CA is on Fire

[Jake707 171]

Northern CA is starting to look like Southern CA with wild fires this week. We had a bad string of fires in wine country spread rapidly over Sunday night. Last I heard 50+K acres are currently on fire with 1,000s of homes destroyed and 0 to minimal containment. I'm about 30 miles away from the fire center and my street was covered in ash and smoke this morning. Whole house smells like a camp fire. These pics don't do justice, its hard to get how thick the smoke was on my phone.

[DrNate 426]

Wow, that is horrible.  Keep us updated and best of luck!

[rhino89523 34]

I'm waiting for the smoke to hit here, I live off I-80 in Verdi up in the hills near the Cabellas outside of Reno. It doesn't seem to matter if the fires are in Southern CA all the way to Oregon...in the summer we get smoked out often. This year has been the best at my house in a few years so I'm waiting for the Santa Rosa Smoke. Saw the Vids on the news this morning, it looked crazy there.

[Bongo Fury 640]

We had smoke at our home on the coast south of sf monday morning.  Lake house is very close to evacuation zone.  Poor Lake County has been devistated by fires the past three or four years.  Seems like the entire state is on fire right now!

[rhino89523 34]

It does seem like the state is on fire, have they figured out the cause of any of it? I rolled through Lake County last week on the way to Fort Bragg...didn't seem like there was any lightning potential all week, more like cigarette or Arsonist weather.  

[Jake707 171]

They just extended the evac range to 4 miles outside of my house so unless they contain it I think I will have to pack up the family and dogs tonight. I think the problem was on Sunday it was super windy, with gusts upward of 40 mph in the napa area and that spread what ever small fire that was going faster than then the crews could contain. Supposed to have more wind tonight so it might continue to spread faster.

My wife works in Sac and said today the smoke was pretty bad there so its def working its way east up to you in Reno. Probably will see it out there tomorrow evening or Friday morning.

[Jake707 171]

[rhino89523 34]

It showed up at my work in Truckee a few hours ago...It must be horrible there. I hope all will be O.K. and you don't lose your house. It's sad seeing all the people who have lived in and loved their house for so long crying on the TV. My wife gets into all the sentimental stuff, for me if they cut a fat check I could get over it all real quick and would enjoy everything being new and not having to carry around a rocking chair because it was someones great grandfathers. I said that to my wife once and almost ended up looking for a new place to live...she was so pissed at me.

I'm sure you have already decided what things are important and must be taken with you if you have to leave, all the rest of it isn't worth dying trying to save. I've always said if it can be fixed with money it isn't a real problem.

I have lived in areas that have had huge fires and the bummer is the landscape around your beautiful home is ruined forever. I grew up in Los Gatos in the mountains, we had a big fire come through and the landscape still doesn't look the same to me some 20 years later. Then as I was buying my house up here we had the Verdi Fire come through. I bought this house nestled up in the hills with a great view and the forest in the backyard, it all burned down, 20 years later where there were 100ft trees there are 5 footers, I won't be here when it returns to it's full glory unless I can figure out how to stay surfing to the age of about 150.

Bummer 

[Bongo Fury 640]

rhino...so true about the landscape.  The Lake County fires of the past few years have changed the landscape so much.  Hillsides with sticks across them rather than majestic  trees.  It will be generations before they return.

[Troy 234]

any new updates? Hope all is ok!

[builtforspeed 79]

1 hour ago, Troy said:

any new updates? Hope all is ok!

I live a few miles south of where fire started in Kenwood in Glen ellen. Neighbor woke me @ 1:30 . Could see the glow and a few tall trees burning north of us . It was a scary visual for sure. But we made the decision just to grab documents and leave boat and house. The few hours following we're horrible not knowing what was happening , but by the grace of a higher power most of our Glen Ellen village was sparred from the fire and our house still stands. My heart goes out to my neighbors ,friends and clients who lost there homes but glad there safe. Anyone who is a member in the santa Rosa ,Sonoma area who needs a hand they can message me. 

[Jake707 171]

The fires are much more contained and while they are still going most of the evacs have been lifted. The air in my area has finally cleaned up as well due to a change in the winds that blew most of the smoke towards the coast. There are thousands of houses destroyed leaving many people homeless, one good thing I guess is that most shelters are turning away volunteers as they are receiving huge amounts of people wanting to help. I am putting together a huge care package here at work containing muscle milk shakes and bars to help as well so people can focus on rebuilding what they have lost and not worry about finding their next meal. Some of the pictures Ive seen on the neighborhoods destroyed look like straight ware zones, its crazy.

[Bongo Fury 640]

The destruction from these fires is beyond belief.  Imagine one of those WWII moves where a entire town is rubble....that is what many areas look like...stone fire places and nothing else left for miles.   Its hard to look at.

[Bongo Fury 640]

Driving home from the lake yesterday I went a different route that took me over Cobb Mt that was burned  two years ago in the big Lake County fire.   Unreal.  Still PG&E and AT&T trucks up there.  Repaving roads still underway. New homes being built in the middle of what looks like a nuclear bomb blast.  I dont think I could have rebult there.  So sad to see...the carnage must be seen to be believed.

Edited December 2, 2017 by Bongo Fury

[Jake707 171]

Yup, and we are already seeing a real estate spike down here since all those people are without homes with no timeline on when they could start to rebuild, if they even choose to.  Rent is through the roof right now, I could rent my house out for double our mortgage and we only bought this house 3 years ago. With insurance pay outs starting in the next coming months I anticipate next spring market to be crazy in all of the surrounding areas. I just hope there aren't government or insurance lags for those people that lost their homes. That should be a priority to get them back into a position to start rebuilding their lives not just throw them up in apartments for the next couple years while insurance tries to limit what they pay out.

[Forrest22 0]

On 16.07.2019 at 11:11 AM, tj301 said:

Summer is coming up in a a few months and the thought of another fire in Cali, scares me. 

Yeah, this time of the year again..