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

it was definitely in the 90s yesterday in Oakland ... today isn't as bad.

though if you were somewhere where it _wasn't_ in the 90s I wanna know where that paradise is!

it was even horrible and gross in Alameda, and it's a fucking island, surrounded by water!!

we can see the California smoke in Oregon today

Bobcat flare-up near Mt. Wilson this afternoon. ugh.

did the observatory survive after the last round?

Everything at Mt. Wilson and Stony Ridge survived but it was uncertain for a couple of days there. Even after all this, there are still little canyons up in the Angeles NF that haven't seen fire in decades.

Someone rendered the 2020 CA fire perimeters to date on a topo map, and it's striking.

― Disgraced, committing sudoku (Sanpaku), Wednesday, September 23, 2020 7:38 AM (one week ago)

this is pretty incredible. wondering if you could point me to where you saw this, who did it, etc.? i'm kinda hoping there's one for Oregon.

Sorry alpine, I saw it on r/MapPorn. I think its by a regular there that does ray traced 3D topo maps, but can't recall the name.

no problem, thank you!

great news for all you wildfire fans out there

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EwxDXxZUYAc9EWS?format=png&name=medium

high plains wind + fire danger

There is a LOT of smoke, and winds are picking up (as forecast). Some of us here are a little skittish in this drought....

(Not my photo, from a HS group on FB) pic.twitter.com/hCPxk5KIi7

— Terre Logsdon (@terreal) March 28, 2021

Controlled burn in Lake County CA. I'll bet you a beer/kombucha we're not doing enough of these.

Probably not. Controlled burns are incredibly important not just for prevention of wildfire spread but for the soil and habitat, too.

Gotta say, though, Lake County is truly one of the weirdest places in all of California.

o t m

Quite!

I've been to most of California and I endorse that message.

Residents here raise holy hell when controlled burns produce smoke that drifts to habited areas. Total lack of awareness of the trade off of short-term pain to achieve long-term gain. Obviously it's the same group of ppl who are incapable of thinking long-term and big picture on just about every issue ie republicans.

There's also some weird nutty lib types who seem to not understand "why they're burning the forests!" or whatever. I remember having to essentially yell at a person I knew, well-educated and good-natured, who couldn't understand why groves of eucalyptus were being shorn down in the Berkeley hills. Eventually I gave up, she got really into alternative medicine and yoga, and now seems to travel the world (despite pandemic) to exotic locations to practice her art or whatever. Or at least that was what she was doing when I unfollowed and unfriended her because her existence annoys me so much.

And eucalyptus trees are a non-native, invasive species!

and a serious fire hazard iirc? high in oils?

MMMMMMMMmentholated

I was in Lake County last August when the lightning strikes started dropping everywhere... it was really freaky and tons of fires stared almost immediately; it's a land that's meant to burn

Eucalyptus trees are so full of oil they kinda explode when they catch fire

I've driven the 20 through Lake County a number of times— I used to live in Butte County and would do occasional work in SoHum, so it was the easiest way across and then up. I tried my damnedest to never, ever stop in any of those towns if I could help it. It was like I could smell the meth cooking through the car windows.

(I also drove through on the 20 when the southern part of the county was on fire, it was incredibly surreal to look south and see hills on fire and just keep driving as if it was totally normal)

Eucalyptus trees are so full of oil they kinda explode when they catch fire

I already knew they were Bad but this is hilarious

they're apparently cutting down a lot of eucalyptus in the Berkeley hills

we've got a whole goddamn forest of the stuff in the middle of SF (Sutro open space preserve)

The history of eucalyptus trees in CA is pretty nuts

I

By the early 1900s, the get-rich mindset had caused many aspiring forest tycoons to plant countless acres of eucalyptus in hopes of selling the timber for a tidy profit. It’s estimated that there were over 100 companies involved in the eucalyptus industry at this time, and they changed the landscape of much of California.

But investors were soon to discover that the eucalyptus weren’t all they’d hoped them to be.

Sadly, most of these schemes went the way they infamously did for Frank C. Havens. Havens was an Oakland developer who opened a mill and planted eight million eucalyptus trees in a 14-mile-long strip from Berkeley through Oakland. But when he came to sell the timber, it was found that the trees were too young to make suitable wood; the young wood had an irregular grain and it bent, cracked, and shrank when dried. It is true that eucalyptus trees from Australia could make good timber, but those trees were decades or sometimes centuries old. It was soon found that eucalyptus trees would need to be at least 75 or 100 years old for good lumber. The young wood didn’t even make useable fence posts or railroad track ties, both of which decayed rapidly. Havens closed shop.

Yeah, I remember reading about the same a while ago because of arguments that I'd get into with pro-eucalyptus people. I admit, I think they smell and look lovely, but dammit, they don't belong!

I hate the way they look, at least in contrast to the native species. Every time I'm up in one of the regional east bay parks, I can't help commenting about how dreary and washed-out they look. And the stuff they drop makes for treacherous footing.

They do smell amazing but so do native california plants! I get overwhelmed by *fragrances* when i go back home

there are pro-eucalyptus people? this state is irredeemable.

Eucalyptus here def look v scraggly and sad

But i am a fan of the Australian ones obv :D
When they are healthy & growing enmasse, they give off a blueish haze when viewed from far away that i love. And the smell is <3

I grew up in Oxnard (mostly) where they'd been planted as windbreaks for the farms (the blue gum variety, I think). Went to college in Santa Barbara, where they'd planted a bunch of the lemon-scented ones everywhere, so I still associate those scents with my youth. I like them but recognize they don't belong here.

I do think they're pretty sometimes

, she got really into alternative medicine and yoga, and now seems to travel the world (despite pandemic) to exotic locations to practice her art or whatever. Or at least that was what she was doing when I unfollowed and unfriended her because her existence annoys me so much.

lol I want to know who this is!

I don't think you know her— classically pretty blonde with a Brit accent who dated D4v1d BuUcK

I know a D4v1d BuUcK from work but I can’t imagine it’s the same one you know. The D4v1d BuUcK I know helped invent HDMI.

xp - I think I might know of this person through "my channels" lol

DJI, the one I'm talking about is a poet, professor, and activist. Not the same person.

If anyone has ever camped at Chabot Family Campground.. you've basically camped in New South Wales.

When I drove from Sydney to Brisbane, I couldn't get over at how much of flora/topography reminded me of driving in inland Orange and San Diego counties.

Not looking forward to wildfire season in California this year. And feeling pretty bleak about every year after that, too.

The humble shrub that’s predicting a terrible fire season

Fuck

Some great writing from John McPhee on chaparral and wildfires here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1988/09/26/los-angeles-against-the-mountains-i

Meanwhile, the investment group that owns the 747 Supertanker is shutting it down
https://fireaviation.com/2021/04/23/the-747-supertanker-is-ceasing-operations/

101 in slc tomorrow. this summer's going to be a monster.

I'm supposed to with my GF out to see her mom in Fresno CA this weekend - fortunately it's 'cooling' from 105* to 100* by the time we get there