Strong winds in California heighten fire risk in drought-stricken Los Angeles.

[toolbelt]

Engineers disagree that there is nothing we can do to avoid fire losses.

Trees do not have to be eliminated. But groves of trees can be far enough away from structures so they are not a threat.

Same goes for powerlines and power stations. There is talk about this fire originating from a power station failure.

Building codes can be enhanced so houses are not tinderboxes.
(there are single trees beside houses that still stand.... but the house is ashes)

The issue is that nobody wants to pay for it on the front end.

If neighbor 1 creates a 200' treeless buffer zone around their home, and neighbor 2, 3, 4 .......all do the same, you effectively need to remove all trees from entire cities. You effectively create a desert that nobody would want to move to.

 

[Allen Trent]

I'm just so annoyed with California political leaders saying that it's all so "unprecedented."

Really?

This video was 7 years ago. Maybe not as much destruction and loss of life, but c'mon! When are they going to get serious about being proactive about all these fires?



I guess those who have voted for these leaders are starting to figure out that they aren't in the "protected class" that they thought they were:

Plus, insurance for catastrophes really cannot be priced if they happen every decade or less, even every 30 years. I bet the average house cost involved in this is $1.5 -$2M. You cant pay enough premiums to have a house rebuilt every decade

 

[scagnt83]

If neighbor 1 creates a 200' treeless buffer zone around their home, and neighbor 2, 3, 4 .......all do the same, you effectively need to remove all trees from entire cities. You effectively create a desert that nobody would want to move to.

Your exaggerating.

Again, experts have recommended a 50ft barrier from any "mass" of trees. We are not talking about a single tree being near your home.

 

[scagnt83]

Embers travel for miles when winds are blowing at 70mph+

Good luck getting PGE to pay to bury power lines in CA!

Embers wont have the impact if protective measures are taken in the areas they have traveled to.

Embers are an issue when your home is not protected.

It has to be a collective effort.

Power line issue is no different around here. They would rather pay for repairs and let people die, than bury them.

 

[WinoBlues]

Your exaggerating.

Again, experts have recommended a 50ft barrier from any "mass" of trees. We are not talking about a single tree being near your home.

Forrest management is a big topic in California.

 

[Allen Trent]

We both live in Southern California. You know they take fire seriously, no one is getting let off for starting a fire.

insert pictures of riots over the years where fires were started. Alot of those dont get prosecuted. Sure, most of those are in cities where the poor are impacted the most, not the nice suburbs

 

[scagnt83]

Forrest management is a big topic in California.

Its becoming more frequent in our area too after the storm hit and took out millions of trees.

We had houses with 3 and 4 trees fallen on them. Insurance is starting to require owners to cut them back to keep coverage in some circumstances now.

There was 1 neighborhood locally that literally almost every house had a tree fall on it. We are talking about 100' trees that are 10ft away from bedrooms. Dumb.

 

[WinoBlues]

insert pictures of riots over the years where fires were started. Alot of those dont get prosecuted. Sure, most of those are in cities where the poor are impacted the most, not the nice suburbs

You spelled 'most' wrong.

 

[straightnochaser]

Your exaggerating.

Again, experts have recommended a 50ft barrier from any "mass" of trees. We are not talking about a single tree being near your home.

a 50ft barrier is impossible in both of our rental properties...

 

[steve heller]

A flammable house in an area prone to wildfires should be an uninsurable risk.

Of course the government doesn't like that so they try to force insurance companies to cover these risks.

All this will do is force those companies to leave California, meaning that there will be no homeowner's insurance in California, because the FAIR plan is funded by the insurance companies that will no longer be there.

One thing I haven't noticed being discussed is that you can't get a mortgage without homeowner's insurance, so no insurance = no mortgages.

The good news is that this will make housing much more affordable because houses will sell for cash rather than with gigantic mortgage loans.

Of course there may be something I'm missing in which case I'd appreciate someone's filling me in.