Historic Fires out West

[BradMarks]

Not Political: All Lives Matter.  Pray for those impacted. Our state is aflame, entire communities torched.  California up in smoke, Washington only a little better, for now. Daughter and SIL evacuated to our house in town two nights ago, probably lost their house. House they used to have farther up river burned up.  BIL fifteen minutes away from us evacuated yesterday.  Last time I felt this helpless was when my brother was in a coma, rest his soul. Send the positive thoughts our way.

[sawguy21]

Thinking of you, we have been through it. All you can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

[RPF2509]

The wind is the big driver so far.  Hills east of Oroville burning hot, a wind shift will drive it into town.  Half of Talent, Oregon burned down - started as a grass fire.  Buildings burnt surrounded by a parking lot.  No rain is in sight for several weeks.  Its going to be a long fall.  Latest fires are mostly human caused.  I feel for you Brad and your family.

[Bruno of NH]

Sorry to hear this for all.
Prayers for your family and community. 

[charles mann]

The wind is the big driver so far.  Hills east of Oroville burning hot, a wind shift will drive it into town.  Half of Talent, Oregon burned down - started as a grass fire.  Buildings burnt surrounded by a parking lot.  No rain is in sight for several weeks.  Its going to be a long fall.  Latest fires are mostly human caused.  I feel for you Brad and your family.

we just showed up in chico for the creek fire, threatening orville. my former employer south of portland, or, some of which former employees from there, now with me, are miles from loosing their stuff, while they are out here battling fires in other states. this season reminds me of 2017 and 2018 fire season. sad thing is, we are only a few miles from the camp fire of 2018 that claimed the lives of 80 residents of the town of paradise. i hope ya'll that are in these areas stay safe and keep the fire breaks clear.

[SwampDonkey]

Fire is definitely a nasty business. Been so dry all over the continent, only rain in spots and sometimes too much. Weird. I'm very surprised that we have been able to keep fire at bay here, never had more than 1/2" of rain at one time, mostly a mist. I bet we never had 6" of rain since May, normally there would be 20". They say only been 7" in Caribou, Maine since May. The saving grace, if there is one, is that all the old growth fir forest is pretty much been cut. When the budworm would kill a large swatch of it, it would certainly go up in smoke as soon as it dried out and mostly man influenced. Years ago in this region, the old timers cleared all tree growth around the farm buildings, for good reason. Now there are whole communities in under tree canopy. It's not a good idea.

[Roxie]

Our thoughts are with all in harms way. 

Back in the day, we watched a forest fire top the Brushy Mountains in North Carolina and jump from mountain to mountain with terrifying ease. 

You never forget the helpless feeling and your realization of your own insignificance in the face of Mother Nature's power. 

[thecfarm]

Fire is bad, even with all the equipment, we can not control a fire.  :(

I have seen 2,one bordered my land, and one up the road. But only on a small scale. Only acres, not miles was burned.

[sawguy21]

What Roxie said. The speed is terrifying as it crowns from tree to tree, forget trying to outrun it.

[Howdy]

Living just west of Portland Oregon we are surrounded by several different wildfires.  Closest they have ever been to us in the last 40 years.  Sky is hazy and breathing is difficult, eyes sting, and the heat/smoke is held tight to the ground by an inversion layer.  Looking at the sun is easy as it is so obscured, street lights are on most of the time.

My daughter living one town south is under a level two evacuation with everything packed and ready to go.  Hills between us are consumed with zillion dollar estates ablaze.  

Cost of lumber has doubled and expected to keep increasing.  I bought a sheet of 3/4" plywood last week for more than $45 bucks for the cheap stuff. A buddy is in the planing stages of building a new home and the builder will not estimate prices of material any more than a very short time.  

Hang on folks.

[RPF2509]

It will be interesting to see the effect of the fires on lumber prices.  There is about a year window to harvest it before a substantial degrade.  Huge areas of prime timber are being burned.  The really big question is whether or not the National Forests will salvage timber. If they do, expect the price for logs to tumble.  Lumber may stay up due to demand for rebuilding and the general shortage of housing in the west.

[BradMarks]

Update:  Kids house is saved so far, adjacent neighbor was allowed to stay - he is the ex Chief of the McKenzie FD, and he spent 48 hrs straight putting out hotspots on the properties. There is a tired hero!.  Unfortunately, personally only,  our cabin and acreage down by Klamath Falls is straight in the path of the Two Four Two fire. On a side note a 2x4 Std and Better was $4.19 at the lumber supply two days ago, highest I can ever remember.

[Stephen1]

Our thoughts are with everyone . Mother Nature is tough on us all.

[Ljohnsaw]

My brother is up in Ashland, OR and was put on stage 1 evac (be ready).  Luckily, the fires were  north of him and heading north so he stayed safe.  Not so lucky for the folks in Talent, OR.

Down here, there are fires seeming in every direction from us.  Nothing close but the wind keeps changing direction.  Blows smoke away only to be replaced by some smoke from a different fire.  Air quality is around 100 but has spiked up to 400 at times.  Satellites showed a huge cloud of smoke off in the ocean when we had winds from the east (very unusual) only to have it come back the next day when the winds ran the "normal" direction.

[charles mann]

 Satellites showed a huge cloud of smoke off in the ocean when we had winds from the east (very unusual) only to have it come back the next day when the winds ran the "normal" thee

We were just looking at the cloud radar on foreflight and was watching plumes of smoke billowing up from a fire and the smoke/cloud bank off the coast. 
Its a weird season for sure. Hadnt been this bad in the past 3 yrs.  

[Ljohnsaw]

Just on the TV News/Weather - the smoke has gone 1,000 miles out into the Pacific and swirling counter clockwise around a low out there.  We are in a nuclear winter ;) - temps down at least 5 to 10° because the sun is blocked.

[charles mann]

temps down at least 5 to 10° because the sun is blocked.

im not complaining bout the temps. was coalinga, ca 3 wks ago and @ 115 w/ 20-25 mph winds, it was like working back in the foundry again near the blast ovens. id rather be in iraq or afghanyland dealing with that kind of heat, than here in the us. at least over there, the pay makes up for the heat.

[clearcut]

Was texting the wife at work about what to have for dinner and such, when my next text was - "Fire CLOSE! - Packing to Evacuate - what do you need me to grab for you?". Quickly, what is truly important, becomes apparent, sorry kids!  :D

Had a brush, grass, and some trees on fire less than a 1/4 mile away, blowing up quickly. Hot, dry, and windy. We were the last house before the mandatory evacuation boundary - sheriff parked in our driveway to stop residents from entering the fire zone - suggested we also evacuate. We were packing to do so. 

The fire was bordered by 2 paved roads, and the local fire departments - local fire protection district, CAL Fire, USFS, BLM, and county fire were on it in minutes. Spotter plane, air tanker dropping retardant, helitak crew, Bambi bucket below the helicopter. Fought overnight and held to 14 acres, no structures. Cause has not been announced.

Glad the family had grab and go kits packed and ready. Next-door had 15 minutes to evacuate. Residents closer just had to go.

Currently breathing the smoke from the Fork Fire which will likely be with us until it rains. Moving at a slow rate of spread through inaccessible terrain.

[BradMarks]

Lest anyone think otherwise, multiple arrests in recent days for ARSON. And there are other "human" (scum) caused fires not yet classified as arson (Riverside, Lincoln City, 242, come to mind).  Some are lightning, some neglect - Holiday Farm fire was charged power lines that came down in predicted windstorm.  That said I want to post about the politics of fire but I might be banished. Better go.

[sawguy21]

We don't have active fires but the valley is socked in solid with smoke from Washington, we can't see more than a mile and the air smells. Still haven't heard from my relys in Oregon.

[Tacotodd]

My stepdaughter from Humbolt California is coming all the way to stay with us while this thing calms down, not to mention her and her "partner" are confused. It'll be an interesting time.

I just hope that everyone fairs well.

Remember, lemons make lemonade.

TA 

[sawguy21]

We are completely socked in and the air stinks from the Washington fires 140 miles north of the border.

[BradMarks]

Sawguy:  Where do they live?

[sawguy21]

Molalla

[farmfromkansas]

Back in the days when people were settling Kansas, the first thing settlers did was cut the grass short and clean up around their home sites.  Can't have a hot fire without anything to burn.