Paradise, Ca 'Camp' fire FLYOVER
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Get the big picture overview of the devastation and a better understanding of how this fire destroyed this town.
Aircraft-1946 Luscombe 8A/O200
Camera-GoPro Hero5 w/ Karma Stabilizer
DONATE LINKS FOR FIRE VICTIMS:
United Way
www.norcalunit...
North Valley Community Foundation
www.nvcf.org/f...
Red Cross
www.redcross.o...
++ The following locations are in need of clothing, towels and personal hygiene items, the Placer County Sheriff's Office said in a tweet Friday:
The Salvation Army in Chico: 530-342-2192
Butte County Fairgrounds in Gridley: 530-846-3626
Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds in Yuba City: 530-674-1280
Church of the Nazarene (FULL) in Oroville 530-533-7464 - Наука та технологія
Pine needles ignite easily. It still looks messed up that houses burn but trees don't.
@@finalminute3861 Do a bit of research
That does look really off, doesn’t it?
Healthy needle branches don’t burn easily.
They burn easily in my yard. Maybe you should try it Job.
Mike M the ones on the ground you mean?
I’m just say’n but it still seems weird the way the fire burned
Compared to what? Do you have experience working fires in this area? Looks pretty normal to me (some experience in this area), in fact in the central areas of town there is less destruction than the parts that abut the woods.
Houses are built with lots of fire retardant materials. Trees aren't fire retardant.
@@dogie1070 I don't know about Ponderosa pines, but some trees (Redwoods, Canary Island pines) do have naturally fire retardant properties of the bark. Also, as the pilot says, the ones that are "green" (growing, not dead/dried out) have some moisture, which also retards fire. If you look at the pictures of the island of Hawaii where the recent lava flows occurred, you can see that many trees survived being surround by lava (but may have died later due to chemicals in the air).
Marianna Tubman human bodies have a lot of moisture also and they burned to a crisp. Trees have sap... pines branches are great for starting camp fires.
Ponderosa pine needles are the best for starting a campfire - but that's not advisable now.
My question is...if the wind was so bad that it moved at such a crazy fast pace that it burned the house not so much the trees, why were garbage cans all standing up right? Not one was blown over from the wind and the streets had no debris on them other than the burned cars. I saw that from all the videos and pictures that was shown. So I’m a bit confused...very windy, homes burned to the ground with nothing left, but trash cans still standing! Fire Concentrate on the homes. Doesn’t make any sense! I do enjoy your reporting! 👍👍👍👍
Selective Moisture or Selective Fire take your pick.
@@PinyonGear Or selective intelligence/ knowledge. Just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it didn't happen. It just means you are too lazy to educate yourself.
The wind was 15-20 mph here next county over. Not really a high wind. Just enough. This was a perfect storm scenario of weather conditions and ignition source. Garbage cans with closed lids are not a great ignition bed. Sparks bounce off. But houses with gable vents into attics filled with cellulose insulation, gutters full of pine needles, etc. are a great ignition bed.
windy conditions at the start - facebook.com/derek.yarrow.3/videos/2208918639386879/
Sideslip YOU SOUND SALTY...
After this guy took that flight footage, he made that lengthy preface because he knew for certain what he was looking at, but still for whatever reason he didnt want to land on "that" band wagon.
You can see early on where the fire started in the forest but its predominantly burnt grass and dirt, but as soon as the fire reaches the houses it consumes nothing other than man made objects, like a dogs first taste of Blood, it seeks it out. Once the houses are consumed it went back to burning the grass and dirt, occasionally a tree, until it reaches another town... 7:50 Could it be more obvious? 9:30 ?
This is an AMAZING video. I dont know how anyone could honestly convince themselves that Fiberglass, Rubber, Plastics, Granite, Glass, Steel (which all go through some kind of fire safety regulations prior to being distributed to the public) are somehow all more flammable than the Trees and Vegetation that have been in a DROUGHT for several years now... Makes no sense...
The trees are alive, there is water, its not like it hasnt rained, last year Oroville almost had its dam break.... its been dry, but the really flamable materials are the dead branches and leaves that have been piling up for the past 20 years on the forest floor
@@fattyjaybird7505You mean the leaves and branches that literally fall off of every tree, everywhere on every continent ever since the beginning of the existence of trees? I hate being a pessimistic jerk, but seriously people need to start opening their eyes and stop lying to themselves. The repercussions of what I'm insinuating are devastating so I understand why people are hesitant but it's inevitable so the sooner the better...
@@hillsideheathen5267 yea...and you know what else has happened everywhere since the beginning of time? Wildfires! And you know what hasnt happened in all these places where fire sweeps through because it has all the fuel in the world to burn? Wildfires! Wildfires are supposed to happen, the last fire in the Paradise area happen 20 years ago... you know what happened to a couple guys who saw that fire and decided to clear cut around thier property and install a generator for his water pump? Thier homes didnt burn down... now im sure if what youre insinuating is what I think your insinuating wouldnt thier houses have been burned down as well? Or is that part of the coverup too that THEY so amazingly orchestrated so that people like you can figure it out, and let everyone know?
@@hillsideheathen5267 a common attribute of pinecones are to open up and germinate when exposed to fire... why would a tree evolve for that reaction?
@@fattyjaybird7505 Heat causes expansion, cold contracts... makes sense. Regarding my insinuation, your probably on the right path but this is new to people like me thus a theory is still in development however, I'm theorizing that large entities like cern for example with unlimited funding could possibly discover the inner workings of fire for lack of a better description, for instance fire creates a plasma around it that interacts with magnetics, perhaps a group discovered a way to manipulate that ability causing fire to be predominately attracted to metalics etc? Idk, but when I look at the behavior of these fires, it just doesn't sit right...
Juan, I just learned more in a few minutes than in days worth of reports on the fire by "professional" media. Thank you for your work!
So called professional media reports always focus on sensationalism and rarely on factual information that the people need. After all, the most significant and heartbreaking events are what people want and the media delivers. Reporters rarely know anything about the actual functions they encounter; they love speculative reporting.
I learned more about this fire in a few minutes than I have since it started.
No kidding and that's why I just don't watch the so called professionals anymore
You learned a false narrative they give to cover up the truth
Thanks Juan.I have seen allot of fire-storms and never seen that many dry pine trees not burn in a fire. All the houses next to those pine trees... very strange!
They were green pine trees.
@@blancolirio - I understand the were green but as oily as pin is and late in the summer the bark is dry and considering the proximity to flames that turned homes and most of their contents to ash. It makes me wonder. Here in so. Cal. fires burn everything because of the dead brush and lack of a natural burn cycle. I know that different Areas and altitudes have different characteristics but Heat and flame travel up even in a blast furnace so I am baffled. Is that old growth or old replant that was never harvested or properly maintained? Thank you for your input and your objectiveness. I just wonder if everything is being considered. My prayers go out to all those effected by these disasters. Thanks again for your service reporting these fires and the dam. Lawrence.
calrenman you’re absolutely right about pine trees!!! I’ve used green pine branches to start my camp fire and find it the best kindling ever!!! X Boy Scout, fisherman, hunter, camper!!!
Ronald Cates yeah because you broke it off and it’s dead
I was in the middle of this fire.We sprayed water for 6 hours, keeping the middle of the yard fire free. Then the outer bushes went up. Berry bushes 100 feet long went up for 10-15 seconds, gone no damage to anything. South side bushes gone 10 seconds. South side 200" tree crowned and was gone 10 seconds. We left after all roads to Skyway were empty with traffic. The house and property were standing 7+ hours into this fire. We had both sides of the street trees up in flames. Skyway down was impossible to see 10 feet, We made it down. The home we had is gone.
God Bless us all.
Keep in mind please, Paradise clean-up will take 12-18 month's, this is from the Mayor. Nothing can live on your Property.
I'm so sorry for all you are going through. I am so scared this will soon happen in my community of the Southern end of the Sierra foothills. I am an EX-BLM wildland firefighter and I simply cannot understand this excessive fire behavior. I am greatly disturbed by it. Please hang in there and I so much hope the best for you and your community... I hope my supportive words help you somehow...
@City17.76 We had the 100' clear zone in the yard. Small spots were burning, water kept them under control. We moved the RV to the middle of the yard, It's still there, untouched. Good thing, it was my room-mates sister's RV, no liability insurance. We did what we could, stay calm, spray water, locate cat's, gather up stuff, and run for our lives. P.T.S. is fire coming while sleeping.
GOD BLESS US ALL.
I’m so sorry you lost your home Mike. Wishing you, your family, your friends, and your community the absolute best as you recover and rebuild. From Atlanta - Paige
When smoke was first smelled at the hospital, there was no wind. Not long after, it got really windy. Where did the wind come from and why?
Here's the wind at the start of the fire - facebook.com/derek.yarrow.3/videos/2208918639386879/
Fire consumes oxygen, as the fire burns stronger more air is needed, the fire creates a vacuum and air rushes in to feed the fire.. this creates wind... Really strong fires create their own fire storm as was sadly witnessed in these fires. This is why the fires spread so fast as they are literally blowing themselves across the land..
The Caltrans employee that was with the PGandE employee on day one said the winds were blowing hard. He had trouble standing up
It was a very windy day here and I am about 90 miles directly south from Paradise..
Firestorm, the hot air from the fire and shape of terrain etc. moves air, a lot of air. And I believe the valley was windy, and in the canyon that day.
Still doesn't explain why brick houses are gone but a lot of wooden houses and wooden fences survived.
Do you think there will ever be any positive change, or just another layer of bureaucracy laid over the rest?
A few things. 1st this breaks my heart seeing all of this distruction. 2nd Juan thank you for the kind words of encourgement to my brothers and sisters in public safety. Disabled EMT here. I can tell you that you are right that they will be tring to think what could they done different and they will be mad also because in their hearts, the reason we do this job, Is to help and with BS top down stuff it ties their hands.
Nathan would an EARLY WARNING SYSTEM such as an Civil Defense warning,,prepare the folks in paradise helped ? There are some ‘little streams’ in the next town over from mine, but heavy rains sends out one loud bullhorn, so people can take action, it only took years, and much flooding, before that was installed .,,even the roadway typically floods 2 feet.
I'm guessing the "traffic calming" measure you're referring to is the reduction of lanes in both directions on a lower portion of Skyway. In the past, there were two lanes in both directions. The city council reduced the lanes to a single lane both directions. The traffic in Paradise at "rush hour" times was awful given the population of the town itself. I was perplexed at the decision before the fire. After the fire I'm furious.
My question would be what was directing this fire on a calm day with hardly no breeze. To 50- 60 mile about winds a hour later?...
People witnessing blue beams coming from the clouds..
Shame on the city council for taking out two lanes, did they help plan this?..
@@danielcarson220 it was a firestorm which means the fire was generating its own wind and at that point the fire was impossible to contain .
Thank you for taking me on a $175 tour. Better than any news cast production.
Yes, just images and facts, no hype. As news reporting should be.
This really helped me understand how and why those people were trapped as they tried to evacuate.
the ones who were actually trying to escape were mainly trapped cause of the police not the fire
Do y’all know if people went up through sterling city and towards Butte meadows? Isn’t that a paved/graveled maintained road now? I don’t know? I’m not from there...
Thanks
BIG D
@@Chicosfinest420 the majority went down skyway when I went down skyway the right side was also on fire so I highly doubt it cause the canyon was on fire to
Eli Bledsaw
I was speaking of the topography and the limited ways to get in and out of Paradise.
The only ways out were south on the north bound lanes of skyway and north up skyway through doemill or all the way up skyway to butte meadows, most people didn't know Bout doe mill so skyway got jammed up and it turns into a 2 lane extremely curvy road that slowed people down even more
Juan I would like to thank you for once again providing a concise and well put together debrief of this incident. As a former professional firefighter and private pilot this is a perfect platform to utilize for this overview.
The use of sold facts and the explanation of wildland fire behavior helps to relieve some of the ambiguity and misunderstanding that will follow a event like this.
Keep up the solid work.
Nathan would an EARLY WARNING SYSTEM such as an Civil Defense warning,,prepare the folks in paradise helped ? The first buildings were burning within one hour of the start of the fire, the winds were too high to get the planes in the air to fight the fire until houses were already burning.
Well said Tom. And thank you, Juan.
The speed and destruction caused by the Camp Fire in Paradise is very similar to the 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm. The Oakland Hills is a wildland-urban interface area with packed homes on hilly terrain plus plenty of fuel in and around properties. Also, narrow winding roads caused horrendous traffic jams and people to loose their lives while trying to evacuate. Lessons from almost three decades ago unfortunately were not learned.
They may have been able to get a handle on the Oakland fire.
There were tankers available, but they were not called until late in the fire.
Maybe the urban management was not used to using tankers.
My cousin was a P3 tanker pilot on that fire making drops on downtown Oakland.
An additional exacerbating factor in the Oakland Hills fire was that most of the trees were eucalyptus ( non native ) and are essentially kerosene bushes.
After the Oakland Hills fire a new industry was created to help keep the brush and undergrowth trimmed using goats and sheep. You can pay people to bring their herd onto your property and eat the weeds and bushes in places that would otherwise be difficult to impossible to weed-eat.
That wasn't the biggest problem. The main way the Oakland fire spread was via cedar-shake roofs -- even when treated with fire retardant, cedar is like storing gasoline on your roof. Once an ember lands on a cedar roof, the house is a goner. At the time cedar shake roofs were mandated by a lot of California Home Owners Associations, including those in Oakland. In one area the only surviving house was also the only one that had a tile roof, and at the time the HOA was suing the owner to force him to replace it with cedar. Funny how that lawsuit evaporated after the fire... Down in Santa Clarita a similar lawsuit was in progress, and it was likewise quietly dropped.
I started following you during the Oroville Dam crisis. It is very refreshing to still see journalism is alive in the wee-corners of the internet unlike main stream sources. Thanks for your efforts!!! Great stuff.
I hope other similarly sites communities watch this and get prepared. My home is in a similar location. People don't want trees cut but there needs to be places people can shelter in place when egress is blocked. We need better plans for evacuating the elderly and handicapped.
Words cannot express the feelings that disasters like this bring about. It seems so traumatic, it's hard to imagine how anyone could ever get over it. Thank you, Juan, for your thorough and compassionate reporting on this fire. It did get very close to your own home, so no doubt you empathize with the suffering of your neighbors, in a way no mere observer can. Your reporting is second to none, and I hope there are some awards headed your way, for your accurate and unbiased coverage.
It does seem odd that they don't build underground community shelters, where each town could shelter and house their populations during disasters. Considering how much money we spend on sports stadiums and the like, it would seem to be a good investment in our future. When not being used as a shelter, they could double as community centers, etc. Also, hopefully, they have passed building codes which would require new construction to be made with masonry, and metal or ceramic tile roofs, otherwise, rebuilding would be counter intuitive, and wasteful.
Once again, thanks for your hard work, Juan.
FYI: There are a couple of specialty construction companies that are running TV ads touting their "fire resistant" home and business construction using steel framing, standing seam metal roofs and aluminum siding. They even have landscape architects who can make nice looking, drought resistant and fire resistant landscaping. I would imagine they incorporate a lot of ice plant perimeters, koi fish or duck ponds and rock gardens, less grass and shrubbery than the typical subdivision.
As a member of a Colorado based incident mgmt team that works fires, this is the worst case scenario we talk about and even plan for. Your tour and description of the fire activity were very helpful. Godspeed to the assessment and recovery teams. Thanks for a superb job documenting what happened. The networks should take a lesson from you.
Thanks for update, God Bless you ,Blancolirio.
The networks should be embarrassed.
Catastrophe seems almost an inadequate word for all that has happened.
Great seeing the flyover - sure shows the enormous scale - and the deceptive seeming survival of so many trees. Property loss is beyond belief.
More super reporting Juan, thank you.
My dad used to live in Paradise... I remember well that old sign, that said "You Are Ascending Into Paradise"...
It's a darned shame, there won't be so many people up there in the future, for a very long time.
Kudos to Juan Brown for his amazing coverage, without political agendas or finger-pointing...
Better views of what went on and the aftermath, than other media will ever provide.
Stay safe, guy!
There is no way to fight a fire that moves that fast, and there never will be. Only preparedness will matter in such events. Fuel reduction, fire brakes, defensible space, fireproof building materials and better escape routes are the elements of prevention that fall to every person and community in these wildland - urban interfaces.
Bob Frazier
This is really really important for more people to understand and implement.
The conspiracy theories and ignorance are scary.
@@stellashepherd844 I'm already hearing about directed energy weapons. It's obvious they don't know anything about thermodynamics and physics either. They know nothing about directed energy weapons. It would take more power than all the power stations in the USA (most likely the world) running full output with the entire nation blackouted out to generate the wattage needed to create the BTUs required to do something like this and that wouldn't be enough. It's obvious these people have no education. Or maybe they have liberals arts education and think they know physics. I thought they were joking at one time but these people are starting to worry me.
Maybe pre installed metal fences along the fire break to catch the bigger sparks?
I'm suprised California hasn't come up with some creative ideas on how to battle this ongoing plauge. Of course they stopped controlled burning which would have at least showed this fire if not prevented it. Right now paradise is the safest place you can build as far as fires.
@@Patschenkino August 13th, 1910, "High winds returned, blowing burning embers into the town of Wallace, Idaho - the nearest fire was then 6 miles away." One was said to be nearly as large as a horse's hind quarter. Three million acres burned in 36 hours.
Saddest plane ride I've ever been on.
I couldn't agree more.
Yes, i am very sad to see this devasation.
I think Flight 93 was a worse experience.
Confirmed
Yes it is
Bbster Scott's UA-cam Channel uploaded some recent videos that document no wind or light breeze at his home, in the path of the Camp fire, when the fire started.
Nice propaganda piece
I was one hill over on the 8th maybe 2 miles away and the wind at my place was mild, only heavy gusts were in the treetops.
Bunches of silly flying embers, how boring Juan. Zapper rays from alien invaders, now were talking!!
Too often those charged with reporting are little more than advocates for their position, and ignore everything else. Mainstream media people could learn a lot from Mr. Brown. Juan studies his subjects, and reports what he finds. As a result, we get the facts and the whole story. Great reporting, and thanks for the good work you do.
Thanks Crabby!
Look at all them Trees ! Seems nature just want to burn peoples homes out there in Calie.
I think I am going to be sick. I live in Redding and only a few months ago we had the Carr Fire here and I wouldn't wish anything like that on my worst enemy. Too see the damage that fire did to that town makes our fire look so small. Its mind blowing to me in Redding we lost almost 2000 homes, that's a drop in the bucket compared to what Paradise lost. So sad I still pray every night for our towns to heal from these tragedies. Let's pray to God 2019 summer is more forgiving. But then you can't burn something that's already been burned.
I bet they will not allow logging the dead trees. Thank you for this video update.
They're actually offering around $750 million for someone to remove them since its fuel for the next fire. Or did you think there was a market for half burned tree?
I wish all the news media would report the way you do Juan. Very informative and the whole truth not just the truth that serves your purpose. One again a big thumbs up 👍
Finally someone that knows how fires work and that it wasn't lasers that caused the spot fires or human made weather
thanks for this footage. very helpful. do you have any plans to fly over the area where the fire is believed to have started?
Rumford Chimpenstein -Yes.
@@blancolirio then im subbed! looking forward to it, thanks again for this unique angle
Cant depend on govt for anything, fires, earthquakes, floods, riots etc!
You have to be prepared, have a plan, meet up location, have home drills with all the family, to go items or bags, contact number out of state because your area phone lines will be overwhelmed or down, never park your vehicle under 1/4 tank of gas. That way you can drive to get out, then stop and fill up the gas tank.
Out there they should know about ways to survive the fire. Those foil looking blankets have saved plenty of wilderness fire fighters lives. Wet blankets. Water mist barriers. Maybe even a fire cellar.
Actually, government has a major roll to play well before and after a disaster, but during a disaster one is largely, if not entirely, on their own as quite often even if one had infinite resources to allocate they still take time to relocate and bring to bear on an area and often times the roads in and out become choked off by the evacuees or disaster - to say nothing of the time it takes to gather necessary information and plan safe courses of action amongst multiple agencies and groups so you don’t get more people killed in failed efforts because their own evacuation routes became closed to them or crews collided with one another or wound up working at cross purposes, coordinating large numbers of people and equipment is very difficult to do in short order in the absence of that information. Something most anyone who grew up in the paths of hurricanes or other major natural events can attest to the fact that one has to plan to provide for their own safety during the crisis (which in our case also includes stockpiling food and water, first aid, etc.). The problem is that far too many make absolutely no personal plans and acquire little or no personal resources for getting themselves through that initial period where they are entirely on their own as they just assume that somehow the government is going to magically be able to bail them, and every other citizen in the path, out in that moment of need. Growing up in the SE US nearly ever year you will hear the desperate calls of citizens begging 911 operators to be rescued during a major hurricane despite very stern warnings well beforehand that during the worst of the storm they will be entirely on their own and should self evacuate, yet many still assume that if they call 911, even in 150MPH winds and 12 feet of storm surge water, that somehow fire and rescue crews will magically show up within minutes. You have to be prepared to rescue yourself, and possibly your neighbor, and provide for yourself without depending upon any outside agencies for at least the duration of the disaster. A few days to a week afterwards is when you can usually begin to expect other agencies to begin trying to assist you, but you have to assume responsibility for yourself until that point.
Even during this disaster you will find videos online of homeowners refusing to evacuate because they had convinced themselves that somehow they were going to fight a fast moving fire in 60mph winds armed with nothing more than a garden hose and a pair of shorts and sandals on the assumption that if it gets to be too much they can just drive out ahead of the fire - some of whom were literally consumed in the fire mere minutes later when authorities had to abandon convincing them to focus on saving more reasonable citizens. Your heart goes out to the families of those individuals, some of whom had to abandon their own family members who were unwilling to leave just to save their own lives and/or children. There is a video out there of this very fire of a young woman who had to abandon her blind mother because her mother steadfastly refused to evacuate, and now that daughter has to live with the grief of knowing that her mother died in the fire a short time later...and your heart goes out to that young woman.
Thanks Juan. I come to your site for good data and the common sense attitude I hear.
You have answered many questions that have been running through my mind.
Thank you this puts into perspective so many things, one thing that stood out was how few places of refuge were available for that number of people...in Australia we have designated safe refuges ie sporting fields or airport runway or supermarket carpark....we all should make a plan of where our closest refuge is, how long to drive, walk or run there, practise going there day & night because in places like these they are the only safe place to be....and as pointed out the difference between a house standing or burning was what is around it - keep trees, bushes, outbuildings, wood piles well away from the home, have sprinklers all the way around yr homes, roofs and verandahs, have green grass, gravel or rocks around the house as a buffer zone....have a plan stick it on yr fridge and be prepared to defend or go within 15 min max
foxx 66 Yeah. You guys are smart. I have a go bag. I hope that the powers that be here learn something.
This may be aircraft blasphemy, but maybe you should look into a reliable wing strut mount for the go pro. I know there would have to be some real precautions made, as I'm sure the FAA doesn't like the idea of go pros falling from the sky. Just a thought..... that you probably already had.
Thanks again for these videos. You sir are a true journalist.
Chris Beach I don’t think Juan meant it would fall free, I think he meant that it would not have been able to stabilize the camera against a strong wind without the gimbal drifting from its intended position (or if the gimbal was gyro stabilized, it would temporarily lose its intended target if the wind forces exceeded the servo motor’s working torque). If it was in danger of breaking free then I would imagine that Juan will have secured it with a lanyard so that it does not detach from the aircraft as one is not supposed to drop items from an aircraft.
@@ethanpoole3443 that wasn't my concern. My concern was that a camera would be completely external and unable to be re-secured once the flight began.
Anyone who uses an external mount on an aircraft has to make certain that it exceeds the specifications of any normal mount used near terra firma.
Then again Juan may just not want to put anything on his relatively rare and beautiful aircraft.
I'm glad you found the time to document this disaster, in this unique manner. You are a credit to professional pilots for your involvement in public civil affairs and in your responsible, and honest, documentation efforts.
Almost seems that even the burning embers too was weaponized somehow..
Excellent reporting, your explanation of how a wind driven ground fire travels was clear and factual, seeing the patterns from the air was eye opening
the traffic calming methods you mention on Skyway are real - the skyway used to be 2 lanes in each direction all through most of the town - the town changed that to make downtown safer for pedestrians - by widening the parking lane and changing it to a single lane in each direction with a turn lane in the middle that could be used in either direction in case of emergency
Knowing Paradise as I do after six decades and growing up there, I am absolutely amazed that more people didn't lose their lives! Hats off to all those first responders, in my opinion they performed a miracle! Family and friends have described the horrendous conditions of their escape, terrifying!
There's ALOT more than 85. Come on man! The missing with no relatives.
@@cathleenweston3541 You are quite correct, it is impossible to quantify the actual number since many were incinerated in their homes and cars etc.
Yesterday we thought it was a great idea to go to the Chico mall and get an In and Out burger. Little did we know, the flash flood warning issued had effected hwy 99. Water was running off the eastern slope and completely flooding hwy 99 in both directions. Traffic was at a total standstill till the water ran off to the West. It took us a hour and a half to make a twenty minute drive....yikes.
Were the folks from the Ridgewood mobile home park able to evacuate with sufficient warning? Thanks for the post. It's a sad one but informative for sure. Nature rules again.
Juan. Any chance you could interview a representative of a company that manufacturers personal fire shelters that would be placed on a home property and used to protect a family in case of a fire? So if you cannot evacuate or choose to stay home and try to protect your home from burning, when the fire gets too close, you crawl inside and allow the fire to burn and exit when it's clear.
Finally a video of this fire without the tin-foil hat conspiracy theorists. Thanks man.
First off Juan,thank you for your coverage of this devastating disaster.By flying over,people can see the scale in which this fire had grown in just a short time.Your interview with Dean ,gives perspective of the chaos and people literally scrabbling for safety in which no one,knew which direction was a safe haven!We are very fortunate to be able to return,to our place of home but with heavy heart's.That day will forever be stamped in our lives.There are so many lives,turned up side down and we morn for those families who lost their family,may God Bless you all.Yes,Magalia has suffered too but not on a scale like Paradise.As you passed over Pine Ridge School,all I could think about,was our 8 yr old son,being there that morning.As you flew SW along Skyway and pointed out PDHS,that is where our 15yr old son,was that morning.The event's that unfolded that day,has effected our ridge community as a hole.I want other's to understand that,when I speak,I'm referring to all of us who have been effected by the Camp Fire.Lives were lost,families separated,people running for there life in total darkness,home's,businesses burning to the ground.Our community will never be the same,some will never come back and those who do,will forever be changed.I'll leave you with this everyone.While my family and I have been blessed with our lives,we feel guilt for having a home to come back to.God Bless you all First Responders and many thanks go out to our surrounding communities for your support.There is so much to be thankful for.Stay safe Juan and God Bless your family.Kudos
Grindall61 has a YT video documenting those traffic "calming measures", also known as a road diet. Search Grindall61 Paradise.
True straight forward and intelligent reporting, really appreciate your passion and honesty, thanks Juan
If it is zero lot line construction causing the fire storms then a fighting strategy of back burning might work... Unfortunately that would involve destroying a selected Group of Structutes in the path of the fire storm.
Who is going to make that call?
Such devastation and what a horrible thing for those residents to go through. I ask myself what would I do if I lived there? Do you rebuild or not? It’s mind boggling. I send prayers to all 🙏 Juan, Thank you for your time and be well. ✌🏻
@darkjedi351 Indeed you are correct, depending on insurance and yes, it is very sad.
Right now it's the safest place in California as far as fires. The fuel is gone. (I don't know about the mud slide risks). This is the purpose of controlled burns. Problem is they have stopped which causes a large build up of fuel. It's almost too dangerous for controlled burns if they have waited too long in between them.
@@Bryan-Hensley Good input, also dammed if they do and dammed if they don't.
Truckee 13 13 well, if it has a mortgage, it most certainly has some insurance, maybe NOT all types.
Hi, actual Paradise resident here.
RE: Traffic Calming measures.
Skyway: From the corner of Pearson to the corner of Elliott. You can see it in reverse in the right side of the screen from 14:33-15:00. In Fact the still that you use at 15:26 shows the corner of Skyway and Pearson.
Pearson: From the corner of Skyway to Clark Rd.
Also, it didn't help that Skyway was on fire cutting the number of lanes out of Paradise in half. This was at the split where the fire dropped trees and power lines on the lanes people would normally take out of the town.
Thanks Jon!
Juan, don't forget a big thanks goes to the Sierra Club
for their contribution to the fire.
Are you being sarcastic? I figured they were the leaders on banning controlled burns. But I'm only guessing.
Bryan, you are correct. sarcasm. we can blame
them for many fires in Calif. hopefully that will change.
Sierra Club = Lennie petting the bunny to death.
Mainly for getting logging and grazing banned. Forests evolved to be regularly burned, which clears out the excess underbrush and surplus saplings (a healthy forest is NOT thickly treed) without damaging the mature trees -- but Smokey the Bear halted that. Selective logging plus grazing is a good substitute for natural wildfire, and gives you more control over what areas are cleared out (natural fire being essentially random) -- but the Sierra Club and its kin halted that.
But you don't get to choose "none of the above" because then you get fuel buildup, WAY too many trees (so they're water-stressed and dying even if there is no drought), and sooner or later you get a massively destructive wildfire that kills everything in its path and may even sterilize the soil to the point that nothing can grow but weeds.
maybe so but they had the help of misguided public opinion, politicians, and courts
New music was perfect! Thanks for the great coverage, Juan, you're the best!
You nearly made your turn over Magalia right over my place. I was lucky, upper Magalia/ Paradise Pines. My place and neighborhood were undamaged but definitely affected. Great video. Thank you.
Thank you for showing us this perspective.
Thanks Juan.
Thank you for this video. I live in a similar forested area in Oregon and now realize some measures I should take to hopefully avoid a disaster like this. I have seen a couple of conspiracy theory videos on this fire and you have given a rational and well reasoned explanation of why this fire burned the structures and not the trees.
This really is shocking to watch, the sheer scale of it is frightening. Hard to comprehend so many family homes being lost so quickly.
Watch our property insurance double and that's if they even keep you. USAA dropped us about 10 years ago in the similar terrain of Pollock Pines/ Placerville neighborhood with only 1 way in/out onto E16. Worst case scenario I guess we all jump into the reservoir a 1/4 mile away.
Hi Juan, Another great job. Everything you said was spot-on. Until we review our past conflagrations, and make the necessary changes, we will continue to experience these tragic fire events. With the growth of Cal Fire, and OES, the mobilization of resources HAS slowed down. As a first responder, with 30+ years, I speak from experience. But people need to realize, California handles these types of events better than anyone. Since the inception of Firescope, in the 70’s, everyone has followed our lead. It takes time, to move and support, a force of 5000 firefighters. Few can imagine the logistics required for such an operation.
I can't say it any better than Mike Apple did: "Juan, I just learned more in a few minutes than in days worth of reports on the fire by "professional" media. Thank you for your work!"
Not sure if we can add pictures to our emails to you but I can show you why so many houses burned in the area. Being a firefighter who was at this incident, I could see why the spread was so quick. It was directly related to many things to include an accumulation of needle cast, very dry conditions and wind. Let me know how I can get in touch with you and I will share some of my photos and insight with you.Thank you for the tour and explanation of the fire travel. This is one event I will never forget. Quality reporting Jaun, thank you.
I know political commentary is rare here & I'm grateful for that. However, thinking about the Democrat domination of CA politics, any taming of those bureaucracies you mentioned is not gonna happen short of a miracle.
So I was driving home to reno from chico on 70 around 11pm the night before paradise burned and it was extremely smokey. It was over whelming by the time I reached Quincy. I woke up to the news paradise had burned to the ground.
Yeah at first I thought it was just fireplaces but it was crazy smokey all up 70 to Quincy.
We all know how credible the MSM is!
Juan I agree completely with your conclusion.This type of fire can't be contained and dealt in a regular (by the book) way. As I commented in one of previous reports , the only way is to get out of the path of flames because they are coming super fast.
I agree it's quite true that in the moment of the fire the first responders did all that they could do. While talking with some friends who lived in Paradise it was more the opinion that the failure was in coordination of the evacuation and informing the public of evacuation plans before the crisis occured.. Some of my friends said that they knew the names of the CALfire zones in town but when evacuation orders where handed off to Bute County Sheriff that department had completely different names for the zones that caused additional confusion. Hopefully one of the biggest lessons learned from this tragedy is that evacuation plans need to be paid more attention to for rural towns, appropriately updated, and citizens informed regularly before such disaster occurs.
Thanks, Juan. I'm one of the witnesses who saw the start of Colorado's Hayman fire, an arson fire by a firefighter (head nod hand up), and the winds that picked it up. My group were the first to report this fire and we was told after they arrived to leave camp. This was the largest fire in CO history. The residents, though much less densely populated than those in your Camp fire, were warned about the possibility of a devastating fire for more than a decade before and were told to mitigate the potential fuels around their structures. Most of those structures were saved. This was in our Denver water supply and our water had a smoky taste and smell a few years afterwards.
Wind driven fires are the biggest concern because they are impossible to fight. Many, like this one, are started by power lines. IMO, PG&E should be REQUIRED to turn power OFF when severe wind events happen during CA dry months. This should remain true until PG&E upgrades their equipment to be less fire prone.
Yes! I'll be following this closely.
While I agree with you I wonder how they would be sure that no lines were down before turning the power back on?
I am unsure if they have a means to automatically check today but i am sure it is possible down the road. The public would certainly report down lines. And, with the power turned on under low wind conditions any resulting fire would be far less dangerous.
@@tommaz6688 Juan previously mentioned that PG&E used a device called a recloser which could have lead to the fire. My limited understanding is it's a circuit breaker for transmission lines that detects a potential ground fault but does not immediately open the circuit to stop the flow of electricity. Instead it attempts three short bursts of electricity to check the line. It it doesn't detect an issue it keeps the line closed which allows electricity to continue to flow. If there is an issue the recloser will physically fall open to break the connection.
It's a good idea in the event of lightning strikes to power lines or branches falling on a line as they fall to the ground but the bad side is they can lead to fires.
Theres too much power line to count on the public being able to see it.
Well PG&E made such a big stink about turning off power during wild fire events and during high wind events while a Red Flag Warning was active...and then they failed to do so and burned down Paradise. I wouldn't be nearly as mad if PG&E didn't spend the last few months talking up their new procedures only not to follow them.
Good video Juan. I live in Twain Harte at 4500 FT so am very concerned about these fires. The Rim Fire came within 3 miles of our home. The fire engines were staging on or street. I had our motorhome loaded with the things we wanted most and our truck and SUV. we were really to move instantly if needed. So Being that we have had so many really bad fire over the last 10 years or so how about us ( people living in these fire zone ) get together and form a group to brainstorm ways to fight these fire long before they happen. Maybe we can get people to thin out the fuels that come right up to the roads edges. Take out small trees and brush 100 feet from the roads edges. That gives more of a fire break. I remember as a kid (I am 70) riding up highway 108 in the early 60s and being able to see through the trees all the way across to the other ridges. I am wanting to be proactive on this and with all the deaths and homes and business's that were destroyed I would hope we could get local people to become proactive too. The only thing that I am sure of is we can not count on government on this. They are the problem and their lack of managing our forest is exactly why we have these monster fire in the first. It's our forests we live in them and we have to do the work to make all of us safer. If you are interested contact me at cartoonart@comcast.net '
The scope of the devastation is still mind-numbing. There should be plenty of take-aways for any homeowner or business in the wildland-urban interface -a series of recommended retrofits. Simple things, from removing combustibles and potential fuel from around a house, to replacing siding with hardi-board (concrete siding), non-combustible roofing materials, reconstruction of roof eaves and vents. For those with pools, one well-documented home owner in southern Ca had a pump and fire suppression system hooked up to his pool, which helped save his house. However, don't rely on utility-served power and/or water supplies - as this fire showed, power lines burned and were lost; and in a major fire, there probably isn't enough water pressure left in the system in the event of widespread use. Thanks for your coverage, Juan!
Also it seems likely that shutting off power will become mandatory in the event of high winds.
Wow! Makes me think that a neighborhood would do well to install a small water tower connected to a few sprinklers on top of all the houses. With a properly sized tower there would be enough water to run the sprinklers even when power goes out. Some people might think that it wouldn't look good, but I think that it would look better than my home in ashes.
Juan - As I have watched this from my perch east of the Mississippi, in a dense urban forest, chills run down my spine. It's terrifying to see the overwhelming scope of this disaster and not think about the property and people devastated - and lost - and how we might make our own communities safer. Thank you so much for the flyover.
Also: Crosswind landing? Nice job!
just a bit of a sideslip...
blancolirio nice job, regardless!
Every house in these areas should have roof mounted sprinklers to hopefully deal with wind blown embers. When I see a house burned to the ground and a pool full of water I always wonder why.
All the stats on the structures, standing and destroyed, undoubtedly will/are being gathered and new building codes will most likely be made. The first responders were completely overwhelmed, showing again that during and after these catastrophic events we are on our own. Thanks Juan.
Yes now people can't afford to rebuild under new restrictions. Plus they're not exactly pass I g out building permits. Too many old hippies there. Used to be the spot for welfare in the 70's.
The trees may look alive but most probably are not. There’s water in those trees , can’t you just imagine the steam when it got really hot.
More cool fly over so thank you again.
Another great reporting job, Juan! You get better & better at this!
Thankyou sir for such a professional video flight & description as to how the fire moved & its speed generated by the high winds.
My brother & his family are one of many who unfortunately lost their home to this devistation. All 5 family members, plus w horses, 2 dogs, 4 cats & a pet rat made it to safety. Their home was on Likens lane, off of Foster.
I Lived there in Paradise for almost of 4 months, 2 yrs ago, while helping to take care of our dad during his terminal illness. Dad would stay with my brother & his family on 4-51D 6 month vacations to Paradise during the winter season to escape the harsh, bitter, cold, of the colorado winter season. This devistaion makes me so sad for the whole entire community there & also sad because it was my home for a short period of time! I fell in love with Paradise & the surrounding areas.
God bless you in the future, praying for everyone involved still, & please fly safe.
Very good and informative presentation. I am on cell data so watch at 480p. I noticed there was an option for 1080p so I switched to it but couldn't see any difference. My video started to buffer so went back to 480p at the end during your talk and no difference in quality. I suppose most cable people use 1080 as a default but mentioning the resolution it was filmed in would be helpful with this type of video. It would be nice to see it in midday sun.
This is real reporting. Documentary quality video.
Thanks for the flyover, I probably couldn’t fly up until February . Amazing damage. Beech driver.
Great coverage as usual Juan. Lots of moment where your heart feels like it drops down to your stomach - poor people, the lives lost, and losing their homes. I really hope everyone gets taken care of.
Late year rains promote rapid under growth. Then, after this relatively short period of heavy rains it gets dry, real dry. So, by the middle of the year and often earlier than that you have dry fuels coupled with high winds. Add into this the fact that people have built sub-divisions into the wilderness providing fire starting vectors.
Contrast this with, say, the Pacific North West which has lots of trees and wilderness areas but far less wildfire problems. How do they do it? Well, there vegetation tends to be much more damp owing to the greater and more sustained rainfall. Controlled burns have resulted in uncontrolled wildfires numerous times and many communities don't want them for that reason.
The bottom line is California has numerous issues that combine to make it a tinderbox. Some of this is man made, like building in the wilderness areas, but some of it is the consequence of nature: wind and rain.
Indeed, this year the dry period extended later than usual, last year there was 5" of rain before the date of this fire. Had that happened this year this fire wouldn't have happened.
So what's next: is the California bureaucracy going to allow the removal of all those trees killed by the beetle infestation? Are they going to allow controlled and prescribed burns to reduce the amount of fuel? Are they going to allow selective forest management and harvesting of forests to prevent these tragedies?
Who wants all those dead trees? It wasn't the trees that were the problem in this fire it was the underbrush. Once you've harvested some forest what grows in its place can be a worse fire hazard for several years.
@@phil.felton3065 there are literally hundreds of uses for dead trees. You realize the house you live in is a dead tree right?
As far as under-growth, yes absolutely aids, but the real movement comes when the fire races through the crown of the forest. Especially pines.
Back to your under-growth theory, read what a prescribed burn is.
@City17.76 The controlled burning of this remote fuel is what keeps these fires from getting so large, basically creating their own weather, and traveling the great distances to your home. Removing the fuel around your home is always a great idea. But that doesn't eliminate the radiant heat on your structure or the falling embers.
@City17.76 Those points are great for the rural to rural/urban interface. But as your density increases and you no longer have the 100' buffer due to lot size restrictions. No, the easiest and most effective way to prevent out of control wild fires is controlled/prescribed burning, selective harvesting, and removal of deceased killed trees. Not when it gets to the urban interface.
@City17.76 what part of the "no longer have the 100' buffer due to lot size restrictions" didn't fit the neighbors too-close house? The fact of the matter is, fires need to be fuel starved long before they get to yours or you neighbors house.
can you give an explanation on how rims on vehicles not near any fire (other than itself burning) have melted completely into puddles/streams aluminum takes about 15 mins @1220 degrees Fahrenheit?
See new update here - ua-cam.com/video/wuTt-wWvREk/v-deo.html
Thank you for describing how the wind driven fire moved horizontally instead of vertically into the tree tops, and explaining that kiln dried wood in structures would burn before green trees! I can't tell you how many Facebook posts I've seen where people thought the fire was caused by directed energy weapons (DEW's). After a while I got tired of trying to explain to them that the forests around the town had not been managed for a long time, that there was too much undergrowth and debris under the tall trees (in and out of the town), that the fire was driven by wind which made it move quickly (thus horizontally), that structures are made of dead/dry wood and that it was easier for them to catch on fire than large trees that contain water, that homes and yards also contained leaves, wood piles, propane tanks, wooden fences, asphalt or wood shingle roofs that provide further fuel, that just because large trees didn't completely burn that doesn't mean they weren't killed or severely damaged, and that it was only a matter of time before the town went up in flames.
Caroline Rose why do cars melt in the street while plastic garbage cans remain untouched?
@UC3dU8aLJLzcuYx-qCTiqBgw the overhead view shows it best look at all that pretty forest surrounding completely leveled neighborhoods. Now forests don't burn because they have too much water? In pine forests? Really? Burn some fresh pine branches in a fire sometime.
Yes, Caroline needs to wake up. I've seen thousands of vehicles incinerated which, of course, are made of metal, but you'll notice that every single road sign is in pristine condition. Why? These are electrical fires and the vehicles are not Earthed whereas the road signs are.
@@barbelmike that is an interesting point. Seems mailboxes are spared too.
Some wisdom hiding like embers in the comments here. Well done.
My two questions, did the Skyway Lodge burn, it is where Skyway splits on the end of town heading to Chico. My late father and I stayed there watching the Gold Cup, WoO Sprint Cars at Chico in the late 80's and most of the 90's.
Also there is another video on youtube showing alot of burned VW's and other cars. The speaker spoke spanish but not where I could really hear him very well. Just wondering where that is at.
get ready Juan...the same folks that are so intreagued by the green spot on the dam are going to light you up(no pun) re the still standing vegetation with structures burned to dust. As always thanks a lot for what you do
Thank you Juan for your continued work, on the Oroville dam and now Paradise. Northern California is lucky to have your common sense reporting.
yes they did they made Skyway from a four lane road to two lanes and put all these concrete Islands in so you could not go 4 Lanes because all the barricades everybody hated it it made it miserable for the people that work everyday and they also did so on Clark and you said it to reduce the speed to make the town more business everybody I know hated it.
I wonder how many lives it cost.
And it was brought up at the meetings that this was not good because of the fire danger in our Escape Routes for Limited excuse was oh well they fix Skyway at the top of it so now we can take the two lanes away from the bottom of it
They had a no tree cutting policy you got to get a permit for every tree and you had to have a good reason and pay for to the Bone or pay Massey fines if you cut a tree in Paradise or Magalia you can't clear your own land if you wanted to.
it made them lot of money
I had been waiting on this aerial view report and you pointed out everything that we all needed to know about the Camp fire. I had attempted to follow the situation on topographical maps but the aerial view really brought the whole thing into focus. Thanks so much for your accurate reporting as always.
Thanks Juan! Once again factual reporting. Bravo!
You dont understand how bad this is until you look up the town on google maps..
Can you tell me why the trees are not burned
I did, it's all in the video, go watch it again.
They crown fast, only sticks left. Our's was 200', gone in 10 seconds.
As usual, very informative, especially for an east coast guy like me! Thanks Juan.
I’m so heart broken for these people 😢
I'm one of em
I appreciate the series you have produced on this fire. My Mom's home was part of that last total burn in Magalia. You've provided the most balanced, indepth and rational analysis I've seen.
Thanks again for great reporting. Has Sacramento learned anything I doubt it.
And exactly what is Sacramento supposed to learn from this smart guy
Actually its the municipalities and counties that learned nothing from the disaster in Santa Rosa. Paradise had been warned for decades, and they continued to grow regardless of the warnings. As more and more people move into these areas the damage and devastation will only increase as years of poorly managed forest and under growth management have now come home to roost.
Keep in mind that the vast majority of forest lands in California, that were affected by the recent fires this year, are under federal management and that authority has existed for well over a half-century. Due to certain political ideologies, efforts have been made to place all the blame on the California State government.
Certainly some of the fires have been in federal forests, but how many people were living in those? Blaming global warming for the fires is misdirection - what is needed is a plan to deal with the situation which currently exists. Perhaps the problem is entirely that more people live in the woods than before, but certainly during the time I've lived in California we've had long droughts and hotter summers, so I doubt the weather is the sole cause. It's also the case that during the time I've lived in California the state has a less diversified economy, and it wouldn't surprise me if there are fewer lumber companies here. Having someone harvesting the forests means those people have an economic incentive to prevent forest fires, so that's one possibility. Another is to change the standards for construction of houses in these forested areas, and require substantial firebreaks around the towns, although perhaps that would have done no good in this case.
But I have very little hope that California will react until we have a few more such fire seasons.
-Yes they have, they probably would like us citizens to place smoke detectors outside so we could have a bit more warning to evacuate before everything burns to the ground due to bad forestry practice and lack of controlled burns.
I agree, Juan, that once it gets to this stage, there's relatively little for emergency crews to do but try to survive as best they can and be available to help folks deal with the aftermath. First responders need to be aware that they are not immune to survivor's guilt, but their symptoms may be a bit different from the general public because they've made themselves responsible for the safety of the public.
We need to learn from this disaster. We need to have the same attitude toward fires as we have toward earthquakes. We need to prepare our infrastructure beforehand to eliminate as many dangers as possible. We've got to raise our building standards.
Building codes must be updated to reduce the likelihood of embers setting a structure ablaze and preventing contagion of one building on fire from setting its neighbors on fire, especially in mobile home parks. We have sprinkler systems inside many commercial buildings, but why not on roofs where the embers fall as well?
Adequate evacuation routes must be planned in advance. We must eliminate all long cul-de-sacs and dead ends. Traffic restrictors need to be rethought. We also need to look at cutting back the tree canopy and other fuel sources on evacuation routes. Refuges (concrete bunkers?) need to be planned so that long, clogged evacuation routes aren't the only option.
The entire city could have had a landscaped and irrigated greenbelt around it that could serve as a firebreak. Yes, it may have to be a mile wide to protect against all embers, but even a few hundred feet would probably offer enough protection to make the fire manageable for firefighters.
Thanks Juan and again... the right words !