Wildfire 2021

[TBS]

Thanks for the insights…

Edit to add - we are getting smoke from the Lava fire her in Central OR

[ill-advised strategy]

Sierra county just banned all outdoor fire on private property except for those in propane bbqs. This includes the use propane camping stoves.

[Lone Star]

I FUCKING LOVE FIREWORKS AND FREEDOM!

The freedom to not have my neighborhood burnt down is somewhat more important than my freedom to shoot fireworks during bad fire danger.

this is some kind of logical fallacy because we all know that we can be fire safe *AND* celebrate freedom simply by firing off our fireworks in the safe confines of our bathtubs.

[Lone Star]

Sierra county just banned all outdoor fire on private property except for those in propane bbqs. This includes the use propane camping stoves.

In Taylor, OR, there is currently a large tent in a parking lot to sell fireworks as part of a high school fundraiser. The properties on 3 sides of the parking lot burned last year in the Almeda fire. 80% of the high school students lost their homes in the fire.

safest place in a recent burn is in the black

[summit]

this is some kind of logical fallacy because we all know that we can be fire safe *AND* celebrate freedom simply by firing off our fireworks in the safe confines of our bathtubs.

SAFETY FIRST *COUGH COUGH*

[ill-advised strategy]

It’s just bad form, really bad form not to have a fire fully secured before everyone leaves. I’m totally embarrassed for them.

One night I was snoozing on the dispatch center floor, 3am…resource orders complete, 209s complete… when the phone and radio blew up all at once. The guys had bedded down on their desert fire, and somehow it had woke up and was taking a hard run at the nearest town. “Send everybody!”
Busy hour of solo frantic midnight dispatching ensued, they knocked it down before anything important burned, but it was a close one.

[Meadow Skipper]

^ I’m not saying fires don’t get up and go when they’re thought to be caught - happens all the time - but in your story there were people there and they got on it and shit got done. That one coulda been pretty bad if the crew had gone home.

Nice work on your part.

[MakersTeleMark]

When Safeway is $5/hr more than wildland, there's a joke there somewhere.

[summit]

I'm not saying its right or wrong, but that type of problem has been around for a while. When I worked ambulance we used to say that if we wanted to make real money we would go bag groceries instead. I was making $7.89/hr in 2006 as an EMT-IV on a local government 911 ambo and the grocery store was paying $11/hr.

There are always jobs that have enough draw that people do it for peanuts... but when someone else is offering real money... time to raise the pay or you'll have no workers, or you'll just train the next batch...

[KQ]

City of Bend has put an end to fireworks sales this year due to the heat and dry conditions.
Local fireworks vendors say the ruling is Anti-American https://ktvz.com/news/bend/2021/06/2...-of-emergency/

The annual Burning of the Butte will go on however

W2, Tri-cities and Umatilla have all issued some sort of ban


Our local FD took out a full page ad urging people to pass on the fireworks. They suggested safely storing them for a grand New Year's celebration.

[BCMtnHound]

Well fuck. Most of you heard of that small town in the Fraser Canyon in BC setting all the crazy temp records in Canada? Well, the town is gone now. Fire raced through around 3hrs ago. About 250 residents, no idea yet if any didn't make it out. Most reporting they got out with just the clothes on their back, fire ripped through so fast. No idea how the blaze was started yet.
Fuck.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...2021-1.6085919

[KQ]

Well fuck. Most of you heard of that small town in the Fraser Canyon in BC setting all the crazy temp records in Canada? Well, the town is gone now. Fire raced through around 3hrs ago. About 250 residents, no idea yet if any didn't make it out. Most reporting they got out with just the clothes on their back, fire ripped through so fast. No idea how the blaze was started yet.
Fuck.

Sounds like Malden in EWA last September. 80% of the town was destroyed in a day.

Horrible.

[TBS]

Oh fuck!

[neufox47]

Well fuck. Most of you heard of that small town in the Fraser Canyon in BC setting all the crazy temp records in Canada? Well, the town is gone now. Fire raced through around 3hrs ago. About 250 residents, no idea yet if any didn't make it out. Most reporting they got out with just the clothes on their back, fire ripped through so fast. No idea how the blaze was started yet.
Fuck.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...2021-1.6085919

Lytton broke the temperature record one last time.


/sorry

[BCMtnHound]

There's several First Nation communities near junction of the Thompson and Fraser. Hope the 1000 or so people there weather this storm. As long as they prevail, Camchin (Lytton) remains.

[SKIP IN7RO]

No idea how the blaze was started yet.

Considering current events, St. Mary's would be the first place I look.

[Meadow Skipper]

Well fuck. Most of you heard of that small town in the Fraser Canyon in BC setting all the crazy temp records in Canada? Well, the town is gone now. Fire raced through around 3hrs ago. About 250 residents, no idea yet if any didn't make it out. Most reporting they got out with just the clothes on their back, fire ripped through so fast. No idea how the blaze was started yet.
Fuck.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...2021-1.6085919

Oh shit.

[BCMtnHound]

Considering current events, St. Mary's would be the first place I look.

Preliminary reports suggest a spark from one of the two rail lines. Interestingly, one of those line's (CN) largest shareholder is Bill Gates.

[old goat]

Truckee has banned outdoor fires during fire season for years, and even propane is forbidden during red flag warnings.
If I were of a cynical mind I would think that maybe all the glorification of wildland firefighters in the media over the years has been promoted by the agencies to attract people to a dangerous job that pays shit. Like being a marine. Not that the glory isn't justified.

[bodywhomper]

Truckee has banned outdoor fires during fire season for years, and even propane is forbidden during red flag warnings.
If I were of a cynical mind I would think that maybe all the glorification of wildland firefighters in the media over the years has been promoted by the agencies to attract people to a dangerous job that pays shit. Like being a marine. Not that the glory isn't justified.

Does the truckee ban include the use of propane stove fires at private campgrounds? How do the public campgrounds respond? What about outdoor cooking at restaurants, such as smokers?

The fire ban in Sierra County includes propane camping stoves at private campgrounds and non-propane smokers, even in restaurants.

A similar ban may come up for Nevada County. I’m pushing my supervisor to make an exception for legal private campgrounds and the guests’ use of propane camping stoves.

[Bunion 2020]

How many people here commenting have actually spent any time on a Wildland fire cutting in line? I was a FF2 for 3 seasons and spent maybe 40 hrs on a line on a fire, a very tame fire.

It sucks and 15 bucks an hour is still way low. Extreme respect for those who are the real deal.

[old goat]

Does the truckee ban include the use of propane stove fires at private campgrounds? How do the public campgrounds respond? What about outdoor cooking at restaurants, such as smokers?

The fire ban in Sierra County includes propane camping stoves at private campgrounds and non-propane smokers, even in restaurants.

A similar ban may come up for Nevada County. I’m pushing my supervisor to make an exception for legal private campgrounds and the guests’ use of propane camping stoves.

The Truckee ordinance doesn't specifically ban propane camping stoves. It exempts campgrounds and commercial cooking. During red flag events all outdoor flames are banned. No exemptions are listed.
https://www.truckeefire.org/fire-ban-faq

I once beat on a smoldering ground fire with a wet sweatshirt on an island in Northern Ontario until the lumberjacks showed up in a canoe with a pump and a firehose. I was paid 5 dollars and change (Canadian) by the Province of Ontario. Does that qualify me to comment? Regardless, I too have great respect for wildland firefighters and for the other kind as well. As far as protecting me from harm, I place them both above military and police and feel they should be paid accordingly, and a season on the fire lines should qualify them for a full year's worth of health care. (Everyone should qualify for a full year's health care, every year, but that's another thread.)

[Kevo]

It's crazy, but most wildland firefighters didn't get health insurance until after the Yarnell Hill Fire. That fire sparked enough headlines that the Obama administration finally pulled the trigger on health insurance.

I tried to get private health insurance while I was a wildland firefighter (pre Obama care) and got denied by every health insurer in the state because I had an ortho surgery two years before and was considered "too risky" to insure. There was a time when I was really sick and couldn't see a doctor because I straight up didn't have health insurance and no primary care docs would see me without it. My only option was to go to an ER and deal with a huge bill that I couldn't afford. That experience was a deciding factor for me not to stay in.

I also knew several people who got hurt in the off season, went bankrupt due to lack of insurance and couldn't work anymore.

In addition to health insurance being year round, every fucking season of fire should count as a year towards retirement whether someone is classified as permanent or not. There are plenty of people who grind for years trying to get a perm spot. The "lucky" ones who make it then start a 20 year clock, often after 8 or 10 or more years of intense labor.

The retirement benefits clock should start on day one of season one for everyone, in the same way it does for structure firefighters across the county.

[snapt]

Its a shame the IAFF doesn't get along with FWFSA. I don't know the background but Shitberger declared them rivals so who knows if its legit or not.

[KQ]

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