Cali. fires, how bad can it get?
 

I sit here in my easy chair in no-nothing Indiana and look at the total loss of everything that families lived with and for, for years. Now all gone in a hour. I can't imagine the pain and the future these people have ahead of them. Prayers and thoughts go out to each and all of them. There might be a pelican there too.

It is hard to believe. We are about 60 miles south from there and the smoke level is getting pretty bad. My son lives in Marin County but at this point is south enough to be safe. I'm assuming there are a lot of Pelicans near or in the fire area. The current efforts are almost all addressing saving lives, there is still not much fire line containment. On the news they mentioned 22 major fires in the area now. In many places the Internet is difficult to get on. Maybe some closer to the fires can give us an update when they can. Certainty they have other things on their mind. Best wishes to all affected by the CA fires.

I heard that the wind is supposed to pick up in the next couple of days. Not good.

We were under the smoke cloud the other from the fires east of us.
This is a piece of ash I picked up in our front yard.
With ash this big flying around it's no wonder those fires took out whole neighborhoods.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1507771381.JPG

Our back patio was covered with ash like I've never seen with all the other fires we've had in the past.

Terrible situation. Fires have been part of the area ecology for 1000's of years. A risk they take.

Cali fires of. 130,000 acres takes large amount of structure. Last year Oklahoma had 400,000 acres burned. Far more rural area. Add in the Texas and Kansas parts of the fires and more than 1,000,000 acres burned.

Mother Nature can be a *****.

Very bad.

Wet winter, so there is lots of fuel, been dry for a long time, so the fuel is ready to light off. With the high winds, a little fire turns into an inferno in a hurry.

A couple years back Alberta had some serious fires, almost took out an entire town. This year B.C had unbelievable fires, and it always amazes me how few people fight them and how with all the tech in the world we are still so bad at stopping raging wildfires.

Stay safe CA

Fires and water....mother nature scoffs at our efforts. Smokey da bear was FOS....

Stay safe is right!!!

I'm packed and ready to blast out of here again. The unknown is what's kicking my brain down. Sleeping with one eye open. The locals are all over the place with the info n

I'm effen stressed bad. Like I'm waiting for the other foot to drop

Can't imagine what it's like for ya Cliff....
Hoping for the best....don't take any chances bro....just not worth it!

Be safe...

All we have so far is the heavy smoke. I repeat, our home is open to ya'll.

Cousin is in west Sonoma. She evacuated a few hours ago. Not a rural home.

Except redwoods once covered the coastline for thousands of millennia before the 21st century.
(not firematch Australian Eucalyptus.)

Tall conifers blocking the sea wind. Making the fog drop there. The bark heavy with fireproof tanins. Their roots grow deep to prevent mudslides and flooding. They soak up water and create a massive impenetrable heat sink range beneath the surface which no fire can ignite anywhere. A balance between earth and air.

But those California redwoods are nearly gone.
And so mankind attempts to re-create all the benefits of lost nature and weeps in the meantime.

All I can say is my heart goes out to you all affected, and the best of luck with the wind and fire going the other way.

The winds that cause problems this time of year aren't coastal onshore winds but rather originate from the dry inland basins and move offshore.

Best wishes to you all, be smart stay safe.

Things are looking bad again today.

This satellite photo shows the winds coming from the East, which is 180 degrees from normal.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1507824558.jpg

We were under evacuation emergency on Tuesday night (Pocket Fire - Geyserville). So we preemptively packed up the car preparing to go. On Wednesday morning with strengthening winds, we did not want to risk having fires merge and trap our routes to the south or north - so we left. We are very fortunate to have resources and good friends that will accommodate our scary dogs in Southern California. We know at least a dozen that have lost homes, and dozens more that will have their livelihoods effected.

I posted on FB the other day that, "This isn't over yet." Despite an amazing show of force and coordination by the first responders (thank you, thank you, thank you), it's all up to a capricious mother nature, wind, and chance as to what happens next.

Stay Safe.

The fires are not on the coastline. They are in inland areas that always had sparse redwood coverage and a lot of oak and scrub coverage. Besides, redwood forests burn too. I grew up in a redwood forest and all the old trees have fire scars. In 1995 12,000 acres of redwood forest burned at Pt. Reyes, right along the coast. It's usually cool and damp along the coast, but not always. A few weeks ago here on the coast it was 96 degrees with very low humidity. That would have been a bad day for a fire in our local redwood forests.

95% of the coastal redwoods are gone, and you know their roots were massive wet sponge layers to smooth out the highs and lows.
(but thank you, I stand corrected. Hope everyone is safe.)

95% of the old-growth redwoods are gone. But I think if you mapped redwood coverage in 1850 vs today, you would see very little difference, except for in small urbanized areas. But we digress. The current fires are just part of the natural process. Just as people build in tornado alley or in flood zones, we take our risks.

I have a friend who lost her niece in Santa Rosa, she was not able to get able out of the house in time. Not a rural home either. Terrible! RIP Christina.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1507843869.jpg

^^^^ Oh man....that is so tragically sad...can't imagine...

I'm so sorry to here that. I saw her pics on the Channel 2 news on Monday; they were hoping to find her. I was hopeful, but alas.

My thoughts are with you and family.

Sorry for the loss.

I have a friend in Middletown, just north of Calistoga. His house burned two years ago. He is about 80% rebuilt and the fires are again threatening his property. Can't imagine the stress.

Oh no!! If they need anything get me s note. That sucks. RIP.

Just talked to a close family friend in Healdsburg this morning, that is about 10-12 miles north of Santa Rosa if not mistaken. The winds for now are blowing the smoke in the opposite direction but of course that can change at any time.

The losses and devastation are massive, including the loss of life. I'm so sorry to hear of your personal connection to one, Gogar. Our friend was on his way out the door to volunteer at one of the shelters, I think he said that they are using a HS gymnasium in his town. :(

This is the sky from my house, a good 50 miles south of the fires. That ain't fog.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1507862617.jpg

First hand account of the Atlas Fire
 

We looked out the door at the back of our house around 900pm and could see the sky lit up and heavy smoke - downhill from us. After checking in w/ an elderly neighbor we evac'd up the hill away from the fire on Atlas Peak. We stood on a ridge on John Konsgaard's property (home and winery now lost) and watched the fires below try to fight up the hill and then get to the ridge-top below us where the 50+ mph winds were whipping....the pine trees were exploding and sending a plume 250-300' into the air. There was a solid line of fire from Pritchard Hill to the north, across the whole Stagecoach vineyards, Antinori / Antica, across CircleR and as far south down Atlas Peak Rd. as we could see. Maybe 5 miles in total? We parked up there to keep track of the fire's progress - but at around 3am we made the call to 4x4 out over the top of Atlas Peak on an old fire-break road, using the full FULL capabilities of the Landcruiser!

At present our house and vineyards have survived, but the forecast is for more 50+ mph winds from the NE tonight and SAT, so we'll see how we fare. Most of our friends and neighbors, maybe 25-30 homes, are gone.

Here's the kicker - Atlas Peak Rd access is being restricted because it is a CRIME SCENE - meaning, this is not a natural act.

The local paper ran an article about me and my neighbor - two vastly different outcomes to the saga so far. Here's the link in case you want more details -

http:// http://napavalleyregister.com/star/news/local/napa-valley-s-atlas-fire-burns-one-home-spares-another/article_70386bcf-a191-5489-8864-149badc157c2.html

For now - we're safe and still here - finger's crossed it stays that way. Our hearts go out to those less fortunate who have lost everything, or nearly everything. Well, we are not back into the house yet - we are staying away in case the big winds spark up some hot spots. We are planning on 'exhaling' on Sunday if we can up to the property. I've still got grapes hanging and am hoping to harvest next week!

Finger's crossed -

Tom
Dos Lagos Vineyards

Good luck, Tom

I wish I could send you 36 Trillion gallons of water...

We evacuated Wednesday and returned Sunday night.

Up close and personal: So much of what I’ve experienced this past week is oddly remote. Websites of satellite data, tragic photos, aircraft hurrying overhead. Today I saw this. A half burnt child’s bike next to the charred remains of her home. Overwhelming. #sonomastrong #****thisfire

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1508209145.jpg

I’m going on tour tomorrow to see what we need to fix on hwy101. Should be interesting.

Soon after the Oakland Hills Fire in 1992, which destroyed about 3500 homes, my company was hired to do narrated video-documentation of the damage on each lot. It took 4 film crews 4 months to complete the task. I had to talk about structural damage and so on. At the very first lot there was a charred tricycle in the remains of the garage. The site of it got me choked up and I had to pause and compose myself before going on. I saw a lot of stuff. Sadly, I got used to it pretty quickly.

By the way, in the first weeks, I met a lot of distraught people picking through the ashes, in tears. By the fourth month, these same people could be seen at the same sites talking excitedly with their architect about the beautiful new home they would be getting. They were all smiles. There have been tragic deaths, but for most, they will not just recover, they will come out better off in many ways. I witnessed this outcome.

Today it's santa cruz, and just now a fire in Sausalito. Hopefully quickly contained...

You mean like the BIG ONE on the San Andreas... a magnitude 8 or bigger???

I live in CA for 48 years...I have been through multiple fires, earthquakes and EVEN a flood back in early 69. We had 20 some odd inches of rain in one month on the mountain that had been burned off the summer before...there was even an article in the National Geographic about the flood in my hood. So I am nonplussed by it all.

One morning my dog was swimming in the garage...

One winter we had a windstorm that snapped Telephone poles like twigs...about 25 of em in a row along Baseline between Upland and Claremont....

How is the Chico area? Are they getting anything? Have a trip there next week and just wondering how the air/fire is in that area?

well. we are historically happy for TABS to have survived in the past..

at least this thread can still be about you.