There is a pretty large pic of a homeowner at the scene of one of the fires. He is wearing a Glock 17 w/surefire light and extended mag, in a black nylon thigh holster. It looks like there is a Surfire handheld light clipped in  his shirt pocket.

The photo caption is "well prepared."  the artical mentions he is a former firefighter who spent $40,000 clearing infected trees from his property, and $30,000 on firefighting supplies.  His home is one of the few properties on his street that didnt burn.

From OC you say?  A paper in LA will demonize him for having the means to defend himself, he's well prepared indeed.  Those that depended on the state and city to save their properties found out in a bad way that as much as the admirable firefighters tried, the home owners should have helped themselves as this gentleman did by possessing the means to defend himself from fire and foe.

That sounds like Charles Wysocki's Son-in-law.  Wysocki did a lot of good paintings of Reagan and others.

You read what he did to save his house and it's still a miracle.  Saved the house and most of the paintings, lost some outbuildings and the entire rest of the neighborhood was destroyed.

Had his own tanks, gas pumps, laid out his own hose lines, had sprinkler systems, cleared aggressively.  Spent over $100k in preps, and still damn near got killed and damn near lost everything.  Lived on a 3/4 lane road in a heavily treed area where firetrucks couldn't maneuver, a lot of dead trees around, the neighborhood has been there since long before any kind of zoning or planning.  Something like 2-3 times as many "houses" as would be allowed today.

We used to stay at a friends place near Cedar Glen and a few times at the Arrowhead BSA camp.  You see the area in it's glory and you wouldn't believe anything would survive a fire like that.

Here is the article.. i photographed it, so its very large images

it is the wysocki homes.. he saved 3 out of 5 of their buildings.. the ones he lost were a back house and the guest house.

Part 1 700K

Part 2 400K

sorry for the large images.. that way so you could read the article and see the detail in the photos.

The OC Register is fairly conservative and generally fair-handed to gun owners, unlike Pravda West (LA Times).

isn't it against the law to open cary a loaded firearm in this state? of course, MY "training" is "how to own a gun in CA and stay out of jail"...

chris

Thought it was ok on your property, but with all thats going on up there i doubt anyone would hassle him about it. I remember hearing reports of bastards looting homes that were evacuated.

WSMC667, is that willow springs motorcycle club by any chance?

Quoted: Thought it was ok on your property, but with all thats going on up there i doubt anyone would hassle him about it. I remember hearing reports of bastards looting homes that were evacuated.

yeah, i was just curious... because there's the "loaded" law and the "concealed" law, too. one of the guys down here was basically doing the same thing when this guy was driving around. the guy driving around had a 9mm on the seat of his car. he froze when the .40 was in his face and waited for the cops to come and UNsteal his stolen car. true shtf stuff...

Quoted: WSMC667, is that willow springs motorcycle club by any chance?

you betchya. i won my class with 2 more races to go. had a great season despite some break downs. stole MRS wsmc's bike and used it to keep gettin points in the class. will be out there this weekend.

chris

Ok this is OT please forgive me.

What class are you racing in?

hi D-duck,

i race Aprilia Challenge (currently in 1st place in the 2003 championship), 550 Superbike (5th), Roadracing World 250 GP (4th), and Solo GT Lights (2nd).

does the "duck" mean Ducati? i'm all about ducatis! www.ducatitech.com

chris

you can carry concealed on your own property.  In fact I can think of a variety of circumstances where it is probably better than open carry.

Wow wsmc667, sounds like youve had a great year.

If i had the time Id go see you race, good luck this weekend.

Unfortunatly my name does not mean i have a duc, I put around on a 00 R6 for now.