Wildfire ‘24

[Meadow Skipper]

Thought maybe I’d start a wildfire thread for this season since things seem to be taking off. And maybe move some posts here.

Immediate evacuations given for my mom's neighborhood. No time to gather belongings. I haven't heard from her all day and my stepdad's VM is full. Ruidoso, NM. They got lucky last time but I have a bad feeling about this with the way the winds have been. My mom said a few weeks back that she was getting ready for fire season. But she's not that mobile or fast moving, and has several cats. I just talked to my stepdad yesterday for Father's Day, too, he was so happy. Fuck fuck fuck.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...ire-rcna157651

The weather doesn’t look good for Ruidoso until Thursday/Friday when some rain might happen. The winds have been rough.

hoping for the best, Jax

Me too. I’m in northern NM, but if I can be of any help…

[KQ]

Benton, Kittatas & Yakima Counties have been having fire after fire (mostly small but Yakima has a good sizes one buring). Seems kinda odd. Everyday on the news last week there was a new fire popping up.

I really need to get all the cat travel boxes out and ready in case something explodes here.

Reminder to all of you living in wildland interface or ag areas to register wtih your local county emergency alert system and keep your phone close to you at night with the notification on. I have a GF who lives in the wildland interface in Bend OR. She always has her phone on DND at night and refuses to do otherwise. Oh well.

[Jax]

Copied from '23 thread, thanks for the update Meadow Skipper

I don't know how they did it, but my mom's place and their surrounding neighbor's homes all survived. The land all around them burned. My mom installed a Ring camera that is currently being powered by a generac that she got after the last fire shut power for a few days. My stepdad saw the house was still standing early this morning, saw firefighters in the area from the porch view. He talked to one of them through the speakerphone, they fought all night to save their homes. It's a freaking miracle. Homes to the N, E, and S of them burned. It's unreal. Most of Alto is gone.

[Jax]

View from my mom's deck sent from one of the firefighters that saved her home (chalet-style roof, just replaced it last summer, too but photo crooked so hard to visualize). All empty land behind her house. Up the hill are trails, vacant land and views of Sierra Blanca, where Ski Apache is. I prayed to dog all night. Holy shit. I can't believe it's still there. Can barely see top of the airstream.



I was worried after the last fire that that swath of land above her house didn't burn. Now maybe she'll at least have a buffer for the next time.

And yeah, I asked her to move like 20 years ago. Driest place in the country rn. Stubborn as hell.

To add- my mom is one of those crazy cat ladies. Makes it really hard to help when she refuses to separate from any of them. I'm still worried about flare ups around the house. The wind is whipping from the downtown cam but I just saw like 30 big fire trucks head east from there, and bunch of government-looking trucks/SUVs.

Will they still try to protect her home and neighbor's homes now that a new crew is in? Or will they say fuck it and let it burn? I told her she's still not in the clear yet, not until she's back home.

https://www.ruidoso.net/visitor-info...midtown-webcam

[Meadow Skipper]

Will they still try to protect her home and neighbor's homes now that a new crew is in? Or will they say fuck it and let it burn?

Yes, the next crews in will continue to protect your mom’s home. That’s their job, and they take pride in it. That’s the last of your worries now.

[Jax]

Yeah still worried about hot spots. The winds are going to shift completely overnight and into tomorrow sending the fire back into itself and possible new areas.

They've got lots of cool planes on it now. I wish there were more pics tbh, I like to see them in action.

Rockwell 690B
King Air B200GT
McDonnell Douglas DC-9
McDonnell Douglas DC-10
Lockheed C-130H
BAe 146
Air Tractor AT-802

[Meadow Skipper]

There’ll be more pictures soon. And they’ve got enough air support lined up to give the sky an aluminum overcast - 4 heavy air tankers, 2 lead planes/air attack, and 1 lighter air tanker. Probably a ton of helicopters. And the Alamogordo and Roswell retardant bases are right there for fast turn-around times.

The winds are forecasted to be favorable for Ruidoso in terms of direction on Wednesday - out of the SE. And the relative humidity will go up tonight and tomorrow, with lower temps and 40% chance of rain on Thursday.

The hardest times to defend your mom’s place have passed.

[Meadow Skipper]

There’ll be coverage and footage on the KOB tv and KRQE tv websites.

[TBS]

Hopin’ for the best Jax.

In our neck of the woods houses in L1 evac zones will many times get wrapped in foil to protect. We call it “gift wrapping”. Not sure the extent to which they do it in NM

[Meadow Skipper]

Fire season might be on hold for a bit in northern NM. Got a turd-floater of a storm over Santa Fe (blue dot on map) and nearby Las Vegas NM is currently under a flash flood evacuation.

Looks kind of moist in southern Colorado too.

Have fun there in California.

How’s your mom doing, Jax?

[uglymoney]

I was wondering how this turned out. Glad to see the house made it.

[Jax]

I'm relieved to put it mildly. When mom left the house with all her pets, the backyard was already on fire, no firemen or anything. As she was waiting at the Albertsons for my stepdad to meet up with her so they could head to Roswell, she watched the mountain behind it go up in massive flames, of which there are videos online. That's where her house is and she was certain it was going to burn. She told me they were losing their home. It's been a whirlwind of emotions this week to say the least.

When I look at the satellite pics, I still can't believe it's there. Hug your firemen and firewomen.

They get to go home on Monday. Over 1500 structures lost, likely more. 2 deaths. They are still sweeping town with cadaver dogs. Flash floods now are imminent.

Mom's house is the black dot right next to the fire line They held that line for several days. Everything behind it totally scorched, and all the homes to the W of her as well, and also to the E of her neighborhood. Unreal.



Incredible pic of one of the tankers fighting it.

[Meadow Skipper]

^ SO good to hear. Hugs all around.

That was a close one.

[hikesalot]

oh, wow, Jax, that’s scary close. Vibes for all that lost lives and homes. Very sad [emoji22]

[Jax]

Welp. They've reneged on her going home. 5 ppl arrested for arson which started on reservation lands north and south of the town. 37-50 ppl still missing. Entire village considered a crime scene, so even if their home didn't burn they can't go home like they were told yesterday. This is what you get when TX is your neighbor and they own most of the property there. I'm livid. /rant

[Meadow Skipper]

Welp. They've reneged on her going home. 5 ppl arrested for arson which started on reservation lands north and south of the town. 37-50 ppl still missing. Entire village considered a crime scene, so even if their home didn't burn they can't go home like they were told yesterday. This is what you get when TX is your neighbor and they own most of the property there. I'm livid. /rant

+++vibes+++ Not much consolation, but it’ll pass…except for the Texans.

[TBS]

New Mexico - so far from Heaven, so close to Tejas

[Jax]

^^forgot about that one, so f'n apropos right now

[TBS]

Darlene 3 fire near Lapine OR (40 miles south of me) is now at 2400+ acres and much of the town (pop 2400) has been told to evacuate.

Cause under investigation but there hasn’t been any lightening lately.

Early start to our season. While temps have been mellow, it’s really dry and been windy. Forecast is for temps in 70s and 25mph gusts.

[bodywhomper]

Has the just burned area in NM been receiving heavy rain? Debris flows?

A lot of northern CA will be under a red flag warning part of this week. PGE is fx’ing a power shutoff for some areas during that time. It’s suppose to get over 110* for at least some of the area during the power shutoff (PSPS). There’s a lot of attempts to provide shelter and relief for those w/o power during the PSPS events, but still…. It feels like a deadly situation.

[Meadow Skipper]

Has the just burned area in NM been receiving heavy rain? Debris flows?

Yep. Mandatory evacuation for flash flooding in Ruidoso. Place can’t get a break. Flash floods in other older burn areas in northern NM as well.
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/flash...on-in-ruidoso/

Alaska’s getting an ass-kicking currently. Preparedness Level 5 (out of 5)
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?s...HripZg_5E&_rdr
https://akfireinfo.com/

[bodywhomper]

Damn!

[PB]

…. It feels like a deadly situation.

Yes, yes it does. Stay safe.

[bodywhomper]

You, too. It’s gonna be hot as shit in your hood!

[Kevo]

This high pressure system is settling in. Out of all the hotshot crews in the county, there are currently two available for dispatch (Prescott and Breckenridge) and three traveling to other locations for severity.

Everyone else is already committed to other fires. Resources are already thin, and they are going to be even more thin if a couple major fires start in the next week.