Rolling Western U.S. Is On Fire / Wildfires Thread

I'm really thankful my wife and I both have full strength P100 masks that we bought during the 2016 fires, it's the only way I've been able to walk the dog (who thinks we totally suck, btw)

thanks guys! I think i'm fine. the only way for stuff to really get in outside of cracks here and there is the wall-mounted A/C and we wrapped both inside and outside in plastic and taped it to hell a few days ago. I think it's hard for things *not* to smell like smoke after a few days of this.

sleeve, thanks so much for the offer. I have a couple closer last ditch places I can go but I'm pretty intent on riding this out if it's only for a few more days. have not been going outside, obv, and have a very kind roomie who's been taking care of me and things for awhile now. one bummer is literally the day before the smoke settled in i had started going on tiny tiny walks outside for the first time in a couple months and now, well, gonna have to wait a bit

That's very difficult, Clay, tho I'm glad you have a good roomie and seem to be in good enough spirits.

Truly best wishes to all of you. Let us know if you need anything, or know of any others who do.

I'm in North central AZ. I had thought it was overcast today, which almost never happens this time of year. Yeah no it was smoke particles from California. The sun looked eerie on my drive to campground near Williams.

Probably that massive snow storm north of you in the Rockies is creating some weird weather as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH5APw_SLUU

triangle setup using two filters is even better, you can overload the motors with a filter smack over the fan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A8Yink0czc

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ehnc3XoXsAEHp3U?format=png&name=medium

The smoke from these fires reached Europe yesterday.

Enjoy! But don't indulge to excess.

To give an idea of how fast this developed, this is an official description from a government website called Inciweb (emphasis added by me):

The Beachie Creek Fire originated in the Opal Creek Wilderness approximately 2 miles south of Jawbone Flats and 6 miles north of Detroit, Oregon. Prior to the historic windstorm that arrived in the area on Monday, September 7th, the Beachie Creek Fire was estimated to be 469 acres. The fire grew overnight to over 131,000 acres driven by high winds and extremely dry fuels.

The sky's been a weird gray, but obviously nothing like the apocalyptic red you all are seeing.

There's a Detroit, Oregon too? Was stealing Portland, Milwaukie, and Salem not enough?

my friend's mom's place survived the fire in phoenix, oregon!

I preferred to pronounce it deh-TWAH. But if it makes you feel any better, the town of Detroit, Oregon was effectively erased from the face of the earth as of last Tuesday morning.

xp glad to hear that, tlg. Phoenix and Talent both got it pretty bad.

xp That's a start, thank you. Now please find a new name for your The Dallas before Texas feels any more messed with.

yeah me too, it's a super cute place. sending good vibes to everyone affected. my local fire is about 75% contained and the ash has stopped falling but i'm still not ready to go for a jog because of the pervasive haze. i live on a main emergency road uphill from a big fire station, and pretty much backed up to a regional park which is just a series of canyons full of piles of overgrown dry brush, so every time the marshal goes by in his truck with sirens blazing i get real nervous.

xp as a fellow san diegan and burrito lover, i'm honestly not sure why you're trying to provoke ppl. you seem cool enough but this probably isn't the time or place.

(not my intent! really only hoping to provoke Texas with the Dallas thing. you know they probably have a chip on their shoulder about it)

I'm not sure if you are aware that the Oregon city you are citing is The Dalles.

it's the dalles and i thought it was prounounced "the dales". as in chip and dale.

As a lifelong local it is pronounced to rhyme with some hypothetical tavern named "Al's", and not "ales" as in IPAs.

also if we think the western u.s. is bad take a look at south america and africa in this nasa fire map

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EhnWM88UMAIJ5ep?format=jpg&name=large

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/

i mean .................................

we are so so fucked.

Do not forget the enormous catastrophic fires that raged across Australia just a few months ago. iirc, estimates of wildlife killed by those fires ranged up to one billion animals.

From what I understand most of the fires in Africa are in the savannas and are important aspects of their ecosystems. But yeah, the steady deforestation of the Amazon is a major global threat and only likely to accelerate as long as Bolsonaro turns a blind eye to land-grabbing arsonists.

this piece argues that controlled burning needs to start being applied to 30 million acres in ca alone (right now it's like 13,000 acres or something)

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/09/california-cant-afford-to-wait-for-climate-action.html

i can't keep any of these numbers straight everything is just like "an overwhelming and impossible amount"

So basically a long intense fire/smoke season annually until everything that can burn, does?

^ without a major shift in forest management, yes

There are other books, of course, but I really do think that City of Quartz and Ecology of Fear are absolutely required reading for anyone living not just in LA or California, but anywhere on the West Coast.

thanks, table. don't know either of those.

At this point, maybe check out Ecology Of Fear first? Davis' "The Case For Letting Malibu Burn" chapter is u & k

Agreed with Elvis.

It's hard to think about the places I love most burning.

https://longreads.com/2018/12/04/the-case-for-letting-malibu-burn

Feeling for anyone near these blazes, it's unbearably smokey here,have a sore chest from being out running errands

Thanks for the link to that Mike Davis-essay. Very interesting.

That Davis essay is essential.

(Apologies for the twitter cross-posting)

Bloody sun over Sierra Madre. Ash fall is getting coarser. pic.twitter.com/JKcwy7NgYb

— Chris Barrus (@quartzcity) September 13, 2020

One hour ago on Highland Oaks Dr. pic.twitter.com/IlppS32lxU

— Chris Barrus (@quartzcity) September 13, 2020

thickest smoke so far in Eugene this morning, just unbelievable

so grateful for the HEPA filter in our furnace

OregonLive: The desperate fight to save his family ends in tragedy

Back in the Jeep, struggling to navigate a road once so familiar but now shrouded by smoke-filled darkness, Chris almost ran over what looked like a bikini-clad woman on the road. Once he was closer, he realized she was wearing underwear. Her hair was singed, her mouth looked almost black, and her bare feet were severely burned.

He impatiently tried to help her into his car, explaining how he needed to find his wife and son, feeling like she was resisting.

Finally, she spoke. “I am your wife.”

xp: the VIIRS global fire maps can be a bit misleading. The satellites are sensitive enough to pick up controlled fires of field waste (crop stems etc) used to return minerals to the soil and aid pest control, as well as controlled trash fires. Only a minority of the dots are deforestation by fire.

Jfc

trigger warning galore on that story, fwiw

sleeve, I enjoyed this newer Mike Davis book too, you might dig: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2779-old-gods-new-enigmas

(slightly o/t)

thanks, man

Finally a day of breathable air here in Seattle. Really looking forward to stepping outside without putting on my N-95.

Portland metro got some breathable air yesterday. I went for a 4 mile walk in the rain just to enjoy it.

very good to hear! I hope Eugene is getting better too, sleeve