Hot Hot Hot

Yikes! Is that looking out your back door?

Not out my back door. Not yet.

The fire didn't grow much overnight. It's about 4,500 acres and ten percent contained.
About two dozen homes have been destroyed.

I turned on the ringer on the land line last night, just in case the wind shifted. They would use reverse 911 calls to notify us of an evacuation. I know the fire is still fifteen miles away, but in 1985 there was a fire about fifteen miles away at midnight and we were evacuated six hours later.

There was an episode of Pitbulls and Parolees where a wildfire threatened the compound, and the speed with which it moved, and the amount of smoke and soot in the air even when it was not that close, were very frightening.

Yeah, it can be scary.

The area where I now live was evacuated in 1994 because of a fire than burned 45,000 acres.
A small town of about 2,500 people, about six miles south, was evacuated.
The university, about 15 miles south, was evacuated, as well as a portion of the city.

There is now a heavy layer of smoke four or five miles to the west. Don't know which fire it is coming from, but it is quite heavy.

The fire near here now has 1,200 personnel, 127 fire engines, 7 air tankers, 14 helicopters, and 12 dozers working on it.

Here's a nice lakeside home that was unlucky enough to catch some flying embers.

You're hot and dry, and bursting into flames.

Louisiana is flooding from record rainfall.

You two need to talk.

Good idea. It would be nice if we could work out a trade.

The wind has come up and blown the damned smoke in. Otherwise it would be a nice day.
The good thing is that the wind is from the south.

The governor has declared the county a state of emergency to get assistance in fighting the fire.
Gonna get us some federal dollars.

Don't need paper. Need water.

Now up to 6,400 acres and still only ten percent contained.
They've added another four hundred personnel and 75 more fire engines to the fight.

Damn. Another thousand acres burned in the last 24 hours. But they now have 2,300 personnel and the fire is twenty-five percent contained.

The temp and the winds are going back up in a couple of days. Hope they make some progress soon.

Finally found an updated map of the fire line. It was twenty-two miles from my house. It's now at eighteen. They have changed the flight path of the air tankers; just had two of them fly over my house.

I may have a house for rent in Seattle in 6 months.

Might be a good idea. How big is the billiards room?

Actually, ignoring the encroaching conflagration, it's a very nice day. Eighty-nine degrees with a nice breeze from the ocean.

Latest report from CalFire shows 8,000 acres burned. They say they hope to have the fire contained by the 29th.

Had a good night. The fire only grew by 300 acres and is now thirty percent contained.
They are still saying it won't be contained until maybe the 29th - eleven more days of this shit.

Here's a pic of a flare up yesterday. This and the next pic illustrate the kind of terrain these guys are fighting in.



This is a satellite pic of the terrain in the area.



But some people seem to be enjoying the show.

I guess I should quit complaining. There's a nasty fire down in Berdoo and 82,000 people have been ordered to evacuate.

Damned fire jumped up to 12,000 acres in the past 24 hours. 33 percent contained, however, and they are still predicting full containment on the 29th.

What's the name of your fire? A lot of the news seems to be about the Blue Cut fire, but that ain't it.

95º in Seattle today, a new record for this day. Tomorrow will be about the same. Cools off to 72 by the end of the week.

richard09 wrote:

What's the name of your fire? A lot of the news seems to be about the Blue Cut fire, but that ain't it.

It's called the Chimney Fire. Now 15,439 acres.

They closed Hearst Castle as the fire gets closer. Oh, those poor tourists.

Not having a good day on the fire lines. The size has increased to 17,000 acres in the past few hours, and the containment has dropped from 35 to 33 percent. Evacuation orders have been given for a few small towns in the path of the fire. They have lifted evacuation orders for a few small towns and residential areas that were in the area that has burned out.

I really hope they get this thing taken care of soon. Around the first of September, the Santa Ana winds may kick in. They are fast, hot, very dry winds that wreak havoc with fire control efforts.