Fires

[Jackel]

Anyone else dealing with the smoke from the Mill Fires?
http://calfire.blogspot.com/2012/07/...-acres-35.html
Looks like its only 35% contained and expected to continue till like the 20th. Damn!
Was only what 4 yrs ago when we had that real bad year. Least it's not 600 fires in the state.
But it sure is smokey.

[admode]

Yep it was following the lightning bust in 2008 that we had all those fires. Wasn't 600 though, it was 2100!

[admode]

Which was also a couple weeks after we had the humboldt fire in paradise. Busy year for that area.

[Cobra5.0Jeep]

Its just the beginning.

[Dirt-Fab]

Originally Posted by Cobra5.0Jeep

Its just the beginning.

I was with my parents looking at properties in Grass Valley and Placerville and you came up. They asked if I remembered the kid with the Jeep down the street and that you were a firefighter in that area now. Did you get on somewhere?

I agree on the just the beginning comment. With all the staffing reductions across the state I see some major fire disasters in the next few years. Stockton used to send several rigs for OES deployment each year, but they barely have enough functional engines in the city now- even with the station closures and staff cuts. (I think there is around 8 engines over 20 years old still in the city.) The only one they plan to send out is the OES rig on loan that the HAVE to staff. Most surrounding agencies have also cut staffing levels. The depth of available personnel to pull from just isn't what it used to be.

[admode]

The staffing levels are very low for Calfire, but remain high in the forest service. And the forest service has no problem throwing everything it has at a catastrophic incident. While I agree this will be a bad fire year, the bodies on the fire line won't be the problem.

[admode]

Also, remember 2008 followed 3 years of drought. The fires were starting in may or june. This last winter was very dry, but this summer isn't as dry as 2008. It will be a bad year, but not the worst we've ever seen.

[Cobra5.0Jeep]

Originally Posted by Dirt-Fab

I was with my parents looking at properties in Grass Valley and Placerville and you came up. They asked if I remembered the kid with the Jeep down the street and that you were a firefighter in that area now. Did you get on somewhere?

I agree on the just the beginning comment. With all the staffing reductions across the state I see some major fire disasters in the next few years. Stockton used to send several rigs for OES deployment each year, but they barely have enough functional engines in the city now- even with the station closures and staff cuts. (I think there is around 8 engines over 20 years old still in the city.) The only one they plan to send out is the OES rig on loan that the HAVE to staff. Most surrounding agencies have also cut staffing levels. The depth of available personnel to pull from just isn't what it used to be.

Yeah i am a Senior Firefighter with the Forest Service up here.
Staffing is an issue with state and local but the FS is still running strong, i agree the amount of personnel won't be an issue it'll be the fires getting big quickly that will be. If personnel does become an issue the FS will start pulling from different states. When i was in Colorado last week we were told that 50% of all the FS Firefighters in the USA were in Colorado. This fire is just showing whats to come if people are idiots like the 2 morons throwing fireworks that started it.

[admode]

Originally Posted by Cobra5.0Jeep

Yeah i am a Senior Firefighter with the Forest Service up here.
Staffing is an issue with state and local but the FS is still running strong, i agree the amount of personnel won't be an issue it'll be the fires getting big quickly that will be. If personnel does become an issue the FS will start pulling from different states. When i was in Colorado last week we were told that 50% of all the FS Firefighters in the USA were in Colorado. This fire is just showing whats to come if people are idiots like the 2 morons throwing fireworks that started it.

Exactly. I also work for the circus, in timber, and have seen far away districts help on smallish fires.

[89YJBuilder]

The Mill fire is only a few miles from us, as the crow flies." We would have to have a pretty consistant S.W. wind for it to get to us though. I did see this morning that it is very close to Letts lake and I have a lot of good memories teaching my sons to fish there. Not a lot can be done though. If it actually makes it to Indian vally or on a parallel to it is when we will get concerned. Well we just watch, wait and listen to the scanner and ham.
At least it's not like the Barkerville burn of '96! That one stopped at the ridge line headding the valley where we live. Had structure protection camping on or pasture land.

[bobthetj03]

Yesterday wasn't bad with the wind change, but today it changed again and LC is a giant ashtray!

[89YJBuilder]

Yep it's smokey and I aint talkin bout bears.

[89YJBuilder]

The valley is really smokey today it's bad enough that the swamp cooler is pumping some smoke into the house. The wind is blowing it right at us. It is still a ways away though. Well we"ll wait and see what comes.

[bobthetj03]

Well, now it looks like Cow Mt. is on fire! Gonna be a bad fire season this year!

[admode]

Where is cow mt? A bunch of fire Rigs had their lights going heading east on 70.

[FuzzyZ]

Cow is up on the west side of Clear lake near Ukiah. Cal fire says the fire there is 150 acres burned 10% contained.

[admode]

Gotcha. Nowhere near me. The one close to me is at the base of squaw Peak south of Milford.

[FuzzyZ]

saw in the rubicon section that there is/was a fire on the Tahoe side near Cadillac hill. had the trail closed. no word on if it has been put out and re-opened yet. sucks for the people up there on the jamboree right now.

/forum/rubicon-trail/1081559-rubicon-trail-delay-sunday-7-29-a.html

[Cobra5.0Jeep]

Edited