California Fires Starting Up Again

[Yazata]

It isn't just 16 US states that are sending help. The US has asked Australia and NZ for help based on some fire mutual aid pact that our countries have.

"The National Multi-Agency Coordination Group (MAC) in the US formally requested assistance over the weekend, seeking 188 specialist firefighters from Australia and New Zealand.The firefighters would be deployed for up to 42 days in the California area."

Apparently the need is for firefighters with experience fighting fires in rugged rural terrain. As Australia has more than its own share of wildfires, they have lots of firefighters with that kind of experience. Reportedly Australian firefighters were in British Columbia last year, fighting some big Canadian wildfires there. American firefighters have deployed to Australia in the past when fires have been especially bad. I think that a number of our fixed wing fire-retardant bombers fly to Australia for the Australian summer (which is our winter).

In 2015 the Australians (and some Kiwis) were in Idaho. "The 2015 contingent included 15 Division Supervisors; 15 Task Force/Strike Team Leaders; 15 Helicopter Managers; 10 Heavy Equipment Bosses; 10 Safety Officers; 4 Regional Liaison Officers; and two National Liaison Officers. Fifteen of the total were from New Zealand."  

http://wildfiretoday.com/2018/07/31/unit...-for-help/

So if SS encounters firefighters speaking Strine, this is the reason why. Tell'um 'G'day'.

[Secular Sanity]

It isn't just 16 US states that are sending help. The US has asked Australia and NZ for help based on some fire mutual aid pact that our countries have.

"The National Multi-Agency Coordination Group (MAC) in the US formally requested assistance over the weekend, seeking 188 specialist firefighters from Australia and New Zealand.The firefighters would be deployed for up to 42 days in the California area."

Apparently the need is for firefighters with experience fighting fires in rugged rural terrain. As Australia has more than its own share of wildfires, they have lots of firefighters with that kind of experience. Reportedly Australian firefighters were in British Columbia last year, fighting some big Canadian wildfires there. American firefighters have deployed to Australia in the past when fires have been especially bad. I think that many of our fixed wing fire-retardant bombers fly to Australia for the Australian summer (which is our winter).

In 2015 the Australians (and some Kiwis) were in Idaho. "The 2015 contingent included 15 Division Supervisors; 15 Task Force/Strike Team Leaders; 15 Helicopter Managers; 10 Heavy Equipment Bosses; 10 Safety Officers; 4 Regional Liaison Officers; and two National Liaison Officers. Fifteen of the total were from New Zealand."  

http://wildfiretoday.com/2018/07/31/unit...-for-help/

So if SS encounters firefighters speaking Strine, this is the reason why. Tell'um 'G'day'.

We're screwed.  I can't see shit.  It's so smokey and the wind is really picking up.

Addendum:  'We have forgotten what we need to do to prevent it'

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

[Secular Sanity]

We had another one flare up just north of the others.  I've hiked there. Now that is some rugged country. 

http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents...Index/2187

[Yazata]

Do you know what I do remember, though, Yazata?  There weren't as many fires but prescribed burning was ongoing.  That's something that I haven't seen in awhile.

Yeah. I think that part of the reason why it's gotten so bad in recent years is a combination of overgrowth caused by absence of periodic natural fires and drought conditions that have made everything extraordinarily dry.

So controlled burns every now and then to control the worst of the buildup might be necessary.

We're screwed.  I can't see shit.  It's so smokey and the wind is really picking up.

Addendum:  'We have forgotten what we need to do to prevent it'

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

We had another one flare up just north of the others.  I've hiked there. Now that is some rugged country. 

http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents...Index/2187

That's scary. I was hoping that your smoke was just the wind changing direction and blowing smoke from miles away in your direction.

[Secular Sanity]

That's scary. I was hoping that your smoke was just the wind changing direction and blowing smoke from miles away in your direction.

Oh, no, I’m good.  Its north of me. I meant "we" as in our county and state.

You should see our command center.  It’s packed.  Reporters are everywhere.  Most of them are trying to hit on the climate change.

"A common thread in the California fires this year is extreme heat, the likes of which the state has never seen in the modern historical record.

In the past, there has been some reluctance among scientists to cite climate change as a major factor in California’s worsening wildfires. Human-caused ignitions and homes being built ever closer to forests have played a large role. But the connection between rising temperatures in California and tinder-dry vegetation is becoming impossible to ignore, according to experts who study climate and wildfires." [source]

Our oceans are warmer due to natural weather patterns. You can swim here now, which is good for the real estate market, but bad for the abalone.  But we’re not really seeing record highs like they’re reporting.

[Yazata]

Down here in the bay area, temperatures might actually be slightly below average. We certainly haven't seen any dramatic heat waves, which usually happen occasionally every summer for as long as I can remember.

The big climate change over the last ten years or so has been drought, reduced rainfall.

I'm still not convinced that our current drought is all that unusual in the big picture. California has only has accurate weather records for the last 150 years or so.

[C C]

I'm still not convinced that our current drought is all that unusual in the big picture. California has only has accurate weather records for the last 150 years or so.

In terms of geological and tree-ring evidence for the state, there may have been repeated cycles of fifteen to twenty year megadroughts going back for over a dozen centuries, with a couple of them lasting over 200 years. Figuratively, it might be like building a civilization on the back of a giant, sleeping turtle without taking into account that it would wake up someday and crawl off to a potentially less hospitable environment. Western culture just happened to explode there in numbers during an unusual oscillating stretch of [generally] favorable, local climate conditions.

The continent as a whole lost its original, fire-management stewards when the indigenous population collapsed. They shaped the landscapes far more than early European examiners ever realized.

Native American use of fire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Ame...se_of_fire

~

[Yazata]

The good news: The southernmost of the two 'Mendocino Complex' fires (the 'River fire') is now more than 50% contained. It's still in the hills immediately above the Lake County county seat of Lakeport, but they apparently have a stout fire line in and are confident enough to have started letting residents back into the city. (It's more of a large rural town.) The River fire is now at ~ 47,000 acres.

https://local.nixle.com/alert/6721314/

Lake county sheriffs messages

https://local.nixle.com/lake-county-ca-s...epartment/

The bad news: The more northerly of the two fires (the 'Ranch fire') is growing explosively and heading southeast, blown by the winds. It's now passed entirely through Lake county and is threatening Colusa county where evacuations are occurring. Most of the small communities along the northeast shore of Clearlake are under evacuation orders, though the fire hasn't reached them yet (it's close in some places) and may not, given where the fire is headed. The Ranch fire is now at ~ 207,000 acres.

The Carr fire is "only" 154,000 acres at this point, though it's still the most destructive of the bunch since it went into Redding (a city of 100,000) and took out ~ 1000 homes.   

The number of structures lost to the River and Ranch fires is still surprisingly low (68 residences and 62 other buildings), since most of the fire is in wildland areas. But extensive areas are threatened (including all of Lake county) if the winds shift or the fire lines don't hold. Cal Fire puts 15,300 structures at continuing risk.)

There are informative maps showing fire location as of this morning and current evacuation areas for the Mendocino Complex fires at the bottom of the Sunday morning Cal Fire report in the link below (scroll down)

http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/pub/cdf/image...5_3872.pdf

[Yazata]

Lake County News has a video report here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti...TjYj-ej2mo

Here's one of the most detailed descriptions I've seen yet, from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group:

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6073/

[Secular Sanity]

Three men arrested for refusing to leave marijuana farm during fire evacuations

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