Quote:
Originally Posted by Flacker
When it first kicked off it was far too windy to be operating fixed-wing aircraft, in water bombing operations. So even if they had them, they would have sat idle while the worst occurred.
The winds have dropped considerably, which is why heli and fixed-wing suppression is helping them get a handle on things.
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Yeah, I don't think the bulk of the Palisades and Kenneth fire damage was preventable by human resources due to the 80-100 mph winds. Really unfortunate, extreme circumstance with the worst conditions possible for a fire outbreak. It evolved so quickly.
A guy did manage to save his and a couple neighbors homes in that area by staying behind and basically hosing down the houses all night and putting out any spot fires that started before they grew, but that's a very dangerous situation to be in and he easily could have been amongst the fatalities.
Regardless, barring those conditions (which tend to be short-lasting at that strength and speed), having a healthy reserve of craft that can be deployed the moment conditions allow feels like it should be a baseline for CA.