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Although there are clearly many important variables, the only one under the control of the homeowner (and the insurance company) is home construction and adjacent landscaping. Like hurricane roof straps in Florida, I'm sure the State of California will have a say too. After the Great Fire of...

Very nice job presenting the data. It will be interesting to see an analysis of the construction characteristics of structures that survived, particularly ones that were surrounded by those destroyed.

LAFD has money coming out its' ears. Last year the average LAFD firefighter pay was around $200,000 per annum plus $90,000 in benefits and with retirement at age 55 with a pension of 90% of final salary. Last fall a new union contract netted another $20,000 in pay and benefit costing $76...

In the early 1960's Baltimore City FD had a regular pumper replacement program. At the time they had 54 engine companies. Every year, like clockwork, they bought two new pumpers.

Then we have the other Los Angeles brush fire extreme: It was windy and dry with a temperature of 110 degrees on the afternoon of October 3, 1933. LAFD Westlake Signal Office received calls at 2:26 p.m. from the Glendale Fire Department and a worker in Griffith Park reporting a fire near the...

This is still a relatively small disaster compared to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Hurricane Harvey in Houston (620 square miles- 15 times the size of the Bronx), or the 1900 Galveston hurricane (8,000 to 12,000 fatalities). Also, from what I know of these neighborhoods, or have seen on...

Nice job on the run down Ig. My brother is on the north end of the evacuation zone for the Sunset Fire listed on Solar Drive. He lives down the road from Engine 108. I believe that most of the evacuation has been rescinded. That fire had 45-60 acres involved in Runyon Canyon. I see that LAX is...

My brother lives in LA . About an hour ago I'm talking to him. He's watching this fire in the Hollywood Hills about a mile down the street from him. He's upwind about 3000 to 4000 feet northwest. He's got good water pressure and there is apparatus all over the place plus a fleet of helicopters...

Eucalyptus trees were brought to Southern California by the railroads to provide wood for ties. Unfortunately, the wood is too soft to serve that function. The railroads went to Plan B, but the Eucalyptus remain behind. I don't think they contribute much to the issue. When the ambient relative...

Santa Ana winds occur whenever there is a high pressure center over the Great Basin in Utah. The clockwise rotation produces winds driven into Southern California. As the surface winds are forced through the narrow mountain passes wind speeds accelerate. Air traveling over the mountains lose...

Second alarm just before dawn this morning on the south side. 46's should be first due- Engine, Ladder with the Chief https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2025/01/07/3-firefighters-injured-while-responding-to-large-apartment-fire-in-sunnyside/

A 15 story SRO? Just thinking about the number of hotplates involved boggles the mind. And can you imagine what must come through the front door every day?

Congratulations to all who entered the contest! It turns out everybody guessed the correct state.

You'd hear "strike the box" in Boston In Baltimore you'd hear "strike out the box". Years ago in Pittsburgh I heard "BOX IT!"

To clarify, AI was used for the voice only to keep the pilot anonymous. For anyone interested, this is the Mooches' expanded podcast on the incident.

From the ever reliable Ward Carroll's podcast: An AI generated text from the pilot (call-sign Jive) of the F-18 Super Hornet that was shot down by the Gettysburg in the Red Sea. His Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) aka GIB (guy in back) is call-sign Blunder. Whole lot of Naval Aviation jargon, and...

Nice presentation of monthly/yearly data. A big thank you to those doing this work. In terms of busy battalions, it looks like "the usual suspects" took the year off.

You'd remember how to do it in a second. It's called statics. The sum of the forces equals the sum of the moments equals zero. If it isn't zero, the rig is in the basement. The usual problem is making sure that the tiller section doesn't have to be parked in the kitchen.

Richard Perry, Failed Doo-Wop Singer, Dies Brooklyn born Richard Perry passed away last week at age 82. As a youth, he attended Alan Freed concerts at the Brooklyn Paramount; he was a member of the vocal groups the Legends and then the Escorts who tried recording in the early 1960's. After...

Well, isn't that why First Avenue down there is known as "Bedpan Alley"?