4 ms·

I see there are three separate fires several km apart. How do they start so synchronously?

gamblor956 2y ago
They didn't. Palisades started Tuesday morning in someone's backyard. The Eaton fire started last evening near one of the campgrounds. The Hearst fire started late last night around 10pm (suspected cause was a vehicle fire from an accident that spread to the side of the road).
- deleted 2y ago
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- harmmonica 2y ago
  Hey there, do you have a source for the backyard? I'm not questioning it. I'd like to know the origin and what actually occurred in that yard to cause it.
  - jpmattia 2y ago
    One source is the news stations here in LA, eg https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california-wildfires/palisades-eaton-hurst-los-angeles-fires-wednesday/3597466/ https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california-wildfires/pali...
- gamblor956 2y ago
  Following up on this: - No source given for the Lidia fire that started in the Angeles National Forest this afternoon. - A specific house address was given on-air for the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills that started this evening at around 5:40pm. The ABC7 copter crew had actually spotted the fire within the first minute or two of it forming (while they were trying to get in position to cover the Palisades fire after refueling), and (ABC and NBC) broadcast the first hour of the fire's growth (and provided live updates on new flare-ups). They may well have saved Hollywood from burning down.
- gamblor956 2y ago
  Another followup: There were several more fires that started on Thursday. Due to the unusual nature of these fires, authorities suspect arson. A person of interest was arrested for one of these fires after being observed trying to start a fire.
llamaimperative 2y ago
The conditions that make one fire likely make others likely too... Extreme dryness, high wind, failing electrical infrastructure, overburdened emergency response. Also embers can easily be blown miles away to ignite another "new" fire.
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emmelaich 2y ago
There's always a slight chance of arsonists. Every few years in Australia we get a story of arsonists setting fires. Sometimes they're firefighters, too.
- earnestinger 2y ago
  > There's always a slight chance of arsonists. Actually, that was my first natural reaction. (Though I do live in the neighborhood of Russia, here probability of foul play is much higher up the list) > Sometimes they're firefighters, too. That is messed up.
  - solatic 2y ago
    > That is messed up. A "visit" or two are often all that is necessary to convince folks to pay protection money to gangs. Protectors always have a perverse incentive to remind people what they need protection from. One shouldn't rush to accuse though.
  - eesmith 2y ago
    From "The Milagro Beanfield War", https://archive.org/details/milagrobeanfield0000nich_o3a0/page/168/mode/2up?q=%22forest+fire%22 https://archive.org/details/milagrobeanfield0000nich_o3a0/pa... > With that, Shorty said, “Say, Ladd, why don’t you have Floyd and Carl here set a forest fire?” > “Hey, just a minute!” Carl Abeyta stiffened self-righteously and stifled an urge to lunge across the room at Shorty. “What the fuck are you talking about?” > “Setting a fire,” Shorty said calmly. “Christ, that’s one of the few ways those men down there have earned a living around here. I know of a dozen guys from town, the past twenty years, who've gone up and set the trees on fire. For crissakes, man, it’s—what is the pay now? Two-fifty an hour around the clock? Three dollars? And the Forest Service—God bless Smokey the Bear!—packs in potatoes and all the fresh-killed beef you can eat. You want to get this town’s mind off that beanfield, light the forest and hire all the heavies to put it out. And keep lighting little fires here and there—”
keyle 2y ago
Whenever the media announces "extremely high chance of fire" in Australia, there is always at least one fire started. I think maybe we would be better off leaving it off the news. Some fires are started by glass bottles causing the dry grass underneath to lit up, and then the wind takes care of the rest. But that's really, really rare. It's most often someone doing something really stupid. Tell people they can't come out of their house and they go stir crazy to go out... Tell people it's an absolute fire ban and the situation is extremely critical and it only takes 1 nut bag out of the entire population... The odds are high.

They didn't. Palisades started Tuesday morning in someone's backyard. The Eaton fire started last evening near one of the campgrounds. The Hearst fire started late last night around 10pm (suspected cause was a vehicle fire from an accident that spread to the side of the road).

deleted 2y ago
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harmmonica 2y ago
Hey there, do you have a source for the backyard? I'm not questioning it. I'd like to know the origin and what actually occurred in that yard to cause it.
- jpmattia 2y ago
  One source is the news stations here in LA, eg https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california-wildfires/palisades-eaton-hurst-los-angeles-fires-wednesday/3597466/ https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california-wildfires/pali...
gamblor956 2y ago
Following up on this: - No source given for the Lidia fire that started in the Angeles National Forest this afternoon. - A specific house address was given on-air for the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills that started this evening at around 5:40pm. The ABC7 copter crew had actually spotted the fire within the first minute or two of it forming (while they were trying to get in position to cover the Palisades fire after refueling), and (ABC and NBC) broadcast the first hour of the fire's growth (and provided live updates on new flare-ups). They may well have saved Hollywood from burning down.
gamblor956 2y ago
Another followup: There were several more fires that started on Thursday. Due to the unusual nature of these fires, authorities suspect arson. A person of interest was arrested for one of these fires after being observed trying to start a fire.

llamaimperative 2y ago

The conditions that make one fire likely make others likely too... Extreme dryness, high wind, failing electrical infrastructure, overburdened emergency response. Also embers can easily be blown miles away to ignite another "new" fire.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

emmelaich 2y ago

There's always a slight chance of arsonists. Every few years in Australia we get a story of arsonists setting fires. Sometimes they're firefighters, too.

earnestinger 2y ago
> There's always a slight chance of arsonists. Actually, that was my first natural reaction. (Though I do live in the neighborhood of Russia, here probability of foul play is much higher up the list) > Sometimes they're firefighters, too. That is messed up.
- solatic 2y ago
  > That is messed up. A "visit" or two are often all that is necessary to convince folks to pay protection money to gangs. Protectors always have a perverse incentive to remind people what they need protection from. One shouldn't rush to accuse though.
- eesmith 2y ago
  From "The Milagro Beanfield War", https://archive.org/details/milagrobeanfield0000nich_o3a0/page/168/mode/2up?q=%22forest+fire%22 https://archive.org/details/milagrobeanfield0000nich_o3a0/pa... > With that, Shorty said, “Say, Ladd, why don’t you have Floyd and Carl here set a forest fire?” > “Hey, just a minute!” Carl Abeyta stiffened self-righteously and stifled an urge to lunge across the room at Shorty. “What the fuck are you talking about?” > “Setting a fire,” Shorty said calmly. “Christ, that’s one of the few ways those men down there have earned a living around here. I know of a dozen guys from town, the past twenty years, who've gone up and set the trees on fire. For crissakes, man, it’s—what is the pay now? Two-fifty an hour around the clock? Three dollars? And the Forest Service—God bless Smokey the Bear!—packs in potatoes and all the fresh-killed beef you can eat. You want to get this town’s mind off that beanfield, light the forest and hire all the heavies to put it out. And keep lighting little fires here and there—”

keyle 2y ago

Whenever the media announces "extremely high chance of fire" in Australia, there is always at least one fire started. I think maybe we would be better off leaving it off the news. Some fires are started by glass bottles causing the dry grass underneath to lit up, and then the wind takes care of the rest. But that's really, really rare. It's most often someone doing something really stupid. Tell people they can't come out of their house and they go stir crazy to go out... Tell people it's an absolute fire ban and the situation is extremely critical and it only takes 1 nut bag out of the entire population... The odds are high.