Wednesday – Fire Update

Posted on 10/18/2017 by Andrew Reynolds

Here’s a California fire update:  41 people have died, a hundred or so are still missing, 5,700 structures destroyed, and over 245,000 acres burned.  Most fires are nearing containment.  The best summary I’ve found comes from Cal Fire’s website here: calfire.ca.gov

Then just when we thought we were getting near the end of this, a new fire started up in the hills near our home.  The Bear fire started Monday night in an area off Bear Creek Road.  The fire’s about ten miles away from home.  It’s burned about 275 acres as of last report and while it’s officially 5% contained it looks like they’ve managed to keep it from getting out of hand.  There some 600 fire fighters, with a hundred or so engines, tankers, bulldozers, and 9 helicopters working the fire. A 150 homes have been evacuated and four have been destroyed.

The only bad effect for us here in the city has been the smoke which is blowing in.

The cause of the northern fires hasn’t been officially determined, but early speculation has our power company, PG&E, in its sights.  The night the fires started there were winds of up to 45 miles per hour and many reports of downed power lines.  Sparks from these events are likely to have been the spark.  PG&E has a history of neglecting needed maintenance and cutting its tree trimming budget.  The company’s stock is dropping like a rock as it facing a possible liability of up to 12 billion dollars.  Lawyers on both sides are already at work preparing their cases.

This event will soon drop out of the spot light and the survivors will be left to clean up and try to rebuild their lives.  The healing and rebuilding process will take years, possibly decades. Sadly, some will never recover and funerals will mark the end for many.

Stay safe everyone,

Andrew

 

About Andrew Reynolds

Born in California Did the school thing studying electronics, computers, release engineering and literary criticism. I worked in the high tech world doing software release engineering and am now retired. Then I got prostate cancer. Now I am a blogger and work in my wood shop doing scroll saw work and marquetry.
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36 Responses to Wednesday – Fire Update

  2. George says:
    10/20/2017 at 1:13 pm

    God bless them all. As you say this will be a long road to recovery. Hopefully that number won’t rise as they speculated it might after they searched neighborhoods. We can only pray.
    Glad you’re safe, Andrew.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Itching for Hitching says:
    10/19/2017 at 5:18 pm

    It seems that bush fires like weather events are becoming more intense as the climate changes. Stay safe.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Andrew Reynolds says:
      10/19/2017 at 5:39 pm

      They are, but also factor in 5 years of drought, housing encroaching in on what use to wild lands, plus land management policies that don’t clear out dead brush and trees. All together, it’s actually not as bad as it could have been.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. artseafartsea says:
    10/19/2017 at 12:17 am

    Thanks for all the info on the fire. Hope the rains come soon to CA.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. lifelessons says:
    10/18/2017 at 9:03 pm

    Hi Andrew. Don’t know if I’ve ever said that I lived in Boulder Creek before moving to Mexico. I’ve been following the Santa Rosa fire as a good friend’s daughter lives there, but a shock to see Bear Creek Road is getting its share as well. Are you in Los Gatos or San Jose? Or elsewhere? Foggy memory.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. rolandlegge says:
    10/18/2017 at 8:28 pm

    My thoughts and prayers are with you all!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. dorannrule says:
    10/18/2017 at 7:58 pm

    Andrew – Thank you for your close-up perspective on the terrible fire tragedies in California. The devastation is mind boggling.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. davidprosser says:
    10/18/2017 at 1:31 pm

    I hope there are no more deaths before it’s over.
    Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Allan G. Smorra says:
    10/18/2017 at 9:55 am

    Thanks for the update & link to CalFire. I just read last night that the fires here in the North Bay have consumed an area the size of NYC. Best of luck to you.
    Ω

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Jacqui Murray says:
    10/18/2017 at 9:54 am

    Thanks for the update. Hadn’t heard about PG&E. That’s horrid.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. C. J. Hartwell says:
    10/18/2017 at 9:31 am

    It’s hard to press “like”, as Ray said, but in the end I went with it, as I like your way of presenting the update. Appreciate the news, prayers are continued.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Relax... says:
    10/18/2017 at 9:17 am

    Amen. And thanks for the update. Horrendous fires. I guess maybe we all ought to pray for rain.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Andrew Reynolds says:
      10/18/2017 at 10:17 am

      Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. Not much, but maybe enough to get final containment.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Relax... says:
        10/18/2017 at 10:43 am

        Oh, good! I’m praying for rain on all the fire areas. The fires have caused so much loss and grieving, suffering and fear.. That wasn’t fire’s Original purpose. Praying for those missing, too.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Andrew Reynolds says:
          10/18/2017 at 10:47 am

          They’re still looking for the missing. Sadly some of those will never be found. The good news is that most of the people on the missing list (it went as high as 600) have been found alive and well.

          Liked by 2 people

  13. Annika Perry says:
    10/18/2017 at 8:59 am

    Andrew…thanks for the update…I’ve been following on the news but there is scant information. As you say, the media quickly disappears whilst everyone there only starts to recover…not all sadly. Keep safe and hope the fire near to you is soon out. The scale of this is hard to imagine as we have nothing like this in the UK. I have wondered how the fires started so interesting to read about the electricity company and of course, the lawsuits! Honestly!!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Ray V. says:
    10/18/2017 at 8:54 am

    Didn’t hit “like” for obvious reasons. Hang in there and good luck.
    PS. . . I hope you didn’t have any of that stock.

    Like

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