24 replies to this topic

[Richomundo]

Southern California is being hit by 12 wildfires forcing evacuation and terrible air quality especially in San Diego.
Only 2 fires of 14 have been contained, the rest are between 0-10 percent contained, and one fire 27% contained.
I am here, offering assistance to anyone from Nerfhaven or friends / family members who are affected by nature's wrath.
Many friends of mine have been forced to evac from topanga canyon area and some areas near santa clarita and especially san diego, which has been hit hardest.

GOOGLE MAP OF WILDFIRES

I can smell the malibu fires and see the smoke drift across the coast when I wake up in the morning, and I know how tiring and stressful this can be, and I would be especially scared if my house were in danger.


That's smoke from the malibu fires seen at sunset from the bluffs near my house

If I am able to assist anyone being affected by these fires, please let me know.

Also, if anyone else in the SoCal region is willing to help out if anybody needs anything, from a place to crash for a night to a place to have lunch, a ride, or anything else anyone can think of please post in this thread as well.

Feel free to email / aim / msn me
email:
aim: richomundo
msn: rknight@vtbs.com

-richmond

Oh donating blood is always a big help. I know california's blood supply is at a critical level, especially since the red cross had to cancel like 20 blood drives in san diego due to fires.

Edited by Richomundo, 06 March 2008 - 02:33 PM.

[Maeric]

Man... I need to wake up... I thought you meant the Wildfire Nerf gun... God! But yeah... I live no where near there, but is there anything I could do to help? Donations or something?


EDIT: HAHAHAHA. No. No blood, can't do that.

Edited by Maeric, 23 October 2007 - 07:25 PM.

[All Star]

My best wishes to all of you.

Edited by All Star, 23 October 2007 - 04:44 PM.

[baghead]

So far, My area's been fine, my commute to school has been a pain in my hiney... I know Falcon goes to school in San Diego and He's Ok. in fact, he gets the whole week off from school, and is on his way back home to G-town right now.

-Bags

[blister]

My older brother goes to UCSD. They cancelled classes yesterday and today, I think. I hope everything will be okay.

[Richomundo]

So far, My area's been fine, my commute to school has been a pain in my hiney... I know Falcon goes to school in San Diego and He's Ok. in fact, he gets the whole week off from school, and is on his way back home to G-town right now.

-Bags

I talked to him on myspace a little. Good to know people are OK, it's depressing to think a lot of homes have been burned / damaged and areas are still evacuated.

It's not just the house but the posessions and memories and photo albums as well that are worth way more than anything else.

[nerfsharpie6]

I predict the fire will eventually reach such a critical mass it will just burn its self out. But not for a while. What they really need to look out for are winds blowing other fires towards each other... the end result a firestorm. A firestorm being a worst case scenario could burn thousands of acres in seconds and send embers a few miles in every direction, creating smaller fires. Or I could be wrong and it will just run out of fuel and burn down to a controllable levels. But they should be using protein foam to put out house fires. That shit shuts down flames in seconds. I wish I could help but I live in New Jersey and am only 15... so best of luck hope it turns out well in the end and me being wrong about the firestorm.

[The Infinite Shindig]

My thoughts and prayers go out to you guys. I'm out here on the East Coast, but if there is something I can do besides idly praying, please let me know.

[raw shrimp]

I live right next to one of the fires. It sucks with all this heat and ash in the air.

[Zaxbys]

I will be keeping all of you in my thoughtd and in my prayers. Even though I am on the east coast if there is anythin I can personally do to help just let me know.

~Zaxbys

[SHADOW HUNTER ALPHA]

I don't pray, but I will make sure to think of you guys and hope for the best of luck to you in this time. Great to know that many of you are alright. I will do what I can to help.

[The Metal Bullet]

I live in San Diego and am telling all of you. If you can spare any money it is GREATLY appreciated by thousands who have and are suffering the fires.


To donate you can go here...http://www.redcross.org/news/ds/profiles/disaster_profile_CAWildfires.html

And Richomundo I may be evactuating my house pretty soon. I will need to talk to you before it gets that far.

[Rambo]

How does a fire burn itself out? My (basic) knowledge is that a fire needs air to survive, and as such, it will continue until it is contained by people. I don't mean to be pessimistic, I'm just curious as to the science behind this statement.

I predict the fire will eventually reach such a critical mass it will just burn its self out. But not for a while. What they really need to look out for are winds blowing other fires towards each other... the end result a firestorm. A firestorm being a worst case scenario could burn thousands of acres in seconds and send embers a few miles in every direction, creating smaller fires. Or I could be wrong and it will just run out of fuel and burn down to a controllable levels. But they should be using protein foam to put out house fires. That shit shuts down flames in seconds. I wish I could help but I live in New Jersey and am only 15... so best of luck hope it turns out well in the end and me being wrong about the firestorm.

On a more relevant note, I will be donating to the Red Cross later today.

[watkins]

How does a fire burn itself out? My (basic) knowledge is that a fire needs air to survive, and as such, it will continue until it is contained by people. I don't mean to be pessimistic, I'm just curious as to the science behind this statement.

A fire needs oxygen and some form of carbon-based material to burn. True combustion is expressed by the chemical reaction O2 + C --> CO2. Basically, if theres nothing left for the oxygen to react with, the fire goes out.

edit: I just noticed I hit "2" an extra time

Edited by watkins, 26 October 2007 - 10:40 PM.

[Lynx]

You also need enough material to burn (trees and brush). Otherwise, it would just be smoldering ash.

[Rambo]

I'm fairly sure you just repeated what watkins said, in a less scientific way...

I still don't know what sharpie means by 'critical mass', but I guess it's not a big deal.

[Lynx]

The guy beat me by a minute.

Look at times before reading posts otherwise you will only call me a dumbass whilst you become the fool.

Critical mass is the carbon (trees and brush) in the 2oxygen+1carbon=carbon dioxide.

Without the fuel, the fire is dead...

[SHADOW HUNTER ALPHA]

Wrong. Critical mass is a point at which the fire or other reaction is at its peak intensity and size. After this, the reaction begins to die out.

What is happening is that the massive quantities of underbrush and trees are fueling the flames. However, after the fires move out of the forests, there is significantly less to burn (often only grass, but that's based on an assumption). The flames cannot sustain themselves with such little fuel, and will drop in size and intensity until they die out.

Edited by SHADOW HUNTER ALPHA, 26 October 2007 - 10:42 PM.

[baghead]

Ok... It is now once again well established that RAMBO is a dumbass... let's not forget that there are still a SHITLOAD OF FUCKING FIRES... now they're getting close to where I live, Air quality is shit.

I just hope it's not too windy the next couple of days...

or it's gonna suck anus.

Edited by baghead, 26 October 2007 - 10:41 PM.

[Rambo]

Fuck you, go stitch a doll.

[baghead]

Fuck you, go stitch a doll.

Oh, I will, I will. and They're Plush Monsters, Not Dolls.

*Huggles*

-Bags

[nerfsharpie6]

Shadow and Lynx summed it up the best, but let me explain. hen it reaches critical mass the fire has sustained a maximum temperature, wind velocity, and diameter for so may hours. Think of it like a hurricane, but with fire. When it reaches this point the fire burns everything up so fast it can't gain fuel to sustain the requirements needed. After this happens it takes out the fuel part of the equation. No fuel no fire even if there is O2 to keep it going. Unless it reaches fuel and is still hot enough to ignite something then there is still a chance that it could reach critical mass again. Thats why a fire of this level is so damn dangerous, you don't know what will happen and when, especially with the Santa Anna winds. But as evidence suggest the fire HAS died down but not by much. I wish I could explain further but its complicated.

[baghead]

Yesterday, we were fortunate enough to have a freak rainstorm, it hasn't helped a ton, but it made a difference... although, today, there's no evidence of any moisture in the air again... bummer.

[nerfsharpie6]

Bags believe it or not that little bit of rain was a god send. That might have just been enough to moisten the ground enough to make it harder to burn. But its still dangerous and a high chance it will still take a while to put out.

[jwasko]

First of all: I pray for all of you in the area, that you remain safe.

Second of all: Hmm, never heard of "critical mass" used in any way except for in nuclear reactions (see: Wikipedia, although I have learned of similar things in Chemistry classes)

Third of all: Ironically, a combustion reaction involving an organic compound produces CO2 and water. Of course, and unfortunately, with the intense heat of the combustion, the water is in a gaseous state.

Lastly, I wish you you all good fortune in keeping yourselves, family, friends, and, yes, even personal possessions safe.