The Malibu Fire
I absolutely LOVE Malibu. A long time ago I had a girlfriend who lived in a house in Malibu that was right on the ocean. Waking up in her house and seeing the ocean was unforgettable.
I am heartbroken to see the before and after photos of Malibu.
If homes are rebuilt in Malibu some day, I have some advice for the new homeowners.
MY FRIEND LARS HAD A REALLY GOOD IDEA
At the first big Hollywood Hills fire, the fire came close but did not burn Greta’s house.
My best friend, Lars, went up on his mom’s roof to wet it down but could not do so because the water pressure was next to zero. The fire department was using all the water.
From the roof, Lars looked at the swimming pool and thought, “Hey! Wait a minute! We have our own water. All we really need is a strong gasoline powered water pump and a length of fire hose and we can keep this house from burning down.”
So he got these things! Lars got a gasoline-powered water pump, a length of fire hose and a fireman’s hose nozzle that went from a fog/mist to a powerful solid stream. So now, he didn’t need the electricity to be working and he didn’t need any city water.
He put sprinklers all along the peak of the house’s roof and a plumbing T and water valves on the output the pump so the pump’s output could soak the roof, feed his private fire hose or both.
When we tested his fire hose and pool pump the stream reached all the way to the road at the bottom of the steep hill that was just below Greta’s back patio.
When another huge Hollywood Hills fire took place. Lars started the gas powered water pump and in two minutes the entire roof was soaked. We took the fire hose end to the edge of Greta’s patio and looked down. The fire was just starting to come up the canyon in the high wind that was blowing. Lars fired his water cannon down the canyon and put out the fire that threatened Greta’s house.
The Malibu homes on the water’s edge could have been better prepared. This is because each of these homes had an inexhaustible supply of water right in their backyards with which to FIGHT the fire. True its salt water, but it is water just the same.
The alternate scenario that I wish had taken place is this:
THE ROLE OF BIG OIL IN ALL THESE FIRES
If you . . .
. . . you will not have a way to keep a big fire from burning down your home.
The Boy Scout motto is BE PREPARED. Global warming (the climate disaster) is not going away. Time to get prepared!
From Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1APYxut1oE/
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