tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post3051514859598204089..comments2023-10-26T03:19:41.569-07:00Comments on Stephen Bodio's Querencia: Where houses burn...Steve Bodiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434597061701369867noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-48025060528254756282012-08-14T06:16:26.144-07:002012-08-14T06:16:26.144-07:00I am glad to see someone addressing this... so man...I am glad to see someone addressing this... so many foolish people who move into an area yet fail to visit with the old timers (if there are any) or to look at what has occurred in the past in that area, flood plains, blizzards, etc... good post!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-75462618581694918952012-08-13T13:26:30.083-07:002012-08-13T13:26:30.083-07:00Same problem off the coast of N. C., where wealthy...Same problem off the coast of N. C., where wealthy people keep building and rebuilding extremely pretentious vacation mansions on shifting barrier islands that get wiped clean after each hurricane....L.B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-92108865828890017032012-08-12T10:56:16.286-07:002012-08-12T10:56:16.286-07:00Chas, Stingray-- these are so good I might put the...Chas, Stingray-- these are so good I might put them up front in a new one!Steve Bodiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14434597061701369867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-4235671159570641712012-08-12T10:40:06.392-07:002012-08-12T10:40:06.392-07:00The Los Alamos situation is compounded by man made...The Los Alamos situation is compounded by man made borders as much as the natural ones. Yes, the houses up the mountain side were the first to burn in Cerro Grande, and first threatened in Las Conchas, but on the flip side they very much weren't the rich schlub with bad decision making skills housing set. <br /><br />With the townsite surrounded by Indian reservation, national lab property, national forest service land, and Bandelier for a cherry on top, things are built on anything even vaguely flat that isn't already spoken for. The houses that went in CG were almost exclusively duplexes and quads built shortly after the project days ended, and having lived in some and known others, I'm not convinced their loss was exclusively a bad thing ("Always remember, your Gov't. Issued _____ was built by the lowest bidder" was very apparent. Very.) That said, there was still a measurable contribution from the "I have a PhD so I know everything" effect of coneheads living in them. Exactly as described, the trees were thick and close in to the houses, the underbrush was uncleared, and you could fall out of an airplane onto the beds of pine needles without worrying about the landing because all that made these bleh-tastic Gov't housings more rustic and picturesque and attracted deer and so forth.<br /><br />As Chas mentions, mitigation helps, and there are several companies seemingly exclusively in the business of Defensible Space operating in the area now. The homes rebuilt on the dangerous bits of mountain almost universally sport quite a bit of clear area around the actual building, and amazingly enough, the inches-thick carpets of dead pine needles that used to comprise entire yards seem curiously absent there as well. Sadly there are always people who are late to the party, and there are still a few holdouts in high risk areas, but the ratio is greatly improved after the rebuilding.<br /><br />It seems fairly understood at this point where the fire will be, and that it is in fact Will Be, but is hinged off the counter point that there isn't really anywhere else to go.Stingrayhttp://www.atomicnerds.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-2389451899961870752012-08-12T07:32:13.051-07:002012-08-12T07:32:13.051-07:00I plead guilty. According to a photo that I found ...I plead guilty. According to a photo that I found in my house (built 1965) when I moved it, the area was mostly Gambel oak. Taken in 1975, the picture showed only a few small ponderosa pines<br /><br />Now they are big. Unfortunately, my dear spouse hates to see a tree cut. I was so happy that the engine crew protecting this house during our 2005 evacuation cut some of the big junipers--I wish they had cut them all. (I wrote a thank-you letter to that fire department.)<br /><br />Mitigation helps. Yes, a big firestorm can sweep over everything, but not all fires are big. Often it's just the ember blown under the wooden deck or on the roof that gets the house.<br /><br />The other thing which is a problem in some mountain areas--driveways that are too narrow or steep for fire trucks. I know of some expensive new houses near me that I would be leery of trying to reach in a four-wheel-drive brush truck. <br /><br />Nothing like putting yourself and your crew at the end of a dead-end, narrow, tree-lined road.<br /><br />If the UPS driver complains about your driveway, cut the trees back!Chas S. Cliftonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00923547685265741325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-85540441058049274822012-08-11T02:22:18.138-07:002012-08-11T02:22:18.138-07:00We in UK have similar problems with people ( prope...We in UK have similar problems with people ( property speculators, idealists, fools) who insisted on building houses on Flood Plains, and now want government money spent on flood protection ! ....There is truth in the Old Adage - Let the buyers beware, and always take advice from a good surveyor before a purchase...don't expect others to bail you out of a situation of your own making !<br /><br />JohnnyUKAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-16996487223490107252012-08-10T23:03:07.183-07:002012-08-10T23:03:07.183-07:00If they can afford a fancy house in CA they are pr...If they can afford a fancy house in CA they are probably insured, I guess. (Also they may not have experienced a house fire before, it's kind of traumatic.=p)Moro Rogershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03170995132520805860noreply@blogger.com