Wildfire empathy thread...

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dave v. in nc

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My heart broke in the fall with Helene, with floods, winds, and trees down in our beautiful mountains (and our back yard...), and again it breaks for all of you folks in the LA area...stay safe and healthy. Cars are one thing, humans and houses are what make real tears. Love to you all.
 
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very well said Dave ... right there with you about the beautiful area in western NC on all sides of Asheville ... one of my favorite areas to drive. that said, the fires are so devastating in the LA area. i hope all coupes are spared, loss of a house is not a good thing (along with the personal items) ... but the house can generally be rebuilt. but coupes and other collectable cars would be gone forever. but where Dave gets it most right is our human friends ... stay safe guys
 
I have a dear friend who lives on Strathmore Ave in the Palisades. Close to the fire line according to the latest map. I have emailed her, no response.

However, I fear the response of the insurance companies will be the same as for the other fires, hurricanes, and natural disasters all over the country. They will stop writing home owner's insurance in the Palisades and other fire areas.

From what I have read recently the insurance companies are taking serious hits with these disasters, everywhere! State Insurance Commissions have been granting rate increases based on catastrophic losses the last ten years.

Steve H. perhaps you know more about this living in Florida.
 
Just horrible. Seeing abandoned cars being bulldozed really hit home. I saw the Audi owner interviewed, he was told by police to leave their cars if they wanted to stay alive. Further East in Altadena, homes built in the 1920s being hit as well.
I did see that an auto storage company was offering free storage. Great if you can get your car out. :(
www.theautopian.com

[UPDATE] Huge California Fire Forces Drivers To Ditch Cars. Watch A Bulldozer Desperately Shove Them Out Of The Way - The Autopian

Right now, only five miles from where I live in Santa Monica, there’s a fire raging in Pacific Palisades. The black cloud — painted by flashes of orange — reaches high into the sky, and can be seen for miles and miles. It’s a product of some kind of (currently unknown) ignition source coupled...
www.theautopian.com www.theautopian.com
 
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The extent is really substantial. The picture below is from the New York Times showing the various fires and their relative size. I hope all our Southern California friends stay safe.


1736387341135.png
 
My daughter just lost her house in Malibu. You'd think it was safe, being on the sand with no vegetation, on the ocean side of the Coast Highway, directly across the street from LA County Fire Station #70. But there is no logic to this. Over 1,000 buildings gone, and 5 lives so far. 0% contained. Four simultaneous fires. Not nearly enough personnel. Winds keeping aircraft down. It is devastating. On the plus side, neither the family nor her coupe were there.

While we haven't been able to see personally, I understand from neighbors and the LA fire map that everything in orange is gone, including the fire station.

1736388501385.png
 
It’s so tragic for so many. My son-in-law‘s Mom has evacuated from adjacent Santa Monica and my daughter-in-law has a cousin who lost a home and another who has evacuated. If the a Palisade fire moves south to high density Santa Monica any distance, the already huge structure loss numbers could become much larger.
 
Norm! said:
It’s so tragic for so many. My son-in-law‘s Mom has evacuated from adjacent Santa Monica and my daughter-in-law has a cousin who lost a home and another who has evacuated. If the a Palisade fire moves south to high density Santa Monica any distance, the already huge structure loss numbers could become much larger.
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Here’s a clearer picture of the actual fire areas with surrounding evacuation and warning zones as of 5 PM yesterday. The winds died down yesterday evening but are forecast to increase again today through Friday.

IMG_0204.png
 
Just saw on FB e9 group that Matt Dusig lost his 74 3.0cs in the Palisades fire. Matt and his family are fine.
What’s happening to LA is truly devastating and more winds expected tonight.
Can‘t imagine what people are going through.
The lost coupe:
IMG_4223.jpeg
 
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i know that one of the members from 12 or so years ago @execmalibu lived near the cost in Malibu. i sent him an email to check in on him, haven't heard anything. my old boss lived at the end of topanga beach rd - 1st house next to the public beach ... not too far from the Getty Villa ... no idea if its still there. hope
 
i would like to recommend my friends on e9coupe to join me in contributing to one of the many charitable service organizations to help people. i choose to support chef Jose Andres and World Central Kitchen. i have met with Jose on several occasions and he is as wonderful of a person as there can be. their current support venues are SoCal, Florida / GA / Tennessee / North Carolina hurricane relief, Israel / Lebanon / Gaza and Ukraine.

if you would like to donate to WCK - their website is https://wck.org/

of course there are many other great companies to donate to such as the Red Cross and many others. if you can, please contribute to help those affected
 
I knew a little about WCK, went on their website just now and made a donation. I had been looking for a way to support, and WCK is filling a little known gap in the disaster relief world across the world!

Here is part of long text I received this morning from a dear friend who lived(notice the past tense) on Strathmore in the Palisades.

"Five of my six closest friends and I all lost our homes entirely, ashes, nothing left. Our whole town is gone, schools and churches, parks and stores, post office, restaurants, everything. And the air is terrible with smoke. The winds did us in, 80-100 mph all day Tuesday and Wednesday. And flames everywhere."

Scary, tragic and so sad.
 
There was a fellow named Bill who bought a Ceylon coupe on BaT around 2021. I have a feeling his house and coupe may be gone. He was friends with JP (not a car guy), who lived in Pali and grew up there. I am pretty sure his sister abs parents still live there. And they are all wiped out. Reaching out through the alumni network to see if there is anything we can do to help.
At least after Hurricane Ian, most of us had something left to fix here on Sanibel. In PP, just ash.
 
My wife beat me to it, she donated to World Central Kitchen (again as we have for a number of events) and also to the Los Angeles SPCA.

I was watching the BBC this morning (some of the best coverage I have seen), part of their coverage was an interview with a councilwoman who stated that the city is gone... and that every elementary school in Pacific Palisades has been burned to the ground.
 
Where do you go if you are one of the almost 200,000 that have evacuated (so far)?

Where do you find a builder to rebuild your house since it is one of over 10,000 destroyed?

At what point does the insurance company not have the funds to pay you and declares bankruptcy?


This is beyond scary and sad.
 
Dick Steinkamp said:
Where do you go if you are one of the almost 200,000 that have evacuated (so far)?

Where do you find a builder to rebuild your house since it is one of over 10,000 destroyed?

At what point does the insurance company not have the funds to pay you and declares bankruptcy?


This is beyond scary and sad.
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The insurance companies are reinsured, though they will threaten with leaving the state if they cannot increase rates, so we all pay, or will be bailed out by government, and again we all pay.
I used to think that in valuable markets, where 70% of the value of the property is the land, you get the 30% from insurance, and rebuild the house you really wanted to live in! I saw that when La Jolla had mud slides that condemned entire blocks... I thought Malibu would be like that. I am afraid I was wrong. First, many people inherited houses and are paying taxes limited by prop 13, the houses date back as far as the 50s. If they rebuild I hear the taxes are reassessed to market value, and they cannot afford that. Plus the permitting process with today's rules will really slow things down. If they take the 30% and buy a house elsewhere they have to also sell the land, and now is not a great time to sell. Else they will have to rent or move to a place where 30% of the old house buys a full house...so what does the crystal ball show? Most owners will not rebuild, corporate capitals, realizing the prime location value long term, will buy land and spawn projects, probably less units but higher end, or policy makers will push for less density and the state may buy some of the land. That is my grim outlook today, but every crisis is an opportunity says a slogan that I hate like all slogans.
My son started a job in LA on Monday. He drove back home on Thursday and is waiting to see if they need him back in person on Monday. He would drive back whistling Leonard Cohen's Boogie Street I guess:

I’m wanted at the traffic-jam
They’re saving me a seat
I’m what I am, and what I am
Is back on Boogie Street
 
Arde said:
The insurance companies are reinsured, though they will threaten with leaving the state if they cannot increase rates, so we all pay, or will be bailed out by government, and again we all pay.
I used to think that in valuable markets, where 70% of the value of the property is the land, you get the 30% from insurance, and rebuild the house you really wanted to live in! I saw that when La Jolla had mud slides that condemned entire blocks... I thought Malibu would be like that. I am afraid I was wrong. First, many people inherited houses and are paying taxes limited by prop 13, the houses date back as far as the 50s. If they rebuild I hear the taxes are reassessed to market value, and they cannot afford that. Plus the permitting process with today's rules will really slow things down. If they take the 30% and buy a house elsewhere they have to also sell the land, and now is not a great time to sell. Else they will have to rent or move to a place where 30% of the old house buys a full house...so what does the crystal ball show? Most owners will not rebuild, corporate capitals, realizing the prime location value long term, will buy land and spawn projects, probably less units but higher end, or policy makers will push for less density and the state may buy some of the land. That is my grim outlook today, but every crisis is an opportunity says a slogan that I hate like all slogans.
My son started a job in LA on Monday. He drove back home on Thursday and is waiting to see if they need him back in person on Monday. He would drive back whistling Leonard Cohen's Boogie Street I guess:

I’m wanted at the traffic-jam
They’re saving me a seat
I’m what I am, and what I am
Is back on Boogie Street
Click to expand...


from the distance I am unable to understand this, so my perception might be misaligned

i have seen the Malibu, and other coastal house rows, it is hard to believe you can allow buildings so close between them and also completely closing the sea, as a wall, I understand those were built in the thirties, but anyway…

I try to understand what you mentioned about the chances to rebuild, and also the different opportunities that might come for owners, investors,…

this will change many things in the area for sure

p.s. Fire is terrible, water too, CA fires, maybe less populated, 12 fatalities, Valencia, water, 220 fatalities
 
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