3 missing as huge California fire rages. Some armed residents tell authorities they won't evacuate.

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Yahoo-Axios

By Rebecca Falconer

Authorities were searching for three missing people as the Dixie Fire, the biggest wildfire now burning in the U.S., tore through Northern California communities, authorities said Saturday night.

Details: Evacuation orders were in effect for several Sierra Nevada mountain communities, as the third-largest blaze in California's history continued to threaten homes.

Plumas County Sheriff Todd Johns told a community meeting Saturday night that two people from Greenville were missing and a woman from nearby Chester had been reported safe, but no official contact had been made with authorities.

The Dixie Fire was also raging across Butte, Lassen, and Tehama counties.

Link to tweet

Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/5-people-missing-californias-historic-014217264.html

[snowybirdie]

1. I don't know how

Californians can face these tragedies every year. So much destruction, so much loss!

[quaint]

2. We have Newsom, not DeSantis.

[mountain grammy]

3. and I hope you keep him.

[AllaN01Bear]

4. it didnt help with years of drougt, insect ridden trees.(bark beetle )

and some people not clearing defensable spaces around their house , they put others in danger as well. i have always had a evac kit near the front door w suitcase ready to go as a child .earthquake /flood / fire .we had some snow when i was in first grade . i lived in glendora ca about 25 miles east of l.a when i was growing up.

[3Hotdogs]

6. After seeing some of the videos, I wonder how large a defensible space would have to be.

[El Mimbreno]

7. Seems the gun-toters...

are a bit confused about "defensible space".

[not fooled]

12. And what, exactly, are they "defending" against?

I don't think fire is askairt of their gunz.

Of course, apparently they are trying to stop evil gubmint firefighters and other first responders from trying to prevent their incineration.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. Looters. Not everyone experienced a total loss. NT

[DBoon]

20. Because their property is worth dying in fire for?

Thief with gun: Your money or your life
Victim: Let me think about it

[mahatmakanejeeves]

36. There are some things you can't replace with a check from the insurance company. NT

[DBoon]

38. like your life for example

[StClone]

41. And others! Armed caches in a fire are a bad thing.

Yes, it is a real danger to firefighters, and anyone within an eye-shot, when fire heats thousands of rounds of ammo.

[Lovie777]

27. Mother Nature . ......

[Mr.Bill]

33. The fire that destroyed the town of Paradise

had flaming embers the size of your hand or bigger flying several hundred feet in the air in 60+mph winds. small fires were spotting five miles downwind. In those conditions defensible space or fire breaks are a laughable concept. Doesn't mean people shouldn't keep things clear around their houses, though. Not all fires have those conditions.

The weak point in many California homes are the wooden decks that are so popular. They are like a fuse.

[3Hotdogs]

5. Rebuild? Maybe it shouldn't be rebuilt. Is Paradise being rebuilt?

It may be similar to the situation where federally subsidized insurance provides protection for houses on the coast or riverbanks. Houses get damaged by flood or hurricane and then get rebuilt. These areas are surrounded by forest. Build it up and the news in 2121 will include coverage of the fire in the California Sierras in the rebuilt town of ....

We had a vacation house on the banks of the Delaware. It got flooded out, twice in three years. We sold it. So yes, I know, its painful to lose your stuff and the local and neighbors that you built a part of your life around.


Now as for the armed patriots that don't want to leave. I stand behind them, all 205 pounds of me to support their right to be assholes and not be around to vote for Trump in '24.

[Random Boomer]

8. Yes, Paradise IS being rebuilt

Just as people live on the flanks of a volcano.

With the same predictable outcome.

[3Hotdogs]

9. Oh well, as Forest Gump said,

"Stupid is as stupid is."


and what's that definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different outcome?

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

10. I wrote to my Senator about that back in the early 90's...

... concerning government flood insurance. Some of the places you mention, building on flood plains that flood/landslide twice every 5 years or so. If it is an area/flood plain where the home(s) continuously getting wiped out to the point of having to rebuild, then a last chance clause should kick in. Move out of the flood plain with federal and/or state reimbursement and your policies should see no change, perhaps the premiums will even go down, relatively speaking.

But if you decide to rebuild in the same flood/landslide prone location, you got your last chance, No more claims and no more federal coverage. You were compensated/reimbursed for your loss, ie... find a more stable hilltop to build on that will never flood.

[Irish_Dem]

17. Yes, now with global warming, we need to re-evaluate which areas are to be re-built.

It is going to be a futile and expensive lesson to keep rebuilding in areas which are no longer habitable.

[Random Boomer]

34. A precursor to the population migrations of the near future

We'll rebuild where fires ravage the countryside, we'll try to pipe in water to deserts when the water table dries up, we'll rebuild along coast lines eroded by rising waters and hurricanes.

After we've poured our nation's wealth into these futile, wasteful endeavors, there will be no more money to rebuild and our interior will be flooded with climate refugees, only there won't be any resources left to ease that migration. Thousands, possibly millions of people will end up homeless and living in tent cities, unemployed and desperate.

The resulting social unrest will de-stabilize our government (which is tottering already), and much hilarity will ensue.

[Irish_Dem]

52. Yes, a likely scenario.

Given how humans refuse to face reality.

Global warming is looking more and more like a major extinction event.

(Note how the billionaires will scramble to find safe spots to ride out the horror.)

[Traildogbob]

11. Gonna shoot the fire?

Whose going to loot ashes? Shoulda bought less guns and more rakes to volunteer for trumps Forest Rake Force. Pyrophetic Ecological Communities, plants that thrive and reproduce based on the necessity fire, are no place for subdivisions, especially when destroying climate is a popular political platform, and supported by a huge voting block. Heat+fuel+oxygen=fire. We are taught that since grammar school, unless Texas scrapped that from text book to not scare white kids.

[former9thward]

16. Not every home is pure ashes.

Looters are always a problem in these things.

[Traildogbob]

19. You are correct.

We have seen the scum of humanity, so low they would go pilfer trough others catastrophes. I have no idea what I would do facing the same situation. I hope they do escape with their lives. A truly United States would spend more time concerned with all those victims instead of anything the GQP are ranting about minute by minute. All the money given to political con whores would help those poor people with their loses. I gotta not let trumpism strip me of any compassion for others’ plight. That could be our nightmare in not so distant future. I will, however lock and load and protect my home when the August insurrection begins. Looters will be swarming like flies on the only shit in the desert when that riot begins. So I can see their thoughts and fears. Didn’t Donny give permission to shoot looters?

[Mr.Bill]

28. True.

Looters prey on evecuated areas before the fire reaches there, too.

[FoxNewsSucks]

13. Let the morons stay.

They should sign a waiver acknowledging their choice to be on their own, and receive no help whatsoever.

[jimfields33]

26. These are the ones trying to save their homes from thieves

Not t every home burns down but many are ransacked.

[Mysterian]

15. LOL

"We'll stop the fire with our guns." Fucking imbeciles.

[MenloParque]

18. Looters

The guns are to stop the looting that takes place during every NorCal wild fire. My co-worker lost valuable family heirlooms from his house during the Glass Fire last year in Napa Valley. The neighborhood was already looted when they local government allowed residents to return to retrieve belongings. Insurance cannot replace everything and in my co-workers case offered a laughable amount.

[Mysterian]

25. Yah, only problem is

you can't shoot looters when you're charred to a crisp.

[Marthe48]

21. So sorry for the victims, for the loss

But regarding armed people refusing to evacuate, what charming and innovative ways they invent to go over the cliff.

In 1998, we endured the first derecho we'd ever heard of. My husband and I collected for years, and had a lot of (to us) valuable things on display and suddenly in harm's way. I grabbed some boxes and newspapers to start wrapping things, and had the insight that the stuff wasn't going to be safe, even if i frantically wrapped it and got it to the basement. With the insight, came resignation. And after another derecho, and other severe weather, I accept that I would be lucky to escape with my life, let alone a few pieces of glass.

[Random Boomer]

35. I'm a collector, too

So I understand the impulse to "save all my stuff!" But lately I've grown more reflective about its value -- both sentimental and financial -- and the impermanence of things.

I'm trying to enjoy what have I have today, for today, without any assumptions that it will be here tomorrow.

[Marthe48]

40. Yes, well said

While my husband was alive, and we both enjoyed collecting, figuring out what something might be, discovering treasure, was our be-all and end-all. He's been gone for over 4 years. For a long time, it was all just stuff. I'm getting some interest back. Although I don't think I'll actively collect, the memories are pleasant.

Do you ever visit the DU>Topics>Recreation> EBay, Collectors, Flea Market and Antiques? I enjoy reading and posting

[Random Boomer]

48. Thanks for the tip

That's an area of DU I haven't explored yet. I'll have to drop by!

Your post brought back good memories of mine, because my wife and I also really enjoyed driving around to flea markets and antique stores looking for the particular items we collect. The thrill of the hunt! It's been years since we've done that, though. We gradually fell out of the habit as work and keeping up the house (and a growing number of cats & dogs) took up our time. Not to mention there's no free wall or shelf space left for new collectibles. But it was enormous fun and the money was well spent just as entertainment.

[Marthe48]

50. Have fun with the topic group :)

When my husband retired, we started selling on eBay. I thought we'd be reducing the amount of things we had, but no. We kept going to sales, any kind of sale. We sold quite a few items on eBay, but amassed even more. I've been sorting stored boxes since last summer, and I still run across things I had never seen. lol It is going to be fun for someone!

[jalan48]

22. People acting irrationally during an environmental crisis? More of this to come because

of the environmental catastrophe facing humans and other species world wide.

[reACTIONary]

23. Here is he LA Times article with info about the holdouts..

On Thursday, authorities arrested three people who stayed behind in an evacuation zone in the Lassen County town of Westwood. All three were taken to jail, cited and released — two on suspicion of entering or remaining in an evacuation area, and one on suspicion of loitering on private property, said Lisa Bernard, public information officer with the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-08-07/dixie-firefighters-struggle-as-some-residents-refuse-to-evacuate-in-towns-under-siege

[Mr.Bill]

30. The way the law works in California is

they cannot force you to leave your property, but once an evacuation zone is declared they can arrest you if you set foot off your property for illegally being in an evacuation zone.

[reACTIONary]

42. Thanks, that's informative....

... I was wondering how that worked. The article isn't clear on the nuance of the law.

[Mr.Bill]

46. Of course, the individual law enforcement agency

can exercise some discretion in this area. If you are not from the area, you can probably count on being arrested. If you live there and were just going to get a propane tank filled, they would probably give you a warning.

When we were evacuated a few years ago, about 12 out of 55 mobile home spaces decided to stay. Many of them were bedridden with medical issues and really wouldn't do well in a shelter. The local police came and met with those who stayed and let them know that they would condider the entire mobile home park to be property they were allowed on, because we have common areas like a rec room and laundry. They told them if anyone needed anything important like meds or some food item to call them and they would go get it for them.

A convenience mart/gas station had been allowed to stay open to serve the first responders and other essential city employees who did not evacuate. The police were very nice and helpful. They did arrest a few people as suspected looters in the area.

[reACTIONary]

47. Thanks again, it's good to get local knowledge! nt

[Mawspam2]

24. Shoot the fire! Yeah, that'll work.

https://images.app.goo.gl/2Donz9CGrBpd2U3c7

[totodeinhere]

29. REM was off by a few years but now I think we can truly say

"It's the End of the World As We know It."

[usaf-vet]

31. So they will likely be found at some point among the ashes. They will be the ones....

... grasping in their dead smoldering hands melted hunks of metal.

The NRA and Charlton Heston would be proud.

They literally stuck by their guns!

Hell of a way to prove a point.

[Cryptoad]

32. GOP Extinction,,,,,,

A self-profiling prophecy.

[roamer65]

37. Let 'em burn.

[airplaneman]

39. Armed residents. Maybe they can shoot at the fire to keep it away n/t.

[twodogsbarking]

49. I too have elected cremation.

[getagrip_already]

51. Those who refuse to leave are likely the first to loot......

Police should execute search warrants on them as soon as the crisis is over.

They hate looters because they are competition.