It's fire season again

I 've never been through one, but some family members that were don't recommend it. Wish we could redraw that line to move some of that water west where it could do some good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JRA
Another by product of California fire's is the smoke. Las Vegas gets nailed every time. Our sky's are white to beige and horrible air quality.
 
This shows the extend of the smoke:

AirNow Fire and Smoke Map

This map shows fine particle pollution (PM2.5) from wildfires and other sources. It provides a public resource of information to best prepare and manage wildfire season. Developed in a joint partnership between the EPA and USFS.
fire.airnow.gov fire.airnow.gov

It's a ring of fire around us (I live in Berkeley hills). Closing in. Hope everyone stays safe out there.
 
I was ready to commute in this morning. When I went outside, the smoke smell was still very present. And I live just 2 miles from the coast where we get fog in the summer. It didn’t mask it much at all. I’d consider the ride if it was 30 minutes or less but it takes me about an hour each way. Too risky.
 

Attachments

  • D4E588B9-FF15-4414-A7F0-4212430E3DD7.jpeg
    D4E588B9-FF15-4414-A7F0-4212430E3DD7.jpeg
    480.8 KB · Views: 319
We got a small bit of rain last night with the thunder storms that are passing over. It helped clear out some of the smoke. I can actually see a bit of blue sky this AM.

The local paper reports this AM, "Since Aug. 15, there have been nearly 12,000 lightning strikes and 615 new wildfires accounting for over 1.1 million acres burned, Cal Fire reported."

Our local fire, the Jones Fire, is nearing full containment at 65% with 705 acres burned. 149 firefighters are still on the fire lines supported by 17 engines, 4 water tenders, and 2 dozers.

A typical California fire season...
 
Mr. Coffee said:
"There is no such thing as a 'typical' fire season."

-- Lecture at Fire School, 1991.
Click to expand...
Apparently unusual ones have been showing up a lot ... and other bad weather, too. But fire seems worse than flood to me, somehow.
 
Mr. Coffee said:
"There is no such thing as a 'typical' fire season."

-- Lecture at Fire School, 1991.
Click to expand...
I can understand from a fire fighter's perspective there's no such thing as a typical fire, much less a typical fire season. From my perspective after more than 70 fire seasons in California the fire seasons follow a clear pattern, become a part of the rythym of life here, in that sense becoming 'typical'.

With that said, larger fires seem to be the norm now vs when I was a much younger man. We lived in the same house in the late summer of 1988 when what was to become known as the 49er Fire broke out nearby. In the matter of just a few days the fire burned over 33,000 acres and more than 300 structures, nearly half of them homes. Planes zoomed overhead dropping retardant on the advancing fire. Helicopters made endless water drops. Large public areas were evacuation zones. Smoke was thick in the air. Fire fighters were making a stand at the highway a couple of miles from our home. We evacuated with our small children, locked the door, said a prayer, and drove away. This fire was at the time the 3rd largest in California history. It doesn't even make the top 20 list now.
 
Last edited:
I experienced the Laguna and Santa Barbara fires in the 90's. Not sure the news can ever capture the "live" experience. Of course fires in the Santa Monica mountains end up mudslides during heavy rain events. All this excitement for a mere "millions" of dollars just to live in the thick of it, crazy.
 
Sierratim said:
I can understand from a fire fighter's perspective there's no such thing as a typical fire, much less a typical fire season. From my perspective after more than 70 fire seasons in California the fire seasons follow a clear pattern, become a part of the rythym of life here, in that sense becoming 'typical'.
...
Click to expand...

True that, while we are in a historically huge fire cycle right now, there have been other such cycles.

Between approximately 1900 and 1920 there was a cycle of enormous fires throughout the west (ref: The Big Burn & The Yacolt Burn). These fires consumed entire towns. The carnage continued until the early 1920s when there was very little fuel and modern firefighting practices started to be put into effect. During this time there was a very dry weather cycle (likely linked to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation), and during WWI and the flu pandemic there weren't that many men around to fight fires in the first place.

Since there was very little fuel, those practices were pretty effective for a long time and we got pretty good at fire suppression (with some spectacular exceptions). Unfortunately, we got too good at fire suppression and fuels built up to insane levels. Now we are on the sh*t end of that century-long stick and are kind of stuck with it.

Dramatically larger populations, and lots of development near and in fire-prone areas makes the problems much worse.

Climate change also makes the problem much worse. Even a tiny increase in average temperatures will produce, over a whole season, much lower fuel moisture levels which lets fires burn hotter and more destructively.

Fun fact: many of the famous west coast old growth forests had their origins in massive fire cycles that occurred centuries ago, most notably from about 1300CE.
 
CALFIRE reports that our little local Jones Fire is 86% contained but also that a total of 12 homes have burned...😕 There have been 7 firefighter injuries, none classed as serious.

Full containment is expected by tonight. All but 2 engine crews have been transferred to the larger fires to the west of us.

The local Red Flag warnings have been lifted. The thunderstorms passed with sporadic lightening that was mitigated by light rain.

The breezes have shifted. For the first time in over a week there is blue sky in the morning! 😀

I think I'll go for a ride.
 
100% containment as of Friday night! Two engine crews remain to go after 'hot spots'. All other resources have been transferred to larger fires to the west of us. 12 homes were burned over the 12 day fire. Smoke comes and goes with the breezes, thicker yesterday but blue sky this AM. Time for another ride...😀

I found this recent article re California's fire season to be interesting;
 
Our local wildfire was 100% contained over a week ago, but larger fires continue to burn through out Northern California. We awoke this AM to orange skies and ash in the air coming north from the Creek fire in the Mammoth Lakes area in the Southern Sierra Nevada mountains.
Screenshot_20200906-140509_Yahoo Mail.jpg

San Francisco is to the left and Nevada to the right in this satellite image. The Creek fire is at the bottom. We're at the NW edge of the smoke plume.

The fire is over 45,000Ac. Military helicopters were called in to evacuate 200 people that were trapped when the fire jumped the San Joaquin River blocking escape routes. They are searching for others still stranded in the backcountry.

California wildfires have burned 1.4 million acres as of the end of August and the season still hasn't peaked. Fire season will end when the rains come but that's at least a month away.
 
Sierratim said:
Our local wildfire was 100% contained over a week ago, but larger fires continue to burn through out Northern California. We awoke this AM to orange skies and ash in the air coming north from the Creek fire in the Mammoth Lakes area in the Southern Sierra Nevada mountains.
View attachment 64615
San Francisco is to the left and Nevada to the right in this satellite image. The Creek fire is at the bottom. We're at the NW edge of the smoke plume.

The fire is over 45,000Ac. Military helicopters were called in to evacuate 200 people that were trapped when the fire jumped the San Joaquin River blocking escape routes. They are searching for others still stranded in the backcountry.

California wildfires have burned 1.4 million acres as of the end of August and the season still hasn't peaked. Fire season will end when the rains come but that's at least a month away.
Click to expand...

Creek fire is not in Mammoth Lakes or threatening it, although smoke from the fire is affecting a huge area, including Mammoth Lakes up to Reno. The fire is on the west side of the Sierra, and people were being helicopter airlifted out of the Mammoth Pool Reservoir area, which is on the west side, and, AFAIK, has nothing to do with Mammoth Lakes on the Sierra east side, other than the name Mammoth.
 
SoCalDave said:
Creek fire is not in Mammoth Lakes or threatening it, although smoke from the fire is affecting a huge area, including Mammoth Lakes up to Reno. The fire is on the west side of the Sierra, and people were being helicopter airlifted out of the Mammoth Pool Reservoir area, which is on the west side, and, AFAIK, has nothing to do with Mammoth Lakes on the Sierra east side, other than the name Mammoth.
Click to expand...
Mis-reported in our local news apparently. Still lots of smoke and ash...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

JES2020
Celebrities on ebikes
2 3 4
Replies
72
Views
20K
reed scott
reed scott
Admin
Electric Bike Laws in the United States
Replies
17
Views
45K
Ken M
K
Back