California Fires and PSA

[Ric Clint]

I'm in North Carolina so I just have no idea about this. I know the Fires out in California are devasting. How close are the PSA buildings to all the Fires that are going on? Is any of the PSA buildings in possible jeopardy?

[LincecumPC]

To keep things concise, PSA is nowhere near any danger at the moment.

[oddstuff]

Roughly 55 miles separate them from the fires.




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[Tnooky]

I wouldn't be concerned about the PSA building(s) being burned down, I would be concerned about packages making it there. USPS is already a disaster to begin with, with all the chaos I'm sure the likelihood of them losing stuff is significantly higher.

[salsdali]

interesting that home owners in that area can't get home owners insurance anymore for their home, I don't see any reason why the insurance companies would cover businesses in that area as well so would be quite the predicament if PSA couldn't insure their building and it's contents.

[90skid]

Originally Posted by Tnooky

I wouldn't be concerned about the PSA building(s) being burned down, I would be concerned about packages making it there. USPS is already a disaster to begin with, with all the chaos I'm sure the likelihood of them losing stuff is significantly higher.

Yeah I sent 1 card USPS Priority Mail just this past week to Newport Beach CA PO Box. Normally a very quick shipment even across the country (from East Coast). It delivered 4-5 days later than it normally would have, just being delayed by USPS. Thankfully though it arrived safe.

[f2tornado]

Originally Posted by salsdali

interesting that home owners in that area can't get home owners insurance anymore for their home, I don't see any reason why the insurance companies would cover businesses in that area as well so would be quite the predicament if PSA couldn't insure their building and it's contents.

The HQ is in the middle of an Orange County concrete jungle with about 12 lanes of freeway to the north and east. I'd be more worried about seismic activity than a fire in that location. Hopefully some dude is not grading a gem looking '52 Mantle when the big one hits. The places burning down in LA County are at the base of mountains where downslope winds do their thing time and again.

[salsdali]

Originally Posted by f2tornado

The HQ is in the middle of an Orange County concrete jungle with about 12 lanes of freeway to the north and east. I'd be more worried about seismic activity than a fire in that location. Hopefully some dude is not grading a gem looking '52 Mantle when the big one hits. The places burning down in LA County are at the base of mountains where downslope winds do their thing time and again.

my point was more that State Farm, Allstate, etc are literally pulling ALL homeowner, building insurance out of CA, regardless of the specific location in CA.

These fires are only going to make it much worse for all businesses to get insurance anywhere in CA.

The Burbank card shop is another business where I can see this being an issue.

[dictoresno]

Originally Posted by salsdali

my point was more that State Farm, Allstate, etc are literally pulling ALL homeowner, building insurance out of CA, regardless of the specific location in CA.

These fires are only going to make it much worse for all businesses to get insurance anywhere in CA.

insurance companies deal in and calculate risk. if their risk outweighs the benefits of underwriting insurance in a geographical region based upon natural disaster chances, they aren't going to fulfill their policies in that area due to those circumstances from a financial standpoint.

if you live in a flood prone area, you will need flood insurance on your home. if you live on the bank of a river that floods every single rain storm, they won't want to underwrite a policy on your house vs another home 2 miles away that may have a flood event maybe every 10 years or so and only under catastrophic conditions.

as terrible as it is, and my heart goes out to everyone in the area that has been effected, the insurance companies calculated the risk and given Californias apparent lack of preemptive mitigation to stop the wild fire chances, it appears they had to revoke the policies in that area to prevent becoming insolvent.

I won't say it was a political thing, but was purely based on risk management. they foresaw this becoming an issue and no one made attempts or heeded the warnings to work on infrastructure. we are quick to blame the insurance companies for pulling out, which im not saying is right or wrong, but the underlying issue lies deeper. A low lying town (Bound Brook) near where I used to live flooded terribly all the time from the Raritan River here in NJ. the town installed flood resistant, lock type doors they could shut at all low level underpasses along a levee to reduce the flooding. and it definitely reduced risk and increased the ability for businesses and homes to survive a flood. California needs to rethink their approach to mitigating the natural causes of these fires somehow.

[salsdali]

Originally Posted by dictoresno

California needs to rethink their approach to mitigating the natural causes of these fires somehow.

there's just one problem with that, These "wild" fires are vegetation fires that the natural habitat needs to happen every so many years in order to burn away the overgrowth (of manly "brush" chaparral) so that it can renew itself.

Chaparral (and other brush) aren't like large trees in the forest that can grow for hundreds of years, the lifecycle is more like 20-40 years.

In order for CA to mitigate "brush" fires in CA they would need to physically remove the brush every 20-40 years. It's a lot easier and less costly for nature to do that because I don't think you realize how many zillions of acres we are talking about, so CA just gambles that it won't happen during periods of high winds.

[dictoresno]

Originally Posted by salsdali

It's a lot easier and less costly for nature to do that because I don't think you realize how many zillions of acres we are talking about, so CA just gambles that it won't happen during periods of high winds.

well, the insurance companies don't agree. because the billions of dollars they would have to pay out vs the millions it would cost to tend to the acreage im sure, has been accounted for. that gamble you mentioned is the backbone of liability and risk. and they would rather take no chances anymore vs Californias effort, or lack thereof, of mitigation.

it may be a huge task, almost futile. but if its a rare natural event its easier to deal with and calculate. but if someone is intentionally starting them, it becomes a much greater and unpredictible random wrench thrown into the whole process.

[salsdali]

Originally Posted by dictoresno

it may be a huge task, almost futile.

not almost but truly futile because it's not just a matter of removing the overgrown brush because the fire actually causes ash that has a certain pH that the seeds need to germinate and some of the species actually use the heat of the fire for their seeds to crack so simply "sweeping up" the leaves and brush like Dumb Donald proposes doesn't work.

So what's CA supposed to do, go without insurance for the most populous State in the Nation and the 5th fifth largest economy in the world?

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by salsdali

So what's CA supposed to do, go without insurance for the most populous State in the Nation and the 5th fifth largest economy in the world?

Just tax your residents even more and create a state government funded insurance program! I’m sure it will be a huge success.

I don’t think packages to Newport even go through LA, do they?

[prospectorgems]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Just tax your residents even more and create a state government funded insurance program! I’m sure it will be a huge success.

I don’t think packages to Newport even go through LA, do they?

The primary fedex hub is in Santa Ana, but still far south of LA.

[f2tornado]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Just tax your residents even more and create a state government funded insurance program! I’m sure it will be a huge success.

I don’t think packages to Newport even go through LA, do they?

California does have a state program but it's apparently incredibly expensive. Florida created similar when insurers pulled out after so many hurricanes.

The plus side is it makes people rethink building/rebuilding in disaster prone areas. The downside is there's still property there, and in the case of CA, some very expensive property. There's definitely politics involved since that very expensive property generates lots of tax dollars and reverting it back to nature removes that revenue stream. Fire resistant building codes are one option but will add to the housing cost.

I used to live in Grand Forks, ND and a chunk of the city was destroyed by the 1997 flood. All the homes in the lowest area were permanently removed and the land turned into floodplain park. They built a massive levy around the rest of the town. No more flooding unless something truly massive comes along like in NC.

[salsdali]

Originally Posted by f2tornado

Fire resistant building codes are one option but will add to the housing cost.

that only helps the rebuilds that despite all the news coverage are literally less than 1% of all the homes in CA.

the other 99% are still fires waiting to happen so it's a FUBAR situation.

I heard of one homeowner being required to pay $4000 to remove a few Palm tress around their property in order to stay insured.

Remove Palm trees from CA, is that what this world is coming to?

You can pretty much throw away any postcards from CA at that rate.

[f2tornado]

Originally Posted by salsdali

Remove Palm trees from CA, is that what this world is coming to?

I make no position on the matter but will note that while they are iconic, they're not native to the area. That type of thing does sometimes offer negative consequences. Supposedly nonnative grass in Maui helped accelerate the fire there.

I suppose most anywhere in the country is prone to some disaster but the Malibu, CA area is averaging a damaging fire every three years and they've been burning long before climate change became buzz words after every disaster. It might just be time to rethink the land use in that area but that's probably not going to happen given the amount of money that flows through there.

[dictoresno]

Originally Posted by salsdali

not almost but truly futile because it's not just a matter of removing the overgrown brush because the fire actually causes ash that has a certain pH that the seeds need to germinate and some of the species actually use the heat of the fire for their seeds to crack so simply "sweeping up" the leaves and brush like Dumb Donald proposes doesn't work.

So what's CA supposed to do, go without insurance for the most populous State in the Nation and the 5th fifth largest economy in the world?

after watching the roundtable meeting tonight at an LA firehouse with the mayor of LA and the congressmen from the area, it didn't seem like dumb Donald. he's been saying since his last admin back in 2018 that the then governor elect Newsom needed to tend to the issues at hand regarding the fire risk and the congressmen representing the areas affected seemed like they agreed there needs more to be done to mitigate and they totally threw all them dem leaders under the bus.

someone asked about the insurance issue I mentioned earlier, and asked trump to step in and ask the insurance companies to cover things. but it all comes down to what I said earlier and what trump said tonight. the insurance companies asked California to fix things which they didn't. those newly calculated risks were taken into account when they decided to pull out. as I said, they operate on risk factors. if the state refuses to mitigate risk, the insurance companies will pull out.

however after watching the roundtable it looks like both parties are willing to set aside differences and he will help cali fight the red tape regarding cleanup and rebuilding. lets all just hope politics gets set aside so everyone can get back to normal.

[salsdali]

Originally Posted by dictoresno

the insurance companies asked California to fix things which they didn't. those newly calculated risks were taken into account when they decided to pull out.

There are no "newly calculated risks". The risk has been exactly the same for the last 100 years because the risk is the WIND which hasn't changed in over 100 years in LA. There's a reason there is a city called Santa Ana in LA.

how do you propose CA "mitigate" Santa Ana winds?

just more "Hot Air" from Dumb Donald. Oh, the irony!

[dictoresno]

Originally Posted by salsdali

There are no "newly calculated risks". The risk has been exactly the same for the last 100 years because the risk is the WIND which hasn't changed in over 100 years in LA. There's a reason there is a city called Santa Ana in LA.

how do you propose CA "mitigate" Santa Ana winds?

just more "Hot Air" from Dumb Donald. Oh, the irony!

Get some water perhaps. Water fights fires. Oh, and the infrastructure (your low drooping power lines due the excessive use from high consumption and poor right of way trimming) and your people (the ones that ignite them intentionally) are to blame. Fires don’t start by themselves. A lot of times it’s due to a drooping power lines but it seems lately, your fellow residents seem to light them as well.

Pair that with extremely dry and unkept swooping mountains, what do you expect. This is nothing new to California. Nothings changed since the last wave of fires

And the Santa Ana winds didn’t set the fine. You can’t stop that. But you can lower the risk of them aggravating a current wild fire by preventing the fire from happening in the first place. Which is what Trump said back in 2918 by making sure the forested land was cleaned up and that there was ample amount of water coming to the LA area from the north.


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[salsdali]

Originally Posted by dictoresno

A lot of times it’s due to a drooping power lines but it seems lately, your fellow residents seem to light them as well.

Pair that with extremely dry and unkept swooping mountains, what do you expect.

Which is what Trump said back in 2918 by making sure the forested land was cleaned up and that there was ample amount of water coming to the LA area from the north.

there's plenty of water, that is not the issue.

Many times, the high speed of the Santa Ana winds causes friction on the power lines and the static sparks that it creates blow to the ground below and start a fire with absolutely no human involved.

as far as "unkept" land, has Dumb Donald ever looked at a map of the US, CA takes up literally 15% of the total land area of the United States (google it if you don't believe me). That's a LOT of sweeping.

[dictoresno]

Originally Posted by salsdali

there's plenty of water, that is not the issue.

Many times, the high speed of the Santa Ana winds causes friction on the power lines and the static sparks that it creates blow to the ground below and start a fire with absolutely no human involved.

as far as "unkept" land, has Dumb Donald ever looked at a map of the US, CA takes up literally 15% of the total land area of the United States (google it if you don't believe me). That's a LOT of sweeping.

Then maybe you should let the state know your findings so they can tell him. Sounds like you have it all figured out.


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[salsdali]

Originally Posted by dictoresno

Then maybe you should let the state know your findings so they can tell him. Sounds like you have it all figured out.


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well I have lived here 50 years, so there's that.

Born in Baltimore (cousins in Jersey) so I understand the East Coast ignorance when you look out your window and see green all day.

kinda like how a President from New York (and now Florida) would know nothing about CA.

IMO, the best way to conceptualize CA is to imagine we have Hurricanes like Florida, but instead of rain drops being blown around, hot embers are being blown around at an identical rate and spread.

So, has FL been able to "mitigate" Hurricanes? Maybe instead of sweeping up leaves they should just build a Dome around the state. Sounds reasonable, right?

[dictoresno]

Originally Posted by salsdali

well I have lived here 50 years, so there's that.

Born in Baltimore (cousins in Jersey) so I understand the East Coast ignorance when you look out your window and see green all day.

kinda like how a President from New York (and now Florida) would know nothing about CA.

IMO, the best way to conceptualize CA is to imagine we have Hurricanes like Florida, but instead of rain drops being blown around, hot embers are being blown around at an identical rate and spread.

So, has FL been able to "mitigate" Hurricanes? Maybe instead of sweeping up leaves they should just build a Dome around the state. Sounds reasonable, right?

No point in arguing any further. The left cannot be wrong nor convinced otherwise of their feelings on matters. Good luck.


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[salsdali]

Originally Posted by dictoresno

No point in arguing any further. The left cannot be wrong nor convinced otherwise of their feelings on matters. Good luck.

name one "feeling" I posted?

I posted facts and experience, something the right clearly doesn't want to deal in.