This is my town today...

[Downtown Hound]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-santa-rosa-fire-20171009-story.html

My gym is gone. My old house is gone. I have friends who lost their homes last night. My fiance's old radio station might be gone, we're not sure. An entire neighborhood that I drive through every day is gone. Stores that I shop in all the time are gone. Wow.

Hell of a day.

[madamesilverspurs]

1. How awful!

I'm hurting for all of you.


.

[BigmanPigman]

2. I have had several friends lose their homes due to 3

wildfires in San Diego between 2000 and 2010. My emergency earthquake kit is also my fire kit now.

Stay safe!

[MontanaMama]

3. I'm so sorry.

Wildfires are devastating. We were surrounded on all sides by fire for 10 weeks this summer - homes lost - 2 firefighters dead. It's just awful. I'm hoping fall rain comes quickly.

[diva77]

4. Oh No!! Not Santa Rosa!!!! Nooooooo!! I am so very sorry!

[Mr.Bill]

5. I was evacuated during the Valley fire in Lake County.

Thankfully, we were okay. That year I sat on the civil Grand Jury that investigated our Office of Emergency Services, which had been in a shambles for years. Their Disaster Plan was written in 1996. Seriously. Many changes have been made since our recommendations were published.

I am so sorry to hear of your situation. I wish the best for you. Take advantages of all the help many organizations and government agencies have to offer.

I travel through that area every few weeks to go shopping and to go to Doctor appointments. I am not looking forward to what I will see on the next trip. It's such a beautiful part of the state.

[Dem_4_Life]

6. That is so sad. I am so sorry.

Please stay safe. That is so heartbreaking. Just WOW! I can't even possibly imagine the nightmare.

[AJT]

7. Has 45 approved disaster area aid? Jerry Brown declared some places

disaster areas.

[Mr.Bill]

9. I'll tell you what,

he'd better not show up here and throw paper towels at anyone. It won't go well.

[Downtown Hound]

10. LOL. Part of me is actually hoping he won't

That way, he can't totally fuck it up.

[BadgerMom]

8. I am so sorry.

[FailureToCommunicate]

11. So sorry to see your catastrophe. Is weather likely to get better anytime soon?

[Downtown Hound]

20. Nope. All clear the rest of the week. Yay!

[lunatica]

12. I live in Oakland in a little valley down from Merritt College

I woke up smelling the smoke from the fire at 3am. I checked my house (I have three fire alarms) and I went outside to see if there was a fire or some glowing light on the skyline but there was nothing. There was a pretty stiff breeze though which is very strange.

I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope you don't lose your house to the fire.

[Downtown Hound]

13. delete

[sinkingfeeling]

14. So very sorry.

[klook]

15. Oh, no! Such a beautiful area, devastated

I visited there last year and loved it. Very sorry you folks are going through this.

[Rhiannon12866]

16. I am so very sorry, yet another national tragedy.

I cannot imagine the shock that you and your neighbors are going through. I'm familiar with that beautiful area, was responsible for your TV listings back in the '80s.

[vkkv]

17. This is crazy, seems like it must be arson. All fires a bit too close.

[Downtown Hound]

18. We had a crazy windstorm last night

And as everybody knows, it has been an exceptionally hot year, and we haven't had any rain for months. My understanding is that the wind knocked power lines down in the rural, dry grass areas and the extreme dry conditions cause it to light up like a tinder box.

Of course, that's what I last heard. It may change.

[Downtown Hound]

19. Well, here's what's left of my old house:

https://imgur.com/a/O8HTQ


And the neighborhood that surrounded it.

[FailureToCommunicate]

24. Horrible sight. Entirely wiped out. Even in a flood or tornado there might be things to salvage, but

not with that intense conflagration.

So very sorry.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. Am I right that this fire sprang up and spread quite suddenly?

I was unaware of any fires out there until an hour or two ago when I saw something about them on the internet.

There are also fires all up and down the state, which is horrifying. I'm guessing that continued drought is one of the underlying causes, or is there something else that I don't know about.

[Downtown Hound]

22. Well, we got slammed with rain last year, so not necessarily drought

However, every summer here is a dangerous time for fires, because there's practically no rain from April to October. And the environment here is one of forest and dry grass fields.

Now, as everybody knows, we had an exceptionally hot summer here, so even with the massive amount of rains we got last year, it's super dry. And last night, there was a crazy windstorm. Massive winds. And from what I've heard, the winds knocked down the power lines in the rural, dry grass areas. And everything just lit up like a tinder box after that. The massive winds carried the flames all over the place.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

23. Thank you.

I live in New Mexico and we get our share of wild fires here, but having a relatively low population, just over 2 million people live here, peoples' homes are rarely at risk from our fires.

[Liberty Belle]

25. So awful. Folks in fire areas - there re fire gels you can buy to protect your home.

Here is one of them: http://www.firegel.com/news.html You can spray this on before the fire gets too close. It has saved many homes in California comunities but a lot of people still don't know about this or similar products.

It used to be only people in rural areas but nowadays I think even homes in suburbs in many California and Western communities may want to keep stuff like this on hand. Might be cumbersome to coat a large multi-story home, but for a smaller house and outbuildnigs it could make all the difference.