Latest news with #ThomasFire
Eater
5 days ago
- Business
- Eater
Historic Ojai Hotel Debuts Two Chic Restaurants and a Bar by the Little Dom's Crew
A pair of seasoned Los Angeles restaurateurs just debuted two restaurants and a bar inside Ojai's historic Hotel El Roblar. Little Dom's Warner Ebbink, documentary filmmaker Jeremy McBride, Turtle Conservancy founder and filmmaker Eric Goode, designer Ramin Shamshiri, and chef Brandon Boudet have opened the Condor Bar, hotel guest-only restaurant La Cocina, and Snug Bar this summer in the newly refurbished 50-room hotel. Ebbink and Boudet are the same duo that introduced Los Feliz's longstanding Little Dom's, Little Dom's Seafood in Carpinteria, and Montecito's Bar Lou, which opened in late 2024. The two-acre Hotel El Roblar first opened in 1919, before reopening as an all-inclusive, adults-only spa hotel in the 1970s onward. After the 2017 Thomas Fire, Hotel El Roblar closed indefinitely until the current team purchased it in 2019. The design was a collaborative effort between the co-owners, with Ebbink and Boudet spearheading and leading the hotel's food and beverages. Little Dom's Boudet is not an official partner at Hotel El Roblar, but collaborated on the reopening of the historic hotel. 'I could never see doing this project with anybody else,' says Ebbink. 'Brandon's been part of this process just as long as anyone else. He put his heart and soul into this business. The restaurants and bar are at the heart of the operation with Brandon's fingerprints all over them.' The updated property boasts an elegant pool, chic boutique rooms, and a stunning design that's a tribute to Spanish Revival architecture, but Hotel El Roblar's dining and drink offerings are still a main draw, with a California-Mexican menu for Condor Bar rooted in California's history. 'The menu lends itself to Mexican cuisine,' says Boudet. 'It all melds together with deep roots in California, the Old World, and Mexican techniques and ingredients.' On July 16, Condor Bar revealed its 100-seat restaurant with a menu designed for sharing. The restaurant cooks over live oak on a Santa Maria Grill, a regional barbecue set-up that hails from the 19th century in Santa Barbara County's Santa Maria Valley. In the kitchen, Boudet uses it to add smoky flavor to king oyster mushrooms with mole verde, carne asada, chicken asado, a Veracruz-style Vermillion snapper, and pork ribs al pastor served with a green papaya pineapple slaw and miso pineapple butter. Sides include sauteed chayote squash and refried pinto beans with chicken fat and chicharron. Condor Bar makes all the tortillas in-house with organic masa from Kernel of Truth, though the team is also developing its own nixtamal program. Starters include a jicama salad, oysters, wild shrimp coctel de camaron with chiles, avocado, cucumber, and local tomatoes. For guests staying overnight, La Cocina serves breakfast and lunch, including chilaquiles, a Santa Maria grilled chicken asado torta, and breakfast burritos. The 45-seat Snug Bar serves complimentary coffee and a cocktail menu. The bar is in the beginning stages of assembling an agave spirit and wine collection, with particular interest in winemakers from Baja California, California, and Spain. El Roblar's cocktails are classics with margaritas, Old Fashioneds, Palomas, and a simple carajillo with Paranubes Oaxacan Rum, Licor 43 Spanish liqueur, and fresh espresso. Hotel El Roblar resides on the same street as another historic adjacent building that was recently restored: the Ojai Playhouse on Ojai Avenue. El Roblar is a short walk away from Ojai's local favorite, Rory's Place. The charming neighborhood, with its orange groves and walkable downtown strip with the third outlet for Highly Likely, and surrounding Los Padres National Forest, Ojai continues to evolve into a dining destination for Southern California. The Condor Bar is open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and La Cocina serves lunch and breakfast to guests from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The lobby's Snug Bar is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 122 E. Ojai Avenue, Ojai, CA, 93023. Duck leg carnitas at Condor Bar in Ojai. Bethany Nauert Prime arranchera steak on a Santa Maria grill. Bethany Nauert Oysters, Oaxacan After Midnight cocktail, and Best Friend cocktail. Bethany Nauert Bar closeup Gregory Goode Gregory Goode Bar view. Gregory Goode Bar adjacent dining room. Gregory Goode Patio dining. Gregory Goode Snug Bar. Gregory Goode Lobby. Gregory Goode Pool. Gregory Goode Entry. Gregory Goode Eater LA All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
San Francisco Chronicle
06-07-2025
- Climate
- San Francisco Chronicle
Deadly Texas flood: Could California face a similar disaster?
The catastrophic weekend flash flooding in Central Texas has killed nearly 80 people, with dozens missing and a death toll that's likely to rise. Despite occurring in a region known as ' Flash Flood Alley,' the sheer volume of rain — 6 to 10 inches in just three hours — combined with an unprecedented surge of the Guadalupe River, proved devastating. The river rose more than 20 feet within hours, transforming from a tranquil waterway into a torrent with flow rates greater than Niagara Falls. It's a scene that may feel unthinkable in California, but is it? Extreme flash floods happen less often here than in Texas, but they do occur and could become more common as the climate warms. A national flood risk analysis highlights California's coastal mountain basins and Sierra Nevada foothills among America's flash flood 'hot spots,' alongside the Texas Hill Country where this tragedy unfolded. The common ingredients are steep terrain, narrow canyons, hard soils that resist absorbing water, bursts of torrential rain and communities built directly in harm's way. But California adds another layer of risk: wildfire burn scars. After a fire, slopes lose their vegetation and can shed a deadly wave of mud, rocks, trees and water in what's known as a debris flow. Flash floods are fast-moving water surges that rapidly raise river level, while debris flows are thicker, slower, and often triggered by smaller storms hitting burned, unstable slopes. Both strike with little warning. Southern California's San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains are especially prone to this kind of disaster. On Christmas Day 2003, heavy rain on fire-scarred slopes triggered debris flows that tore through campgrounds and homes. At Waterman Canyon near San Bernardino, five adults and nine children were killed when mud and debris swept through a church camp, an event later linked in part to the design of a nearby Caltrans road. Parts of the coastal range face similar dangers. In January 2018, an intense thunderstorm over the Santa Ynez Mountains dropped more than half an inch of rain in just 15 minutes. The storm triggered a deadly debris flow from the Thomas Fire burn scar that tore through Montecito (Santa Barbara County), killing 23 people. Most of these California disasters have happened during the wet winter season, when large-scale storms fueled by atmospheric rivers are typically forecast days in advance. The Texas floods were so deadly in part because of their tropical moisture source and extreme rainfall rates. Totals nearing 2 feet required an air mass loaded with moisture and a slow-moving system that allowed storms to train repeatedly over the same area. In that case, the flooding was driven by the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry. California is less likely to tap into that kind of tropical moisture, but it can happen. Monsoonal flow in July and August sometimes brings tropical air masses northward, triggering strong thunderstorms with heavy rain, especially in the Sierra Nevada. The east slopes of the Sierra, including Alpine and Mono counties, have seen monsoonal storms wash out roads and campgrounds with sudden flash floods. The risk is even higher in the state's high deserts, where fast-developing storms can drop torrential rain that the hard ground simply can't absorb fast enough. While California may be less prone to tropical deluges like Texas saw, the ingredients for sudden, deadly floods are here, especially on steep, fire-scarred slopes.
eNCA
24-05-2025
- eNCA
US power company to pay $82.5m for California wildfire
LOS ANGELES - One of California's largest utilities is to pay the US Forest Service $82.5-million for a wildfire that burned tens of thousands of acres (hectares) of woodland. The 2020 Bobcat Fire destroyed dozens of buildings as it tore through the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles. The US government said Southern California Edison had not properly controlled vegetation near its power lines and the blaze erupted when trees touched a live wire. A 2023 lawsuit claimed damages from the company for the cost of fighting the fire on Forest Service land as well as for remediation of damage caused to campgrounds, trails and wildlife habitats. "This record settlement against Southern California Edison provides meaningful compensation to taxpayers for the extensive costs of fighting the Bobcat Fire and for the widespread damage to public lands," said US Attorney Bill Essayli. "My office will continue to aggressively pursue recovery for suppression costs and environmental damages from any entity that causes harm to the public's forests and other precious national resources." Southern California Edison is no stranger to paying out large sums of money for wildfires where its equipment was suspected to have been at fault. The company handed over more than $2.7-billion in settlements over the 2017 Thomas Fire that tore through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, killing two people and destroying hundreds of buildings. It paid $2.2-billion for the 2018 Woolsey Fire that burned through Los Angeles and Ventura counties, killing three people and damaging more than 1,600 buildings. Investigators probing the deadly Eaton Fire, one of two blazes that ripped through Los Angeles at the start of this year, are homing in on SCE transmission lines as a possible source of ignition.
NDTV
24-05-2025
- NDTV
US Power Company To Pay $82.5 Million For California Wildfire
One of California's largest utilities is to pay the US Forest Service $82.5 million for a wildfire that burned tens of thousands of acres (hectares) of woodland, the government said Friday. The 2020 Bobcat Fire destroyed dozens of buildings as it tore through the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles. The US government said Southern California Edison had not properly controlled vegetation near its power lines and the blaze erupted when trees touched a live wire. A 2023 lawsuit claimed damages from the company for the cost of fighting the fire on Forest Service land as well as for remediation of damage caused to campgrounds, trails and wildlife habitats. "This record settlement against Southern California Edison provides meaningful compensation to taxpayers for the extensive costs of fighting the Bobcat Fire and for the widespread damage to public lands," said US Attorney Bill Essayli. "My office will continue to aggressively pursue recovery for suppression costs and environmental damages from any entity that causes harm to the public's forests and other precious national resources." Southern California Edison is no stranger to paying out large sums of money for wildfires where its equipment was suspected to have been at fault. The company handed over more that $2.7 billion in settlements over the 2017 Thomas Fire that tore through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, killing two people and destroying hundreds of buildings. It paid $2.2 billion for the 2018 Woolsey Fire that burned through Los Angeles and Ventura counties, killing three people and damaging more than 1,600 buildings. Investigators probing the deadly Eaton Fire, one of two blazes that ripped through Los Angeles at the start of this year, are homing on in SCE transmission lines as a possible source of ignition.
France 24
23-05-2025
- France 24
US power company to pay $82.5m for California wildfire
The 2020 Bobcat Fire destroyed dozens of buildings as it tore through the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles. The US government said Southern California Edison had not properly controlled vegetation near its power lines and the blaze erupted when trees touched a live wire. A 2023 lawsuit claimed damages from the company for the cost of fighting the fire on Forest Service land as well as for remediation of damage caused to campgrounds, trails and wildlife habitats. "This record settlement against Southern California Edison provides meaningful compensation to taxpayers for the extensive costs of fighting the Bobcat Fire and for the widespread damage to public lands," said US Attorney Bill Essayli. "My office will continue to aggressively pursue recovery for suppression costs and environmental damages from any entity that causes harm to the public's forests and other precious national resources." Southern California Edison is no stranger to paying out large sums of money for wildfires where its equipment was suspected to have been at fault. The company handed over more that $2.7 billion in settlements over the 2017 Thomas Fire that tore through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, killing two people and destroying hundreds of buildings. It paid $2.2 billion for the 2018 Woolsey Fire that burned through Los Angeles and Ventura counties, killing three people and damaging more than 1,600 buildings. Investigators probing the deadly Eaton Fire, one of two blazes that ripped througth Los Angeles at the start of this year, are homing on in SCE transmission lines as a possible source of ignition.
