SoCal Woolsey Fire

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by purr1n, Nov 9, 2018.

  1. TwoEars

    TwoEars Friend

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  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Na. I don't know about the design of the Fukushima reactor, but if I remember correctly, their contingency plan failed when the backup generators (which I would assume would power the mechanism to drop the rods), located a few hundred feet inland, were rendered broken when the tsunami wave hit farther inland than expected.

    The San Onofre plant uses a design found on the USN's nuclear powered ships. The design is meant to survive battle damage and remain stable. The neutron absorbing rods are held up by active means, but drop to kill the fission reactions when power is lost. The plant had been around since the 50s or something like that, going through upgrades, and many earthquakes in the next 60 years without any problem. Well, there was one before its ultimate closure but safeguards and procedures worked as designed.

    The "issues" were certainly fixable and were a little bit of a squabble between SoCal Edison and Mitsubishi (or whoever made the high pressure pipes - I don't remember exactly). However the politics and climate of fear (Fukushima was around that time) surrounding it, inflamed by a certain Senator playing to her constituency, triumphed over engineering and good ol' prob solving. So SCE said f**k it, to the detriment of many San Diego denizens.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2018
  3. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    I don't mean by engineering/tech fault. I mean when shit hits the fan, politics and corporate mismanagement shit can get into the way. Then you are destined to have a bunch of earth-hugging grass-eating dolphin-f'ing idiots to drive the fear sky high.
     
  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    In junior high, I actually wrote an Apple ][ computer program in BASIC that graphically represented a nuclear reactor. A and Z keys lifted and dropped the rods. A few others adjusted valves for the pipes to turn the steam turbine. Hahahaha. Wish I had saved the code.
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Anyway, it's super weird seeing every local hiking trail I've been on go up in flames. Really hits home when you know all of the areas affected.

    Five houses lost on Parkmor Road near my place, just 2000ft down the street. Exploding trees raining fire. Great neighbors watering down stuff with garden hoses.

    IMG_20181109_152353.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2018
  6. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    Ras al-Ghul x Thanos 2020 ticket?
     
  7. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    How don't you know they are already there, but cleverly in disguise?
     
  8. maverickronin

    maverickronin Friend

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    Cthulhu x Nyarlathotep 2020. Why vote for the lesser evil?
     
  9. JustAnotherRando

    JustAnotherRando My other bike is a Ferrari

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    How does an entire town burn down? Is it distributed through a forest or do fires easily from house to house?

    I'm from Australia, and parts of the country go through what seems like annual bushfires. The houses which are lost are those adjacent to the bush, but fire doesn't seem to spread deeper into urban areas despite wind/dry conditions.

    What's different about the situation in California- is it more trees, towns in forests, inherently flammable building materials?
     
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  10. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    Maybe he watches tv all day due to
    [​IMG]
     
  11. BillOhio

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    That gauntlet is to big.
     
  12. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

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    His hands are too tiny to wield it.
     
  13. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    Maybe it’s supposed to be like Uncle Jack:

    [​IMG]
     
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Well, one, the entire town didn't burn down. Also, these areas are not exactly urban. They are neighborhoods or individual homes nestled in the Santa Monica mountains. See below. These maps should give you an idea of the hilly terrain and level of urbanization of the affected areas.

    firemap.jpg
    firemap2.jpg

    Lastly, it's the season for the Santa Ana or "devil" winds. Today we had sustained winds of 40mph with gusts up to 60mphs. Stuff that lights on fire gets blown into the air, landing on roofs as hot flaming embers. This is why the destruction seems spotty and haphazard. Near where I live, two playgrounds and a set of five houses close together burned down, a few others suffered fire damage on their roofs, but most structures remain totally untouched. Because of the wind gusts, the fires jump from one seemingly random spot to another.
     
  15. winders

    winders boomer

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    He’s talking about Paradise up here in Northern California. The whole town did burn down. A friend I race with lost his house and business office yesterday. He had 10 minutes notice to leave. Several people were burned in their cars as they tried to escape.

    These fires are terrible!
     
  16. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Locals who have been around long enough (like the nice old lady across the street), believe that the Santa Ana winds drive people a little crazy, making them hyper at its most benign effect or homicidal at worst. There might be something to this. Some of you may have noticed that I have been super cranky in the last few days, throwing down more F-bombs than usual. Some dude killed a dozen people at a country bar just a few miles down two days ago. And my neighbor's kid tried to kill himself yesterday.

    I'm convinced that the Santa Ana winds are a manifestation of a higher or extra-dimensional being that humans cannot fathom. Just as a mosquito cannot appreciate (or recoil in disgust at) a Rothko painting, we cannot have any conception of the world of this higher being or how they perceive their world. For all we know, this extra-dimensional being takes metaphorical big sneezes around this time of the year, which manifest as fireballs in the sky in our dimension. We are just dust motes.
     
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  17. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    NorCal fires are different. Different terrain and vegetation. That's a small town in foothills DENSE with shrubs and pines trees. Basically a town in the middle of a forest. I don't think Australia has anything like this - the existence of such a town would certainly not be permitted by the provincial planning committees in Australia.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2018
  18. DanHowardArt

    DanHowardArt Almost "Made"

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    it's frightening seeing flames clear as day from the other side of the valley.
     
  19. BillOhio

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    The closest I've gotten to the fires is Burbank. Haven't seen flames or even smoke. I just checked Google Maps and saw a lot of the 101 and PCH are closed.
     
  20. DanHowardArt

    DanHowardArt Almost "Made"

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    last night the flames around simi valley were pretty clear when the winds whipped up the flames. You could literally watch the fire march southward. Tonight the glow is coming more from the Hidden HIlls area.
     

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