Dino Saga 081116 _ Not Quiet Week. FIRE! | FerrariChat

Dino Saga 081116 _ Not Quiet Week. FIRE!

Discussion in 'Corbani's Corner' started by John Corbani, Nov 16, 2008.

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  1. John Corbani

    John Corbani Formula 3
    Honorary Owner

    May 5, 2005
    1,153
    Santa Barbara, CA
    Full Name:
    John Corbani
    #1 John Corbani, Nov 16, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Dino Saga 081116 _ Not Quiet Week. FIRE!

    Hope it was not my last Saga that caused the wind to blow. We were watching the evening news on KEYT when the camera outside the studio saw the first flames. It is on a firm pedestal and has a zoom lens of NFL quality. That camera was the news as long as the smoke was blowing East. Winds down at fire level were 70+ mph. Fire started in Sycamore canyon, right at the bottom. That opens up to the backside of the foothills, left behind the Santa Barbara Riviera, right to Westmont College and many view homes above Montecito. You have seen the pictures. Fire went down Sycamore canyon toward the ocean. It went sideways and up everything it could. Winds stopped before fire could go over top of Riviera and start down the front side. Helicopters and pilots with Night Vision helmets allowed the fire guys to fly at night. Must have been fun dropping retardant in 70 mph winds but they did it. Fire is now only going East into Montecito and up the face of the mountains. Once daylight came, all the fixed wing fire aircraft showed up and the winds were calm. Fire is still burning but there is hope. Unfortunately, the winds just moved 100 miles South East during the day. Los Angeles is now hurting on two sides. All the power is back in downtown Santa Barbara and the smoke is all gone.

    TV coverage was God awful! Last thing you want to see is a reporter standing in front of a burned tree telling you there is a fire. You want a map telling you where. You want lines on the map, not pretty little animated campfires scattered around a map of the whole city. Get in close! Would be nicer if someone who knew the area would pull up Google World, turn on the roads and fly around the fire area. Put an overlay over Google and talk. The weatherman could use his fancy backgrounds and do the same. I had friends in the area. I knew their street and number. None of that info was available even though the station had a reporter in the area and the county fire service had a hot line. Oh well.

    Had dinner last night with Scott.Mac at Longboard’s on Stearn’s Wharf. He had been diving out at the Islands. Beautiful sunset. Winds were 1-2 mph and all the sailboats were using power to get back home before dark. Tourists were everywhere. All is back to normal unless you live where the fire was / is. So many homes destroyed so quickly. Been 30-40 years since that area last burned and many lessons were forgotten by homeowners. No matter what they did, the winds blew burning branches everywhere. Tile roofs and stucco walls are pretty good protection. The Spanish style is practical too. But not perfect. Eaves and trim can be openings if the heat is high enough. And it was.

    Wasn’t able to get any good pictures this week so fired up Picasa and looked over the old stuff. I will take 50 - 100 pictures in a session and only use 5 or 10 of them. Lots are left over and I save all of the originals that are potentially useful. Picasa is a wonderful way to scan thousands of pictures in a short amount of time. I never use the editing features but searching quickly turned up some pictures I took right after the car was painted in 2006 and before I put any trim back. The lines of the car are shown in all their purity when all the jewelry is gone. The curves of the race cars of the 60s are loud and clear. Cleaned up a couple of the pics, reduced and sharpened them. Pretty. Enjoy.

    John
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  2. synchro

    synchro F1 Veteran

    Feb 14, 2005
    9,294
    CHNDLR
    Full Name:
    Scott
    #2 synchro, Nov 16, 2008
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2008
    John,

    Thanks for taking the time for great conversation - great to have dinner with you, you know the best restaurants!

    Regards,

    Scott


    PS - Friday night I was out on Stearns Wharf and the locals showed me the two remaining hotspots that flared up on the hillside - quite an eerie glow. Reports were that 200 homes had been consumed.

    Best wishes for your and Candi's safety.
     
  3. 2GT

    2GT Formula 3

    Aug 25, 2008
    1,830
    Western NY
    Full Name:
    Fred
    John, I hope that the fires are closer to being fully contained. Your shots of the Dino without trim are positively primal! I had the bumpers off my red Dino a little over twenty years ago for an entire summer (it was silver back then). I must admit that the car looked like a prototype from the past. I felt a bit like a race driver whenever I pulled up next to someone at a light! Fred
     

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