LA fires. How are you guys doing?

[Mike W.]

I only know of one by name who's close, Vince, but how are you guys doing?  Hopefully nobody especially close, and I've got to think he's really close, but it's a county with 11M people so we've probably got a few down there.  Crossing my fingers for you guys.

[laguna30]

Guys/Gals
  Sing out for help ... I hope I speak for many but If you need something and it is within my power I will make it happen 

  As a shipmate once said, Call me at 2:30AM to be bailed out, I will be there ... You just remember that when I call you 
  None of us knows when we might be in need 

[DavidE9]

Limited containment. Winds have died down today, but not sure what Monday will bring. Evacuation orders are in place. National Guard has been deployed. 

I know generators and high pressure water pumps (if you have a pool to draw water from) are in short supply, but we still have a few down in Northern San Diego if you need one (although, those are going fast).

[vinceg101]

It's been a harrowing week for sure, we are safe and for once, these wildfires are not impacting the rest of my family who are out in Santa Clarita Valley (about 40miles to the north).  As you can see from this map, we are a comfortable distance from the active fire lines but it doesn't mean we aren't affected by the smoke and now ash. As you can see I have/had several clients not doing as well as us. The one squarely in the burn area is gone as is the entire neighborhood; I still can't wrap my head around the fact that beautiful neighborhoods going back to the 1940's, many still original Spanish & Craftsman houses and mature trees & landscape, have been completely removed from the face of the planet. One colleague, an Interior Designer I have worked with for 20 years, lived here and she lost everything.


Tuesday morning I was up at one of my current projects (the lowest dot on this map right next to 'Will Rogers State Beach') right at 10:30 when the whole thing blew up. I got up to the jobsite and this what we all saw:



In the first hour we were there, it doubled in size and continued to grow at about 170 acres/hour. Mary went up on a hill behind Santa Monica Airport and saw this:


Even with the two Canadairs CL-415's and CalFire's units they couldn't get their hands on it. We watched this pair make the round trip from Santa Monica Bay to the fire and back in about 10 minutes. They did this the rest of the day as they chased the fire further north and west up the coast as the winds pushed the fire.


From Tuesday to now, it's been a endless loop of tragic and continuous news coverage. Reports of long held establishments, houses, and landscape destroyed. Texts and emails with friends and colleagues displaced from the evacuation zones.
And the fires aren't halted yet, the recent onshore winds, while good for added humidity and cooler temps, also are pushing the fires inland and to the north & east into the upslopes and more fuel.
We took this last night on the 405 overpass in my neighborhood, if it weren't so tragic, it would be beautiful:





As far as any other car folks, in any of the inter-related BMW communities, I've not heard from them. I have to think there are folks in both the fire areas, and their fate is unknown. 
It goes without saying that ANYONE who needs assistance or a place to store a car, I am at your disposal.

[Mike W.]

Vince, for whatever reason I had you pictured a little northwest, closer to say Westwood.  But I'm glad to hear you are ok and aren't quite as close as I feared.  Growing up in the SF Valley I have some knowledge of area/geography of the area.  Both for my connection to the area and population density, I sure hope it doesn't make it up to the Valley and last I'm seeing Encino has been in the threatened zone.

[vinceg101]

Vince, for whatever reason I had you pictured a little northwest, closer to say Westwood.  But I'm glad to hear you are ok and aren't quite as close as I feared.  Growing up in the SF Valley I have some knowledge of area/geography of the area.  Both for my connection to the area and population density, I sure hope it doesn't make it up to the Valley and last I'm seeing Encino has been in the threatened zone.

I wish I could afford to live up those neighborhoods; even 25 years ago when we bought this place, I couldn't afford it.
They really got a handle on the Palisades fire last night and pretty much stopped it at Mulholland Drive. Watching the 11pm news, it looked as though it's mostly out and they were moving into a mop-up phase.  Waking up this morning, there is no more smoke rising up from the northern horizon.  Another round of Santa Ana's are starting today and we'll be under another Red Flag Warning until Wednesday, so nothing is certain.

[Shawn D.]

Thanks for the update, Vince!  I really feel for your friends, customers, and colleagues -- and everyone else.  How terrible it is to lose so much (and then there are the insurance horror stories).

[davintosh]

It's been a harrowing week for sure, we are safe and for once, these wildfires are not impacting the rest of my family who are out in Santa Clarita Valley (about 40miles to the north). As you can see from this map, we are a comfortable distance from the active fire lines but it doesn't mean we aren't affected by the smoke and now ash. As you can see I have/had several clients not doing as well as us. The one squarely in the burn area is gone as is the entire neighborhood; I still can't wrap my head around the fact that beautiful neighborhoods going back to the 1940's, many still original Spanish & Craftsman houses and mature trees & landscape, have been completely removed from the face of the planet. One colleague, an Interior Designer I have worked with for 20 years, lived here and she lost everything.

Thanks for the update, Vince. So awful what's been lost. Hope things are still ok for you & yours.

I saw this photo a couple of days ago, and thought it was such a cool image. Amazing that it was left intact while all the houses around it suffered terrible fire damage.


https://youtu.be/g10CpqQwTsc?si=3BQMnlc3Er1XMYlg

[Mike W.]

That van may or may not have been there for the fire itself, but even it it was it may not be as it appears. I know a guy who got burned out in the Tubbs fire here, he said he had a pickup truck, parked on the street at the time. From the drivers side it looked just fine. But from the passenger side it was blackened from the fire. I guess it still drove ok, but talk about a Jekyll and Hyde.

[vinceg101]

That photo has been getting a lot of press, especially on FB. It's fake. And/or it was someone who drove in after the fire (the police were letting residents and press into the area for about a day until they shut that down).
But mostly it's fake.
There have been so many AI/PS fake photos circulating this past week, it's getting hard to know what is real. That is the tragic state of social media right now and maybe that is whole point of the exercise (that is the cynical side of me talking, but I don't think I'm far off the mark).

EDIT: In watching the video, it's clear someone drove it in afterwards. You can see other traffic on the street, so it was taken when they were still letting the residents in.

[Blue Shadow]

Agree that the van may have been added after the fire.  One of the pics shown on the news had a suv parked across the street from the van a bit further to the right in that picture. The news pic shown was taken from the left side of this pic and was a shot down the road.  

Haven't seen a pic of the other side of the van.

[davintosh]

Wow, what a bunch of skeptics! lol

Not sure how credible the story is, but this is where I read about it. Sounds legit anyway.

https://abc7.com/post/california-wildfi ... /15799970/

[alps]

Glad to see you're ok Vince. I'm in Santa Monica a little south of the 10 (just under the furthest left "10" symbol on Vince's map) so this was feeling very close, especially as the evacuation zones continued to creep closer on Wednesday, and they began evacuating the neighborhoods south of San Vicente in Santa Monica proper - that day it felt like the unimaginable was suddenly... possible. We left on Thursday to escape the smoke and ash. Strangely I know a lot more people in Altadena who lost their homes. It's all incredibly devastating, the city appears to be in a state of shock. The cultural losses are heavy as well. Hard to believe these two beautiful and historic neighborhoods are now completely gone. 

One amazing thing is seeing the amount of support the larger community is pouring into the neighborhoods and people who lost everything. As part of the architecture/design community, I'm seeing an incredible amount of ad hoc, ground up organizing beginning to take shape to help people recover and eventually rebuild. 

As for the e28 community, I know of Owen from Altadena who managed to save his e28, but lost everything else. He's active on instagram and the facebook group, and is now planning to sell is 535i to help him and his family recover. Not sure how we can help him out but I know someone set up a GoFundMe for him and his family. I'll post the link. I also recently met another guy with a white e28 who lives in Santa Monica, hoping he's unscathed. 

Thanks for thinking of us. 

 

[vinceg101]

^^^Glad to hear you're okay, Andrew.
As to you comments on the future rebuilding efforts, I have been fielding calls & texts with colleagues on this very subject this whole week while I've been camped out here in Princeton, NJ. While it's hard not to feel like an ambulance chaser in times like this, it is us (the Architects, Designers, Engineers, Builders,  etc.) whom these unfortunate souls are needing to turn to. I would rather it be a knowledgeable and conscientious team of professionals they can rely on rather than scammers and crooks looking to take advantage of the situation.

I have been in constant communication with my Expediters on the unfolding legal frame work of a streamlined expedited process from all agencies in order to be ready. I already have one referral as well as an established client expressing interest in rebuilding and moving forward. After the year we've had, I wouldn't mind being overwhelmed by a lot of rebuilding projects, even if it's just consults.

[laguna30]

This might not be something of use to anyone but I will throw it out there 

If you are a work from home type, need to find lodging while what appears to be a long rebuilding scenario plays out, this might be of interest 

For what it is worth : 
 I have a vacant rental Townhouse in Olympia WA.
 2 Bedroom 2.5 bath Fireplace (gas... might not be a selling point - too soon ?)
 2 car garage 
rents for 2000

Can stash an E28 or E21 in the garage for you to keep your wrench turning skills up