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

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

Looks like the season is beginning in earnest:

The #InyoCreekFire in Inyo NF near Whitney Portal was 97 acres & 0% contained this morning but is experiencing some significant fire activity tonight.

Can listen live: https://t.co/Ps9sC4B5Oi pic.twitter.com/e1SM6AsFrZ

— CA Fire Scanner (@CAFireScanner) June 22, 2021

Nearest station ~10 mi north of the fire is at 11% RH and winds 26 mph gusting to 45https://t.co/AR6enawijf

— Matt Roberts (@WxMattt) June 22, 2021

hi, it began in earnest three weeks ago but i guess if you just want to extrapolate from california that's solid

Yeah, there's fires near Chico, also on the Central Coast... I'm sorry to hear this about the Whitney Portal, I love that area..

They're closing Coconino and Kaibab national forests totally, until we get enough rain. Which is good overall but sucks for me since that covers most of the high country trails I go to on weekends to escape the heat. There's been some precipitation (I got rained on my last 2 hikes, tho both storms were limited to small areas up in the mountains) so fingers crossed that monsoon actually happens this year (it's been a "nonsoon" the past 2 summers).

Storms in a big chunk of the southwest today. I haven't heard any thunder so hopefully there's no lightning-caused fires from them. Usually this is the driest time of year, until monsoon comes in early July. I've seen more clouds so far this year than the past 2 years combined.
I can see 2 smoke plumes from my back patio and another one from my front porch. The one to the north was HUGE yesterday but much diminished today.

A place where we lived for about a year and much of the area around it is threatened, if not totally burnt up, by the Lava Fire up in Siskiyou. Getting ready to mourn...

The local, bankrupt utility company (Pacific Gas & Electric, or PG&E) is poised to cut down some big canary palm trees in front of my building, and it really bums me out. The city of Oakland won't step in as they don't consider palms to be appropriate street trees.

Yes, the trees are growing up towards the power lines, but why don't they just dig a trench and bury the lines? Grrrr, I've been dreading this for a long time but it seems like the fight is lost.

For some backstory, PG&E has been under fire for poor tree maintenance that most likely helped start some of the recent horrible fires.. but these are green, healthy city trees, and lovely ones at that. Maybe if they weren't so goddamn cheap they would start burying high voltage lines and save themselves future misery and litigation.

(Sorry for the rant, I feel slightly better.)

Yes, the trees are growing up towards the power lines, but why don't they just dig a trench and bury the lines?

Yeah this is messed up.

extremely tempting to troll the local yokels who comment on weather service updates about wildfire smoke, record temperatures, etc.

When can I stop holding my breath?

I don't know Mr. West Jordan Republican With A Child Bride but you might want to get better at it because each summer is going to be even worse :)

The city of Oakland won't step in as they don't consider palms to be appropriate street trees.

Yes, the trees are growing up towards the power lines, but why don't they just dig a trench and bury the lines?

it would take them a lot longer to do that than to remove the tree because it requires permits and the permitting process, which already is absurdly long, has gotten even worse since Covid. There's also the fact that the trees themselves could be fire hazards tbh ... it depends on the location. There are different zones with different levels of hazard and abatement enforcement.

I think OFD (Oakland Fire Department) has a specific division that deals with this, Vegetation Management. ... it's where they sent the evil inspector who got tons of complaints from his time inspecting buildings ... and now he has returned to inspecting buildings and making people miserable.

A decade ago I had a really great corned beef hash & eggs in Greenville. RIP.