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BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: GUEST Date: 18 Sep 12 - 03:26 PM LafKat It is called "fire ecology." A part of the natural course of nature in the western United States. http://cyber-west.net/cw17/fire1.html Sincerely, Gargoyle |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: katlaughing Date: 13 Sep 12 - 09:10 PM My beloved Casper mtn. is on fire...the whole East end. So far, 36 homes lost, 24 square miles on fire/burnt. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 18 Jul 12 - 11:17 AM amazing map, thanks for posting it, Becky |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Desert Dancer Date: 17 Jul 12 - 08:14 PM Here's an interesting map of a decades-worth of U.S. fires...hot stuff. In terms of momentary intensity, I see that the hottest spot is marked in central Arizona (northwest of Phoenix), in late June 2005. I remember that one. ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Stringsinger Date: 17 Jul 12 - 11:00 AM The problem is "global warming deniers" who are not listening to reputable scientists, who have no controversy on this topic. Most scientists agree unanimously that we have to change our energy policies or we will see fires at our doorstep no matter where we live. Firefighters who battle the blazes, heroic though they may be, are the Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the side of a mountain. Good thoughts would be to challenge the energy industries, coal, fossil fuels, frackers, and carbon dioxide that they produce aiding in creating these problems. Watch the fires go up along with the XL pipeline. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Rapparee Date: 17 Jul 12 - 10:16 AM Sometimes you gotta run and count your losings later. Like that song says, "Ya gotta know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run." By Thursday we'll be back in the "explosive fire possible" status, but the respite is nice. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 17 Jul 12 - 12:09 AM very good article, Rap google search on protecting homes in bushfire areas but folks in both our countries still lose their homes & lives by either not following the guidelines, or by wildfire. Way back in 1987 I was visiting Adelaide, South Australia, & was taken by my hosts on a tour of The Hills an area that was badly burnt in recent years. Some survivors left their burnt sites, others rebuilt on the site, some wisely, some in the exact same spot. They showed me a burnt out home & pool whose owner they had spoken to before the fire. He said he'd be OK, he had pumps, hoses & lots of water. Unfortunately he forgot that he might lose power & died as he had no back up power. sandra |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Rapparee Date: 16 Jul 12 - 09:46 PM And some more rain today!!! Hurrah!! Here's some information on defensible space. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 16 Jul 12 - 08:41 PM wot! clear those beautiful trees & bushes around their homes??? (irony alert) Many folks love to live surrounded by trees & bushes - some keep their gardens back at appropriate distances, check their roofs etc. Others don't worry, & suffer. Some who look after their properties properly also get burnt when the wildfires roar in. The late Ozcatter Rowan often posted on the bushfire threads about our vegetation & fire fighting. Check his numerous posts if you want more info. I mentioned this article to a neighbour who has been to the Blue Mountains (100k west of CBD) recently (a prime fire spot - well, it is ridges & valleys & national parks & lots of other greenery!) In the past 3 or 4 decades many suburbs & villages have been built there & he says it's the greenest he's seen it for many years. sandra |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Ebbie Date: 16 Jul 12 - 10:50 AM One of the things they advise us to do, SiS, is to clear all brush and bushes surrounding our homes so that, at the very least, it will slow a wildfire. Knowing your fire season will be "grim" but is still several months off, can that be done in Australia? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 16 Jul 12 - 10:34 AM wishing you the right amount of rain. We've had recent reports that our next fire season will be big - our recent flooding rains are building up the trees & scrub for an 'Unprecedented' bushfire threat This year's bushfire season is expected to be the worst in 40 years due to the widespread rain across most of New South Wales. The Rural Fire Service has held a briefing with volunteers and staff at West Wyalong to discuss preparations for what is expected to be a 'grim' summer. The Assistant Commissioner Dominic Lane says the state's central and far west are facing a high risk of bushfires due to the grass growth. He says the threat is 'unprecedented'. "There is significant potential, in fact more potential than we've seen at least for a generation," he said. "In fact you have to go back to the mid 1970s to see this grass growth, particularly as our representatives from the north western part of the state were saying. "Up around Bourke, and the like, people can't remember fuel loads in their lifetime like this." West Wyalong is also considered to be a potential hot spot because of the major flooding earlier this year. Mr Lane says there is a lot brigades can do to prepare for summer. "Increase our hazard reduction planning, to go through a communications and operational exercise as a training event to lead up to the summer and generally start preparing our brigades for what could be potentially a very dangerous summer," he said. "We know without a doubt that the increased risk is something that we haven't seen for a long time." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: katlaughing Date: 16 Jul 12 - 01:00 AM Here, too, Rapparee! It smells so good! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Rapparee Date: 15 Jul 12 - 10:03 PM It RAINED!!! Today and yesterday!!!!! Not much, but anything helps. Rain!!!!!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Joe Offer Date: 15 Jul 12 - 09:54 PM Well, the latest report shows progress - the fire is up to 2,400 acres (almost four square miles), but it's now 30 percent contained. There are 1,963 firefighters working the fire. The fire is still on the other side of the American River from me, so I still feel safe. If it crosses the river, it will go up the side of the canyon very quickly - and then all bets are off (but it still has a railroad and Interstate 80 to cross after that, so I'm not worried). One house has been lost, and three outbuildings. There are all sorts of exotic aircraft flying overhead. I rush outside every time I hear one, but I miss most of them. There's a huge KC-10 (DC-10) working the fire. It's really strange to see a big airliner fly low over the house. I wonder how it gets its water, whether it has to land to get water. Here's the latest list of equipment and personnel: Total Fire Personnel: 1,963 personnel Engines: 165 engines Fire crews: 55 crews Airtankers: 2 air tankers Helicopters: 14 helicopter Dozers: 19 bulldozers Water tenders: 17 water tenders 11 injuries to firefighters have been reported, There was lots of smoke this morning, and it had spread a long way. It has cleared up this afternoon, which makes for a more dramatic smoke plume coming from the fire itself. The Family Gardener has me doing irrigation work, and it's darn hot. Guess I shouldn't whine. The firefighters have it much worse. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 13 Jul 12 - 11:10 PM good luck to all in fire affected areas. sandra |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Rapparee Date: 13 Jul 12 - 08:58 PM I too signed it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: ChanteyLass Date: 13 Jul 12 - 08:43 PM I, too, signed that petition. I am glad that the seasonal firefighters will now get health insurance. Again, those of you near the fires, stay safe! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Janie Date: 13 Jul 12 - 07:20 PM Relieved to hear you feel pretty safe from the fire, Joe. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Stringsinger Date: 13 Jul 12 - 02:59 PM A good thought would be to stop global warming. Also, stop calling it climate change. Things are heating up and we are frogs in the boiling water, thanks to the energy company crooks. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: GUEST,999 Date: 13 Jul 12 - 02:57 PM Thanks for posting that link, Becky. I signed that petition and I'm glad to know it did some good. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: maeve Date: 13 Jul 12 - 02:42 PM Thank you for posting that update, Becky. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Bob the Postman Date: 13 Jul 12 - 01:43 PM Lots of smoke here in southeastern BC. Some say it's from Colorado, others say Russia. Forest fire song by homeboy Tim Hus: Mountain Fire . Sample here. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: gnu Date: 13 Jul 12 - 01:23 PM At least that is some good news. Thanks for the update. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Desert Dancer Date: 13 Jul 12 - 11:55 AM This good news came out Wednesday, but I was too busy to post: Firefighters Prevail In Fight for Health Insurance (NPR from Colorado Public Radio) When another crew member got hit with huge bills related to his child's birth again this year, Lauer felt like he had to do something. He and some colleagues started a petition. ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jul 12 - 05:12 AM Well, the fire hasn't crossed the American River, and it's not likely to get to our side. From the map, it looks like it's very close to one of our favorite hiking trails in the American River Canyon. When one of our wildflower trails gets hit by fire, it's not worth walking for about five years - and even then, it's sad to remember what was there before. The fire covered only 200 acres last night, and it was 20% contained and there were 250 firefighters working it. Now, it's 800 acres and only 10% contained, and there are 1,821 firefighters. I drove to a couple of locations nearby to observe the fire, and it's quite dramatic. It's a huge concentration of smoke, and it's spooky to watch the planes flying into the smoke. The fire is very near the Gold Rush town of Iowa Hill. The town is over 150 years old, and it could disappear overnight. So far, it's safe. They say fire is an essential part of nature, but these fires burn up some beautiful places that are part of our lives here, and it really affects us. We live here because of the beauty of this area, but it's not beautiful for many years after a fire. I've been here ten years, and many of my favorite spots have been lost to fire since then. Still, there are far more spots left. We'll keep following spring wildflowers "up the hill" for as long as we can keep hiking. An unusual thing about this fire is that although it's very close to us, we haven't seen planes flying overhead. Usually, we'll have times when the planes are flying low above us and very often. It feels like we're in a city that's being bombed. Not this time, though - they must be getting their water from another reservoir. We see and smell the smoke, but there's silence. The lack of the sound of the planes makes it scarier, I think. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Janie Date: 12 Jul 12 - 08:27 PM Very concerned for you and your neighbors, Joe. I know you aren't usually on until quite late Mudcat time. Hope we hear from you tonight. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: ChanteyLass Date: 12 Jul 12 - 07:54 PM Three miles? That's an hour's walk (at least for someone who is fit). Stay safe. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: GUEST,999 Date: 12 Jul 12 - 09:18 AM Good luck, Joe. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Rapparee Date: 12 Jul 12 - 09:11 AM There are 281,400 or so acres burning within a couple of hours drive of here. Ten of the twelve fires in Idaho. Good luck, Joe. I see evacuations have been ordered. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: fat B****rd Date: 12 Jul 12 - 05:25 AM What Janie said. Charlie. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Janie Date: 12 Jul 12 - 05:06 AM Hope they get it under control and ya'll stay safe, Joe. 3 miles is terribly close. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Ebbie Date: 12 Jul 12 - 03:14 AM May Madame Fortuna smile upon you and your neighbors, Joe. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Joe Offer Date: 12 Jul 12 - 03:02 AM Well, now it's our turn. It's only a 200-acre fire and it's three or so miles away. The smoke is like a light fog right now, but nobody knows how it will be tomorrow. Wish us luck. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Rapparee Date: 07 Jul 12 - 11:43 AM Gonna be hot all weekend and next week, with low humidity and dry thunderstorms. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Desert Dancer Date: 06 Jul 12 - 09:44 PM Music content: After Wildfire, a Cowboy Band Fights to Keep a Heritage Alive By Jack Healy New York Times July 6, 2012 COLORADO SPRINGS — This could be a verse out of some sad old cowboy song. It is a story of tradition and loss, of four fiddling, yodeling lifelong cowboy musicians, and how they lost nearly everything when a fire raged down from the mountains. The men are the singing Wranglers of the Flying W Ranch, the latest incarnation of a group that has sung Western songs for generations of tourists here at the doorstep of the Rocky Mountains. They are a local institution, one whose Roy Rogers spirit endured long after odes to the open range and lonely sunsets faded from popularity. Each summer night for 54 years, the Wranglers put on their plaid shirts, took to the ranch's open-air stage, and played. "These are the songs the cowboy sang out on the range," said Wayne Humphrey, 40, the group's bass player. "That's what we stand for." But a wildfire can destroy a life's labor in minutes. And here in the worst-hit corner of the West's brutal fire season, where wildfires gutted nearly 350 homes and left two people dead, a racing blaze made quick work of the Flying W Ranch, and of the musical tradition the four singing cowboys had helped sustain. On June 26, hot winds whipped a wildfire north of Colorado Springs into an inferno, doubling its size and sending it sprinting toward the subdivisions and businesses in the foothills. The Flying W was square in its path. A last team of employees and neighbors raced to ferry the ranch's 40 head of cattle to safety, and joined an exodus of residents fleeing the blizzard of ash and smoke. The four Wranglers had been in downtown Colorado Springs, recording a 1948 song about red-eyed cattle thundering through the sky, when they got the call telling them that the ranch, and their livelihood, were gone. "It was all gone," said Tony Ludiker, 50, the group's fiddle player. "It was incomprehensible." Two of the Wranglers — the bandleader, David Bradley, 55, and the guitarist, Zach Lawson, 22 — also lost the ranch-owned homes where they had been living. Not even a fork was left in the heap of ash, Mr. Bradley said. Nearly every building on the 60-year-old ranch burned to cinders. The stages where four dozen members of the Wranglers had performed over the years. The picnic tables where audiences scraped beans and barbecue from tin plates. The ranch's mock Western village, and the painstakingly recreated theater where the band performed on winter weekends. The destruction cut deep. The band had played "Orange Blossom Special" and "Take Me Back to Tulsa" in the wrecked auditoriums, the same stages where, as children, some of them had watched their musical idols play the same songs. Mr. Humphrey is the nephew of one of the group's founding members. "The entire place is like a family," said Aaron Winter, the ranch's sales manager. But the loss of work and the uncertainty about the future of the Flying W Ranch are starting to tug at the group's ties. As firefighters and some sorely needed rains help stamp out the last uncontrolled acres of the wildfire, the Wranglers are confronting the same question as thousands of people left homeless by dozens of blazes across the West: What do we do now? The Wranglers say they need work, and soon, and they have discussed whether they can still hold together as a group. They have only six shows booked this month, including a parade performance and two corporate jobs. In the summers at the ranch, they would perform seven shows a week, sometimes two or three a day. Tourists. Family reunions. Weddings. Corporate retreats. "It's up to us to find them now," Mr. Bradley said. "It's been tough, and every day we sit around, it keeps getting tougher." As the ranch's owners decide their next steps, the Wranglers say they are starting to worry. They are typically paid by the show, and they no longer have any dance cards to turn in. Mr. Ludiker recently had a cancerous kidney removed, and he said he worried about the cost of follow-up treatments if his health insurance lapsed. "I don't want to leave this group," Mr. Ludiker said. "I want us to continue. We've got to figure out how to get steady work." It has not come easy so far. Though the Wranglers describe themselves as the second-oldest cowboy band in the country, Mr. Bradley said their reputation alone would not bring bookings. Western shows are often scheduled months in advance, he said, and he is only just beginning to reach out to event organizers and bookers, sending out the group's promotional packages. The members of the Wranglers have more than 130 years of musical experience among them, he said, and they always hit the stage "guns a-blazing." "We do weddings, we do birthday parties," he said. "Anybody who wants to hire a cowboy band." ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Desert Dancer Date: 06 Jul 12 - 08:42 PM Here's a good interview by Hilary Rosen of Tooth and Claw (at PLoS Blogs) on the fires in the Colorado Front Range: The Perfect Firestorm: An Interview with Author Michael Kodas Lots more detail here, with several interesting maps, data, and video: Red Zone: Red Zone: Colorado's Growing Wildfire Danger, by Michael Kodas (and a couple others) From the interview: I divide the problem into three basic causes. The first is forest management, which would include everything from excess fire suppression, to logging that leaves a lot of slash on the ground, to planting trees. Ways we utilize the forest that make it more flammable. And back in March, Hilary Rosner wrote this blog post, asking an expert "... what will the lack of snow mean for Boulder and the rest of the region this summer? Are we in for severe drought? Wildfires? Possible rationing of water supplies?": (Snowless) Mountains Beyond (Snowless) Mountains: A Two-Minute Interview with Mark Williams ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: gnu Date: 05 Jul 12 - 07:24 AM Reort I just read included... The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, which co-ordinates wildfire-fighting efforts nationwide, said 45 large fires were burning Wednesday, including 36 fires in nine Western states. In Colorado alone, three fires have destroyed more than 600 homes and killed six residents. Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Western+firefighters+hoping+calmer+weather+while+keeping+nervous/6882839/story.html#ixzz1zkJpUbeg My Ts&Ps for those affected. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: ChanteyLass Date: 04 Jul 12 - 07:22 AM I wish I could send some of the rain we are having today. to Colorado and other affected places. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: katlaughing Date: 03 Jul 12 - 11:06 PM There is a neat story HERE of the "other" evacuees near Colorado Springs. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: pdq Date: 02 Jul 12 - 06:43 PM In June, a P2V air tanker crashed near the border of Nevada, on th eUtah side. This aircraft was built for the Korean War, and... twenty people have been killed in them since 1987 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: pdq Date: 02 Jul 12 - 06:12 PM It just gets worse... another air tanker has just crashed |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: bobad Date: 02 Jul 12 - 04:41 PM A beautiful song written and sung by Bruce Murdoch, it is a salute to firefighters everywhere. The Youtube video page also has a link where donations to various aid agencies, helping those affected, can be made. The Rookie. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US- Good thoughts Please From: Nigel Paterson Date: 02 Jul 12 - 04:42 AM Thinking of all our American Friends in the fire-affected areas. We have Family in Charlotte NC, but I don't think they are in danger. I wish we could send you some/all of our recent rains. We have an abundance of surface water at present which I'm sure we could spare. I've been trapped in a house fire & cut off by a forest fire in my younger days...gives my empathy quite a large tweak! Keep safe...best we can do is hold you in our thoughts & hope you get some rain, Love to All, Nigel & Ann xxx |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US - Good thoughts Pleas From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 01 Jul 12 - 11:25 PM best wishes to Spaw & family & all who are affected by the fires & weather sandra |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US - Good thoughts Pleas From: Rapparee Date: 01 Jul 12 - 09:42 PM That's good news! I hope everyone "back in the States" is okay. My MIL was told by an EMT to take 10mg of Ambien the other night and she slept through the storm that hit the DC area. She swears she'll never do that again because she missed the storm completely. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US - Good thoughts Pleas From: katlaughing Date: 01 Jul 12 - 09:32 PM Spaw called. They've been without power for several days and at least another week or more before they get it back. That's kind of like what he described, Becky. 80 mph winds fortunately no damage to their house. They are safe and coping. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US - Good thoughts Pleas From: Desert Dancer Date: 01 Jul 12 - 08:50 PM Somewhat of an aside, the damaging (and in several cases fatal) winds that hit back East as a result of the heat are officially a land-based hurricane, or "derecho". More is expected there, too. ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US - Good thoughts Pleas From: ChanteyLass Date: 01 Jul 12 - 06:46 PM Still hoping for an end to these fires. What a disaster. Again, I hope all of you near the fires and your loved ones are able to stay safe. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US - Good thoughts Pleas From: Ebbie Date: 01 Jul 12 - 06:44 PM Looked at Rap's fires list. Jehosephat and good grief. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Wild Fires in Western US - Good thoughts Pleas From: Rapparee Date: 01 Jul 12 - 06:25 PM The national situation as of Friday, June 29, 2012, is reported here. Scroll down to see the states involved, including some in the East. |
