• Welcome to the Internet Infidels Discussion Board.

LA fires

100%. Take it from a foreigner - Trump and his MAGA lackeys like yourself have pissed all over USA's reputation far more than George W ever could.
And then Biden's "Hold me beer......for 4 years"
Nope. But nice try. The rest of the world is done with your shit.
No, the rest of the world is lined up for BRICS membership.
Indonesia (280mln people) just got it. Thank you, Biden.
I bahasa more than you do son. I know you are full of shit when you are talking about Indonesia. Every muslim nation remembers what Russia was like during the Sov years. They might not like the West but they fucking hate you you svumbags,
I don't bahasa at all, but Indonesia is a member of BRICS. And what did Russia do exactly?
Trust me, I've been to Bali too.
Riiiiight.
 
Well, this black female LAFD deputy chief is not doing DEI any favors:

LAFD Deputy Chief Faces Backlash for Past Remarks on Fire Victims

Los Angeles Fire Department Deputy (LAFD) Chief Kristine Larson is facing widespread criticism online after comments surfaced in which she appeared to shift blame onto fire victims for their circumstances.

Speaking as part of a video that aired during a commercial break for the FOX show 9-1-1 about firefighter capabilities, Larson said, "Am I able to carry your husband out of a fire? He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out."

The controversy touches on critical issues of public trust and accountability in emergency services. Larson, a 33-year veteran and the first African American woman to serve as deputy chief of the LAFD, oversees the department's Equity and Human Resources Bureau. Her role includes championing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Critics argue that her remarks undermine public confidence in the department's commitment to protecting all residents regardless of circumstance.

The backlash is compounded by Larson's comments emphasizing the importance of firefighters reflecting the communities they serve.

"You want to see somebody that responds to your house, your emergency, whether it's a medical call or a fire call, that looks like you," she said in the same video. For some, these remarks contrast starkly with her dismissal of victims' plights.

I don't quite get the remarks about anyone needing to have someone who "looks like me" to get rescued from a fire. I can see some people wanting a doctor or social worker that "looks like me" but that's just very odd for a life or death situation. In fact, if I'm trapped in my bedroom during a fire, I want to see someone like Mr. T break through my door with an axe and tell me, "Climb on my back, fool. I'm hauling your sorry ass out of this hell hole!".
Got any evidence she's actually bad for the job or a male would have done better? Got data on the performance of male firefighters vs. female?
No, I don't know anything about her job performance as a firefighter/deputy chief or her male counterparts for that matter. But that was not even my point. Its what she said in the video that piqued my interest. The idea that people that are about to be burned alive prefer to have someone that looks like them do the rescue seems nuts to me. If she has some actual survey data that substantiates that, then I would like to see it. Otherwise, its just some made up DEI propaganda bullshit. You would be wise not to believe it. The other part of her statement about victim blaming the husband for his predicament is the more disturbing part. Its just unfathomable to me that a trained firefighter would say such a thing. I could imagine (and probably dismiss) this being said in a "hot mic" situation, or as a private morbid joke between fellow firefighters, but this video was apparently broadcast as a commercial on TV and was, thus, presumably edited, reviewed and approved in advance by higher ups in the LAFD. I mean, WTF? The attitude is very unbecoming of a firefighter. I also wonder if there's a little sexism and misandry in her statement about husbands. Maybe she's playing on that old tired meme of TV husbands and fathers being bumbling idiots a la Homer Simpson. I don't know. The whole thing is just very strange.

With regard to performance of male vs female firefighters, men certainly have the advantage when it comes to the more demanding physical aspects of the job (especially carrying heavy loads like equipment and people, etc). This should be obvious to anyone. I would expect men and women firefighters to be roughly on par when it comes to things like fire knowledge, logistics, decision making, operating equipment, etc.
 
Building with brick is expensive. My guess is many of those rich people's homes had a lot of brickwork in their construction. It didn't save them.

Drive through the wealthy areas of your own city. You will see a lot of brick construction.
 
Building with brick is expensive. My guess is many of those rich people's home had a lot of brickwork in their construction. It didn't save them.
No one seems to have mentioned stucco. Its a very common siding material here in CA, and makes for a good fireproof siding choice. That coupled with metal roofing or masonry roof shingles will make for a very fire resistant house. Also, be wise about what you use for landscaping with plants and trees.
 
Last edited:
Most homes in SoCal have wood framing and stucco exterior. The reason for this is because they hold up better than brick when the ground shakes. They can twist and sway in an earthquake to a degree much greater than brick can.

If you want to argue that concrete and rebar can hold up better, then fine. But the cost difference would make most housing unaffordable. There are tilt-up concrete buildings but those are used for commercial purposes and extremely expensive compared to wood frame structures.

And has already mentioned several times: heat from the intensity of these fires will break glass windows and get inside even the brickiest of brick homes----and will cause severe structural damage to the point where the house will have to be torn down.
 
I'm not totally disagreeing with you but I thought California was a state with a left leaning ideology? And that Los Angeles county was especially left leaning?
That's likely your problem.
You think that California is a state with left leaning ideology and political landscape.

It's not. It's still the USA.
Tom
They say that Mel Gibson's house burned down. I'm guessing he pays 300-400k/yr in property taxes just like all the others in his neighborhood. Im betting he pays more in property tax than most people even make in a year. And multiply that by all those rich neighbors. You would think that should be ample money to pay for quality infrastructure. The public works water department should have money running out their ears!

I'm not buying the fact they do not have enough money to keep the water flowing during a fire.
Property taxes usually go to the school funding, not the general fund.
 
And has already mentioned several times: heat from the intensity of these fires will break glass windows and get inside even the brickiest of brick homes----and will cause severe structural damage to the point where the house will have to be torn down
The idea is not to safe any particular house, the idea is to stop chain reaction which you just had.
Glass windows is not a problem. Just have shutters on windows. you can have them removable if you like. In case of fire you take them from the storage and install.
 
The idea is not to safe any particular house, the idea is to stop chain reaction which you just had.
Glass windows is not a problem. Just have shutters on windows. you can have them removable if you like. In case of fire you take them from the storage and install.
Nothing would have stopped this. This was hurricane force winds driving the fire and blowing embers for miles in an area that has seen almost no rain for eight months.
 
Record rains late summer 2023 tropical cyclone (not a common event). Cause record brush growth. Followed by record rainless streak. Follow by raging super dry wind. Not analogous to your average structure fire or the type of wildfire that we are accustomed to over here in Florida.
 
Nothing would have stopped this.
Bullshit. Buildings without flammable roofs would certainly slowed it enough for firefighters to deal with it.
Sure, dad.

Buildings without flammable exterior would have stopped it.
What is a flammable roof? We don't build our roofs with straw. All shingles sold in this country are treated for fire resistance. Many roofs are metal nowadays although they look like typical shingles and many in CA use terracotta which also is not flammable.

Firefighters could not deal with so many fires all at once. They couldn't get to many of them because roads were blocked by abandoned cars. Once they did get there many hydrants didn't have water pressure.

Sorry, I'll listen to the real experts over anonymous "internet experts."
 
On that note...


"Los Angeles doesn't burn after November. It never has .... until now," he told SBS News. "It's winter. It should be raining in California. They're quite likely to get Santa Ana winds at this time of year, but not with a dry landscape. They basically haven't had rain since May."

According to Mullins, who is also the founder of the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action group, "dryness" was a key factor.
"It's very unusual to be this dry this quickly. It's after a few years of rain — so [there were] very high fuel levels, the hills were just covered in growth," he said.

"[There were] limited opportunities to do fuel reduction because of those in the previous rains. And then you add the final ingredient — a very strong Santa Ana event … the fires are unstoppable."

Now I'm sure barbos and most definitely RVonse are unaware of this, but Australian firefighters have some experience in battling some pretty fucking wild fires. If they're saying these fires were something you couldn't realistically prepare for, I'm inclined to believe them.
 
Now I'm sure barbos and most definitely RVonse are unaware of this, but Australian firefighters have some experience in battling some pretty fucking wild fires. If they're saying these fires were something you couldn't realistically prepare for
apparently some firefighters in California were warning about this kind of fire BEFORE it.
 
Now I'm sure barbos and most definitely RVonse are unaware of this, but Australian firefighters have some experience in battling some pretty fucking wild fires. If they're saying these fires were something you couldn't realistically prepare for
apparently some firefighters in California were warning about this kind of fire BEFORE it.
So what? You can always find someone who accurately predicts something to happen ONCE in their lives. I'm more interested if they offered up meaningful practical solution prior to the incident.

And in this case the answer is no. The most common word used by firefighting experts on these fires is "unprecedented".
 
Back
Top Bottom