Almost three years ago, Americans watched in horror as this country failed to provide adequate disaster relief resources during Hurricane Katrina. Currently, the scenario is being repeated in California, where an estimated 600 to 900 lightning sparked wildfires are burning. Many of these fires began last Friday afternoon (6/20/08); many of these fires remain unmanned. As someone personally surrounded by over 80 fires in a 10 mile radius of my home, I am pissed, frightened, anxious, and depressed.
On Saturday, I called 911 twice to report seven fires, six of which only appeared on a map yesterday! I called CalFire, the United States Forest Service (two ranger districts), the Humboldt County Sheriff Department, the Trinity County Sheriff Department, and our local volunteer fire department. I wanted to know what road I could take out of our valley if I needed to escape the firestorm. The response, “Ma’am, there are fires everywhere. We don’t know where they are or what roads are open.” I felt trapped, and we began putting dozer lines around our meadow, hooking up more sprinklers, and connecting fire hoses to the pump in our pond.
Friends of ours in Mendocino were told by CDF, “We have so many fires, you are on your own.” YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN! Five days later, there has still not been any agency to help with their fire; however, the BLM showed up to tell them to stop using private bulldozers to put fire lines in around the blaze on public land. They didn’t listen and protected their homes on their own.
We’ve been through fire before, but never of this magnitude. There is no doubt that local agencies are doing the best they can with limited resources. The Firefighter Blog explains:
The State of California is in the midst of the worst wildfire crisis in modern state history. More than 900 wildland fires are burning, many unstaffed. Incident commanders are making do with skeleton crews in most cases.
Of course, the priority for resources has been homes and life, and I commend the job the firefighters are doing, but why did it take our governor three days to declare a state of emergency from the fires? Does he not work on the weekends during a natural disaster? Why do we have skeleton crews? The most apparent lack of support is air support. We are lucky if one plane or helicopter shows up for an hour to fight one fire out of 80 in our smoldering community.
The Bush administration has left this country’s infrastructure to deal with natural disasters in shambles. National Guard troops and resources are in Iraq, and local agencies are underfunded. Increased wildfires have been predicted as a result of global warming; this should not have hit us out of the blue. If we can’t handle natural disasters on our own, we need to ask other countries for help. We often send assistance to other countries during times of need. It’s time to swallow our patriotic pride and admit we can’t fight the magnitude of these fires on our own. We let immigrants earn citizenship by fighting in our wars; why not let them earn citizenship for fighting wildfires?
Locals are trying to make noise to get anyone’s attention: We are in DESPERATE need of help! We have been contacting our county board of supervisors, who have been trying their best to get us resources. We have called the governor, Boxer, Feinstein, Berg, etc. We receive compassionate responses to our pleas for help, but the answer is always the same: We don’t have any resources to send your way. Here is what one impassioned citizen wrote:
We appreciate your efforts in the past week to try and obtain the needed resources to fight the fires in Trinity County. However after five days, there are still few if any resources on any of the eighteen or so fires threatening our home and business, and the homes of our eight to ten other neighbors. All told there are about ten houses, one commercial building, our winery, numerous barns and outbuildings( probably about 25 ) and historic ranches that are being threatened. After we called 911 on Friday afternoon, a spotter plane flew over Friday night, but since then no planes or helicopters have worked on any of the eighteen fires near us…So far the weather has been ok so the fires have not spread too badly, but we need resources at some point to fight these fires, or they will eventually reach our homes and businesses, our lives that we have built over the past twenty years and longer. We are trying our best to be patient, but it is difficult. While we were watching the fires burn last night from our deck, we realized there is at least one that is not on the map and does not have a name…We are doing what we can to remain safe, keep our place green, build defensible barriers, and would like to remain here as long as we can to keep our place safe, especially since so far very little help appears to be on the way. Help is getting closer, which is a good start, but I wish it could get even closer. The fire camps are quite large, I hope they can spare some bodies out our way, and any air support would really help both the fires and our spirits. More resources are needed or the situation in Northern California could turn into another Hurricane Katrina type situation when the government took too long to take care of its citizens.
Local citizens have stepped up to the plate to keep each other informed and squelch wild rumors. What few firefighters have arrived have needed locals to help them find roads and locate fires on the map. Email has been utilized to keep the community informed; however, power was turned off to our town two days ago because of fire near the poles. Maps finally showed up yesterday at the store, and tomorrow there will be a community meeting. The information aspect of the fires is improving, as our local volunteer fire chief explained, “I don’t feel like a mushroom anymore, kept in the dark and fed s**t.” Despite local information efforts, websites reporting incident news are unreliable. This occurs every fire season, when the server for InciWeb can’t handle the demand. Firefighters and families rely on InciWeb for updated information, why can’t the government upgrade the server?
We are lucky the thunderstorms occurred early in fire season, when much of the foliage is still green. These fires are moving slowly, for the most part, which has been a blessing, as agencies scramble for very limited resources. The weather has mostly cooperated with cooler temperatures and light winds, but more thunderstorms are predicted for this weekend.
Image: Redding.com
Best of luck in your county, my parents in slo are dealing with some of the same. Hope all is well keep your house watered down and hope someone comes, but most likely it won't be the govt until after. Keep on keeping on!
As a former resident of SoCal with many friends still in rural areas I wish you the best. While it will not address your current needs I suggest you talk to Joe Mitchell at M-Bar technologies (just do a web search or I can give you his phone number). Joe is a physicist and resident of Ramona, California who has developed an external house-enveloping spray system to protect houses from wildfires. Fortunately, he installed it on his house before the Cedar Fire, such that while most of the houses around his went up in flames his survived just fine. I don’t think that Joe is actively selling his system (he works full time for an unrelated company), but rather is hoping that others use his technology to protect themselves (and I’ve got no financial interest). In high winds firebreaks even hundreds of feet wide (such as SoCal’s huge interstate highways) don’t stop fires.
A few years ago a study concluded that over the long term about the same amount of area in northern Baja, Mexico burns as in similar landscapes immediately across the border in the US, but in Mexico the fires tend to be smaller, more geographically dispersed and spread out over time, leading to a mosaic of fuel densities. This happens because the Mexicans don’t have as much capacity to fight fires.
In contrast, aggressive fire control in the US results in large areas of high fuel densities that periodically result in huge explosive fires. This US equipment-intensive approach creates a spiral of greater fire suppression resulting in higher fuel build up resulting in more intense fires resulting in greater calls for more equipment, resulting in greater fire suppression. This cycle results in catastrophic fires.
It may be that having a number of small fires burn around you during a relatively moist period is a good thing (whether as intentionally set controlled burns or acceptable natural burns), because it means that some of the fuel is being burned in some places. Yet, this is obviously a dangerous and frightening situation. Even a small fire can kill.
It may be that a combination of (1) site-specific practices and technologies, such as reducing fuels around properties (suggested by another commenter) and the M-BAR technology or other similar site-specific protection technologies; (2) better fire tracking and information systems that help residents respond safely; and (3) a policy to allow smaller fires to burn in certain moisture conditions would prevent huge catastrophic fires (that can’t be stopped by any amount of realistically available equipment) while protecting homes and businesses. This way periodic fires can burn around properties, allowing a natural process to continue without harming people. Property owners might be able to protect their homes, business and themselves while allowing small fires to once again create a mosaic of fuel densities in the surrounding landscape thereby reducing damage and risk in the long run.
Anybody who’s seen a major wildfire knows that we can’t stop major fires regardless of the amount of equipment. We can protect particular places. Perhaps we should use our limited resources by permanently installing systems to protect particular structures rather than using resources to by equipment intended to try to stop all fires. An ounce of prevention may be worth a pound of cure. With adequate site specific protection and real-time fire situation information small fires at a distance might become something to watch with interest and respect, rather than something at which to immediately and reactively fling water, equipment and firefighters’ lives.
Good luck!
Of course there is a shortage of funds. The billions a month for the war has short changed us everywhere. Hospitals, schools, police departments etc. OUR ENTIRE INFRASTRUCTURE. Is this part Bush's fault. YES, YES!!
Having said that.
When was the last time people were willing to be taxed a little more to hire more firemen?
And when was the last time homeowners cleared the brush around their property as far as possible?
And when was the last time that communities on their own asked advice from their fire departments regarding extra equipment like bull dozers etc to help themselves in emergencies like this?
Equipment to be kept as part of a towns maintenance department. With the authority to release these fire fighting equipment in times of disaster, so you won't have to wait for firemen. To have a plan. A plan.
Fire departments are there as a real resource for advice. And when they are so totally stretched, then it is up to each community to at least try and anticipate these kinds of fires especially in California.
People are as lazy and apathetic about this as they are about the kind of people they elect to office. To stupid to think or do anything for themselves without someone telling them what to do. Christ!! If our ancestors had been so stupid we would still be sitting around picking fleas off each other.
If I knew who was destroying public property with the bulldozers (a felony) I would effect a citizen's arrest without hesitation. If you live in a fire zone then expect to deal with fires. Use fireproof roofing material, build the house with concrete rather than wood framing and use siding that doesn't burn.
The lack of firefighters has nothing to do with budget or anything the state may or may not be doing. With 800 fires, the logistics of having enough people/equipment is just not possible.
A moderate fire requires at least a few attack teams of 3-10 rigs (trucks), each one staffed by 3 people for a small brush rig, to 5-8 for a larger engine. In remote areas those rigs need to be supplied water by a water tender, or a river or someones pool. There is simply no way to fight all these fires at once. Even if they were to take every truck from every station, there would not be enough, and then that leaves no one to respond to residential fires and medical calls.
Air support has been slow in coming because many of the planes and helicopters were not prepared for use, the normal fire season is at least a month away. Air support is ineffective by itself anyway, that's why it is "support." It is designed to work in tandem with crews on the ground, by itself it cannot normally put out a fire.
I think the problem is you're dealing with the difference between expectations and reality.
You never *expected* things to go so terribly wrong, but the *reality* is (and has always been) that it could happen.
Living in wildfire territory is like living in a flood plain or in Tornado Alley: You can take all the precautions you like, but when shit goes bad, you can kiss everything goodbye.
I've been through the following disasters:
1) Loma Prieta Earthquake
2) Oakland Hills Fire….
3) Most recently…Cedar Rapids Iowa floods.
I must admit, there were people I saw who shined in the first 2 disasters, but I never saw anything like Cedar Rapids.
The big difference I saw here…
Thousands and thousands of people being turned away from volunteering because…are you ready for this…
there were too many volunteers!!!
Outside of the impoverished area of West Oakland and the Cypress Overpass, I can't remember a huge outpouring of volunteers in my 2 California disasters.
A friend of mine was so frustrated because whenever she and here two children tried to help…they were turned away!!
People here wanted to wade up to their chest in feces strewn, chemically laden flood waters and move 50 lb bags of sand in torrential rain to help people they never met before save their house and were denied….because there were too many other people already doing that…
that my friend, is what this country is about.
Are you an able body man(woman) asking for help, or are you an able body woman(man) asking where can you help…
because the federal, state and city government will not be there for you…Republican or Democrat.
The biggest difference I've seen is, most places scream "We need help!".
In Iowa we screamed, "Where can I help!"
Bush,Cheney,and Rebublican Supporters: "Creating Disasters over there so we don't have to fight disasters here at home." It's all part of their plan.
No resources for American Citizens in need, (the ones who actually PAID taxes). "You're on your own Sucka!"
Just read some of the comments. It's all "I got mine,
UP Yours!" That's Rebublicanism. What a Vision for our nation! A Truly scary future if these wackos hold on to power.
I've been a professional wildland firefighter for the past 4 years.
BM is right. The amount of people we would have to keep on hand to fight 800 fires would be absolutely insane. Lets pretend that each one of these fires got to be 20 acres max. There would be 20-40 people on each fire for at the VERY least 5 days. That's 16000 to 32000 people. Also, there would have to be firefighters left at the station to respond to new fires, medicals, and rescue operations.
I worked on a type 3 engine, the type that responds to residential areas for urban interface. Our sole purpose is to try to prepare houses for an incoming flame front. That being said, if we have houses that have brush all around them, full gutters, and wood stacked by the deck, we are going to take about 20 seconds to look at the structure and mark it off as a loss. We would then move on to the next one.
We are only going to put effort into houses that have a chance (we're on a very very very strict time limit. We want to be out of there or in a safe place when the fire finally arrives). You can make your house have a chance by creating the defensible space that the CDF/ Forest Service recommends.
If you live in a remote wooded area, and neglect to prepare your home, there is a solid chance that you will lose it if a major fire rolls through. It's your responsibility.
On the other hand, if you do not live in a wooded area, and feel the need to call the people posting here idiots, you need to shut your trolling mouths. Your comments have absolutely zero relevance to the topic at hand.
If Katrina taught us anything… it's every person for themself.
Dont rely on the government to protect you or your property, living where you do would have hopefully made you a survivalist, do what you have to.
John and BM, I agree that the enormity of the situation would require a huge staff, that is why I suggested in the post that it might be time to ask other countries for help. I am fortunate that my home is one that has been saved in the past by firefighters, and it is very defensible. I just returned from a community meeting with the county sheriff and two forest service districts. The type 1 commander stated that we are at a level 5 for preparedness across the country (I hope I am getting the terminology right). That means that all resources are deployed, so any event across the whole country right now will fight for resources that are already being used. The new fires in New Mexico can attest to that. It was interesting watching one FS ranger talk about not being able to get any air support and the other saying it was because they had all available helicopters. They have issued orders upon orders for more crews and copters, but there aren't anymore to be had. They can't even get food, tables, chairs, etc. to these guys because of road closures from the fires. These guys/gals have been doing an amazing job with what little resources they have! We need to have back up plans for when disasters go beyond what we can handle with regular staffing. If the global warming predictions are true, we will be facing severe weather disasters more often. Individuals and government agencies need to be prepared.
The fire emergency in No Cal and our response to it, is a good indicator of our resilience as individuals, as a community, as a state, as a nation. We are getting a good measure of how well we can respond to unexpected shocks. It appears that we are entering a period of increased instability. The lightning storm that started the fires out here was a never before seen event. There are now 1083 fires going at once? Is this what they call "black swans" on Wall Street? From here in Hyampom where we have had smoke veiled days of 100 yd visibility, I've seen example after example of personal resilience and even humor in the face of terrifying prospects. Jennifer being one. The Hyampom community is showing itself to be tough, resourceful and resilient. The County, State and National levels – pretty thin, pretty confused, pretty weak. Trinity County Health Services responded by sending someone to town with a care package the other morning. Delivered to the General Store, the package was found to contain a big bag of flavored condoms. Hmmm.
Hey Jennifer, sorry I have to say I was little harsh with my first response.
However, I spent 10 years as a Hotshot firefighter in California Idaho, and Nevada. I've fought fire in every western state other than Hawaii. ANd I've walked through enough burned communities to know that everyone who is effected by fires thinks they are immune until the fire is burning through their backyard.
You live in the woods, the woods burn.
Yes brush reduction has to happen, in the past brush reduction has been the roll of regular forest fires.
However with the encroachment of people (like-you) farther and farther into the woods, and some generally poor forest management on all sides private and government, you find yourself up sh*t creek without a paddle, or up fire mountain without a hose.
So what's the answer? More firefighters? I don't think so, California has a ton of them. Do you really think putting unskilled migrant workers on a fireline is going to help you? Unskilled grunts are cannon-fodder on a fireline, worthless as tits on a boar. Think of the liability. . . unreal. Real firefighters are skilled professionals, not slave labor.
Well, I don't have any political complaints or comments about the situation as I don't feel too informed about firefighting procedures (I'm a relatively new Californian). But – I wish you all the luck in the world, Jennifer. I'm in San Francisco just dealing with some mild smokiness, but I'd be jumping out of my skin if I were you – and probably wouldn't even have the mental capacity to write such a clearheaded post. Here's hoping to more fires being squelched this weekend.
Katrina, was a failure of LOCAL GUVMINT. How many people actually died and how long are we gonna hear about this? Christ I am sick of it!
If you live in California you are buying into a eco-disaster nightmare, too many people not enough land. Quit building in the forest, who do you think you are frickin Snow White? Get your dwarves to put out the fires! California is where all the countries detrious collects, I say let 'em burn with their gay marriage, global warming and gangs!
Jesse B, I did not mean to imply that firefighters are unskilled labors, and as you say, they are highly trained; however, I have seen locals jump on to help building hand lines around homes under the direction of these skilled firefighters. I am not saying we shouldn't train immigrants, but if we think we can train them to fight in Iraq, then we should be able to train them to fight fires. Not sure if its an answer, but it is an idea.
Also, Native Americans have made their homes in the mountains since the beginning of time. My property was homesteaded in 1906. People have been living here a long time, longer than the suburbs that used to be family farms where I suspect many of the people leaving negative comments here live.
At the meeting last night, we were told that a plane that can hold 12,000 gallons of water is coming today from Canada (can't remember the plane's name). The plane was supposed to be here yesterday, but it was held up in customs for a day. This is the kind of thing that I think we need to fix when facing disasters of this magnitude. As you know from your firefighting experience, that a day in a the life of a fire can be huge. Also, we have some fires out here with only 2 hot shots on them. We are lucky to have those 2, so more firefighters may be part of the equation. The response is starting to come here, which I am thankful. I just think it shouldn't take a whole week. And I have nothing but respect and gratitude for the firefighters working without much sleep for 14 days straight.
I also want to mention that even if you live in the city, wildland fires can affect you beyond smoke. Electrical transmission lines run across wildlands to get to your city. Also, we currently have two highways (36,299) closed that link I-5 to the 101 due to fires. These are major arteries in N. CA.
Someone earlier said no one wanted to pay more taxes to pay for firefighting. In our town and several cities in Humboldt we have voted in a parcel tax that is paid to local fire departments for their services which pays for equipment, etc. I understand in November in California we are being asked to vote to put a parcel tax for CalFire (or whatever the groups are called that fight the wildfires). Rural properties will be evaluated and if in a rural fire district, your property will have the tax added.
These fires are early this year and all over and firefighting resources and personnel are spread very thin. Possibility of more lightning was on this AM's weather report for the north counties. Does not bode well if that happens as it may not even bring a drop of rain to help the existing fires.
Hope you and your neighbors houses stay safe!
After giving it some thought, I have to agree that we can no longer depend on our government, except to under perform. It's probably not GWB's fault. Heck I'd be surprised if he even knew about the fires. I'm not suggesting that he isn't the worst president our nation has ever had, because he is, but our government's inability to provide fire relief has little our nothing to do with him. In fact, the California wildfires probably won't even make the huge list of poor calls he's made, so let's move the focus elsewhere. This is another one of those situations where soft Americans are waiting for the government to come rescue them from nature. There are signs along the highway in a lot of these rural communities telling residents to develop a defensible space around their homes and structure for exactly this kind of event. If you were too lazy to cut some brush, you might lose your home. Fire is a hugely powerful force and I don't recommend anyone try to stand up to it if it comes for your home, but take responsibility for your situation and make the necessary improvements. The author of this article seems to have taken the precautionary steps necessary to avoid losing their home, and now they'll have to wait it out. When you move out to a rural area, often, it's to be on your own, so when CDF says, you are on your own, it's because there are more pressing issues than your house out in the sticks. Hopefully these fires are put down quickly with minimal losses, and hopefully you don't lose everything, but know that life goes on as long as you are still breathing and the rest is just stuff.
My own personal rant to Bruce Ross: The Record Searchlight is an awful paper, and I doubt it could even be considered news. More like a tabloid. Over and over I read the same propaganda that is rubber stamped for approval by the feds, then trickled down through corporate channels (the RS is a corporate news outlet) to the information trough that is your paper. Is it that your writers are without inspiration? Or are the editors all too worried about right and left to make a point? Why aren't you asking the hard questions, getting real news stories, and keeping the people informed? I don't know how someone becomes a reporter if they have no sense of what it is to get a real story.
Hi Jennifer… I have been reading these posts and am amazed at how everyone is so quick to bash the Government when it comes to large scale disasters. I am a wildland firefighter in Colorado and have spent the last two months supporting operations in West Texas. I am on my required time off or I would be out in CA helping as well.
First I want to add that people need to understand that it takes some time to ramp things up and fill and prioritize all of the requests. It is not like McDonalds drive through, CA is not the only State burning at this moment. Plus there are firefighter safety issues that need to be identified, understood, and mitigated. My life is not worth your home! I have a family I would like to come home to at the end of the day. Have a look at this link: http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/im… The man in this photo with his wife and kids did not come home at the end of his shift. He and two other firefighters lost their lives this spring in Colorado. Ok enough of my rant…
The good news and the reason why I responded to this is it looks like the Incident Management Team (IMT) is getting the resources they requested for the fires in your area. I looked at the resource requests and see that all of the outstanding orders as of yesterday for the Iron Complex and North Mountain fires were filled. You will be seeing a lot of Colorado and South Dakota (as well as other States) firefighters.
I wish you all the best that I can and it sounds like you all have done what you can to mitigate the wildfire threat around your homes with defensible space. If people are looking for ways to help, there are nonprofit agencies I am sure that could use some of your time. Also you could help the fallen or injured firefighters if you have the care to. You can go to the Wildland Firefighters Foundation and see what they may need for support – http://www.wffoundation.org/about/index.html
As a fellow resident of Trinity County, I can attest to the severity of the situation.
Aren't people concerned that the National Forest is burning down? – not to mention that residents and nature are being relocated.
We have been in thick smoke for days now. Not healthy. Is the end in sight?
As mentioned above, there is question as to which roads are open and available to leave the county if necessary.
The lack of publicly available information is scary to say the least.
If you read the CDF website, they had a press release stating their great level of 'readiness' for the 2008 fire season. This was posted only days before the thunderstorms started the fires.
Where are all the local resources? Where are the national resources?
Filling the politicians pockets?
- concerned citizen
good morning, Jennifer, I’m so glad I ran across your blog. I’ve been looking at the fire map, and I know that fires in your area seem to be very very bad, and I’d been figuring they were likely among the fires that were burning unchecked due to lack of resources.
First things first: we all need emergency services, no matter where we live. There is no place in this country that isn’t potentially threatened by some kind of disaster or other — if you don’t have fires, you have earthquakes, or tornadoes, or hurricanes or nor’easters, or 12 feet of snow, or a big city taken out by a chunk of a meteorite. And that’s not even mentioning terrorist attacks, pandemics like bird flu (scientists say another epidemic will happen, it’s not a question of “if”), or chemical plant disasters.
Those posting the idiotic comments would, there is no doubt in my mind, be the FIRST to expect to be helped when their own disaster hit, the FIRST to whine and complain — and the LAST to go out and help their neighbors the way we here in rural N. CA have been doing.
See this article re: the fire at Greenfield Ranch near Ukiah.
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_9696134
Personal responsibility is essential, certainly; but we cannot all have helicopters and paid firefighting crews at our command — this is why we pay taxes, among other reasons, to have emergency services — and thanks to all of the wonderful people out there providing them today.
And, as Jennifer has pointed out, putting the fires out doesn’t just benefit those rural residential residents who live out in the woods — here in Mendocino County, the worst air is in the Ukiah valley — and people all over CA, and neighboring states, too are experiencing unhealthy air conditions. And god only knows how much timber value — and potential tax revenue — is being burned up as we wait, and wait and wait for needed air support.
We need more helicopters. The air tankers are mostly sitting at the Ukiah airport, due to bad visibility, but the helicopters can fly in bad visibility. There are only 7 helicopters provided for the whole of Mendocino County. Yes, nobody could be ready on a dime for an unprecedented — both early and huge — fire scenario like this — but it’s been nearly a week now, and we still don’t have the help we need. Why hasn’t Schwarzenegger asked Canada for help already? Why didn’t the disaster get declared on Monday? The magnitude of this has been obvious since Sunday morning.
Good luck to you Jennifer, and thanks again — and thanks for being so reasonable and polite in your responses to the idiots. I hope your area gets some help sooner than later. I’m northeast of Willits, and there are no fires threatening us directly right now, although the air is very bad. We have been extremely lucky so far, as far as the weather goes — it’s not anywhere near as hot as it could be, and there has been very little wind. But we’re certainly worried about the chance of more dry lightning storms this weekend.
One more thing… I lived in Montana in 2000 when fires were burning over an area about 4x the size of the area now on fire in CA so I do understand what kind of situation you are in. Fires like this are neither unprecedented nor unpredictable. Please look in to responsible forest management, of which, fire must play a role. If we do that then those fires, in most areas, will tend to be lower intensity, lower severity burns than the devastating fires you are witnessing now.
Good luck
You are ridiculously misinformed. If you must build in these areas then you must build a defensible space around your home. (to do otherwise is totally irresponsible like building in a floodplain or barrier island and not buying enough insurance to cover your stupidity) More and more people have moved to the wildland/urban interface in the fire-prone, drought cycling, dry-lightning filled west and then wonder why the forest burns. Answer: because it always has and always will. Smokey was full of shit you cannot prevent forest fires no one can so the best thing that can be done is nothing. Yes you read that right nothing. Fire is a natural ecological process in nearly all western forests and actually rejuvinates the soil and benefits many species.
The main reason that fires have gotten so bad in recent years has nothing to do with GWB, but rather the aggressive fire-fighting tactics you are crying for. Anyways even the most aggressive attacks on these fires will do little more than waste money it is the equivalent of throwing a bucket of water on a barn fire. Wildland firefighters do little more than throw money at fires. Its a boondoggle. If you want to reduce the intensity and severity of these fires you must try to restore the ecological balance of the forests. We need to vastly increase the amount of prescribed/controlled burns to remove excess fuel and yes even thin (selectively log out the small stems) the areas nearest communities.
These fires are likely to get worse, not just this year but in the long-term. The West is an extended drought which according to historical data may last one hundred years or possibly much more. Water adjudications and settlement of these areas were done in abnormally wet period, which is a serious problem confronting fire fighters. Also global warming has decreased snowpack, cured fine fuels (grasses, pine needles, etc) earlier in the season, raised temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and increased bark beetle populations and tree mortality.
That being said. No the government will not help you not because they are harsh, cruel, mismanaged or unprepared but largely because they can’t. Large-scale high-intensity fires can only be slowed and moderately at that only Mother Nature can help you. George Bush is not to blame for 100 years of poor forest management and drought. (wow it makes me feel dirty defending Bush) Clear all brush and dead needles away from your house. Remove any trees within 20 feet of your home (farther might be better) water the area near your home (yes lawns suck but you must), buy fire insurance (if you can) and QUIT YOUR BITCHING! This is not OUR problem but YOUR problem. Get to work.
Forester, if you have read my post and follow up comments, you will see that we have created a very defensible space and taken responsibility for our home. Our home is in the middle of 5 acre meadow. Back 500 ft into the surrounding forest, we have removed brush and small trees around this meadow, as well as along our driveway (you'll love to know this was a USDA grand funded project). We have a pond holding 30,000 gallons of water with pump and fire hose connected 300 ft. from our home. We have a metal roof on our home, and our yard is green. We have placed a dozer line around the meadow and house. We have fire insurance.
When a crisis hits your neighborhood, I hope that your fellow humans will be more compassionate. I think that we need to realize that our infrastructure to deal with disasters is weak right now, and GWB is partially to blame for appointing unqualified friends to head some of these agencies, like FEMA, and sending National Guard to Iraq. The Red Cross is out of money and taking loans to help both in the midwest and out here. I agree the forests have been mismanaged and that fire plays a natural role in the equation; however, when communities, the electrical grid, and highways are closed (even I-5 is down to one lane traffic), it is affecting everyone beyond the mt. dwellers.
again: This fire is not about defensible space around cabins in the woods.
27,000+ acres burned here in Mendocino County; only 2 homes burned so far.
The "very unhealthy" smoke levels (bad enough so that it's breaking and clogging monitoring meters) are the worst in Ukiah, the most "urban" area of the county, and that's true throughout the N. Ca fire zones right now, because the most populated areas are valleys, where the smoke settles.
Towns under evacuation warnings here include the old logging town of Leggett, right on Highway 101, and Rockport, right on the coast.
Most of the 60+ fires burning here without any firefighting efforts at all due to lack of resources are burning timberland, not threatening homes. And every day these fires grow larger — which they do every day — more timber gets burned, and the hit on the already-rocky local timber economy gets bigger.
yes, there is now an official evacuation order as of 5:30 last night for part of the rural residential Greenfield Ranch — but that subdivision, plenty of it rolling oak woodlands not woods, is likely the best prepared neighborhood in the state for fires — I'm not kidding, go ask CDF with whom the Greenfield Ranch fire-fighters have been working for decades.
I heard (not officially confirmed, but from somebody who should know) that more helicopters from out of state flew into the Brooktrails airport yesterday (CalFire's airbase for the fires here), although it's unclear how many. that's good news for us, and thanks to those who sent them, and those who came to help.
the smoke is very bad up here northeast of Willits again today.
Thanks Jennifer…you are correct, the issue I was trying to raise was not individual home owners' responsibilities for defensible space or forest management, although those do play into the current crisis. The issue is that our country's infrastructure is maxed out, and this should concern everyone, no matter where you live! Every city is being affected by the smoke, even SF. It is unhealthy. Also, it is public land that is mostly burning, very little private land as of yet. These fires will affect our watersheds, which provide water to cities and agriculture. This should be a federal effort, because these are federal lands.
Well I'm glad that you have made a defensible space and have installed a metal roof – good move. Perhaps more scenes such as these will lead to better forest policies and more forest dwellers to take these proactive measures as well and maybe more accepting of the lesser degree of smokiness associated with controlled and prescribed burns. And you're right that the grid and the roads should be placed as priority #1 for protection. However, I don't think more resources are really going help your situation, unless those resources include more rain and higher relative humidities. When flame lengths reach into the hundreds of feet the radiant heat associated with the flames will burn firefighters from distances of a quarter mile or more and one shift of wind could lead to the deaths of numerous firefighters (many of whom are college students on summer break)and thankfully the USFS and CDF are no longer willing to take these risks. Fire needs to be fought in the off season. And to those of you choking on the smoke, I feel for you, I've been there and it sucks. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you're probably going to be stuck with it for a while. All I can suggest is staying inside as much as possible and keep your fingers crossed who knows it could rain very soon.
For those of you who want to know more about fire in the west check out
"The Year of the Fires" by Steven Pyne
Any writings by Steven Arno one of the premier fire ecologists
And the firewise websites maintained by the USFS, BLM.
Also talk to your home insurer and your local rural firefighting dept – they may assist you in protecting your home.
So far, we don't have those kind of fires that are crowning like you describe, at least the ones closest to my home, and we certainly don't want any deaths or injuries. We've had one injury here so far when someone fell off their dozer. I do think more crews to put in more fire lines would help, as of right now, they are only able to do structure protection and not work on containment lines. The situation is improving today as far as more firefighting presence on the ground. The inversion layer still hasn't lifted, so air support can't fly. They found 8 new fires yesterday too. We are safe for now, but I worry for my neighbors and friends.
Just for one thing – Its been next to impossible
to find news
down here in San Diego about these fires .
We’ve looked and looked because we have
family up north .
Its very strange considering the magnitude
and range of it all .
I agree Sheila, the media coverage has been lacking. We just found out 500 marines our on their way to help. That should be interesting!
All of the resources are tied up in Santa Barbara at this moment. We have over 1,000 firefighters putting out the blaze above our city. If they were not there to help, over 3,000 structures would have been burned to the ground days ago, and this fire would have spread to destroy Santa Barbara county. There are only so many firefighters, and most of them have to be where the most lives and property is about to be lost. This fire has been declared the most important one to contain, and it's doubling in size every day. So before looking around saying there's no help, see what other places are burning and why all of the resources are stuck in Santa Barbara saving the whole county.
On my last comment, there are actually over 2,500 firefighters in Santa Barbara, we have 6 choppers and 10 planes, including the California DC-10.
We are spending our money in Iraq !!!! Let California burn "says" our President
Natural disaster affect everyone everywhere. The Fed’s should put more resources rather than building bombs and running around the world telling folk what to do. Ask the Native American how there forefathers took care of mother earth before all of us immigrants came here . Hallooo !
Jennifer, does the ground that burned previously afford any protection for you now? Tell us about the Grouse Fire and how close it is. Is it burning downhill as well as running up the mountain?
The Grouse Fire has now merged with the Hell's Half Fire, and it is just called Hell's Half now. A type 1 team is taking over tomorrow. The fire is only two properties away from mine currently. It is burning in all directions and has escaped containment lines. Smoke has hindered the use of air support. We have been mandatory evacuated. It has not done much in the old burn, but if the wind picks up, it could be disastrous.
From my study of the fire maps,it appears that the wind has blown the fire north and away from you. We are praying for your family and others in the area. Now that the other fires are getting controlled, there ought to be more help headed your way.
I am in the Paradise area where we have lost homes twice in the last month. If the winds were blowing now like they were in the first Paradise fire, there would be nothing that firefighters could do to keep California from burning.
But, it appears that California is reaping what it has sown.
Actually the canyon winds are blowing it south, but that containment line is holding. The most fire growth has been to the north, since efforts are to contain the fire near structures to the south. There are a lot of spot fires across the river. We are still under mandatory evacuation. There is a public meeting tonight, so I hope to learn more. Good luck in Paradise. I hear they even evacuated the entire K-Mart store of merchandise there.
They evacuated the local hospital. But, they are reopening Friday. Hopefully more resources will now be sent your way. It appears as if all the fires in Trinity County are merging. The whole county seems to be on fire. Six Rivers does not provide a lot of information on their fires, at least from what I have seen on the net.
How did the meeting go? Have there been homes destroyed in the area? Is help on the way?
Rick, thanks for checking in. We had incident commanders from the Iron, Hell's Half, and Lime complexes at the meeting. With more seasonal weather approaching, the picture does not look good, and these fires are growing together. The Lime Fire will burn all the way from Hyampom to Forest Glen. The Hell's Half IC is so confident, he is giving away our resources (8 engines and all our helicopters yesterday). I understand they need to protect larger communities, but these resources are assigned to this fire, and this is being done amongst "boys in the sandbox" (their words, not mine). One home has been destroyed in my area (and Trinity Co.), which is really pretty amazing! George W. is flying over today, if you call that help. And crazily, our main road is now closed for four hours in the morning and afternoon for road construction. We are sharing one road now with the fire fighters that is not even good enough to be considered a detour road, but it is an "alternate route". Crazy. I think they don't want to have to pay for breaking the contract.
http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/04/02/ode-to-a-ro…
This is a good site for updates:
http://gacc.nifc.gov/oncc/predictive/intelligence…
It is more honest then the press releases, as far as painting a rosy picture.
Over and over at the meetings they complained about lack of resources, specifically requests for hot shot crews that have not been filled in 10 days. They can't do the burnouts they want to, because they don't have the hotshots and the National Guard aren't experienced enough. Also, the Martin Mars costs $17,000 an hour!
Thanks for the update site. It is more accurate for sure. Here is what I found at another site:
West: On the western side of the fire, mop up activities continue with firefighters reporting minimal activity.
East: Burnouts will occur if weather conditions.
Approximately 200 firefighters were relocated to a spike camp in Hyampom, reducing travel times to and from work locations. Aircraft will operate as conditions allow. END
How are they going to operate aircraft if they have moved them all? Seems that all of the valuable timber on South Fork will be going up in smoke at the rate they are moving.
$17,000 an hour? Maybe that is Canadian dollars.
Seems like a real money maker. Send it back to Canada.
It is a miracle that more homes have not been destroyed. The winds have been kept in check to a great degree. Are you in danger from the Iron Complex? It looks to be headed to the South West.
Yes, our community is threatened by Hell's Half, Iron, and Lime complexes. These complexes may burn together in places and are impacting burnout operations on one another. Yes, spike camp is set up, and I intend to go to their morning briefings. Too smokey to fly right now. Things are going to be changing here as we get to August. These slow moving fires are going to explode if not contained soon.
It's apparent from articles in SacBee that the forest service has adopted a, "let-it-burn," policy for Trinity County. In the name of ecology, they are dumping millions of tons of toxic smoke into the environment and they figure they can get away with it because T.C is so isolated. Burning up a forest is NOT something that foresters should be bragging about.
My name is Tiberius-Robert Heius, live in Verona, Italy. I have decided to write to you about the fire of Californian forest. In present I have already a very good project, for the future, to annihilate (get under) completely the fire from a forest with a very low cost and also in a very short time. I also specificate that my project works well even if the whether is blasty.
Please, contact me soon as possible, if you are interested in!
My E-mail is: robertheius@yahoo.com
Sincerely, Tiberius-Robert Heius
The use of our firefighting resources to protect individuals property in remote areas could be increased 10-fold or more and still not be effective in all instances. We could build the structures from scratch for what it costs to protect them in a severe fire situation. Who is going to pay for this and where is the money going to come from? Mabey raising the fire taxes for those who live in rural areas- or requiring them to fend for their own fire safety? They tend to be wealthy or well off- so why should others pay for thieir affluence. thanks
how does a person go about providing bulldozer to be used in emergency wildfires?
So I read the article and the first few pages of comments and I have to say that some of the stuff people are saying is crazy… I don't live in California and I haven't been in a wildfire so I can't relate with how you feel about it. But I don't think you are right in blaming the federal government for not helping out and blaming the war in Iraq is a bit off base too.
California is a very large state with a very large GDP and population and one would think that they should be able to manage a wildfire on their own, right? So if you want to blame someone maybe it should be the politicians there. I mean it is one of the highest taxed states and yet stuff like this is happening and they have a large deficit kind of doesn't make sense if you ask me.
The federal government doesn't and shouldn't get their hands into everything, yes the fires are a big deal but they do happen every year and as such Cali should be taking care of it.
The Iraq war isn't/wasn't pulling funding from firefighting and emergency services… Just take a look at national debt and you'll see where the funding came from.
Also blaming global warming is bollocks. These fires have been going on ever since people have settled in California.. Heck they've probably been going on forever. They just sound worse now because it is affecting more people than it did 20 years ago.
I hope that you made it through last years fires just find and that this years fires will stay far away from you. I like the one comments idea about using the firebreak spray system. Looks like a good idea.