I’ll take flood damage – replacing flooring and Sheetrock – any day over this devastation:
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We can but it’ll be super expensive. Most homes in the US is simply stick construction.
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We only make them with a fire resistance long enough to evacuate the building to get people to safety and to slow the spread.
The fire ratings are set based on area, height, construction type and occupancy.
Unfortunately, single family homes are on the low end of fire protection because they have low occupancies.
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Hi everyone, sorry to throw a bomb and run away, but I fell asleep after that post and am just getting back from surveying the damage
First off, thank you everyone. I’m not trolling for sympathy, but wanted to put a face on the tragedy of it all, but not just me…
To save bandwidth for us all, here is my little story.
We evacuated 4:30am when my alarm went off for that hours check in. It was as I feared. We were in mandatory evac and looking north I saw the orange glow. We quickly gathered our pets and some things and got out in 15 minutes. We didn’t take much other than our laptops, wedding albums and a few clothes and prescriptions. When we went to bed at midnight, the fire was 5 miles away and headed the opposite direction. We relaxed a bit and checked every hour with the same results, until 4 am. I wish we would have stayed another twenty minutes and grabbed more cherished items, but like Chris said, one ember traveling in hurricane gusts of 100 mph can change things in a heartbeat. The smoke was so thick, we couldn’t, tell how close the flames were. I ran to my Jeep, and stepped into a bomb cyclone of hot smoke, 80 mile hour swirls and flying debris and embers. I was temporarily blinded, but made it to the Jeep with luggage and pets. I got my sight back and we bugged out of the neighborhood. I called around to friends and the only one that picked up lives 60 miles away, so that’s where we went. Of course, he is a fraternity brother and fellow Coog, so he stepped up.
We are all fine. The house is gone. I sorted through the ashes hoping to find our African Sulcata tortoise, who had run to his burrow underground, making him unreachable at evac. As I arrived, my neighbor ran to me crying, her house a total loss. We hugged it out, but just happened to be with a photographer from Reuters. He was inspired by our tortoise rescue attempt and took several pictures, if you see a tall blonde with a mask and Red Houston Gamblers shirt in the disaster footage, that’s me.
Sadly, after two hours of digging, we found the big guy. He wasn’t torched by fire, but he was dead from the extreme heat that still lingered deep in his burrow. He.may have suffocated. Sad, but he was the only household fatality.
I consider myself blessed. Most of us made it out. I am fully insured and already re-assured by my agent.
We will rebuild back bigger and better within a year, or sell to some foolish developer at a very high price, so that’s a win win.
I lost most of my cherished heirlooms and family keepsakes like watches, but they are only sentimental things likely will be mourned as is healthy and replaced with money or something new.
Our photos and some videos are on the cloud, so we lost very little there, except all the footage I shot before 2015. I lost all of my Cougar mascot footage from 1989, so if anyone has anything from Tv back then in the digital world, I would surely appreciate a copy.
Sadly, I lost all of my Cougar gear, bowl watches, etc. I did save my sweet new Coog parka, and the Big 12 championship shirt, but that’s it. I guess I get to rebuild and modernize my Coog stuff, so it’s not all bad, but I’ll miss the vintage stuff and my Final Four cap.
Listen, I’m really grateful. I have a place to live for a few months until we find a rental, and my contractor friend already offered to be my GC in what will be a shark infested market.
Apologies for the TLDR, but I thought some might gain some info from my tale.
Thanks again for the kind words and Go Coogs!
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I will be praying for you and your family through this difficult time
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I did a quick search of the Reuters reporter, and sure enough he posted this video from my neighborhood. The woman in the video lives across the street and was the one who I hugged it out and cried with. I didn’t make the cut
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Thank you for sharing your story. I can’t imagine the fear you must have felt. I’m sorry for all you have lost.
Just think, all of those post touchdown pushups you did probably gave you the strength and quickness to get out in time. 
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Thanks for sharing that. You got the right attitude and perspective to be the next phoenix from this tragedy.
Haven’t heard from Chris in awhile so not of his situation; hope he can check in too soon.
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If you want a football signed by Dana Holgorsen, it’s yours. Hey, it’s the best I can do.
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That’s a harrowing account. At least you’re safe. Condolences for your tortoise.
So it might be just a conspiracy theory but read that the fires might have been intentionally set. Crazy.
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Anyone who knows how to do it want to start a Coogfans gofundme account for Jason? I personally don’t know how to do it but I’d chip in.
Thoughts? Every little bit has got to help. We’re talking devastation here.
@FormerShasta , would you approve? @monceaux?
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No issues, of course.
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Great idea imho; but I wasn’t sure how it may be received. I’m in if someone wants to set it up. May be best if Jason sets it up himself ; if he don’t need it, I’m fine with him distributing it to whomever he knows that suffered a similar fate from the fires.
Coogs helping coogs.
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Ha! A devil’s bargain! I’m certain it is an evil horcrux.
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Some are for sure arson by horrible people, but I think mine was power lines and hurricane force winds
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I am so sorry for your loss, I am just seeing the thread. Let us know as fellow Coogs if there is anything we can do to help.
Thanks guys. I have a lot of angels supporting me. Don’t worry about me right now. I would encourage you to donate to a worthwhile charity that helps my community of Altadena. So many are worse off than me. I’ll find some links and post later.
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Amazing attitude, inspiring!
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You got it, dude!
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