[link_77]

It a couple weeks it will 12 years since 34,000 acres of our area were turned to smoke and ash including about 2000 of our homes. I strongly disagree with this part of your post.

Then you place to much importance on material possessions. IMO nothing of material is worth your life or the life of your loved ones.

I would give up everything to get my wifes son and daughter back to her and wouldnt even have to think about it for a second.

 

[KoolAde2]

Question was What Have We Learned

Never trust the Government when it comes to the Welfare of Yourself and your Family in any real emergency they only show up after the fact. That is why you must always be mentally and physically ready to do what is necessary for those you care and love including the furry ones that depend on you.

 

[JDH]

Then you place to much importance on material possessions. IMO nothing of material is worth your life or the life of your loved ones.

I would give up everything to get my wifes son and daughter back to her and wouldnt even have to think about it for a second.

It is not just about the material things. I have nothing to prove I existed from my birth until September 3rd 2011. No photos of my daughter who left this existence a few years before the fire remain for one example. Unless time travel to the past and and back is perfected some things cannot be replaced.

 

[NY Min]

Then you place to much importance on material possessions. IMO nothing of material is worth your life or the life of your loved ones.

I think everyone would agree with that. But it is a different argument than that everything but your life can be replaced. Many things can't be, and even if they are less valuable things than your life, a number of them are likely to be much missed in the aftermath of a disaster that destroys everything but your life, grateful as you may be for still having that.

 

[Snipe10]

Continue to think for yourself and question authority

 

[Forrest Mosby]

Lesson Learned?..if people keep coming around trying to buy you out, increase your fire insurance coverage….

 

[darthmuerte]

Continue to think for yourself and question authority

Good philosophy for life.

 

[HappyinID]

Then you place to much importance on material possessions. IMO nothing of material is worth your life or the life of your loved ones.

I would give up everything to get my wifes son and daughter back to her and wouldnt even have to think about it for a second.

I don't think anyone is saying to die for the family heirlooms, but they are not "replaceable". I know probably 40-50 people that lost homes in the various fires, and even many years later, the pain of losing everything they owned is overwhelming.

 

[PalmettoTree]

I don't think anyone is saying to die for the family heirlooms, but they are not "replaceable". I know probably 40-50 people that lost homes in the various fires, and even many years later, the pain of losing everything they owned is overwhelming.

You are correct. People place their lives first by as time goes by they long for what has been lost. In a way those things lost are part of the lives long ago lost.

 

[sarge912]

The local authorities will not allow him to recover his property, the area hasn't been cleared yet by the search teams. He was able to see it from the end of his street and even the vinyl fence around his property is still intact. He's hoping the interior is intact as well.

Good news for my friend's son. The finally allowed him in to recover his recording equipment and other personal items. The house is intact except for a few damaged siding strips. They are saying it could be years before anyone can move back.

 

[KoolAde2]

Good news for my friend's son. The finally allowed him in to recover his recording equipment and other personal items. The house is intact except for a few damaged siding strips. They are saying it could be years before anyone can move back.

This deserves a Love and Hate e moil as Great he got his equipment and in the same breath Government doing what they do best which is steal people property without a thought or care.

 

[sarge912]

They also told us that the Army (National Guard?) in on site now patrolling the places that survived.

 

[darthmuerte]

They also told us that the National Guard in on site now patrolling the places that survived.

Likely keeping the proles out until the elite buy up all they want

 

[HappyinID]

Good news for my friend's son. The finally allowed him in to recover his recording equipment and other personal items. The house is intact except for a few damaged siding strips. They are saying it could be years before anyone can move back.

No, they'll make the red tape as costly and time consuming as they can. In California they always promise fire victims to "fast track" permits and such, and the media dutifully reports that. Isn't that nice of them?. It never happens.

Glad his stuff wasn't destroyed at least.

 

[sarge912]

No, they'll make the red tape as costly and time consuming as they can. In California they always promise fire victims to "fast track" permits and such, and the media dutifully reports that. Isn't that nice of them?. It never happens.

Glad his stuff wasn't destroyed at least.

It will probably take more time to get the building supplies onto the island. There were too many houses in tight spaces. This overtaxed the water and energy supplies available.

 

[PDE Guy]

No, they'll make the red tape as costly and time consuming as they can. In California they always promise fire victims to "fast track" permits and such, and the media dutifully reports that. Isn't that nice of them?. It never happens.

Glad his stuff wasn't destroyed at least.

Depends very much on the local county / city government. For counties that deal with this stuff on a regular basis like Santa Barbara County expedited permits / permit waivers means just that. You build back what was there before with no additions / extensions / changes and its an automatic sign off.

For example most of the houses destroyed in the Montecito mudflows in 2018 were quickly built back. Exactly as they were before. Those that were not rebuilt quickly was usually due to property owner deciding to sell the lot rather than rebuild (small 1950's tract house on a very valuable lot etc) or because the lots were going to used for a debris catchment basin on the creek with the lot owners agreement.

But if the destroyed houses owners decided they want to do an major upgrade, add an extension, or build that McMansion they always wanted then it's the usual permitting hell merry go round.

I can imagine in the Sierra counties and in counties with not very competent county / city government like Napa and Sonoma it being a very different story for many homeowners burned out. After all it was the counties incompetence with county / state managed land in Napa and Sonoma counties that turned moderate/serious wildfires into catastrophic wildfires that killed so many people. Marin county has the same kind of fire risk but is very proactive in managing fire risk on all land in the county. Especially state managed land most of which they took back into de-facto county management decades ago. Which is why Marin rarely burns.

These catastrophic fires never happen by accident. Always due to gross incompetence by the city/county/ state going back decades.

So very much a story of your mileage may vary. Depending on the local city/county government. Which given Hawaii's recent political history its absolutely guaranteed rebuilding will be total hell for those trying to rebuild. So in 5 / 10 years time expect many still empty lots and a large number of people just selling up rather than dealing with the never ending heartbreak year after year of trying to rebuild their homes. If they dont have the right political connections.

 

[13poisons]

There was a 400,000 acre wildfire in my BOL area—started by the gov as a prescribed burn they were told NOT to do by the local office.

Thankfully, my cabin was spared, but a 1000 homes burned with thousands of others were evacuated.

I received a notice from my insurance company that they are dropping my insurance due to location and risk at the cabin itself.

My cabin has a huge fire break—literally probably 3 trees within 100 yards and I keep the grass mowed with a small tractor/brushhog.

So never assume that insurance will “replace everything” as you might not be able to get it.

 

[blue123]

 

[HappyinID]

Depends very much on the local county / city government. For counties that deal with this stuff on a regular basis like Santa Barbara County expedited permits / permit waivers means just that. You build back what was there before with no additions / extensions / changes and its an automatic sign off.

That's not what some of my friends experienced in a few different places. And many of them couldn't exactly "build back what was there," with the myriad of code changes.

Obviously there are other challenges as well, insurance companies trying to lowball, shortages of contractors, building materials etc. The lucky ones were back in their rebuilt homes in two years.

So very much a story of your mileage may vary. Depending on the local city/county government. Which given Hawaii's recent political history its absolutely guaranteed rebuilding will be total hell for those trying to rebuild. So in 5 / 10 years time expect many still empty lots and a large number of people just selling up rather than dealing with the never ending heartbreak year after year of trying to rebuild their homes. If they dont have the right political connections.

I think you're correct. The corrupt leftists there are not going to miss their opportunity to profit from others tragedy.

 

[PDE Guy]

That's not what some of my friends experienced in a few different places. And many of them couldn't exactly "build back what was there," with the myriad of code changes.

Obviously there are other challenges as well, insurance companies trying to lowball, shortages of contractors, building materials etc. The lucky ones were back in their rebuilt homes in two years.



I think you're correct. The corrupt leftists there are not going to miss their opportunity to profit from others tragedy.

As I said it totally depends what the local city / county government are like. The example I quoted I know about because friends of one of my oldest friends owned one of the the houses rebuilt after the mudflow.

But I also remember truly horrible cases in the past. Catch 22 situations were the city/county would not allow a rebuilt as before because they were now applying current permitting regs / zoning to houses that had been built 60 / 80 years before. I remember one case quite a while ago where the county insisted on very expensive structural upgrades (to bring it up to current code) to a house destroyed by wildfire originally built in the 1930's but insurance would only pay for rebuilt exactly as before. The difference in constructions costs being a big chunk of the value of the property. From what I remember the people involved had to do a walkaway and sell up just for lot value because they could not afford the cost of rebuilding the house the county would allow them to build.

Then there is the whole - well the original structure was grandfathered but as the rebuild will be a new structure the current zoning does not allow that kind of structure to be built in that location...

So yeah, I have absolutely no illusions about just how badly a city / county can treat people who have been burned out of their homes. And just how much heartbreak is involved in rebuilding. And how long it takes. Anyone who has lived in wildfire county any length of time will have seen it first hand.