It's hard to comprehend the magnitude of the destruction occurring out in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties this week. In my lifetime I have seen Mother Nature's wrath cause havoc on the East Coast, the West Coast, and plenty of real estate, and lives, in between. There have been numerous hurricanes, tornados, and wildfires that register among the worst natural disasters we have seen in the United States. The current wildfires in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties now rank as the worst in the states history.
The ravages of fire affect people across all lines. No race, religion, or economic status can be spared when the conditions are just right, or wrong, for fires to burn unimpeded and without containment. In Los Angeles and Ventura Counties there have been 9,000 structures destroyed. Luckily, until now, I say this because it's a low number, only 10 people have lost their lives. With the amount of involvement the death toll could surely have been higher.
Each of the fires have a specific name for reference. The fires are named usually by the incident commander and the names are based on their proximity to a road, geographical location, or a town or city. Interestingly, a fire that started on Friday in Los Angeles County was named Archer, I'm just not sure why.
I have never battled a wildfire, a large brush fire yes, and surely was never involved in fighting a conflagration, defined as a large area of fire that destroys property, as in large parts of a city or town. Large cities like San Fransisco, Chicago, New York and Boston lost large sections of those cities as flames claimed blocks upon blocks and took many peoples lives. Those occurred in the early days when the cities were tightly packed, constructed mostly of wood, and before modern firefighting apparatus had been manufactured.
But as a fireman I have been to several "The Big One"s as they say. The highest number of structures I had involved in fire at once were 8. In 1989, shortly before I got on the job, a wind driven fire destroyed 16 buildings before it was brought under control.
The most recent large scale fire close to home, I'm not sure if conflagration applies, was the 2013 Seaside Heights boardwalk fire (above) in which most of the boardwalk was destroyed. 68 businesses and many blocks of beach-front structures burnt to the ground. When these large scale fires happen things like wind, the type of structure, composition, distances between buildings, as well as access to and water supply all come into play.
Responding to fire that involves entire streets, blocks, and towns must be daunting. Obviously a lot of the strategies and tactics call for stopping the spread by reducing the fuel supply and cutting off its path of travel. During that many structures are just allowed to burn and suppression efforts usually entail spraying water on smoldering remains.
I can't imagine how and when these areas will be rebuilt, if at all. It is interesting to see how insurance companies now are pulling out of high risk areas due to these natural disasters. Just think of Sandy and what it did here in the tri-state area and the costs that were accrued thereafter.
Recently I went down to visit my Mother following Hurricane Milton. That ran through Bradenton where she lives but luckily she was spared. However the Bradenton Beach (above) and Ana Maria Island areas took a beating. How many homes, boats, and cars that were destroyed will be covered in some part our in whole by the insurance companies? I don't think it's sustainable when we seem to have these weather events, what seems like, more often than in the past.
So remember those out West and keep them in your thoughts and prayers and be thankful this isn't your turn in the barrel, or in the path of devastating fire.