Port/Yacht Street Fire

I'm looking at the plume of smoke from Watermarke, for a second, my heart leaped as I thought, yippi Newport Coast is on fire! Or UCI! But where is Port/Yacht Street?
 
<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode;=&q=&ie=UTF8&ll=33.617121,-117.846909&spn=0.028019,0.055618&z=15&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Map</a>
 
Apparently just some brush in the Spyglass area - not sure if any houses were involved:



<a href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/strong-2193139">http://www.ocregister.com/articles/strong-2193139</a>
 
[quote author="Strom" date=1223968277]Apparently just some brush in the Spyglass area - not sure if any houses were involved:



<a href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/strong-2193139">http://www.ocregister.com/articles/strong-2193139</a></blockquote>


The last I saw: 2 homes had minor damage, and 100 acres burned. Now contained.
 
[quote author="BMP 309" date=1223976268][quote author="Strom" date=1223968277]Apparently just some brush in the Spyglass area - not sure if any houses were involved:



<a href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/strong-2193139">http://www.ocregister.com/articles/strong-2193139</a></blockquote>


The last I saw: 2 homes had minor damage, and 100 acres burned. Now contained.</blockquote>


Reports went from 50 to 100 acres, and now say 35 acres.
 
I love some of the comments from readers of the OC Register article:



olddude wrote:

Oh gosh, a fire in Newport Beach! Isn't that where the rich people live? Better get down there asap! Spare nothing, the fire must be put out - 8 mile an hour "winds" - with gust even! Of course there is another fire raging, but, alas, that's in Los Angeles County and we all know about that place! (Does anyone ever wonder why the Orange County Register is becoming a thinner newspaper?)



elitistguy wrote:

The winds messed up my yard today and now I have to go pick up all the pine needles and clean my pool. Some of my hair was also blown out of place.
 
We have a few friends who live on this street. One friend had their backyard burned, including their outdoor furniture and grill. The fire reached the house; however, their concrete shingles saved the house (as well as the firefighters).

Fortunately, no one was hurt.
 
[quote author="roundcorners" date=1224026297]I love some of the comments from readers of the OC Register article:



olddude wrote:

Oh gosh, a fire in Newport Beach! Isn't that where the rich people live? Better get down there asap! Spare nothing, the fire must be put out - 8 mile an hour "winds" - with gust even! Of course there is another fire raging, but, alas, that's in Los Angeles County and we all know about that place! (Does anyone ever wonder why the Orange County Register is becoming a thinner newspaper?)



elitistguy wrote:

The winds messed up my yard today and now I have to go pick up all the pine needles and clean my pool. Some of my hair was also blown out of place.</blockquote>


I love them too! Because it shows what idiots some people are!! So...if a fire is an a nice neighborhood, we should all just let it burn, and worse make jokes? morons.



*BTW roundcorners--wasn't it you that didn't have any idea as to where the port streets are?! Get a clue. Those houses were some of the best investments a few years back. A good number of those homes were purchased 15-20 years ago by people that knew they were a good investment. And guess what--they were right. A fair number of the homeowners in Spyglass / Portstreets made a brilliant investment in buying their house--these people are actually smart and bought at the right time in the right market in the right location. So we should all mock a fire in their neighborhood because they aren't overextended 30Kmillionaires? Since I get a feeling you won't be ashamed for your comments, you should be embarrassed.
 
No need to get all worked up about this. I'm also not going to weep for some rich folks who have millions and often own several houses. It is unfortunate to have it happen to anyone nothwithstanding their financial situation, but there is a world of difference if a family loses their only large asset to fire, let's say a 400K condo, and a millionaire losing one of his 5M mansions. The millionaire can go stay at the Ritz, and the family without that kind of money is going to seek charity from relatives and stangers.

It is absurd to suggest that I should be all upset about threatened or actual fire damage to multimillion-dollar homes. Where did they get that kind of money anyway, flipping houses during the bubble? Underwriting bad mortgages? Cheating investors out of their money while collecting millions in bonuses?
 
[quote author="blackacre-seeker" date=1224032240]No need to get all worked up about this. I'm also not going to weep for some rich folks who have millions and often own several houses. It is unfortunate to have it happen to anyone nothwithstanding their financial situation, but there is a world of difference if a family loses their only large asset to fire, let's say a 400K condo, and a millionaire losing one of his 5M mansions. The millionaire can go stay at the Ritz, and the family without that kind of money is going to seek charity from relatives and stangers.

It is absurd to suggest that I should be all upset about threatened or actual fire damage to multimillion-dollar homes. Where did they get that kind of money anyway, flipping houses during the bubble? Underwriting bad mortgages? Cheating investors out of their money while collecting millions in bonuses?</blockquote>


I know four families who live in this area. All four families have worked and still work very hard for their income. All four families didn't get caught up in the bubble. They happened to buy ten years ago and got a traditional 30-year mortgage. They chose to live in this neighborhood because they knew this neighborhood would hold its value better than other neighborhoods. Yes, they got lucky and rode the bubble. But, trust me, they don't have multiple houses and they wouldn't be able to afford the Ritz should they be driven from their homes. You really should think before you generalize.
 
[quote author="blackacre-seeker" date=1224032240]No need to get all worked up about this. I'm also not going to weep for some rich folks who have millions and often own several houses. It is unfortunate to have it happen to anyone nothwithstanding their financial situation, but there is a world of difference if a family loses their only large asset to fire, let's say a 400K condo, and a millionaire losing one of his 5M mansions. The millionaire can go stay at the Ritz, and the family without that kind of money is going to seek charity from relatives and stangers.

It is absurd to suggest that I should be all upset about threatened or actual fire damage to multimillion-dollar homes. Where did they get that kind of money anyway, flipping houses during the bubble? Underwriting bad mortgages? Cheating investors out of their money while collecting millions in bonuses?</blockquote>


No need to guess. We will never know how they got that kind of money, and each case is different. It doesn't mean people should be saying "yippee" for a fire--any fire. I personally know of 2 homeowners in that area that bought around 20 years ago. One couple is 2 teachers, the other manages a very small carpet cleaning company in costa mesa. Not cheating investors, not flipping homes, and definitely NOT in the mortgage industry ( I think we can all see the areas populated by the mortgage guys by looking at a map of forclosed homes in various <em>other</em> areas) The people I know worked hard, and saved their money and bought somewhere that they knew would hold it's value--aka not an area filled with mortgage brokers ;) So since the teachers, and small business owners saved their pennies and have been living in the same home for 20 years--that has increased greatly in value--it's no big deal and they can afford to lose everything? It shouldn't matter if someone is a teacher, carpet cleaner, or CEO. Cheering for fires is deplorable.
 
I guess everybody missed my point: I'm not cheering for fires, that should not happen to anyone. Yet, I'm not going to feel sorry for millionaires losing one of their mansions. As to they posters who provided a background on people whose homes suffered some fire damage, my thoughts are with them.
 
why assume because someone has a nice home, they must have a dozen others? its all relative. if you're net worth is 500k and your 400k condo burns down, it hurts. if you're worth $5 million and your $4 million mansion burns down, it still hurts.



besides, that is wealthy neighborhood but they're not like vacation mansions on the beach that sit empty most of the yr. probably filled with working professionals who, despite good income, aren't going to find replacing their home an easy task.
 
[quote author="blackacre-seeker" date=1224036072] Yet, I'm not going to feel sorry for millionaires losing one of their mansions.</blockquote>


I guess you wouldn't feel sorry for my grandparents (who live near San Francisco) if their one and only house burned down even though they've lived there for over fifty years. It's not their fault that the city they live in has yuppified and the house they purchased for less than $20,000 is valued over $1,500,000.
 
Did anybody even read this post? That should alleviate your concerns, here it is again.

<blockquote>I guess everybody missed my point: I?m not cheering for fires, that should not happen to anyone. Yet, I?m not going to feel sorry for millionaires losing one of their mansions. As to they posters who provided a background on people whose homes suffered some fire damage, my thoughts are with them. </blockquote>
And just one more time: if you have one home and it burns down, I feel sorry for you 100%. If you have a few homes, and one burns down, I feel 1/5 times less sorry (or whatever the number of homes you have). Also, how you got the money to buy this nice home would also make a difference to me. I just don't get why is this so difficult to understand.

Just one real life example to illustrate my point, not to belabor it: if Countrywide's CEO's mansion burns down, are you going to feel sorry for him? I won't.
 
blackacre - the point people are making in response to you is that the people affected by this fire are not those uber-rich you keep referring to. The fact that you keep talking about the rich makes us think you don't understand that doesn't apply here.



In any case, your thought process is hard to empathize with. It is sad for anyone to lose a house. When Tom Petty's house was set on fire by arson, he could afford to rebuild it. But, I still feel sorry for him. It is sick that you don't.
 
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