burning up the country

[Boog]

Man oh man. It seems like the whole west side of the country is burning up. So many homes and businesses gone and some lives lost. God bless all the fire fighters and emergency personnel doing their best to save as much as they can round the clock. They need a lot of rain and cooler temperatures. And it's not even the peak of fire season in Cali yet.
I hope all our western members come through this alright. Is everybody out that way still posting here? Anyone not been heard from lately?

[Stocker]

If you've been following the Carr Fire, you know the losses in the Redding, CA area have been staggering. My son lives there and thank goodness has been safe so far. The western edge has been working our direction but more slowly than the firestorm that exploded into Redding. Crews are doing burn-out operations and it's smokier than usual tonight. So far we have only had an advisory evacuation here and that was rescinded at 12:38 this morning. We've lost power at least a half-dozen times including several hours on each of the past three nights, and lost internet service a few times. Mrs. Stocker's Tacoma is packed except for a few last-minute items, just in case. Keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best. We are infinitely luckier than so many others who have lost everything.

Pretty sure Steve (a1vintage69) is okay, his house is quite a ways from the fire.


Edit: On a lighter note, check the first short video in this link: https://krcrtv.com/news/shasta-count...ring-live-shot

[68bowtie]

My sister and her family are evacuated. They just moved there, slept one night in their new house before they had to go. Pretty sketchy fire but they are all safe. Sad for the families that have not been so lucky. I have a friend fighting the Ferguson fire. Between the two the whole valley is really smokey.

[Richardwa]

We have had a lot of fires up here in eastern Washington state too, nothing like Cali is having. Luckily they have been getting them under control fairly quickly. There were 3 new ones just today in Yakima county

[Ol Blue K20]

Definitely a crazy year. The only one that might come my way is the one at Berryessa. But I should do fine they seem to be getting a handle on it.

[NorCalC20LWB]

Originally Posted by Stocker

If you've been following the Carr Fire, you know the losses in the Redding, CA area have been staggering. My son lives there and thank goodness has been safe so far. The western edge has been working our direction but more slowly than the firestorm that exploded into Redding. Crews are doing burn-out operations and it's smokier than usual tonight. So far we have only had an advisory evacuation here and that was rescinded at 12:38 this morning. We've lost power at least a half-dozen times including several hours on each of the past three nights, and lost internet service a few times. Mrs. Stocker's Tacoma is packed except for a few last-minute items, just in case. Keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best. We are infinitely luckier than so many others who have lost everything.

Pretty sure Steve (a1vintage69) is okay, his house is quite a ways from the fire.


Edit: On a lighter note, check the first short video in this link: https://krcrtv.com/news/shasta-count...ring-live-shot

Stocker, are you off the 299? We deal with the lumber mill in Weaverville and cannot get trucks in due to the road being closed. Even smoky/hazy down here in Sacramento from the Carr fire.

[special-K]

Man, I'm hoping and praying some rain can hit these areas soon. That's all it takes but it's not up to us.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Wild fires are somewhat rare over here on the east coast. It's difficult for some of us over here to see how it can get so bad so quick and why it happens so often... My wife and I have been up and down the west coast a few times now and it amazes me how dry everything gets in the summer. You can literally toss a match and set an entire forest ablaze. Over here everything is so damn wet and humid it's almost impossible to start a fire. And the WIND, it's like, always windy over there. All those factors, with little to no rain make for a constantly dangerous situation. I don't think I'd trust my neighbors enough to even bbq outside without setting the whole neighborhood on fire.

[68bowtie]

We have green foothills from around November to April. Otherwise very dry.

This is all the way down in Fresno today.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by NorCalC20LWB

Stocker, are you off the 299? We deal with the lumber mill in Weaverville and cannot get trucks in due to the road being closed. Even smoky/hazy down here in Sacramento from the Carr fire.

Yessir, that's been my hometown since mid-November 1975. I'm hoping 299 opens soon, the closure has inconvenienced the heck out of so many to say the least. As you know, the alternate routes are lengthy & time-consuming, and in general those roads are not suitable for large trucks.

[Ol Blue K20]

I used to camp at "Steel Bridge" when the kids were little. I also went to a few ECV functions in the area. Dumped my bike in Hayfork last year....lol

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

We have green foothills from around November to April. Otherwise very dry.

This is all the way down in Fresno today.

Attachment 1807027

That hazy sky looks familiar even down south where I am. No blue skies.

Since it got so hot, I kind of freak out when I hear sirens. It's so dry and we had a bad one 2 years ago.

God bless those firefighters.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I used to camp at "Steel Bridge" when the kids were little. I also went to a few ECV functions in the area. Dumped my bike in Hayfork last year....lol

I have fished at Steel Bridge a few times in the past. Haven't fished for years though.
I seem to recall a bike got dumped at the junction of hwy 3 & 36 not long ago.... was that you?
One of my sons took a bad spill years ago on his crotch rocket on 36. He was lucky, he still rides and goes to track days at Thunderhill.

Sorry for the hijack, guys. Back to the fires, we're looking a bit better today but still plenty smoky. Backfire operations continue and Lewiston remains under evacuation orders. Officials are saying it could be a long time before Hwy 299 opens. Still active fire in the area, lots of downed power lines and guardrails lying in the road, plus of course utility crews all over. National guard is in Redding to assist local LE. Sorry to say there has been looting (of course!) but several have been caught and arrested.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by Stocker

I have fished at Steel Bridge a few times in the past. Haven't fished for years though.
I seem to recall a bike got dumped at the junction of hwy 3 & 36 not long ago.... was that you?
One of my sons took a bad spill years ago on his crotch rocket on 36. He was lucky, he still rides and goes to track days at Thunderhill.

Sorry for the hijack, guys. Back to the fires, we're looking a bit better today but still plenty smoky. Backfire operations continue and Lewiston remains under evacuation orders. Officials are saying it could be a long time before Hwy 299 opens. Still active fire in the area, lots of downed power lines and guardrails lying in the road, plus of course utility crews all over. National guard is in Redding to assist local LE. Sorry to say there has been looting (of course!) but several have been caught and arrested.

Nope, that wasn't me. They had resurface the road outside town and my rear slid out on the gravel. No cops and very little damage. Only damage to me was torn pant leg and sore ankle. I sure hope they get a handle on the fire soon. Thats some nice country there.

[pritch]

A fire took off a few miles from me yesterday, but they got it pretty much knocked down overnight. They were lucky it was calm, there's lots of cabins up the one side and lots of million dollar homes up the other.

I live about 8 miles in a straight line from where I'm at thru the smoke. The smoke is about half way:



All this was black this morning when I went to work. I don't think they ever shut the road, but it burned right down to it:



A little bit of context-I found a random picture of the hills behind my place. All the brown is dry grass that burned-oh, 25 years ago or so. Now there's many houses. The ridge coming down from right to left is the same ridge as in my first picture. The fire was just over the ridge about a mile.The town of Wanship is in between. If it would have been as windy as it was all weekend, it probably would have went big:

[franken]

CA burns every year and has forever. Building things that burn in areas that burn is not a great idea.
As I recall, someone was arrested for setting nine fires. That's not helping.

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by franken

As I recall, someone was arrested for setting nine fires. That's not helping.

IIRC there were two different jackass's that did that. One guy went to jail for murder because some firefighters were killed.

The other one was a fireman that wanted overtime. At least that's how I remember it. I could be wrong. I've lost a few brain cells over the years.

[dan42]

My son is a firefighter for Santa Barbara county. Right now he's on "baby leave" (he and his wife had a little girl last Wednesday) but his phone is still blowing up because they need strike teams. No fires here right now, thank God, but we have had our share over the last couple of years, plus the mudslides in Montecito. When we went over San Marcos pass last Wednesday, they were expecting sundowner winds in Santa Barbara that evening, and they had fire trucks stationed all over the hills in anticipation of a start up. There are millions of dead trees throughout the state from drought and bark beetles, so we are primed for big fires, and it's only August.

['63GENIII]

This one chased us out of Stanislaus National Forest last night at 7. Went from 500 to 5,800 acres overnight. We had wheeled and dirt bikes up to the ridge that I took this pic from. They closed the highway right at the entrance to where we camped which was about 6 miles off the highway.

Our cue to leave was the air takers making passes every 20 minutes or so. We hadn't heard a plane for days up to that point.

[Ol Blue K20]

The fires are no joke this year. It's been raining ash and a lot smoke in the air here.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

I'll say one thing, global warming aside, the environment on the west has become a bit interesting. Year before last the covert behind my house ran for two months leaving 3.5' trench deep and wide. We received the most water ever recorded by far. The covert ran some last winter as well. The 15 years before that it barely flowed 2-3 times, less a flash flood in 2014.

Lucky as heck I built a levee/channel in the summer 2016. I did it because of the flash flood in 2014. That and free rocks literally materialized (long story). Had I not built that my place would have been ruined. Water flows like it's supposed to now, down toward the city Supervisor's place............Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[Stocker]

Geez, there's another NorCal wildfire taking off! The Hat Fire is burning near Fall River which is where board member AirSpeed lives.

Hope you're not in any danger and they get it out soon without any serious problems. Stay safe out there!


Edit: AirSpeed, your inbox is full, time to clear out some PMs.

[leddzepp]

So Cal is on fire too. Here is Lake Elsinore today, not far from where I live.

[leddzepp]

Last night

[Stocker]

Yup, the Holy Fire.... they arrested a guy suspected of starting it. I can't say what I'm thinking right now.

Stay safe, leddzepp.