Thread: Fire!
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Old October 30th, 2007, 06:20 PM posted to rec.arts.dance,rec.travel.usa-canada
Hatunen
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Default Fire!

On Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:52:52 -0700, wrote:

On Oct 29, 11:30?pm, Hatunen wrote:
On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 05:06:03 -0800, Icono Clast
wrote:

memiki wrote:
[In 1961] methinks most, if not all, insurance companies covering
BelAir property stipulated in order to be covered the homes had to
be rebuilt on the same property....so there was not much of a
choice. I don't know if this policy is still in effect


Let's hope not.


Those who suffered loss who are not permitted to rebuild will lose
the value of their lot. The lot might be worth nothing today but
could've been worth a fortune yesterday. 'Tis truly a tragedy.


On the other hand, it is hard to feel a great deal of sympathy
for those who build on the banks of rivers and lose their shirts
when the river floods, and it is hard to feel sorry for those who
build wooden houses on hillsides of the type that have a long
history of catching fire. In either case any fool should know
that it is a case of not "if", but "when".


One can have human sympathy for people whose homes are destroyed while
still opposing governmental subsidies to people seeking to build, or
rebuild, homes in high fire areas or flood plains. It is just a
matter of simple human decency.


There is a certain baseline stupidity to building on hillsides
that are notorious for catching fire, especially given the value
of most of those homes. There are construction techniques that
could vastly reduce the damage to individual structures so the
question is: why weren't they used?

Virtually every community in the country now has Special Flood
Hazard Area maps showing the areas of likely 100-year flooding,
and flood insurance is available. Real estate professionals are
mostly required to point out if a structure being sold is in one
of these area. Some Special Flood Hazard Areas are not
particulary noticeable as such, but anyone building near stream
which is known to flood periodically is simply a fool.

In the past economic necessity forced people to put towns on the
banks of rivers because the rivers were the transportation
lifeline, but this is no longer necessary, at least for
residences.

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