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The death toll from Northern California's wildfires now stands at 15, officials say, with a total of nine confirmed fatalities in Sonoma County. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said on its Twitter page that the number of dead had increased from seven to nine. Three others are dead in Mendocino County, two more in Napa and one in Yuba, officials say. In Sonoma County, more than 200 people have been reported missing, and 45 of those have since been located, officials said.
The fires have burned 115,000 acres statewide and destroyed at least 2,000 homes and businesses, Cal Fire Ken Pimlott said Tuesday. More than 4,000 emergency workers have been deployed to help battle the fires, including a massive effort at McClellan Air Park, where a record 45 missions were flown Monday that dumped 266,000 acres of retardant on the blazes.
Vice President Mike Pence visited the state's emergency operations center at Mather Air Park Tuesday and announced that President Trump had approved the state's request for federal assistance in the counties of Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Sonoma, and Yuba.
Also at CNN, The Washington Post, KQED, LA Times, and NPR.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 10 2017, @10:24PM (8 children)
In an earthquake zone (like California), wood frame houses are smart.
They absorb stresses very well.
...and, as frojack notes, stucco improves things fire-wise (which is 1 reason why you a lot of that in Cali).
asphalt shingles
Now, that's a valid point.
A bunch of places have banned them.
Wood shingles too.
frojack also nailed it that with a big-ass fire like this, there ain't much that's gonna survive.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 10 2017, @10:57PM (2 children)
You people in California didn't build your nuclear power plants with wood frame construction, did you?
Granted, if the alternative is unreinforced masonry, wood might be less awful.
These days, you can do better. You can get a steel frame home. You can go the www.monolithic.com route with the concrete dome. You can buy from a competitor that does prefab concrete triangles that attach to form a geodesic dome. (bolted, then gaps filled with fresh concrete) You can even go back to masonry if you reinforce it; that is one reason why there are holes in the blocks. Another option, popular for building things like supermarkets, is tilt-up construction. Pour concrete walls flat on the ground, then tilt them into place and attach them well.
All of that will hold up fine, resisting earthquakes and firenadoes.
For the designs that need a separate roof, be sure none of it is wood. Steel works, bolted or welded or riveted. Reinforced concrete works, ideally as a dome but flat also works.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 11 2017, @12:32AM (1 child)
[houses built like] nuclear power plants
...then again, most homes don't contain stuff that could poison the entire region.
...and a nuke costs billion and takes a decade to build.
...and we haven't allowed a nuke to be built here in decades.
...and we got San Onofre shut down.
...and Diablo Canyon is built on the confluence of several earthquake faults.
We're trying to get that place shut down before one of those faults gets any ideas and we then find out just how inadequate that construction is with a direct hit.
unreinforced masonry
Yeah. We figured out that stuff in the 1930s.
steel frame
Sounds good.
...but there are all the legacy structures which have already been mentioned.
...built before AGW and the resulting 100-year droughts which now come every decade, increasing the frequency and size and intensity of wildfires.
a separate roof [...] Steel works
You're making me think of the galvanized sheet steel things in Puerto Rico. 8-)
You also made me think of the fancy copper/bronze roofs that affluent folks have.
Tile is popular here.
In some upscale areas there's slate.
We previously mentioned solar shingles that look like slate.
One wonders how those would do with embers falling on them.
Yeah. I can't imagine someone replacing a worn out asphalt/wood shingle roof with something that isn't fireproof.
concrete [...] dome
Sounds expensive.
One also wonders how long would it take to cure before a family could move in.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 11 2017, @04:03AM
You pay a bit more for materials, and a bit less for labor. They go up quickly.
The labor difference matters even more if you have to use American workers like you should.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 11 2017, @01:09AM (3 children)
Wood framed buildings can do well in earthquakes. When they have a soft storey [iitk.ac.in] (usually with a garage on the ground floor) they don't do well. Post-and-beam wooden construction doesn't do well.
Gas lines broken in an earthquake can result in fire.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 11 2017, @01:36AM (2 children)
The biggest danger is from water heaters and, for a long, long time, folks have known what to do about that. [google.com]
Some folks even install a earthquake gas shutoff valve. [google.com]
(A ball gets jarred from its perch and falls into the orifice at the intake.) [google.com]
...and you seem to be saying that there's nothing -inside- a non-wood frame house that's flammable.
(Cabinetry, furniture, carpets)
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday October 11 2017, @06:34AM (1 child)
EQ shutoff valves have been required for at least the last 12~15 years in many California cities and counties. Many are so sensitive that they go off when a garbage truck goes by. I have direct experience with one going off every week by being bumped by the landscape crew every week. Until I figured out what was causing my lack of hot water (on demand) and heat in winter.
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 11 2017, @09:08PM
Yeah. I imagine those can be a pain in the butt.
(My place is grandfathered in.)
Many are so sensitive
I have direct experience with one [...] causing my lack of hot water
Makes me wonder if some folks kludge up an alarm with a thermocouple poked into the pilot of their water heaters to give them a warning.
I recently made a comment about a morning in my youth when my (electric) water heater tripped its circuit breaker and gave me a morning surprise.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 11 2017, @01:29AM
L.A. Times [latimes.com] on possible effects of a large earthquake in southern California: