By the way...we have earthquakes which is why we have to use certain building materials. Brick walls will fall on you during earthquakes. This is why we use lighter materials that will not crush inhabitants trapped inside. Thanks for your sympathy and kind wishes.
earhquake-reinforced masonry is extremely expensive due to the massive metal supports it requires. It is completely unfeasible for anything other than historical buildings.
Brick facade only over stucco. A lot of schools and universities use brick because brick makes people think brick makes something look more distinguished and educational because east coast schools are mostly brick. I think it’s silly and schools should just look welcoming.
True, probably because their construction is too rigid to withstand the tremors. However anything built from wood there would've caught fire very easily. Not a good choice in a part of the U.S. that gets these wildfires.
The chimneys aren't just made of brick. They're made of fire brick. Fire brick is specially made to resist up to 1800 degrees F. A house made of stone blocks might still have walls standing, but the inside would still be gutted, and it would still have to be torn down.
These fires are getting hot enough to melt metal. This means anything inside the home that can burn might start burning just from the heat around it. The 100 mile per hour winds are about 161 Kilometers per hour. Embers are traveling 2.5 miles on the winds. This means about 4 Kilometers. In the year before this, a number of insurance companies either told homeowners that they wouldn't be offering a renewal policy or that the new policy would be much much more costly.
I’m a native Angeleno and grew up in Pacific Palisades. The house and neighborhood even the city I grew up in are now gone. I still feel the loss but I can’t imagine how those that live the now feel. I’m sending prayers to you that you will once again feel whole and find peace.
I cant even imagine, dude. I feel for ya. The little coal mining town I grew up in SW Pennsylvania had a few homes destroyed due to mine subsidence. Back in 1997, some of the old defunct mines collapsed and wrecked the foundations of the houses a block away from my own. I was 13 then, and I still remember my dad walking me and my sisters up saying we had to hurry out of the house. It was like 3am, and we go out ontothe street and all of our neighbors are outside too, all in our pajamas. There were fire trucks and cops everywhere. It was mostly a precaution to evacuate until our homes were inspected. ...but, the block caddy corner to us, you could physically see the cracks going up the side of their homes. Broken windows too. I watched them cry in the street seeing their home destroyed... it was a devastating thing to see. I thought that was as bad as it gets... Then I see entire towns burnt to the ground in California. Tens of thousands of people lost everything. Same as along the east coast from the hurricane. It really puts things in perspective. As sad as it was to watch my neighbors home have to be destroyed so they could set up concrete pumping stations to fill in the mines... my brain cant comprehend witnessing the complete and utter destruction of your entire childgood town. I pray you and everyone on the other side of the country find peace through all of this madness
I want to THANK Canada and Mexico for coming in and helping out my fellow Americans! Truly Neighbors helping a Neighbor. Some certain Americans and politicians could learn a thing and two from them.
“Los Angelees” is the British pronunciation. Fun fact - the Spanish originally named the city "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río Porciúncula" (in English, "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the River Porciúncula").
It's funnier that the UK preferred pronunciation is even less similar to Mexican pronunciation than the local Anglos. Both botch the gutteral aspirated G, but why do the Brits manufacture an inconsistent second E?
Technically not renewed. Insurance companies saw that the City, County, & State have not been managing the wildlands correctly; which made the fire risk too high for them to cover.
@@daveweber9577 I just saw a video where the were talking bout how they were, but they did point how massive the state is and surrounding area and there so much you can do when natural disaster strike. But for the insurance some people are blaming the government for making a law that wouldn't allow the insurance to increase premium on people were the would considered high risk, is why the insurance company just cancelled everything on fire coverage.
Both brick and stone are not good in earthquakes, and brick would not have saved these houses from this fire. They do have new building codes that will require more fire resistant materials for the roof and siding (I've heard fiber board or aluminum), but they only apply to new construction. Now all of the replacement homes will use the new building codes.
Thank you Chris for your compassion. California has always had terrible wildfires, but now with increased drought, dry vegetation and winds, we have apocalyptic wildfires 😥
@daveweber9577 Removing the underbrush is a nice idea but not feasible. California IS underbrush. Steep slopes, thousands of acres to cover, and sheer volume of scrub make this goal a moonshot
The thing is, many of the fire hydrants had no water, I have family there. There was no water, the Firefighters said they didn’t have enough equipment, he lives in Pasadena…and said this time it felt different…they caught people trying to set fires. Theres just mass hysteria BUT people are pulling together, and people here in Texas are sending clothes and anything the red cross will take. If theres any state that has as much pride as Texas, its Californians. That state is beautiful and its so sad to see whats happening. We’ve sent donations to help…its just terrible…I pray for everyone’s safety….much love from Texas!
Did the firefighters mention they really can't do anything with 8 months no rain, 80MPH+ winds, and flying embers? Because when I lived in Colorado with 60mph winds and a wildfire, my neighbor, a Hot Shot Wildfire fighter explained there wasn't much they could do with that much wind.
When so much water are being used at once, there is little pressure left. Huge amount of pressure is needed to move water uphill, which is where the fire are usually at in this case.
@@Shuan-t1h the pressure went out not because of so much water being used we now know that one of the reservoirs was empty and it has been empty since 2023.
I work close to where these fires are at, and know a few people that live in the affected area and had to evacuate. So far they're still ok but they tell me it could go either way. Love the channel bro.
During WWII the US firebombed Cologne and other German cities. The brick and stone buildings were gutted. Your building would not do any better than US buildings. Sure, there would be more of a shell left standing, but the buildings would still be complete losses. European buildings would not do any better in hurricanes or firestorms. Firestorms with 100 MPH winds or hurricanes with high storm surges and 100 plus MPH winds are going to destroy buildings in ANY city. LA has lots of trees in it and forests with lots of vegetation around it. This is all lots of fuel for fires. No one builds stone roofs for houses and no one has fully fireproof stuff inside of their house. Something will catch fire when all the vegetation around the house is on fire. I lived in California for five years. Many cities there have cut firefighter funds (including LA) AND California has poor policies for controlling fires via controlled burns etc. There was too much dry underbrush in many areas for it to be safe. However, when a big fire rolls into a city it will cause damage. I've been in >80 MPH Santa Ana winds (LA had 100 MPH Santa Ana winds during this fire). These winds quickly dry everything out, feed lots of oxygen to fires, and make the fires move faster and more unpredictable. I also did not see a drop of rain for eight months during one period.
As far as construction goes, what's critical is what the roof is made of. California now bans wood shingle roofs in fire-prone areas so many of the roofs are clay tile or slate. But if the roof is flammable, it doesn't much matter what the walls are. The walls will remain standing if they are stone or solid masonry, but everything inside will still be burned and you will have a hollow shell. People need to get over the idea that American houses are cheaply built. My vacation home, in fact, is solid masonry just like a European house but that's because it's in the desert and the thick walls are effective insulation. On the other hand, in earthquake country, wood frame construction is far more resistant to severe damage than masonry. And as others have mentioned, a lot of California homes have stucco exteriors because they mimic old Mediterranean architectural styles. For those who don't know, stucco is a wet mortar or cement spread over an underlayment that can be anything from adobe brick to cement board, but it is very fire resistant.
All true, but I've also read that embers can get in through attic vents and start the fire in there, taking the roof down from the inside. So having fine enough mesh over any such openings is worth attending to as well. Which is mostly on my mind because of some shoddy work by the previous owner which I only discovered when painting last summer.
Most homes built prior to the 60’s or 70’s were brick, stone or mason. Im frm NE Delaware and we have flammable tar shingled roofs but I thought all out west was red tile? It used to be. Didnt kno they went substandard on a major thing like that 🤷🏻♀️
@@PhatFreddysCat First of all, a lot of those masonry-appearing homes in the northeast are not solid masonry. They are brick or stone veneer. That means wood frame with a single layer of brick or stone on the outside rather than clapboards or wood. Solid masonry walls have the decorative brick or stone covering more masonry, sometimes using less decorative materials like cinder block so that the actual walls are a foot or more thick of solid masonry. As far as the west is concerned, the roofs used to be as appropriate for the architecture. Wood shingles (shakes) are the architecturally correct type of roof for certain styles like the once-popular Craftsman, but in recent decades they have been banned in favor of tile, slate or other non-flammable materials. Wood shingles never were cheaper. In fact the reason red tiles have become so popular is that, aside from being architecturally appropriate for pseudo-Spanish styles, they are usually made of cement (not the historic clay) and not unusually expensive. These days, if you want to replace a shake roof on a Craftsman bungalow, you have to use something that mimics shakes like, again, cement pseudo-shingles (but then weight can be an issue). I don't know if eastern-style shingles are fully fireproof. I think there are lighter fiberglass shingles that are but not sure.
The problem was two years of tain followed by very dry year and no rain since October. The Santa Ana winds come off the desert, dry hot at hurricane forces up to 60 to 100 miles per hr (96 to 130 kmh) throwing embers for miles. The winds blew the embers over over large areas, causing too many fires 🔥 the fire fighters couldn't fight. With the winds, the fires spread at massive speeds. The large amount fires overtapped the water resources, and waterhydrants failed to maintain pressure. Unfortunately at that speed of winds, the helicopters and water fighting planes can't fly. With the canyons, the fire fighters cant get to the fires.
You cannot build brick and stone homes in California due to earthquakes. Fires likes these would destroy your homes in Europe as well. The chimneys you see are not stable nor strong. Your home would collapse from the heat of the fires. Stone and bricks become very weak from the intense fires.
@@o_oo_o1812 They survived but they are uninhabitable because the stucco is contaminated and extremely weak. And I am not going to get to smoke and water damage. Once a home has fire damage the entire house must be rebuilt. The dangers of not doing so are too great.
Chris, I like your channel but Americans are tired of Europeans always claiming their houses would do better in a fire, an earthquake, a tornado, a hurricane, etc. If you had the dry climate and a draught and the Santa Ana winds combined your houses would burn, too. Its not like a house fire, its an inferno. If your brick and stone houses fell on you during a tornado you would wish you had a wooden house. Wood will flex a bit and withstand wind that isn't too severe. Europeans have no idea of the strength of tornadoes and hurricanes or that its flooding that does the most destruction in a hurricane. No matter what your house is made of, if the ground around it gives way and goes with raging water, your house is going, too. Tornadoes and hurricanes can break windows and doors of stone houses just as easily as wood houses. Then the house fills with water. Houses in the USA are built to the codes for the conditions that they are likely to face. California has earthquake codes. Florida has hurricane codes. Wood is much warmer than stone. Cement block is cooler. Adobe is great for New Mexico but not Missisippi, etc. There are numerous videos of tornadoes. One of them shows how a 200 yard wide strip of grass was lifted off the ground. Western North Carolina was devastated by Hurricane Helene a few months ago. A good video to watch is, Cries of the Carolinas, Chasing Hurricane Helene - A Documentery. It begins in Florida but then goes to some of the worst hit areas of the mountains. When you see the power of water, you'll understand no building is a match for nature's fury.
Easy there, Slick. Ain't no call to take it out on Chris. He didn't know no better and he wasn't acting all superior and know-it-all like the folks who actually annoy you.
i'm an american and i feel like comments like this make us look bad. you don't speak for all of us. maybe tell him instead of getting all upset about it.
There are so many different things that contributed to these fires becoming such a problem. Lots of dry wood in the forests, the winds, and water management issues. On top of that, there seem to be people running around starting more fires. When it comes to insurance, it's simply too expensive for companies to offer much in the way of insurance due to how many people live there and how regular these fires have gotten.
I hear a lot of people have been getting their fire insurance cancelled not long before this and everyone is talking about the fire hydrants being completely dry. I live near the area and have seen a bunch of reports of people trying to start more fires all over. I saw one this morning with pictures of the guy trying it in Azusa and getting stopped by police.
The fire hydrants were not dry. This is misinformation. it may also be considered disimformation. A fire hydrant will go dry after a point. Fire hydrants are not meant to be able to provide enough water to tackle wildfires of this magnitude.
I moved to San Diego just a few weeks after devastating fires tore through the community in 2007. The type of inferno fanned by these winds means very little will remain of any of the structures affected. Also: we have to expect earthquakes so our homes might be built to a different standard than in other places. I live next to an “open space” and have to create a defensible space around our property by cutting and clearing brush. We have an evacuation plan and go-kit - essential in California.
Not discounting what my fellow Californians are going through in LA, but in 2018 the Camp Fire burned through our sister town of Paradise, killing 85 in less than 5 hours, burning more than 19,000 homes (90% of the community). It also burned into our city limits and destroyed homes here, I had 5 different family members run for their lives out of town on 1 of the only 2 roads in or out, they lost everything. The Palisades Fire at it's height was burning 5 football fields per minute, the Camp Fire burned 80 per minute, a rate of 16 times faster. Then just 5 months ago, a drunk drove his over heated car into some dry grass in our lovely Bidwell Park, sparking what would eventually be a fire that consumed more than 460,000 acres, burning hundreds of homes and eliminating entire communities, making it the 5th largest fire in CA history. These fires in California are getting worse and worse, and bigger and bigger, and more frequent each year! I have personally lived through more than I can say.
If you remember the 2017 Thomas Fire that burned along Ventura on its way to the ocean. City of Ventura did not have back-up power for the pumps that supplied water to the hydrants and the historic downtown area burned because firefighters had to use 4k gallon tankers to refill fire engines on scene. Funny (sad, not ha ha) how Los Angeles had a similar situation during the Palisades fire.
@daricetaylor737 - I truly feel your pain. Much of my state was devastated by Hurricane Helene a few months ago. It looked like a war zone and will take years to recover.
@@daveweber9577 Failure in systems is so much worse than the fire itself! I guess we can at least say the systems did not fail us here in Northern CA, only nature did! Failure in systems must just rub salt into a wound for you. Sorry!
@@reindeer7752 I know, my heart went out to all of you who were affected by the many hurricanes that blew through you last year. I guess we all have something we have to get used to regardless of where we live!
Firebreaks and cleaning up brush and leaves would help curb fires. We found this out during Oakland firestorm. Praying for my fellow Californians...may JESUS send you rain and preserve your families✝️🥺🙏
@wanderingheidi you are correct....my grandparents lived in Ventura and I witnessed and experienced them. My point was this helped in Northern California where my parents' property barely survived 2024 fires after they cleared property. Their property was devastated by fire in 2005 & 2010 ...lost everything. Clearing fuel supply made the difference...wishing all the best for those suffering through this conflagration.
The videos of embers flying horizontally in the 100 mph Santa Ana wind are terrifying and an illustration of why the fires have been so hard to contain.
I live in California, but up north, hundreds of miles away from the fires. My heart aches for anyone affected by this tragedy. You’re in my thoughts and prayers. The images towards the end of the video kinda remind me of the movie Backdraft. It’s so scary looking.
Hi from California ❤! Thank you for sharing this with everyone. It's quite horrific. I'm a native Californian and now live away from the fires 🔥, but grew up right there. Everyone needs prayers 💕🙏
Chris, I lived in Pacific Palisades back from 1966 to 1967 and the weather was cool but not cold. During fire season, wildfires burned hundreds of acres not tens of thousands like they do now. No doubt, the scale of the fire was helped by urban sprawl with housing that goes all the way to the San Gabriel Mountains. I can’t vouch for whether enough controlled burns were conducted to burn flammable underbrush, whether water was managed properly to assist in fighting the fires. Additionally there were cuts to the fire department by the Mayor and diverted to the Police Department. There was fair warning about the seriousness of the coming Santa Ana winds but the Mayor left the city to travel to Ghana. However, the length of the drought since May, the 100 mph Santa Ana winds blowing dry hot air from the desert into LA cannot be ignored and cannot be blamed on the politicians. Climate change has continued to strengthen Southern California’s fire season. The U.S. mainstream media is not reporting the impact of human caused climate change on the wildfires.
Of course the fires can't be blamed on the politicians. But what CAN and SHOULD be blamed on them is the FAILURE TO MITIGATE the amount of damage that might occur from the fires. You know, because it's what they were ELECTED to do.
Brick does not work well in earthquake areas, it is too brittle and not flexible enough. Also, it’s amazing that you say homes are made of paper. How misinformed
While this happened on the west on the east where I was living we had heavy snow storms and had the exact opposite problem and we were freezing and the roads were impassable and power was out it’s just crazy
how do Germans feel about this comparison? A big lot of people died in Dresden and it was like Hiroshima without the radiation. Beautiful city before this according to photos. I thought the same thing, that this looked like many cities in WW2 that were bombed with incendiaries. Those were bigger in scale to LA fires.
Are the fires recent? Nope. Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo reached San Pedro Bay, California on October 8, 1542. He named the bay Bahia de los Fumos, which translates to "Bay of Smokes" in English because of fires in the hills causing smoke in the bay. The bay is now known as the Port of Los Angeles. So much for a changing environment.
The Fire water Reservoirs that feed the hydrants were empty, and the state stopped Forest fire suppression wich is clearing dead brush and leaves on the ground, cutting tall grass and harvesting dead or dying trees.
@wanderingheidi it's not, I live in Northern California and I've lived through three of the major northern California wildfires, so do your reasurch before spouting out your liberal talking points
This fire (now multiple fires still burning) moved from the top of the hills down to the beach. They usually move uphill. There had been no rain for eight months so the area was a tinderbox. The Santa Ana winds usually aren’t this strong but they’ve always been a pest. This time they got up to 100 miles an hour. (!) My elderly father (almost 90) said he’s never seen the winds this strong. My sister and her in-laws both lost their homes early in the fire. It’s not over yet…
I'm in southern California the skies are blood red even at night like a Volcano went off. the dark smoke clouds turning the sky grey, and ash falling like snow. only thing in our favor is it winter. if it was summer it be a lot worse. we keep wishing it will rain. but then floods will happen and landslides. i"ve seen the pictures of the fires much worse then was shown on here. but we Californians are strong and we will rebuild and recover from this. Earthquakes, fire, floods, northern part of California snow, heavy winds, landslides.... Stay Strong California. Canadian firemen are being sent to California to aid in the fire. possible so will Australia. 10 people are dead so far.
At 10:14 you ask about the pronunciation of the city. Since you are watching BBC, the British version of the Spanish name is 'Loss AngeLEEZ', but you are correct that the American pronunciation is 'Loss AngeLESS". Of course the Spanish is 'Los (as in German!) AnhelACE'. Likewise at 13:11 the announcer pronounces 'swathes' as 'swaythz', where Americans say 'swoths'. LOVE your channel!
@DarkPhoenixVixen Didn't mean to leave you out in the cold. That environment is another beautiful part of our wonderful state. Every place has its own beauty.
We moved to So. Cali in 2003 and I think there has been just one year without fires. I am not sure why this one has gotten so much attention. It is like this every year. Maybe because movie stars lost their homes this time. There is a reason we say we have seasons; earthquake season, fire season, mudslide season, and spring
I'm in the west San Fernando Valley near Topanga. I was about 4 miles from the Palisades fire. Very little sleep the last few nights. Thank you for recognizing our battle 🤗
I was born and raised in Santa Monica California. We saw fires every year and the Santa Ana winds often accompany them. The big difference is the population density. When I Was Young no One lived in these areas that are being threatened now there's a million-dollar billion dollar homes. In California made some foolish Mistakes by not keeping the fire breaks they used to cut along the Hills all my life it seems they have ignored their yearly fire danger and now it's biting them in the ass and I cry for all those things I knew that are gone
Houses in the U.S. are made of wood primarily because: Economical: The vast forest industry and expertise in transportation and distribution make wood an affordable choice. Lightweight: Wood is lighter than bricks, reducing transportation costs.
The winds are 100-150km/hr or more. At that force/speed the winds drive burning debris ahead of the fire. If the fire is a kilometer away and burning branches blow and bounce through the landscape or across the roof, you get black spots and smudges. But if hot coals are channeled into vents or down chimneys, the embers come to a rest and are fanned just like blowing on a campfire. And the house can start on fire from the inside even while the fire itself is some distance away. This is being addressed in new designs but retrofitting older buildings is still a work in progress.
Hey I’m here from LA about 20 minutes away from the Eaton fire and everyone around us have gotten evacuation orders and no one has yet left, people are scared to leave everything behind. School, jobs, and social buildings have all closed. Physical activity in school is prohibited and everywhere in LA black ashes are mix with our air. LA is surrounded with high mountains and hills and the Santana winds are pushing the fires towards the city there are about 11 died so far and some people are not allowed to help or donate anything because the fires are so dangerous and uncontrolled. Please pray for LA 🙏
No matter where you live, there are dangers. I have witnessed Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Blizzards, and Forest Fires. Thankfully, we have so many agencies and organizations that help those who need it. Our love for each other is what keeps us all going.
Yes, let me say, you are incorrect!!! Your homes with these fires, would render you house unrepairable!!! So you might have a wall left, so tell me what you can do with that???? You would tear whats left down, and rebuild, so to blame it on our construction our homes, is completely wrong!
California is prone to fires and earthquakes. We can't build with stone and brick because it will collapse with one good shake. Unfortunately, wood is very fire-friendly. Worse, California is a desert, and we don't get much rain. It doesn't take much for a spark to start a fire. The winds out here grow and spread the fires like crazy. The National Guard was called out because desperate people were/are trying to break into these evacuated places to take all they could carry. I live just a little south of Los Angeles, and the smoke and ash are coming down with the winds. Right now I'm waiting to see if there are going to be any LA County evac warnings to know if I have to drag my family away to safety.
Like others have said, brick houses are a danger in Cali due to frequent earthquakes. And people in L.A. who had home insurance are now having their policies randomly cancelled before their homes burn and apparently the government is just allowing the insurance companies to due that. I saw one news clip of a woman saying her elderly parents have lived in their home for 70 years and have been paying for home insurance the whole time, and suddenly as the fires started their insurance company cancelled the policy. They paid it for years only to be abandoned and there's no law against that. Companies have been taking insurance payments from people for years and are now suddenly deciding they don't want to follow through on their end of the deal.
One of the biggest problems in the Southern California fires is the Santa Ana winds. These are unique to the area because of weather patterns and geography. The winds can easily reach hurricane velocities; during this fire, gusts were up to 100 mph (161 kph). Fighting fires in foothill and mountain country is also difficult. The geography affects the wind patterns, while the topography can make access difficult or impossible for firefighters. Severe fires like this also create their own weather. Fire tornadoes are a reality. One water source was underground, and hydrants were pulling water from it faster than the reservoir could refill. Hence, some hydrants ran dry and others lost pressure. A critical firefighting plane was lost due to damage from a drone - some damned fool decided they just had to fly their toy during a major fire. Firefighting also doesn't get into full gear right away. People have to be evacuated. Homes are checked to make sure everyone is out, including the old and the disabled. If you're in hill country, access roads are often only two-lane roads and don't allow for quick evacuation. As others have noted, California is earthquake country. Our building codes reflect that. Stone and brick are dangerous in earthquakes. It's been an old joke here - California has only two seasons; fire and flood. But with climate change, those seasons are now both year round and overlapping.
The water was being pulled out too fast because the forests hadn't been properly thinned. A slower advance would have put far less strain on the water system.
@tonyburzio4107 There's no slower advance when the fires are being driven by 100 mph wind gusts over canyons and peaks. Those embers can travel miles, skipping over firelines, and creating pockets of unburned areas surrounded by fire. The flames can overrun anything. Winds change everything. If that's not bad enough, many of the fires create their own weather. I have family living in the foothills of Northern California. They had to evacuate during the Mosquito fire, trying to get out on a two-lane road. These fIres can be completely unpredictable. No matter how well you prepare, they can surprise you. You need to go back and review video of the Camp fire, folks trying to evacuate in front of a fire moving so fast their car was burning - and they weren't coping with Santa Ana winds. There will be lots of armchair quarterbacks, lots of coulda, woulda, shoulda. But these firefighters are pros. They know what they're doing. But, Mother Nature can be a cruel bitch, and sometimes she's just going to win, property is going to be destroyed, people are going to die, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it.
One of the reasons for the destruction that we see in the neighborhoods is because of how closely together the homes were built plus with the winds blowing at over 100 mph, The fires were unstoppable. when the fires initially started there was nothing The first responders could do except try to save lives before property. Aircraft normally used to fight fires were grounded because of the winds.
Not forest fires. These are residential neighborhoods. We've never seen anything like this. There are firefighters from all over the country are pouring in to help out. I live 1000 miles away and firefighters from here have gone to California to help. This wasn't caused by climate changed. It's apparently arsonists and poor planning by government officials.
These are older houses with not many fire standards. My parents house was built to sustain a 8.0 earthquake and forest fires. This is not a joke, they did survive a 7.4 earthquake and two forest fire. Build safe, no wood just concrete and tiles.
I work at a store in Pasadena, just few blocks away from where the Eaton fire happened. I’m one of the few employees that commutes from other cities to work there. I live in Glendale California, from about seven to twelve minutes car trip away. Most of my coworkers reside there in Altadena, so obviously they didn’t showed up to work that day. They were all evacuated really early in the morning and as of today we’re still learning that some of them lost it all in the fire. Some of them haven’t even been able to find out if they still have a place to go or if they also lost it in the fire. The whole situation its just surreal. Really sad and personal to me.
Stone house frames are standing after fires, but the insides absolutely burn to nothing. I'd think they would certainly slow the spread, but that depends on winds and what materials are used on rooftops.
I live in an area of Los Angeles close to what is called "Koreatown" far from the fire, but we can see them looking down Wilshire, and smell them. Everyone is wearing masks as much as possible. And keeping our windows closed/staying indoors. Most of the areas that burned are higher class neighborhoods. Every winter we hear of fires and mud slides in these areas, but never as bad as this.
Wood is an excellent construction material that is resistant to earthquakes and the hot/cold cycles of American weather. Abundant forests in America make it a cost-effective option. For fire protection, we use drywall which is fire-resistant and have stricter laws about smoke alarms as well as fire alarm systems/fire suppression systems like sprinklers in commercial buildings. Brick or concrete buildings would have also been destroyed in these fires.
I used to live in California when I was so very small. Oakland caught on fire in 91 when I was 5. I remember walking home with my mom and it started raining ashes. When we got home, I ran to the tallest point on a hill nearby and all I saw was smoke where there was supposed to be land. At night, the bottom of the smoke glowed red. And that red banner just got bigger everytime the wind picked up. Where i live now isn't a place that have wild fires. But we have tornados and hurricanes and they destroyed so much.
I remember those Oakland fires! It was the first time I ever heard the word firestorm applied to a weather event. The fires were fed by eucalyptus trees and generated fierce winds. Lots of oxygen and fuel
it's just devastating! You can see the fires and the destruction from space! I'm from Eastern Kentucky and just cry for these families who have just lost everything!
European built homes would’ve prevented the fire from spreading a bit, but the fires have been so hot that molten metal has been flowing in the streets. I’m not sure how much better they would be in terms of damage.
It may sound odd to a European for wildfires and snowstorms to be afflicting a country at the same time, but the US is exponentially larger than European nations. America is ENORMOUS!
@JustMe-dc6ks You still require ample space between locales to have varying climates in the first place. You're never going to see the southwestern part of Rhode Island suffering from drought and wildfires at the same time it's east coast is being hammered by hurricanes and flooding simply because these regions are so close to each other
There only 3 Construction options in California. - Wood - Steel framed - Reinforced concrete Brick and stonework is not safe in Earthquakes. Residential homes are usually made of wood while industrial and commercial buildings are made of steel and concrete. Apartment blocks in the downtown area are mostly made of concrete.
Unless your brick/stone house has a fire proof roof, you'd still lose everything on the interior. My city just had a huge fire (unrelated to the wildfire, we're on the east coast) in old brick university campus buildings built in the 1700s. Probably built similarly to European buildings at the time. The fire destroyed EVERYTHING except the brick. It's still beyond repair, so now it will have to be demolished and the debris will have to be dealt with. As bad as it seems, at least wooden built homes burn away and leave less debris and rubbish. Not to mention the structural safety regulations for new construction are very different all over the world based on the types of natural disasters likely. So in California all the earthquakes would reduce a brick home to rubble quite easily. Tornadoes do the same except usually you go underground for safety with tornadoes. If it destroys your brick home on top of you, you can be crushed or trapped much longer than if only a few wood planks were there.
Check out pictures of Dresden after the WW II firestorm. Most of that city was not bombed with explosive bombs. It was destroyed by fire just like these parts of LA.
I have a good friend in Chatsworth-Los Angeles, CA who was evacuated 2 days ago. I haven't heard if they have been given the all-clear for sure, but she thought she'd be allowed to go back last night. Checking to see if there is word from her. She has 2 children, and both she and her husband are Marines, and he is currently deployed in the middle east. (edit- just got word she and the kids are safe and back at home!). I'm sad to hear that you believe climate change has anything to do with this. Southern CA is a DESERT, and the Santa Ana winds are as predictable as clockwork. Fires are natural and normal for this region of the United States. They happen EVERY YEAR, regardless of temperatures or rainfall. The difference of a degree or two above average from one year to the next will not make one tiny bit of difference. Know what caused the destruction we're witnessing? One reason is the fact that homelessness is at an all-time high in southern CA. and many of these people start fires where they are encamped- regardless of the danger of wildfires. Also, environmentalists lobby the government ceaselessly, demanding they refuse to allow the forestry service to use common mitigation measures such as brush and deadfall clearing. Another reason is the Governor of the state didn't do anything to expedite repairs and new builds of water reservoirs or do anything else whatsoever to ensure adequate water supply for the city or the region. We have also learned that the mayor of Los Angeles CUT THE BUDGET of the fire department by over $17 MILLION DOLLARS and the DEI hire in charge of the LA fire department didn't make stopping and preventing fires her first priority when hired, and instead decided that equity and includsion needed to be at the top of that list. Even one of these reasons alone can be said to have contributed to this disaster far more than "climate change", and when all of them happen simultaneously they are clearly the reasons why these fires were not prevented, controlled or contained as they easily could have been.
My cousin lived in Altadena. They lost their house the first night of the fire. They left when told to evacuate and are safe (but heartbroken for their loss and their neighbors who also lost their homes)
Hurricane Helene was far more devastating than the wildfires but it isn't a misery contest. I feel for everyone who is affected by whatever kind of nature's fury. We got light snow in NC. I was hoping for a bit more for my dogs to play in. Feast or famine.
I don't know that much about construction, but I also wondered why so many of our houses are made of wood. People saying earthquakes pretty much answers it I guess, but up here in the PNW, I wanted to go with something like ICF, because fires can be out here to some extent, and it seems good in some ways, but honestly we simply couldn't afford it. Even with housing prices being higher (including the wood itself), wood was still closer to being within budget, where the other stuff wasn't. I think partly it's what is known best (by builders) and best supplied.
If you're looking at doing another Colledge Football Reaction... There is one that shows what going to a game is like, starts with the tailgating, the stadium, the entrance, bands and halftime show... of a typical game. It gives you the excitement, passion of what to expect going to a game. It's called 'British Reacts to Their First SEC Football Game - TEXAS vs GEORGIA'
Homes made of stone are not designed for earthquakes. This is also why you see many homes in places like Japan and New Zealand built from wood. The thing to know is that Southern California is always subject to winds. See Santa Ana winds. They usually go from September to November but January is very unusual. Also these winds were known as Mountain Wave winds and some gusts were hurricane force winds which made this even worse.
Californian here - luckily I am several hours drive north of LA (Los Angeles), I'm in Sacramento, the capital. I have a very good childhood friend now living in LA who has not yet been evacuated (last I heard) but has a bag packed and ready to go. I have been in regular text conversation with her, she tells me she has several friends who have lost their homes. I see other comments explaining buildings in California built the way they are because of earthquakes, which California is famous for, we've all felt them. The majority of California was "won" from Spain a couple hundred years ago in the Mexican-American war. At least half of the cities were originally named in Spanish and the names stuck. "Los Angeles" translates to "The Angles" - Google its full name. We say "Los Angelis" as it is closer to the Spanish pronunciation, or simply "el-ay" - LA. "Los Angeleez" was simply the pronunciation with a British accent as this was a BBC broadcast.
Guten tag, Chris. Native Angeleno here and former employee of Germany's Baeurer Inc's failed US venture. Everyone I know has either been ordered to evacuate or is on standby to evacuate. This feels coordinated, like the fires in Maui. We have nowhere to go and our uniparty state is wholly owned and controlled by billionaires. We working class are on our own.
What do you mean feels coordinated? They are warning people to evacuate dabger zones. Of course there is coordination. Coordination means working together. It isn't a "bad word". Why is everything a conspiracy theory????? This isn't hard. No rain plus spark plus wind = fire. Go back to grade 3 science class.
Thank you Chris for all your videos exploring life in the U.S. It's wonderful to hear someone from another country saying positive things about us here- we don't get to hear that perspective very much- so thank you for that! And you're just so sweet and NICE I enjoy anything you put out- such a fresh perspective. Someone from the U.K. mentioned recently that they were surprised that most of the housing in the U.S. is made from wood- they were used to stone or brick, etc. Back in the early colonial days houses were made of wood because it was so abundantly available and that tends to be the primary building material today- at least east of the Rocky Mountains. And the heavy earthquake prone areas use wood and lighter materials because of the shake danger with bricks falling, etc. You can see solid concrete or masonry buildings elevated on stilts next to the ocean in Florida and the east coast, to withstand hurricanes. But the natural events are getting more and more severe. Unfortunately if the disaster is so great it doesn't matter what material was used, especially if structures are built in disaster prone areas. Thank you again for your videos~
8:12 No, you don't know. When I moved to Eureka in 1992 it was just a week after the "Cape Mendocino Earthquakes." There were three big ones over two days. When we pulled into town the first thing we saw was chimneys, all knocked down, piles of bricks in people's yards. The houses were otherwise fine. Give that a thought.
as we should as well build our houses from stone but they cannot in CA due to Earthquake danger. I live in Minnesota and many buildings here are stone or concrete thick walls like you mention, because we are withstanding the cold here but no earthquakes here. In CA people would maybe get crushed under falling debris if there was a huge earthquake.
I grew up in Altadena. We moved there in 1969. My old house is gone as are all the places I hung out in. I don't live in California anymore but I still feel like I l9st everything. With the 100 mph winds there was no way to prevent them ev3n though there are people saying that California should have done m9re to keep this from happening. Most of the houses there were 100 years old or more.
By the way...we have earthquakes which is why we have to use certain building materials. Brick walls will fall on you during earthquakes. This is why we use lighter materials that will not crush inhabitants trapped inside. Thanks for your sympathy and kind wishes.
Also wood is flexible for the earthquakes.
reinforced stone is fine for earthquakes. lumber is used because its cheapest
@o_oo_o1812 Thanks...i know nothing about construction. So sad to hear winds are picking up. Praying for containment and families of 24 victims.
earhquake-reinforced masonry is extremely expensive due to the massive metal supports it requires. It is completely unfeasible for anything other than historical buildings.
You don't see brick buildings in CA due to earthquake dangers
Exactly. And most homes are stucco exteriors, which is why you see the roofs catch fire first and then the building follows.
Brick facade only over stucco. A lot of schools and universities use brick because brick makes people think brick makes something look more distinguished and educational because east coast schools are mostly brick. I think it’s silly and schools should just look welcoming.
True, probably because their construction is too rigid to withstand the tremors. However anything built from wood there would've caught fire very easily. Not a good choice in a part of the U.S. that gets these wildfires.
@dking1836 would not metal roofs and siding be more fire resistant?
The old brick buildings are usually from 1920s, 1930s and owners have to add things to bring them to code for earthquake safety.
The chimneys aren't just made of brick. They're made of fire brick. Fire brick is specially made to resist up to 1800 degrees F.
A house made of stone blocks might still have walls standing, but the inside would still be gutted, and it would still have to be torn down.
These fires are getting hot enough to melt metal. This means anything inside the home that can burn might start burning just from the heat around it.
The 100 mile per hour winds are about 161 Kilometers per hour. Embers are traveling 2.5 miles on the winds. This means about 4 Kilometers.
In the year before this, a number of insurance companies either told homeowners that they wouldn't be offering a renewal policy or that the new policy would be much much more costly.
@@bcase5328 Yup
I’m a native Angeleno and grew up in Pacific Palisades. The house and neighborhood even the city I grew up in are now gone. I still feel the loss but I can’t imagine how those that live the now feel. I’m sending prayers to you that you will once again feel whole and find peace.
I cant even imagine, dude. I feel for ya. The little coal mining town I grew up in SW Pennsylvania had a few homes destroyed due to mine subsidence. Back in 1997, some of the old defunct mines collapsed and wrecked the foundations of the houses a block away from my own. I was 13 then, and I still remember my dad walking me and my sisters up saying we had to hurry out of the house. It was like 3am, and we go out ontothe street and all of our neighbors are outside too, all in our pajamas. There were fire trucks and cops everywhere. It was mostly a precaution to evacuate until our homes were inspected. ...but, the block caddy corner to us, you could physically see the cracks going up the side of their homes. Broken windows too. I watched them cry in the street seeing their home destroyed... it was a devastating thing to see. I thought that was as bad as it gets... Then I see entire towns burnt to the ground in California. Tens of thousands of people lost everything. Same as along the east coast from the hurricane. It really puts things in perspective. As sad as it was to watch my neighbors home have to be destroyed so they could set up concrete pumping stations to fill in the mines... my brain cant comprehend witnessing the complete and utter destruction of your entire childgood town. I pray you and everyone on the other side of the country find peace through all of this madness
I want to THANK Canada and Mexico for coming in and helping out my fellow Americans! Truly Neighbors helping a Neighbor.
Some certain Americans and politicians could learn a thing and two from them.
“Los Angelees” is the British pronunciation. Fun fact - the Spanish originally named the city "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río Porciúncula" (in English, "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the River Porciúncula").
It's funnier that the UK preferred pronunciation is even less similar to Mexican pronunciation than the local Anglos. Both botch the gutteral aspirated G, but why do the Brits manufacture an inconsistent second E?
LA is a helluva lot easier.
"Hope many of them had insurance" Yeah about that.......
Nope. Insurance was canceled 4 months ago for all of them. Fire risk.
Technically not renewed. Insurance companies saw that the City, County, & State have not been managing the wildlands correctly; which made the fire risk too high for them to cover.
@@daveweber9577 I just saw a video where the were talking bout how they were, but they did point how massive the state is and surrounding area and there so much you can do when natural disaster strike. But for the insurance some people are blaming the government for making a law that wouldn't allow the insurance to increase premium on people were the would considered high risk, is why the insurance company just cancelled everything on fire coverage.
@@daveweber9577 They were not being allowed to raise their rates in order to provide the coverage necessary for fires.
Callis my niece told me her landlords fire ins protection plan didn't expire till Jan 1 of this year!
@@oldfogey4679 but the notices were out months ago.
Thanks for offering your support for the people subjected to these terrible fires. We appreciate your friendship.
Both brick and stone are not good in earthquakes, and brick would not have saved these houses from this fire.
They do have new building codes that will require more fire resistant materials for the roof and siding (I've heard fiber board or aluminum), but they only apply to new construction. Now all of the replacement homes will use the new building codes.
Thank you Chris for your compassion. California has always had terrible wildfires, but now with increased drought, dry vegetation and winds, we have apocalyptic wildfires 😥
And a governor who is an idiot!!
Don’t forget non-existent land management by the State & Counties that allows all that underbrush to grow & make those fires worse.
@daveweber9577 Removing the underbrush is a nice idea but not feasible. California IS underbrush.
Steep slopes, thousands of acres to cover, and sheer volume of scrub make this goal a moonshot
@IngotAU disagree it does work
@@lauraIngleswilder74 Ok Laura
Last time we had rain was May 6, 2024 and that was not enough to wet the ground.
Doesn't help that nobody filled the reservoirs or had an alternative plan in action.
@@DarenMiller-qj7bu Water reservoirs at full capacity due to last two winters' bumper rain and snowpacks.
The thing is, many of the fire hydrants had no water, I have family there. There was no water, the Firefighters said they didn’t have enough equipment, he lives in Pasadena…and said this time it felt different…they caught people trying to set fires. Theres just mass hysteria BUT people are pulling together, and people here in Texas are sending clothes and anything the red cross will take. If theres any state that has as much pride as Texas, its Californians. That state is beautiful and its so sad to see whats happening. We’ve sent donations to help…its just terrible…I pray for everyone’s safety….much love from Texas!
Did the firefighters mention they really can't do anything with 8 months no rain, 80MPH+ winds, and flying embers? Because when I lived in Colorado with 60mph winds and a wildfire, my neighbor, a Hot Shot Wildfire fighter explained there wasn't much they could do with that much wind.
@ yeah there’s not much they could do. With winds that high and multiple fires… they were spread thin.
When so much water are being used at once, there is little pressure left. Huge amount of pressure is needed to move water uphill, which is where the fire are usually at in this case.
@@Shuan-t1h the pressure went out not because of so much water being used we now know that one of the reservoirs was empty and it has been empty since 2023.
I work close to where these fires are at, and know a few people that live in the affected area and had to evacuate. So far they're still ok but they tell me it could go either way. Love the channel bro.
During WWII the US firebombed Cologne and other German cities. The brick and stone buildings were gutted. Your building would not do any better than US buildings. Sure, there would be more of a shell left standing, but the buildings would still be complete losses.
European buildings would not do any better in hurricanes or firestorms.
Firestorms with 100 MPH winds or hurricanes with high storm surges and 100 plus MPH winds are going to destroy buildings in ANY city. LA has lots of trees in it and forests with lots of vegetation around it. This is all lots of fuel for fires. No one builds stone roofs for houses and no one has fully fireproof stuff inside of their house. Something will catch fire when all the vegetation around the house is on fire.
I lived in California for five years. Many cities there have cut firefighter funds (including LA) AND California has poor policies for controlling fires via controlled burns etc. There was too much dry underbrush in many areas for it to be safe. However, when a big fire rolls into a city it will cause damage.
I've been in >80 MPH Santa Ana winds (LA had 100 MPH Santa Ana winds during this fire). These winds quickly dry everything out, feed lots of oxygen to fires, and make the fires move faster and more unpredictable. I also did not see a drop of rain for eight months during one period.
As far as construction goes, what's critical is what the roof is made of. California now bans wood shingle roofs in fire-prone areas so many of the roofs are clay tile or slate. But if the roof is flammable, it doesn't much matter what the walls are. The walls will remain standing if they are stone or solid masonry, but everything inside will still be burned and you will have a hollow shell.
People need to get over the idea that American houses are cheaply built. My vacation home, in fact, is solid masonry just like a European house but that's because it's in the desert and the thick walls are effective insulation. On the other hand, in earthquake country, wood frame construction is far more resistant to severe damage than masonry. And as others have mentioned, a lot of California homes have stucco exteriors because they mimic old Mediterranean architectural styles. For those who don't know, stucco is a wet mortar or cement spread over an underlayment that can be anything from adobe brick to cement board, but it is very fire resistant.
All true, but I've also read that embers can get in through attic vents and start the fire in there, taking the roof down from the inside. So having fine enough mesh over any such openings is worth attending to as well. Which is mostly on my mind because of some shoddy work by the previous owner which I only discovered when painting last summer.
Most homes built prior to the 60’s or 70’s were brick, stone or mason.
Im frm NE Delaware and we have flammable tar shingled roofs but I thought all out west was red tile?
It used to be. Didnt kno they went substandard on a major thing like that 🤷🏻♀️
@@PhatFreddysCat First of all, a lot of those masonry-appearing homes in the northeast are not solid masonry. They are brick or stone veneer. That means wood frame with a single layer of brick or stone on the outside rather than clapboards or wood. Solid masonry walls have the decorative brick or stone covering more masonry, sometimes using less decorative materials like cinder block so that the actual walls are a foot or more thick of solid masonry.
As far as the west is concerned, the roofs used to be as appropriate for the architecture. Wood shingles (shakes) are the architecturally correct type of roof for certain styles like the once-popular Craftsman, but in recent decades they have been banned in favor of tile, slate or other non-flammable materials. Wood shingles never were cheaper. In fact the reason red tiles have become so popular is that, aside from being architecturally appropriate for pseudo-Spanish styles, they are usually made of cement (not the historic clay) and not unusually expensive. These days, if you want to replace a shake roof on a Craftsman bungalow, you have to use something that mimics shakes like, again, cement pseudo-shingles (but then weight can be an issue). I don't know if eastern-style shingles are fully fireproof. I think there are lighter fiberglass shingles that are but not sure.
The problem was two years of tain followed by very dry year and no rain since October. The Santa Ana winds come off the desert, dry hot at hurricane forces up to 60 to 100 miles per hr (96 to 130 kmh) throwing embers for miles. The winds blew the embers over over large areas, causing too many fires 🔥 the fire fighters couldn't fight.
With the winds, the fires spread at massive speeds. The large amount fires overtapped the water resources, and waterhydrants failed to maintain pressure.
Unfortunately at that speed of winds, the helicopters and water fighting planes can't fly. With the canyons, the fire fighters cant get to the fires.
You cannot build brick and stone homes in California due to earthquakes. Fires likes these would destroy your homes in Europe as well. The chimneys you see are not stable nor strong. Your home would collapse from the heat of the fires. Stone and bricks become very weak from the intense fires.
considering stucco buildings did survive these fires….
@@o_oo_o1812 They survived but they are uninhabitable because the stucco is contaminated and extremely weak. And I am not going to get to smoke and water damage. Once a home has fire damage the entire house must be rebuilt. The dangers of not doing so are too great.
Chris, I like your channel but Americans are tired of Europeans always claiming their houses would do better in a fire, an earthquake, a tornado, a hurricane, etc.
If you had the dry climate and a draught and the Santa Ana winds combined your houses would burn, too. Its not like a house fire, its an inferno.
If your brick and stone houses fell on you during a tornado you would wish you had a wooden house. Wood will flex a bit and withstand wind that isn't too severe. Europeans have no idea of the strength of tornadoes and hurricanes or that its flooding that does the most destruction in a hurricane. No matter what your house is made of, if the ground around it gives way and goes with raging water, your house is going, too. Tornadoes and hurricanes can break windows and doors of stone houses just as easily as wood houses. Then the house fills with water.
Houses in the USA are built to the codes for the conditions that they are likely to face. California has earthquake codes. Florida has hurricane codes. Wood is much warmer than stone. Cement block is cooler. Adobe is great for New Mexico but not Missisippi, etc.
There are numerous videos of tornadoes. One of them shows how a 200 yard wide strip of grass was lifted off the ground.
Western North Carolina was devastated by Hurricane Helene a few months ago. A good video to watch is, Cries of the Carolinas, Chasing Hurricane Helene - A Documentery. It begins in Florida but then goes to some of the worst hit areas of the mountains. When you see the power of water, you'll understand no building is a match for nature's fury.
Easy there, Slick. Ain't no call to take it out on Chris. He didn't know no better and he wasn't acting all superior and know-it-all like the folks who actually annoy you.
Speak for your self buddy. It's just an observation. Ignore this guy Chris.
i'm an american and i feel like comments like this make us look bad. you don't speak for all of us. maybe tell him instead of getting all upset about it.
The comment is in no way nasty. I think you two are more upset than he is.
@reindeer7752 we as Americans are sick of...sounds nasty to me.
There are so many different things that contributed to these fires becoming such a problem. Lots of dry wood in the forests, the winds, and water management issues. On top of that, there seem to be people running around starting more fires.
When it comes to insurance, it's simply too expensive for companies to offer much in the way of insurance due to how many people live there and how regular these fires have gotten.
I live in the LA area and we use wood for homes because brick and stone don’t hold up to earthquakes.
I hear a lot of people have been getting their fire insurance cancelled not long before this and everyone is talking about the fire hydrants being completely dry.
I live near the area and have seen a bunch of reports of people trying to start more fires all over. I saw one this morning with pictures of the guy trying it in Azusa and getting stopped by police.
The fire hydrants were not dry. This is misinformation. it may also be considered disimformation. A fire hydrant will go dry after a point. Fire hydrants are not meant to be able to provide enough water to tackle wildfires of this magnitude.
I moved to San Diego just a few weeks after devastating fires tore through the community in 2007. The type of inferno fanned by these winds means very little will remain of any of the structures affected. Also: we have to expect earthquakes so our homes might be built to a different standard than in other places. I live next to an “open space” and have to create a defensible space around our property by cutting and clearing brush. We have an evacuation plan and go-kit - essential in California.
Not discounting what my fellow Californians are going through in LA, but in 2018 the Camp Fire burned through our sister town of Paradise, killing 85 in less than 5 hours, burning more than 19,000 homes (90% of the community). It also burned into our city limits and destroyed homes here, I had 5 different family members run for their lives out of town on 1 of the only 2 roads in or out, they lost everything. The Palisades Fire at it's height was burning 5 football fields per minute, the Camp Fire burned 80 per minute, a rate of 16 times faster. Then just 5 months ago, a drunk drove his over heated car into some dry grass in our lovely Bidwell Park, sparking what would eventually be a fire that consumed more than 460,000 acres, burning hundreds of homes and eliminating entire communities, making it the 5th largest fire in CA history. These fires in California are getting worse and worse, and bigger and bigger, and more frequent each year! I have personally lived through more than I can say.
If you remember the 2017 Thomas Fire that burned along Ventura on its way to the ocean. City of Ventura did not have back-up power for the pumps that supplied water to the hydrants and the historic downtown area burned because firefighters had to use 4k gallon tankers to refill fire engines on scene. Funny (sad, not ha ha) how Los Angeles had a similar situation during the Palisades fire.
@daricetaylor737 - I truly feel your pain. Much of my state was devastated by Hurricane Helene a few months ago. It looked like a war zone and will take years to recover.
@@daveweber9577 Failure in systems is so much worse than the fire itself! I guess we can at least say the systems did not fail us here in Northern CA, only nature did! Failure in systems must just rub salt into a wound for you. Sorry!
@@reindeer7752 I know, my heart went out to all of you who were affected by the many hurricanes that blew through you last year. I guess we all have something we have to get used to regardless of where we live!
Firebreaks and cleaning up brush and leaves would help curb fires. We found this out during Oakland firestorm. Praying for my fellow Californians...may JESUS send you rain and preserve your families✝️🥺🙏
Cleaning up brush doesn't help when 100 mph Santa Ana winds are whipping fire bombs across great distances.
@wanderingheidi you are correct....my grandparents lived in Ventura and I witnessed and experienced them. My point was this helped in Northern California where my parents' property barely survived 2024 fires after they cleared property. Their property was devastated by fire in 2005 & 2010 ...lost everything. Clearing fuel supply made the difference...wishing all the best for those suffering through this conflagration.
Sure it does, then all the fire department has to do is put out spot fires, instead of continually run from a mile wide wall of fire.
The videos of embers flying horizontally in the 100 mph Santa Ana wind are terrifying and an illustration of why the fires have been so hard to contain.
I live in California, but up north, hundreds of miles away from the fires. My heart aches for anyone affected by this tragedy. You’re in my thoughts and prayers. The images towards the end of the video kinda remind me of the movie Backdraft. It’s so scary looking.
Hi from California ❤! Thank you for sharing this with everyone. It's quite horrific. I'm a native Californian and now live away from the fires 🔥, but grew up right there. Everyone needs prayers 💕🙏
Chris, I lived in Pacific Palisades back from 1966 to 1967 and the weather was cool but not cold. During fire season, wildfires burned hundreds of acres not tens of thousands like they do now. No doubt, the scale of the fire was helped by urban sprawl with housing that goes all the way to the San Gabriel Mountains. I can’t vouch for whether enough controlled burns were conducted to burn flammable underbrush, whether water was managed properly to assist in fighting the fires. Additionally there were cuts to the fire department by the Mayor and diverted to the Police Department. There was fair warning about the seriousness of the coming Santa Ana winds but the Mayor left the city to travel to Ghana. However, the length of the drought since May, the 100 mph Santa Ana winds blowing dry hot air from the desert into LA cannot be ignored and cannot be blamed on the politicians. Climate change has continued to strengthen Southern California’s fire season. The U.S. mainstream media is not reporting the impact of human caused climate change on the wildfires.
are these fires the in city of LA or the county?? county..right.. so what the city did or didn't do is moot
@ Pacific Palisades is part of Los Angeles. Your point is moot.
Trump warned them. they got what they voted for!
Of course the fires can't be blamed on the politicians. But what CAN and SHOULD be blamed on them is the FAILURE TO MITIGATE the amount of damage that might occur from the fires. You know, because it's what they were ELECTED to do.
Brick does not work well in earthquake areas, it is too brittle and not flexible enough. Also, it’s amazing that you say homes are made of paper. How misinformed
While this happened on the west on the east where I was living we had heavy snow storms and had the exact opposite problem and we were freezing and the roads were impassable and power was out it’s just crazy
That is so surreal, you don't expect a house to succumb to a forest fire on the beach.
You don't expect a hurricane in the mountains of North Carolina, either, but. . .
Nature is pissed off.
It looks like Dresden after the firestorm in the WW2 bombing. It's absolutely devastating.
how do Germans feel about this comparison? A big lot of people died in Dresden and it was like Hiroshima without the radiation. Beautiful city before this according to photos.
I thought the same thing, that this looked like many cities in WW2 that were bombed with incendiaries. Those were bigger in scale to LA fires.
The Germans should have thought of that before Rotterdam.
@@floydlawsen Made me chuckle. Altough my family lost quite a few members back in that day. But you know this is decades ago.
Are the fires recent? Nope. Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo reached San Pedro Bay, California on October 8, 1542. He named the bay Bahia de los Fumos, which translates to "Bay of Smokes" in English because of fires in the hills causing smoke in the bay. The bay is now known as the Port of Los Angeles. So much for a changing environment.
The Fire water Reservoirs that feed the hydrants were empty, and the state stopped Forest fire suppression wich is clearing dead brush and leaves on the ground, cutting tall grass and harvesting dead or dying trees.
stop spreading misinformation
@wanderingheidi it's not, I live in Northern California and I've lived through three of the major northern California wildfires, so do your reasurch before spouting out your liberal talking points
I'll vouch for OP, since I was born and raised in SoCal, so stop saying nonsense just to troll someone for no apparent reason.
This fire (now multiple fires still burning) moved from the top of the hills down to the beach. They usually move uphill. There had been no rain for eight months so the area was a tinderbox. The Santa Ana winds usually aren’t this strong but they’ve always been a pest. This time they got up to 100 miles an hour. (!) My elderly father (almost 90) said he’s never seen the winds this strong. My sister and her in-laws both lost their homes early in the fire. It’s not over yet…
I'm in southern California the skies are blood red even at night like a Volcano went off. the dark smoke clouds turning the sky grey, and ash falling like snow. only thing in our favor is it winter. if it was summer it be a lot worse. we keep wishing it will rain. but then floods will happen and landslides. i"ve seen the pictures of the fires much worse then was shown on here. but we Californians are strong and we will rebuild and recover from this. Earthquakes, fire, floods, northern part of California snow, heavy winds, landslides.... Stay Strong California. Canadian firemen are being sent to California to aid in the fire. possible so will Australia. 10 people are dead so far.
At 10:14 you ask about the pronunciation of the city. Since you are watching BBC, the British version of the Spanish name is 'Loss AngeLEEZ', but you are correct that the American pronunciation is 'Loss AngeLESS". Of course the Spanish is 'Los (as in German!) AnhelACE'. Likewise at 13:11 the announcer pronounces 'swathes' as 'swaythz', where Americans say 'swoths'. LOVE your channel!
Not all of the people affected are wealthy.
California has every climate. You can go surfing in the morning and play in the snow before nightfall.
Alotta driving needed tho ;_;
Californian high desert resident here
@DarkPhoenixVixen Didn't mean to leave you out in the cold. That environment is another beautiful part of our wonderful state. Every place has its own beauty.
@ yes it’s all California love.. I’m just praying for everyone and my family in LA
@DarkPhoenixVixen And I will pray, too. 🙏
We moved to So. Cali in 2003 and I think there has been just one year without fires. I am not sure why this one has gotten so much attention. It is like this every year. Maybe because movie stars lost their homes this time. There is a reason we say we have seasons; earthquake season, fire season, mudslide season, and spring
Here in the northeast, we were freezing a few days ago, but we are well past due for a bad winter, so I really can't complain.
I'm in the west San Fernando Valley near Topanga. I was about 4 miles from the Palisades fire. Very little sleep the last few nights. Thank you for recognizing our battle 🤗
I was born and raised in Santa Monica California. We saw fires every year and the Santa Ana winds often accompany them. The big difference is the population density. When I Was Young no One lived in these areas that are being threatened now there's a million-dollar billion dollar homes. In California made some foolish Mistakes by not keeping the fire breaks they used to cut along the Hills all my life it seems they have ignored their yearly fire danger and now it's biting them in the ass and I cry for all those things I knew that are gone
Houses in the U.S. are made of wood primarily because:
Economical: The vast forest industry and expertise in transportation and distribution make wood an affordable choice.
Lightweight: Wood is lighter than bricks, reducing transportation costs.
I wouldn't be surprised if some fires were arsen
Some arsonists have been apprehended. Don't know how much they contributed to the overall disaster though.
The winds are 100-150km/hr or more. At that force/speed the winds drive burning debris ahead of the fire. If the fire is a kilometer away and burning branches blow and bounce through the landscape or across the roof, you get black spots and smudges. But if hot coals are channeled into vents or down chimneys, the embers come to a rest and are fanned just like blowing on a campfire. And the house can start on fire from the inside even while the fire itself is some distance away.
This is being addressed in new designs but retrofitting older buildings is still a work in progress.
1:37 - It's somewhat unusual to have major fires this time of year, rather than summer.
Hey I’m here from LA about 20 minutes away from the Eaton fire and everyone around us have gotten evacuation orders and no one has yet left, people are scared to leave everything behind. School, jobs, and social buildings have all closed. Physical activity in school is prohibited and everywhere in LA black ashes are mix with our air. LA is surrounded with high mountains and hills and the Santana winds are pushing the fires towards the city there are about 11 died so far and some people are not allowed to help or donate anything because the fires are so dangerous and uncontrolled. Please pray for LA 🙏
No matter where you live, there are dangers. I have witnessed Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Blizzards, and Forest Fires. Thankfully, we have so many agencies and organizations that help those who need it. Our love for each other is what keeps us all going.
I'd love to know the US compares to Europe with your listed disasters! Might research this subject.
We will become stronger because of this... We always do❤🇺🇸
Yes, let me say, you are incorrect!!! Your homes with these fires, would render you house unrepairable!!! So you might have a wall left, so tell me what you can do with that???? You would tear whats left down, and rebuild, so to blame it on our construction our homes, is completely wrong!
considering there are stucco houses that survived….
California is prone to fires and earthquakes. We can't build with stone and brick because it will collapse with one good shake. Unfortunately, wood is very fire-friendly. Worse, California is a desert, and we don't get much rain. It doesn't take much for a spark to start a fire. The winds out here grow and spread the fires like crazy. The National Guard was called out because desperate people were/are trying to break into these evacuated places to take all they could carry. I live just a little south of Los Angeles, and the smoke and ash are coming down with the winds. Right now I'm waiting to see if there are going to be any LA County evac warnings to know if I have to drag my family away to safety.
Good fortune to you and your loved ones.
Yes. There was snow on the east coast of the country happening at the same time this started.
Like others have said, brick houses are a danger in Cali due to frequent earthquakes. And people in L.A. who had home insurance are now having their policies randomly cancelled before their homes burn and apparently the government is just allowing the insurance companies to due that. I saw one news clip of a woman saying her elderly parents have lived in their home for 70 years and have been paying for home insurance the whole time, and suddenly as the fires started their insurance company cancelled the policy. They paid it for years only to be abandoned and there's no law against that. Companies have been taking insurance payments from people for years and are now suddenly deciding they don't want to follow through on their end of the deal.
the state created an insurance system.
I hope the firefighters are able to get all these fires under control soon.
One of the issues with California is that there's been so many fires that insurance companies aren't ensuring people for fire
Your house in Germany can't withstand earthquakes. That's why we don't use brick or stone in California.
State Farm Insurance, one of the largest in the nation canceled many fire insurance policies for many homes in the Los Angeles area!
The reason was that California had not correctly thinned brush in the forests. Turns out, they were right.
Stone( brick chimney's will collapse in earthquakes.....Remember California is earthquake country
One of the biggest problems in the Southern California fires is the Santa Ana winds. These are unique to the area because of weather patterns and geography. The winds can easily reach hurricane velocities; during this fire, gusts were up to 100 mph (161 kph). Fighting fires in foothill and mountain country is also difficult. The geography affects the wind patterns, while the topography can make access difficult or impossible for firefighters. Severe fires like this also create their own weather. Fire tornadoes are a reality. One water source was underground, and hydrants were pulling water from it faster than the reservoir could refill. Hence, some hydrants ran dry and others lost pressure. A critical firefighting plane was lost due to damage from a drone - some damned fool decided they just had to fly their toy during a major fire. Firefighting also doesn't get into full gear right away. People have to be evacuated. Homes are checked to make sure everyone is out, including the old and the disabled. If you're in hill country, access roads are often only two-lane roads and don't allow for quick evacuation. As others have noted, California is earthquake country. Our building codes reflect that. Stone and brick are dangerous in earthquakes. It's been an old joke here - California has only two seasons; fire and flood. But with climate change, those seasons are now both year round and overlapping.
The water was being pulled out too fast because the forests hadn't been properly thinned. A slower advance would have put far less strain on the water system.
@tonyburzio4107 There's no slower advance when the fires are being driven by 100 mph wind gusts over canyons and peaks. Those embers can travel miles, skipping over firelines, and creating pockets of unburned areas surrounded by fire. The flames can overrun anything. Winds change everything. If that's not bad enough, many of the fires create their own weather. I have family living in the foothills of Northern California. They had to evacuate during the Mosquito fire, trying to get out on a two-lane road. These fIres can be completely unpredictable. No matter how well you prepare, they can surprise you. You need to go back and review video of the Camp fire, folks trying to evacuate in front of a fire moving so fast their car was burning - and they weren't coping with Santa Ana winds. There will be lots of armchair quarterbacks, lots of coulda, woulda, shoulda. But these firefighters are pros. They know what they're doing. But, Mother Nature can be a cruel bitch, and sometimes she's just going to win, property is going to be destroyed, people are going to die, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it.
Thank you, Chris, for posting this
One of the reasons for the destruction that we see in the neighborhoods is because of how closely together the homes were built plus with the winds blowing at over 100 mph, The fires were unstoppable. when the fires initially started there was nothing The first responders could do except try to save lives before property. Aircraft normally used to fight fires were grounded because of the winds.
Not forest fires. These are residential neighborhoods. We've never seen anything like this. There are firefighters from all over the country are pouring in to help out. I live 1000 miles away and firefighters from here have gone to California to help. This wasn't caused by climate changed. It's apparently arsonists and poor planning by government officials.
These are older houses with not many fire standards. My parents house was built to sustain a 8.0 earthquake and forest fires. This is not a joke, they did survive a 7.4 earthquake and two forest fire. Build safe, no wood just concrete and tiles.
Insurance companies dropped a lot of these people not long before this happened.
I work at a store in Pasadena, just few blocks away from where the Eaton fire happened. I’m one of the few employees that commutes from other cities to work there. I live in Glendale California, from about seven to twelve minutes car trip away. Most of my coworkers reside there in Altadena, so obviously they didn’t showed up to work that day. They were all evacuated really early in the morning and as of today we’re still learning that some of them lost it all in the fire. Some of them haven’t even been able to find out if they still have a place to go or if they also lost it in the fire. The whole situation its just surreal. Really sad and personal to me.
It was a super dry fall in California. The wind conditions “sundowners” act as an”Air Fryer” cooker.
Stone house frames are standing after fires, but the insides absolutely burn to nothing. I'd think they would certainly slow the spread, but that depends on winds and what materials are used on rooftops.
I live in an area of Los Angeles close to what is called "Koreatown" far from the fire, but we can see them looking down Wilshire, and smell them. Everyone is wearing masks as much as possible. And keeping our windows closed/staying indoors. Most of the areas that burned are higher class neighborhoods. Every winter we hear of fires and mud slides in these areas, but never as bad as this.
Yea we are burning on the west coast, and in a deep freeze on the East coast
Wood is an excellent construction material that is resistant to earthquakes and the hot/cold cycles of American weather. Abundant forests in America make it a cost-effective option. For fire protection, we use drywall which is fire-resistant and have stricter laws about smoke alarms as well as fire alarm systems/fire suppression systems like sprinklers in commercial buildings. Brick or concrete buildings would have also been destroyed in these fires.
I used to live in California when I was so very small. Oakland caught on fire in 91 when I was 5. I remember walking home with my mom and it started raining ashes. When we got home, I ran to the tallest point on a hill nearby and all I saw was smoke where there was supposed to be land. At night, the bottom of the smoke glowed red. And that red banner just got bigger everytime the wind picked up. Where i live now isn't a place that have wild fires. But we have tornados and hurricanes and they destroyed so much.
I remember those Oakland fires! It was the first time I ever heard the word firestorm applied to a weather event. The fires were fed by eucalyptus trees and generated fierce winds. Lots of oxygen and fuel
Thank you for your kindness and concern, Chris.
it's just devastating! You can see the fires and the destruction from space! I'm from Eastern Kentucky and just cry for these families who have just lost everything!
I live in Arizona and just around Christmas we entered a cold snap! I’m freezing my 🫏 off! 😂 and LA is only about 500 miles to the west of here.
Texas here, Los Angelees of Los Angeless, you can say it either way. just subbed the other day, cool channel
European built homes would’ve prevented the fire from spreading a bit, but the fires have been so hot that molten metal has been flowing in the streets. I’m not sure how much better they would be in terms of damage.
considering there are stucco houses that survived…..
Hollywood mocked God at the Tony Awards 3 days before. This is a celebrity roast
L. A. can also be subject to earthquakes! So, building codes have to take that into consideration too.
There was a 4.7 in Malibu the day before yesterday. No one noticed.
There was a 4.7 in Malibu the day before yesterday. No one noticed.
It may sound odd to a European for wildfires and snowstorms to be afflicting a country at the same time, but the US is exponentially larger than European nations. America is ENORMOUS!
Less to do with size than geography. It’s where Los Angeles is relative to the mountains that creates the fast dry Santa Ana wind.
@JustMe-dc6ks You still require ample space between locales to have varying climates in the first place. You're never going to see the southwestern part of Rhode Island suffering from drought and wildfires at the same time it's east coast is being hammered by hurricanes and flooding simply because these regions are so close to each other
There only 3 Construction options in California.
- Wood
- Steel framed
- Reinforced concrete
Brick and stonework is not safe in Earthquakes. Residential homes are usually made of wood while industrial and commercial buildings are made of steel and concrete. Apartment blocks in the downtown area are mostly made of concrete.
Unless your brick/stone house has a fire proof roof, you'd still lose everything on the interior. My city just had a huge fire (unrelated to the wildfire, we're on the east coast) in old brick university campus buildings built in the 1700s. Probably built similarly to European buildings at the time. The fire destroyed EVERYTHING except the brick. It's still beyond repair, so now it will have to be demolished and the debris will have to be dealt with. As bad as it seems, at least wooden built homes burn away and leave less debris and rubbish. Not to mention the structural safety regulations for new construction are very different all over the world based on the types of natural disasters likely. So in California all the earthquakes would reduce a brick home to rubble quite easily. Tornadoes do the same except usually you go underground for safety with tornadoes. If it destroys your brick home on top of you, you can be crushed or trapped much longer than if only a few wood planks were there.
Check out pictures of Dresden after the WW II firestorm. Most of that city was not bombed with explosive bombs. It was destroyed by fire just like these parts of LA.
@@BTinSF the London fires, Chicago fires, etc it's happened everywhere. Fire can't be beaten.
I have a good friend in Chatsworth-Los Angeles, CA who was evacuated 2 days ago. I haven't heard if they have been given the all-clear for sure, but she thought she'd be allowed to go back last night. Checking to see if there is word from her. She has 2 children, and both she and her husband are Marines, and he is currently deployed in the middle east. (edit- just got word she and the kids are safe and back at home!). I'm sad to hear that you believe climate change has anything to do with this. Southern CA is a DESERT, and the Santa Ana winds are as predictable as clockwork. Fires are natural and normal for this region of the United States. They happen EVERY YEAR, regardless of temperatures or rainfall. The difference of a degree or two above average from one year to the next will not make one tiny bit of difference. Know what caused the destruction we're witnessing? One reason is the fact that homelessness is at an all-time high in southern CA. and many of these people start fires where they are encamped- regardless of the danger of wildfires. Also, environmentalists lobby the government ceaselessly, demanding they refuse to allow the forestry service to use common mitigation measures such as brush and deadfall clearing. Another reason is the Governor of the state didn't do anything to expedite repairs and new builds of water reservoirs or do anything else whatsoever to ensure adequate water supply for the city or the region. We have also learned that the mayor of Los Angeles CUT THE BUDGET of the fire department by over $17 MILLION DOLLARS and the DEI hire in charge of the LA fire department didn't make stopping and preventing fires her first priority when hired, and instead decided that equity and includsion needed to be at the top of that list. Even one of these reasons alone can be said to have contributed to this disaster far more than "climate change", and when all of them happen simultaneously they are clearly the reasons why these fires were not prevented, controlled or contained as they easily could have been.
Pacific Pallisades and Malibu homes are worth millions. There are many film and music stars saying they've lost homes they've lived in for decades.
My cousin lived in Altadena. They lost their house the first night of the fire. They left when told to evacuate and are safe (but heartbroken for their loss and their neighbors who also lost their homes)
The south east here in the US is getting snow.its not bad though no blizzards
Hurricane Helene was far more devastating than the wildfires but it isn't a misery contest. I feel for everyone who is affected by whatever kind of nature's fury. We got light snow in NC. I was hoping for a bit more for my dogs to play in. Feast or famine.
Thanks for sharing your input. There is talk that State Farm Insurance is pulling out of Cail.
Brick crumbles in an earthquake
I don't know that much about construction, but I also wondered why so many of our houses are made of wood. People saying earthquakes pretty much answers it I guess, but up here in the PNW, I wanted to go with something like ICF, because fires can be out here to some extent, and it seems good in some ways, but honestly we simply couldn't afford it. Even with housing prices being higher (including the wood itself), wood was still closer to being within budget, where the other stuff wasn't. I think partly it's what is known best (by builders) and best supplied.
If you're looking at doing another Colledge Football Reaction... There is one that shows what going to a game is like, starts with the tailgating, the stadium, the entrance, bands and halftime show... of a typical game. It gives you the excitement, passion of what to expect going to a game. It's called 'British Reacts to Their First SEC Football Game - TEXAS vs GEORGIA'
Homes made of stone are not designed for earthquakes. This is also why you see many homes in places like Japan and New Zealand built from wood.
The thing to know is that Southern California is always subject to winds. See Santa Ana winds. They usually go from September to November but January is very unusual.
Also these winds were known as Mountain Wave winds and some gusts were hurricane force winds which made this even worse.
Californian here - luckily I am several hours drive north of LA (Los Angeles), I'm in Sacramento, the capital. I have a very good childhood friend now living in LA who has not yet been evacuated (last I heard) but has a bag packed and ready to go. I have been in regular text conversation with her, she tells me she has several friends who have lost their homes.
I see other comments explaining buildings in California built the way they are because of earthquakes, which California is famous for, we've all felt them.
The majority of California was "won" from Spain a couple hundred years ago in the Mexican-American war. At least half of the cities were originally named in Spanish and the names stuck. "Los Angeles" translates to "The Angles" - Google its full name. We say "Los Angelis" as it is closer to the Spanish pronunciation, or simply "el-ay" - LA. "Los Angeleez" was simply the pronunciation with a British accent as this was a BBC broadcast.
Is ur friend ok??
Guten tag, Chris. Native Angeleno here and former employee of Germany's Baeurer Inc's failed US venture. Everyone I know has either been ordered to evacuate or is on standby to evacuate. This feels coordinated, like the fires in Maui. We have nowhere to go and our uniparty state is wholly owned and controlled by billionaires. We working class are on our own.
What do you mean feels coordinated?
They are warning people to evacuate dabger zones. Of course there is coordination. Coordination means working together. It isn't a "bad word".
Why is everything a conspiracy theory?????
This isn't hard. No rain plus spark plus wind = fire. Go back to grade 3 science class.
Sad but true. I hope all turns out ok for you and your family.
I just came back to LA I had to evacuate. My place did not burn down, mostly left due to the smoke.
Thank you Chris for all your videos exploring life in the U.S. It's wonderful to hear someone from another country saying positive things about us here- we don't get to hear that perspective very much- so thank you for that! And you're just so sweet and NICE I enjoy anything you put out- such a fresh perspective. Someone from the U.K. mentioned recently that they were surprised that most of the housing in the U.S. is made from wood- they were used to stone or brick, etc. Back in the early colonial days houses were made of wood because it was so abundantly available and that tends to be the primary building material today- at least east of the Rocky Mountains. And the heavy earthquake prone areas use wood and lighter materials because of the shake danger with bricks falling, etc. You can see solid concrete or masonry buildings elevated on stilts next to the ocean in Florida and the east coast, to withstand hurricanes. But the natural events are getting more and more severe. Unfortunately if the disaster is so great it doesn't matter what material was used, especially if structures are built in disaster prone areas. Thank you again for your videos~
8:12 No, you don't know.
When I moved to Eureka in 1992 it was just a week after the "Cape Mendocino Earthquakes." There were three big ones over two days. When we pulled into town the first thing we saw was chimneys, all knocked down, piles of bricks in people's yards. The houses were otherwise fine.
Give that a thought.
as we should as well build our houses from stone but they cannot in CA due to Earthquake danger. I live in Minnesota and many buildings here are stone or concrete thick walls like you mention, because we are withstanding the cold here but no earthquakes here. In CA people would maybe get crushed under falling debris if there was a huge earthquake.
I grew up in Altadena. We moved there in 1969. My old house is gone as are all the places I hung out in. I don't live in California anymore but I still feel like I l9st everything. With the 100 mph winds there was no way to prevent them ev3n though there are people saying that California should have done m9re to keep this from happening. Most of the houses there were 100 years old or more.
Everyone talking about how rich these people are. Do those look like millionaire's or billionaire's homes?
Thank you, Chris.