel rooms to go around. Hundreds of them are just living on the streets.

North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann reports.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Dawn Burton fled the Paradise Fire more than two weeks ago after it destroyed the home she owned. I find her curled up under the camper shell of her pickup truck with her dogs and cats. She's parked at a Red Cross shelter searching her computer for someplace to go.

DAWN BURTON: We've been working on it nonstop, but there is no housing here. There's no housing. The government's got to do something.

MANN: California already faced a housing shortage before wildfires and mudslides devastated whole communities. Officials say the Camp Fire destroyed or heavily damaged more than 14,000 homes and apartment buildings. Burton says she feels trapped while waiting to hear from FEMA.

BURTON: There's just no place to go, you know? No place at all - except for places I can't afford, like Silicon Valley and Sacramento and LA and San Diego. And so I'm - we're kind of stuck. But we're working on it. We're trying.

MANN: FEMA is here offering vouchers and other financial aid. Spokeswoman Jovana Garcia says housing trailers have begun to arrive.

JOVANA GARCIA: You know, we have the mobile homes that has come in, which is about 80 of them. And 80 sounds like a small number compared to the amount of survivors that we have, but it's a start.

MANN: FEMA's working with the state and local task force trying to place as many families as possible in temporary housing. But a lot of people here say they're confused and frustrated.

DAN COLLIS: Right now, I'm staying at the University Inn. It's not much of a hotel, but it's warm.

MANN: Dan Collis (ph) owns several houses in Paradise and says one of them might still be standing. As the days go by, he and his neighbors are growing impatient. They want more information. They want to know when they can go back to see what's left.

COLLIS: What everybody is having a problem with is nobody sharing anything about when. Give us something.

MANN: With few affordable options, a homeless camp formed here in Chico, Calif., on an empty lot owned by Walmart. Tamela Morgan (ph), who rented a trailer in Paradise, sits now outside a tent she shares with her boyfriend. She says FEMA offered her a voucher, but she couldn't find a place to spend it.

TAMELA MORGAN: The hotels are - all of them are - most of them are booked, so you've got to kind of find an opening, you know?

MANN: I meet Marin Hambley (ph), who was an affordable housing activist before this disaster. She's here volunteering, helping keep people warm and fed. She says homelessness has to be a higher priority nationwide as hurricanes and floods and fires displace more families.

MARIN HAMBLEY: You know, we're trying to pressure the city and pressure the state and pressure the country to really change that approach, right? Because these folks have nowhere else to go.

MANN: For most of the families who fled the Camp Fire, getting home will be a slow process. But I do meet people beginning the journey.

MORGAN: I have hopeful thoughts today. I have a place to go.

MANN: The home Tamela Morgan rented in Paradise was destroyed by the fire. She barely got out alive. But when I meet her at a shelter run by a church in Chico, she's smiling.

MORGAN: A friend of mine said they got back into their home, and they said, we have a room for you.

MANN: Congratulations.

MORGAN: I know. I'm very happy. I'm very happy. I'm going home (laughter) to my friend's house.

MANN: She lost everything. She's wearing donated clothes. But on this night, she'll sleep in a real bed in a place she feels safe and welcome. Thousands more are looking for the same.

Brian Mann, NPR News, Paradise, Calif.

Listen to audio: https://www.npr.org/2018/11/27/67109045 ... ing-crisis


Yesterday:

Image
Fire, then floods: Butte Creek Canyon evacuated in Camp Fire burn ...
Oroville Mercury-Register
First responders wait for a boat to arrive to help people evacuate from Butte Creek Canyon in the area of Horse Run Lane. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)


Exactly three weeks after the Camp Fire flattened the town of Paradise, floods Thursday afternoon caused road closures and evacuations in the same area that burned.

https://www.orovillemr.com/2018/11/29/f ... te-county/
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby Cordelia » Thu Dec 13, 2018 12:16 pm

Soaring of already staggering numbers...

Camp, Woolsey, Hill fires: Insurance claims at $9 billion from November wildfires

Kathleen Ronayne, Associated Press Published 2:48 p.m. PT Dec. 12, 2018

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Insurance claims from last month's California wildfires already are at $9 billion and expected to increase, the state's insurance commissioner announced Wednesday.

About $7 billion in claims are from the Camp Fire that destroyed the Northern California city of Paradise and killed at least 86 people, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire in at least a century. The rest is from the Woolsey and Hill fires in Southern California.

Collectively, the fires destroyed or damaged more than 20,000 structures, with the vast majority in and around Paradise.
On Tuesday, state and federal authorities estimated it will cost at least $3 billion just to clear debris.

"As the claims get perfected, as individuals get access to their former homes and neighborhoods, as they dialogue with their insurance companies and share more information about the scope of their loss, we expect these numbers to rise," Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said of the $9 billion estimate.

There are more than 28,000 claims for residential personal property, nearly 2,000 from commercial property and 9,400 in auto and other claims for the fires.

That's well above the number of claims filed following a series of fires that tore through Northern California's wine country last year. Losses from those fires were initially pegged at $3.3 billion but eventually grew to $10 billion.

While the Camp Fire destroyed about double the number of structures as the 2017 fires, home values in Butte County are far lower than those in Sonoma County. That's part of the reason total claims may seem low compared to the 2017 figures, Jones said. Median home values in Sonoma County are more than double those in Butte.

MORE...https://www.redding.com/story/news/2018 ... 294566002/


Jones said local governments may not be fully considering the long-term impacts of building in areas at high risk of fire, floods and rising sea levels.

"That's going to be a hard conversation. Everybody likes to build new, people obviously want to rebuild their communities," he said. "We're in a new era where these risks are so bad I think we've really got to take a look at how we're making these decisions."Jones said local governments may not be fully considering the long-term impacts of building in areas at high risk of fire, floods and rising sea levels.

"That's going to be a hard conversation. Everybody likes to build new, people obviously want to rebuild their communities," he said. "We're in a new era where these risks are so bad I think we've really got to take a look at how we're making these decisions."


Again, where will people go?
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby seemslikeadream » Sun Dec 30, 2018 5:41 pm

California's largest utility provider could face murder charges for wildfires, AG says


(CNN)California's largest public utility provider could face murder or manslaughter charges if it were found responsible for causing the state's recent deadly wildfires, according to court documents filed by the state attorney general.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co., or PG&E, could potentially face a range of criminal offenses if any of the wildfires broke out as a result of the utility failing to properly operate and maintain power lines, per an amicus brief filed in US District Court Friday by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

PG&E, which provides electricity to about 16 million Californians, has been under scrutiny for how it maintains its infrastructure amid questions about what caused the Camp Fire -- the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state's history.

According to the brief, potential charges range from minor misdemeanors related to clearing vegetation around power lines, to misdemeanors or felonies if it started the fire, up to "homicide offenses like implied-malice murder and involuntary manslaughter."

The potential charges would be dependent on an investigation into the cause of the fire and -- if PG&E were found liable -- on the utility provider's degree of negligence and recklessness.

PG&amp;E could be in big financial trouble if it&#39;s found liable for California&#39;s Camp Fire
The attorney general's office has not come to a conclusion about PG&E's responsibility for the recent fires and is not taking a position on the issue, the brief states.

The brief was filed in response to a request by US District Court Judge William Alsup that officials explain what crimes PG&E might potentially have committed if it were ultimately found responsible for the wildfires.

In response to Becerra's court filing, PG&E said it is determined to doing everything it can to reduce wildfire risks.

"PG&E's most important responsibility is public and workforce safety. Our focus continues to be on assessing our infrastructure to further enhance safety and helping our customers continue to recover and rebuild," it said in a statement.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/30/us/calif ... index.html
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby seemslikeadream » Sat Jan 05, 2019 8:12 am

Jennifer Jacobs
@JenniferJJacobs
·
9h
PG&E Corp. is considering filing for bankruptcy protection within weeks as a way of organizing billions of dollars in potential liabilities tied to deadly wildfires that ravaged parts of California
https://mobile.twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: California Fires 31 Dead 200 Missing

Postby seemslikeadream » Sat Jan 05, 2019 10:34 am

After the fire: Blazes pose hidden threat to the West's drinking water

Jan. 5, 2019 / 6:09 AM CST
Gerald and Serene Buhrz were among the lucky ones.

When they fled their home at 2:00 a.m. on Oct. 8, 2017, the flames of the massive Tubb Fire had already engulfed most of the Fountaingrove neighborhood on the north side of Santa Rosa, Calif. They returned to their devastated street eight hours later to find their two-story stucco home still standing. It was surrounded by the embers of burned houses but untouched by flames.

Not all fire damage, however, is visible to the eye.

When Serene Buhrz turned the water on for the first time several days later, the chemical smell from their kitchen tap was overpowering.

"It was so strong you felt like you couldn't light a match," said her husband Gerald.

He called the city water department immediately, and got the agency to send someone to test the water.

Santa Rosa Water found the problem was not confined to the Buhrz home. Throughout Fountaingrove, plastic water pipes had melted as houses burned, releasing a carcinogenic chemical called benzene into the neighborhood's water system.

For nearly a year after the fire, Fountaingrove residents were told not to drink water from the tap, even if it was boiled first. Though their home was spared, the Buhrzes chose to live in a hotel for the 11 months of the advisory.

"You couldn't drink it, couldn't take a bath in it. You really couldn't do anything with the water so we just stayed out," said Gerald. The couple eventually returned home but Serene Buhrz still relies on bottled water.

"She still doesn't trust the water yet," said Gerald.

As more people build homes in fire-prone areas, and as climate change and other factors increase the frequency of fires, there is a growing risk to life and property throughout the West — and a lesser known risk to the region's already endangered water supply. At least 65 percent of the public water supply in the Western U.S. comes from fire-prone areas.

Blazes like the Tubb Fire and 2018's massive Camp and Carr wildfires can expose the drinking water for millions of people to the risk of contamination by toxic chemicals and parasites. Experts are concerned the new scale of wildfires torching urban areas could cause damage to public water supply that isn't immediately apparent.

"Lots of structures, vehicles, and man-made materials were involved in the Camp and Carr fires and there isn't a lot of information on how the environment is affected when these materials burn," said Clint Snyder, assistant executive officer of California's Central Valley Water Board.

The concern is prompting more intensive water testing programs following wildfires and spurring utility companies to invest in wildfire mitigation projects across the West.

Houses in the woods

One-third of U.S. homes are now built in what's called wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas, areas near or on land prone to wildfire. It's the fastest-growing land use type in the continental U.S.

According to U.S. Forest Service data, in just 20 years, new WUI areas grew by more than 46 million acres, covering an area larger than Washington State.

When these homes become wildfire tinder, insulation, roofing and home furnishings release toxins as they go up in flames, creating new sources of water contamination.

In addition to releasing toxins into the water supply, fires kill healthy tree roots. Without the roots, contaminating sediment and ash are flushed by rain into the reservoirs, rivers and lakes that supply cities with drinkable water.

In 2017 the U.S. Geological Survey published a study that predicted wildfires could double the amount of sediment in a third of the largest western watersheds by 2050. In some areas, sediment could increase 1,000 percent, potentially carrying parasites and harmful metals and chemicals with it.

According to representatives at the California State Water Resources Control Board, bacteria and parasite contamination, rather than chemical contamination, are the main worries in the wake of the Camp Fire, which burned 153,000 acres and 19,000 structures north of Sacramento, killing at least 86 people.

In Paradise, the town most affected by the Camp Fire, 22 out of 24 water systems were tested for contamination and cleared at the time of writing this article, but until the remaining two can be confirmed as uncontaminated, a Boil Water Notice, first released on Nov. 9, will remain in effect.

Firefighters walk through the Fountaingrove neighborhood on Oct. 13, 2017 in Santa Rosa, California.Elijah Nouvelage / Getty Images file
"My number one issue by far is actually not chemicals but intestinal issues due to parasites," said Gina Solomon, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco.

Solomon's biggest concern is a parasite called cryptosporidium. When bare soil is exposed because vegetation has burned, the sediment that is flushed into water sources often contains spores of the intestinal infection-causing parasite. While a discomfort to healthy people, cryptosporidium can become life-threatening to people who are undergoing chemotherapy, have AIDS, or are elderly.

"Cryptosporidium form spores and that's a problem because spores are like armored tanks, encasing the pathogen in a way that allows it to invade even significant amounts of chlorine," said Solomon.

The increased sediment also creates a costly problem for water treatment plants.

Sediment clogs the microfiltration systems that filter parasites in large water treatment systems, requiring expensive clean-ups.

In 2002, the Hayman Fire cost Colorado utility company Denver Water $27 million, when heavy rains following the fires washed sediment, fallen trees, and man-made debris into the Stronita Springs and Cheeseman Reservoirs. The contaminants had to be filtered out before the water was safe for consumers.

To date, the Tubb Fire is one of California's starkest examples of post-wildfire water contamination.

Before last year's larger, deadlier Camp Fire, it was the most destructive California wildfire ever recorded. It burned nearly 37,000 acres, 5,636 homes and businesses, and killed 22 people.

But despite the scope of the blaze, it took a phone call from Gerald Buhrz to alert local authorities to the possibility of water contamination.

"If [he] hadn't called in to report a chemical smell in the water, we may never have known about it," said Bennett Horenstein, who was director of Santa Rosa Water during the fire. "It makes me wonder how many times this has happened and gone unreported."

In total, the City of Santa Rosa had to spend $8 million replacing hydrants, valves, and other water system components in 352 properties, including 1,265 feet of water main.

"What happened in Fountaingrove should be a learning opportunity for water systems nationally," Horenstein said.

Utility companies invest in forest management

Awareness of the risk is increasing. In the more than 244-square-mile burn area left by November's Camp Fire, officials have launched a months-long water monitoring program and will sample surface water at least seven times through spring 2019.

Samples in the Camp Fire burn area will be tested for levels of pollutants including mercury, chemicals found in the fire retardant dropped from the air, and PCBs which are commonly found in electronics.

As wildfires grow more severe across the country, private companies are beginning to take action.

Just days before the Camp Fire began, Blue Forest Conservation, an investment group focused on forest and watershed health, partnered with the Yuba Water Agency, a utility company that services parts of Southern California, to fund wildfire mitigation in one of its watersheds.

The public-private partnership, called the North Yuba River Project, will focus on tree thinning and water quality monitoring in the North Yuba River.

"The conditions in the North Yuba River watershed are ripe for a fire similar to the Camp Fire. We have those conditions, just not the actual fire yet," said Willie Whittlesey, the project manager overseeing Yuba Water Agency's forest initiatives.

A neighborhood destroyed by the Camp Fire on Nov. 15, 2018 in Paradise, California.Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
To safeguard cities against drinking water contamination, other alliances between private utility companies and public organizations are forming in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, New Mexico and elsewhere in California.

Denver Water, which manages 12 water storage facilities throughout Colorado, announced in January that it's pledging $16.5 million to the From Forest to Faucets Project, a partnership with the U.S. Forest Service that will protect crucial watersheds from wildfire. Colorado has more than 14 million acres of U.S. National Forest land and almost 90 percent of it is located in watersheds that feed public water supplies.

Officials in Arizona enacted a plan in July that prescribes tree thinning and controlled burns for the three watersheds that feed the C.C. Cragin Reservoir. The project is funded in part by a local utility company called Salt River Project.

"People talk about preparing for what is coming in the future but it's actually what we're seeing now," said Linda Wadleigh, a U.S. Fire Service District Ranger in Arizona."

The C.C. Cragin Reservoir, the main source of water for at least 16,000 people in Arizona's high country, is among a federal list of water systems in western states that are most vulnerable to contamination as a result of wildfire.

Wadleigh estimated that a wildfire in the watersheds that feed the reservoir could rack up $70 million in damages.

Discussion of wildfires typically centers around forest and home destruction, not water, but Wadleigh said the partnerships with utility companies are playing a critical role in simply keeping water safety in the conversation.

"Fire mitigation projects are not just urgent because of the fact that people live near these forests, but the fact that people live downstream from these watersheds," she said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/af ... er-n954806
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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