Wildfire 2021

Buckle up and hang on.
https://www.salon.com/2021/04/14/wil...rse-than-2020/

Quote:

---

The upcoming wildfire season could top even 2020, which, for the state of California, was its most severe in modern history. Over 10,000 wildfires tore through the state; nearly 4.2 million acres burned. Its northern neighbor Oregon also experienced one of its most destructive wildfire seasons in modern history, as did the state of Washington. In total, wildfires burned 10.2 million acres on the West Coast, killing at least 37 people and causing over $19.8 billion in damages.

"The long-term fire weather forecast doesn't look good," said Susan Prichard, a fire ecologist at the University of Washington. Prichard agreed that one of the main reasons was that "in parts of all of California and a lot of the Southwest, fuels are already dry."

---

Truckee is looking to enact a $179/parcel yearly fee for wildfire prevention. I hope it passes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

Buckle up and hang on.
https://www.salon.com/2021/04/14/wil...rse-than-2020/

---

About half of the acreage burned in Oregon last year started within 50 miles of my house.
In the last three years another 400k acres burned in Central Oregon on both sides of the crest.

Snowpack is about 2/3 of average

I keep asking “what’s left to burn?” But I look around and there’s still a shitload

Buckle up indeed

Are the fire weather-related public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) a thing outside of California?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bodywhomper

Are the fire weather-related public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) a thing outside of California?

---

Would have basically prevented 300,000 of the 500,000 acres burned in OR last summer in a single week. I have to think that it is coming.

I have not heard of any PSPS's happening here in Colorado.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TBS

About half of the acreage burned in Oregon last year started within 50 miles of my house.
In the last three years another 400k acres burned in Central Oregon on both sides of the crest.

Snowpack is about 2/3 of average

I keep asking “what’s left to burn?” But I look around and there’s still a shitload

Buckle up indeed

---

It seems like the same land in Lake County CA burns every year.

S. Oregon is seeing some action. Small fires, but plenty of them. Three on my area today. Forecast is grim, but who knows.

Guess it's time for another pack test and that kitty only weighs like 12 pounds...gotta find another 33.

It does not look like the 747 supertanker will be flying (at least for a while)

https://fireaviation.com/2021/04/23/...9GNFKg6raYKFGU

On the Lincoln NF in SW NM. High winds and drought are likely to make this a bad one. A FB report had it over 1000 acres and rolling. The wind and slope are in alignment, so getting in front of it or even hooking it won’t be easy. Type 1 incident management team ordered.
https://nmfireinfo.com/2021/04/26/li...rs-campground/

And there’s a big one in AZ near Kingman. A Type 1 IMT is on scene.
https://twitter.com/azstateforestry/...30638493982724

On the bright side, moisture is supposed to follow the high winds in a day or so.

Left over from 2020--apparently most of the redwoods in Big Basin SP in CA have survived.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...e31_story.html

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by old goat

Left over from 2020--apparently most of the redwoods in Big Basin SP in CA have survived.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...e31_story.html

---

Coastal redwoods generally do survive - thick bark, the boles/trunks are usually clear of branches up to a good height (beyond flame length) and there usually isn’t a lot of brushy undergrowth to carry flames into the crowns....generally, usually, most often, ymmv, etc. Though drought matters.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

On the Lincoln NF in SW NM. High winds and drought are likely to make this a bad one. A FB report had it over 1000 acres and rolling. The wind and slope are in alignment, so getting in front of it or even hooking it won’t be easy. Type 1 incident management team ordered.
https://nmfireinfo.com/2021/04/26/li...rs-campground/

---

More like S NM. Evac orders now in place for areas including Ski Apache. My mom lives out that way, no rain in sight. :(

ETA the fire reached the boundaries of Ski Apache early this evening. I'm hoping perhaps the burn scars from the fire a few years back acts as a buffer? I don't know shit, just worried. Mom is retired, has a nice place but in a tinderbox, views of Sierra Blanca from the backyard. 2-time cancer survivor and she's been recovering from a heart attack the past year, last thing she needs right now is this. Fingers fucking crossed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by old goat

Left over from 2020--apparently most of the redwoods in Big Basin SP in CA have survived.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...e31_story.html

---

How do you cover that story and show one lousy picture?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jax

More like S NM. Evac orders now in place for areas including Ski Apache. My mom lives out that way, no rain in sight. :(

---

I meant to type SE NM. D’oh! Sometimes I’m directionally dyslexic.

Almost the entire Western US is now in drought, with even Western Washington moving into the "abnormally dry" category due to lack of recent rainfall:

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/data/...10420_usdm.jpg

World is changing, gov contractors start at 15 an hour. In Idaho the backbone of our work force is gs 3 starts below $15

Riva Duncan and grassroots spoke to the Bob’s (puzzle palace) about the fire issues.
High suicide low pay retention and many more.
We lost several homes last weekend to a fire that spotted over the river (wide and deep) in April.

Never seen that before. Want to say thanks to the old salts in this thread that taught the fng s and dealt with all this bs before me.


The winds of change are a blowing








We all hope

Six more small ones here yesterday. That's after a weekend of rain and cool temps.

Way to say it, Riva!
https://wildfiretoday.com/2021/04/29...ssional-power/

The puzzle palace is showing some cracks. Can’t staff ihc in the amazing state of Cali
Grassroots is screaming from the rooftops
This year is starting to line up for the wild side
https://wildfiretoday.com/

Bill is spreading the good word. I can’t thank the old wise sages that fought the battle before I

Enough

This is hilarious:

“A Forest Service job posting earlier this spring for a full-time, experienced firefighter in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Jackson, Wyoming, warned applicants that real estate costs were high. It suggested a few affordable options, including Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit home builder that helps low-income people get into new homes.“

I could have told you 10 years ago when I changed careers that they wouldn’t be able to staff IMT positions. It requires training people at all of the lower levels to be able to feed those IMT positions. Even back then it wasn’t uncommon to see multiple AD retirees in key roles like Helibase Manager, DIVS, TFLD etc and no trainee despite a bunch of people with task books nationally or on the unit. But the team or forest was limiting training to save money.

They have also created an entire promotion system where there is no incentive to spend time accumulating non-Operations branch qualifications. There is basically no incentive to become a Plans Chief or Logistics if you are in a primary fire position because eventually you are going to need ICT3 and DIVS to promote. And if you are interested in feeding your kids and retiring you aren’t going to spend a second messing around with those other quals because they don’t make you more money at the end of the day.

It’s maybe a can of worms we shouldn’t open, but most of the best (smart, shit-together, safe, funny) firefighters I worked with ran up against various brick walls and changed careers…. Simultaneously, some of the worst shitbirds I worked with stayed and moved on up. I can recall, at a few stages, feeling like there’s no way this could trend could end well.

In other news, we had a rare local fire here in Marquette, complete with helitack and atgs and a couple weird little float-SEATs ripping laps over to Lake Superior. Pretty neat. I was antsy as fuck during the IA…just all revved up with nowhere to go. The next morning when it was drizzling, I was glad for my current life where I didn’t have to get up at the asscrack of dawn to go dig up stumpholes in the rain all day.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bodywhomper

I hope State Farm follows through...

Travelers gave us a similar notice 2 years ago, while they were canceling neighbor’s policies. We were on the edge of a mandatory evacuation zone last summer (my mailbox,a half mile from my house, was in the evacuation zone). Nobody from travelers or a private fire team came to my house or contacted us....

---

Got a notice from Traveler's regarding this yesterday.

I'm working with an organization called Wildfire Adaptive Partnership on a mitigation project, they offer grants to homeowners whose mitigations meet certain criteria and I'm hoping they'll cover at least 60% of the cost of my project which is $5300. I can deduct 50% of my portion from my CO income tax and will probably have enough firewood to last at least 5 years so I'm hoping to come out ahead on the deal. The guy who's doing the mitigation is a fire fighter so I'll ask him what he knows about these PFD contractors. He might even be one.