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Southern CA fires

Sorry to hear about your home and shop John. Glad everyone is safe though. Hopefully you can rebuild fast and can get back to your life and Hobbies.

Gregory
 
Horrible, horrible, horrible. I seldom watch the news but was glued to the TV today. Praying sincerely for the safety of the people and stamina for the firefighters. Does anyone know of a reliable avenue for donations for food and shelter for those displaced.?
 
My brother-in-law and his wife are among the many thousands of evacuees from one of the mandatory evacuation zones near the Eaton fire. Their home is unlikely to burn down now that the weather conditions have eased.

I know from personal experience what it is like to be burnt out of my home and to lose almost every physical possession, and that is one level of trauma, but when whole communities get devastated the way they have in LA that level of collective trauma will have an impact on the remainder of their lives. Many homes and businesses will be rebuilt but the psychological scars from the experience will be lifelong.

While the mandatory evacuation orders remain, the looting in the evacuation zones is an ongoing concern for my BiL and wife until they get the all clear to return home. Your home may have been spared from the fire, but then to return home to find that it has been looted would be a scaring experience in a very different way.
 
John Beaver posted a picture of his devastated wotkshop on Instagram. I don't know how to link to it, but you can search Instagram for johnbeaver.
There is truly nothing left. At the far right I see what looks a drill press that started to melt and is bowing over.
 
I don't know him but reading about it makes me feel like crying.

Even without loss of life a home destroyed by fire is a horrible devistating catastrophy, the level of pain I can only vaguely imagine.
A shop destroyed by fire is also horrible, on a different level.

A friend who ran one of the well known woodturning forums had his shop burn to the ground due to a faulty pressure cut-off switch on his air compressor. Lost all his equipment, tools, wood. A good lesson for the rest of us - turn off compressor when leaving the shop. I put a flag on the wall switch for mine so I can easily see it from the door when going out.
 
I have a friend, who was a home designer, who lost his home in Santa Rosa a few years back. It didn't matter if the houses had tile or slate roofs, or if they had stucco or hardiplank siding, they all went POOF! The insurance people figured the neighborhood burned at 2000+F. Just about anything will burn if you get it hot enough. The potential for fires is just one reason why I don't live down there.

robo hippy
 
Living in Australia with bushfires I am well aware of the sudden danger that can rip through your life in a moment. Seeing the devastation of Johns home and shop really brought it home to me as I stood in the shop this morning. Alan good to hear your out of danger and that you can provide for your family at this time.
 
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