Couple days ago I commented to a post:
Every friggin one of those houses have pools. I have a pool, and I have a Harbor Freight 2" pump that can pump out water, 158 GPM, out of a fire hose from my pool through a 2" section of PVC with an L in it, that I can run down to bottom of 15K gallon pool.
Sure the hydrants may have been dry, but they have all the water needed to control the fire right in the back yards. And you going to tell me that if the homes would have had a rig like I describe that they could not have kept house from burning down? Maybe not, but at least a chance, a good chance, a hell of a lot better than a 1/2 garden hose.
And they could just as easily had purchased a 3" pump ($400.00) that would put out 290 GPM. They live in a high fire zone, and none of them thought of this?
Then I began to wonder if there was any supporting evidence for my claim, and found this startling video of LA Firefighter in Malibu selling the very same idea. ** Note: The fire fighters offer this pump, hose, connection for $300 per month. One could easily obtain their own for almost one months payment.
In the video, the fireman says that a fire truck carries 500 gallons of water, so the 40,000 gal pool your looking at here would be 80 fire trucks of water.
Additionally I just found this 7 years old video: Tech Vet Builds High-Powered Hose To Protect Home From Wildfires
I think most of us, if we lived in a very high risk fire area, would have though of this own our on. If rich like most of these folks, would have had multiple pumps in place to drowned our house and property in case of fire.
P.S. And before any of you comment on discharge rate of fire engine or Harbor Freight pump, please know that I am aware of the factor that determine pump rate.
It's definitely worth trying, and can be successful, depending on the conditions. Average people don't think that far ahead, and in average fires they don't need to: the fire department is enough to save the home.
But there is a sizeable minority of people who plan as you suggest. There were some videos of people defending their homes from the current fires like you say, but ultimately having to leave due to being overwhelmed by the smoke and the winds. I'm sure more bodies will be found in the rubble, of people who tried it this time around as well. And I'm sure that some homes were saved by some people that stayed behind, but the media is concentrating on other stories still.
I know a couple that successfully defended their Malibu homes from many fires over the years. They bought in Malibu decades ago when it was a rural lifestyle and no more expensive than Oxnard or Camarillo, long before movie stars moved in with their helipads. Sadly, they attempted this defense in the fires in 2020 and were rescued unconscious in their car as they tried to escape, losing their lives a short time later.
There is also a company selling some sort of deployable slime that will cover a building in fireproof gel that is extremely effective (but also extremely difficult to clean up afterward) even when a fire completely consumes the surroundings. If I lived there, that's the type of system I'd try, although I admit I don't know the cost. Also don't know if it would protect against smart electricity meters that explode, which might come out as a factor here ... we'll see.
Understandable, there are conditions would would overwhelm any attempt to stop it from burning down home. A hot fire with enough fuel, and oxygen is going to get where it want to. There best bet would have been to remove fuel for fire with controlled burns.
Just found this article that describes how mother and son save there home in recent fire with pump and pool water. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-09/mother-son-team-battle-to-protect-pacific-palisades-homes
Good on them.
Look at this picture u/WeAreTheWorld posted in comment.
https://files.catbox.moe/k2hpag.webp
Yeah, that's how it's done in crunch time. The whole photo essay is dramatic.
Hope it was enough for him and his house. Rugged individualism is the way to be, but a community of individualists is even better.
Like this dude in Palisades?
https://files.catbox.moe/k2hpag.webp
Full photo esssy here:
https://archive.is/kj8Kv
EGGZACTLY! Great Picture!! Thanks
Imagine if everyone, or even a multi of people in PP would have done the same thing. The entire fiasco could have been avoided.
You know the gun defense saying: Space is time. Time is options.
Even in worst case scenario, slow fire down enough to allow fire fighters to get engaged.
We lost our neighborhood in So Cal to fire 20 years ago. This stuff makes me sick.
I'm guessing they evacuated and even if such systems were in place it's unlikely that fire-fighters would have been able to drive near to the properties we see destroyed, as the fire approached. As it swept through no-one would have been there to deploy any systems? Even if you automated them, would the electrical components have survived in the heat and smoke?
Lots of people were wetting down property with a 1/2 garden hose which was useless.
Just found this article where owners did same a home with a pump and pool water. So it's very doable.
Mom and son fought off Palisades fire with pump, hose and pool water
Your attempt at applying logic to an Illogical set of behaviors, is illogical of itself…🤔
LOL. Your close but in this case I am applying rational common sense to irrationally panicked non-thinking people.
Good point! Perhaps the fire departments there should invest in some pumps that could help them extract the water from the pools in the evacuated areas and/or adjacent areas
They already have the pumps. What do you think a Pumper Truck is?
Hmmm . . . I wonder why don't we see them sucking up those pools? I've seen videos of them manually scooping water out of the street and some videos of them using garden hoses but none utilizing pool water 🤷♀️
Maybe they are afraid that to much water sprayed on fire will wash ashes into the streams and threaten the smelt, or snail darters.
Use a gel like Barricade. Add a water hose and spray on your house and cars. It’s likely the fire will pass on by. I was going to use a helicopter drone that could carry a 1,000 lbs of that and water to coat houses ahead of a fire and just charge the insurance companies a monthly fee. A Minnesota Senator canceled the money he promised and the company went down the tubes.
Well you didn't:
Or surely you company would be thriving today.
BTW - Sorry this happened. Keep thinking.
Yep, plugging along. Currently working on stealth boats and the next leap in communications.
Just from common sense perspective, I'm guessing that boat idea must have panels, or densely packed cameras that project the background surface of the water on exterior of boat. That would make sense because all water basically looks the same. It's not like on land where an almost infinite number of background shapes, and colors would need to be projected.
Radar, infrared and visual stealth. We are a dark spot on the horizon, so we do have to add appropriate diffused light. Our weapons provide more than enough stand off. They are the potential solution to the Chinese navy numbers among other things.
How do you deal with displacement of water i.e. wake.
I say this just based on the Star Trek episode Balance of Terror where the Enterprise successfully targeted the Romulan clocked ship when it flew through a comets tail.
https://youtu.be/XKoF45apwYk
An issue. But it is not a normal wake. If we detect an eye in the sky, we either take it out or slow down.
Standard practice in fire prone areas to have this type of a setup. The other thing that works is a dampened cellulose produce that is sprayed on the building prior to the fire ripping thru. It was invented by a firefighter after he saw dippers that survived fires taking out neighborhoods.
My childhood home, we ran 3" to the corners of the property and one on the roof. Both neighbors had pools as well. Has powered trash pumps.
Smart thinking. Your a survivor.
Lived in the mountains and like others, have experienced fires.
I have a pump in my pond that will do the same thing and I am far from rich.
Sadly, that awesome idea isn’t what the city & State wanted. Funds could have purchased this equipment and had it in a small city utility building in several neighborhoods. It would have help fire fighters out for sure!
Cool, informative and well-researched post.