Stinkin' wildfires

[dr2e]

Our state is burning up and if it wasn't for all the good folks doing their best to contain them we would be know as the "everbrown state". A lot of help is coming in from all over but washington isn't the only place this is going on. Let's hope that someday we see the wet stuff coming down from the clouds to help make us green once again.

[techj]

I never wanted the rainy season to be in full force more than right now...we really do need it.

Yesterday & today we have a lot of smoke & haze from the fires in the Vancouver and PDX areas.

[blairmckenzie1]

I work for Cal Fire here in Northern CA. We have 15 or so engines on their way up. Best of luck, stay safe

[dr2e]

I work for Cal Fire here in Northern CA. We have 15 or so engines on their way up. Best of luck, stay safe

Lucky for us you are getting a little break to be able to send help as you know how much it is appreciated. I mean when when they are calling for anyone to volunteer the situation is beyond bad. Hopefully the folks on the front lines are able to avoid anymore mishaps that have already occurred. Unfortunately my body is too broke down otherwise I would head on over to do whatever they would need me to do.

[SiG Lady]

I just sent Youngeyes a lengthy PM describing the state of the state here in the Northwest, fire-wise. The smoke finally blew into Eugene last night and today it looks like brown fog--visibility is GREATLY reduced until the wind shifts from the ocean once again. My sinuses are killing me.

We've simply had NO rain for ages, the snow has melted off the mountains, and water levels have plummeted everywhere here. Those of us who've been here 20 or more years are stunned by the changes we've seen in the past few years and we are not the least bit amused. We miss the moisture and the safety and beauty it brings to this region, not to mention the stability of the local/regional economy. In a word, it's AWFUL. And I feel very sorry for the people in Washington State, who seem to be suffering needlessly and seriously.

[dr2e]

Ahhh! The air is clearing a bit and rain is on the way. Amazing how fire folks from all over the world have come to help. Too bad so much devastation has already occurred though.

Edited August 26, 2015 by dr2e

[SiG Lady]

Much clearer here as well. Thankfully.

[Youngeyes]

Stay safe everybody. With all that smoke and particulate matter in the air, you might want to use some lubricating eye drops. Very comfortable and soothing.

[bountyhunter]

California is burning from top to bottom too. It will leave us a scorched earth dirt plain waiting to get hammered by the rains from what has been described as "the Godzilla of El Ninos" coming next fall. Half the state will probably slide into the sea when the mudslides fire up.

Edited August 27, 2015 by bountyhunter

[Wild Gene]

I live on the other side of the state. The smoke has been here, it seems like, all summer. Some days visibility has been under 1/4 mile.

We were lucky. Our fire was early in the year, and we had almost all the resources available in the state. Only about 6,000 acres, and I was really lucky, only about 40 acres of my place burned, and that that did was mostly grassy steep hillsides and brushy draws. I did not loose many trees at all. I had over 100 Hot Shots and firefighters sleeping on our place several nights. We had our dozer, there was a contract dozer, an excavator, and several water tenders and engines on site.

This is a market problem as much as anything. All the regulations now associated with trying to even clean up your own land has made it cost prohibitive, let alone selectively log it. That combined with the closure of any mill within 100 miles has really hurt us.

Again, we were lucky, the fire basically burned around three sides of our land, but many of my neighbors lost millions in timber, had they been able to log.

WG

[Modoc]

It is starting to ease up in Norther CA, right now. Temperatures are dropping and the humidity is up, so they are getting a better handle of the burns here. The real problem is that they are mostly in some REALLY rough terrain and climax forest types. Yesterday was bad though, had to use a respirator when leaving the office because the smoke was affecting my asthma.

Blair, stay safe and keep doing the good work. It doesn't look like Ill be doing damage assessments on the highways yet.

[SiG Lady]

We have two or three back-to-back, low-pressure systems settling over the Northwest, and it rained hard for a short while around 3 a.m. today. It's due to rain seriously tomorrow; temperatures to drop drastically now through the week. This will assist fire fighting.