Wildfire 2021

[altasnob]

This weekend's rain event shows rain in the Cascades, but mainly in the North Cascades and not much in Oregon. None in Northern California. Then it gets really hot again next week.

[KQ]

The photos and videos from Greenville are sad to see. The incident command evening video update said that many residents there had chosen to ignore the previous mandatory evacuation and firefighters had to shift to life saving mode and evacuate those people rather than structure protection.

It looks like the River Fire burned into the community of Chicago Park, located between Colfax and Grass Valley. Extent of damage is unclear.

Greenville = gone.


Battalion Chief Sergio Mora watches as the Dixie Fire tears through the Greenville community of Plumas County, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. The fire leveled multiple historic buildings and dozens of homes in central Greenville.

'We lost Greenville.' Wildfire decimates California town

[Viva]

Pix from this AM.

I've driven 89 many dozens of times, but I don't remember this town.

[Meadow Skipper]

Pix from this AM.

I've driven 89 many dozens of times, but I don't remember this town.

It’s a very small town between Quincy and Lake Almanor, closer to Lake Almanor. I met my kid’s mother while working for the USFS there.

[bodywhomper]

It’s a very small town between Quincy and Lake Almanor, closer to Lake Almanor. I met my kid’s mother while working for the USFS there.

Sorry

[altasnob]

Smoke forecast for Northern CA, Central Valley, and Tahoe looks awful. Here's Saturday at 5 am:

[splat]

89 hopscotches at hiways 88 and 70, so it's easy to miss.

[PB]

Smoke forecast for Northern CA, Central Valley, and Tahoe looks awful. Here's Saturday at 5 am:

Interesting. I live in that little clear patch in dead central CA that has been blessed with delightful delta breeze/marine intrusion, but its goes away tonight and the smoke rushes in.

[splat]

I can't help but think that Colfax fire has the potential to take out of upper Grass Valley and North San Jaun by Saturday if the winds hold steady. There's a shitton of people squatting in the mountains.

[climberevan]

astasnob, where did you find that model? I haven't had much luck finding that same one...

[altasnob]

https://rapidrefresh.noaa.gov/hrrr/

or, more specifically

https://rapidrefresh.noaa.gov/hrrr/HRRRsmoke/

Or, here is an interactive map. Near surface smoke is what you want to check for what its like on the ground.

https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/index.html

The only problem is the forecast only goes out 24 or 48 hours or so. I can't find any forecast farther out than that. I've read it's because smoke forecasting is just too difficult. Way to many variables at play.

[el hefe]

Shit shit not good

[el hefe]

Nope not good

[el hefe]

Got a crazy time lapse of the Pyro cumulus on my insta. Lots of thunder going on

[highangle]

My stepsister and her husband got out of Greenville with their dog and 2 vehicles this morning. Everything else is gone to the Dixie fire.
She worked for the City for 20-odd years. That's gone too along with the rest of the tax base and probably her retirement...

I just got a forwarded text thread, but evidently they thought they dodged the bullet [like they did with the Paradise fire] - firefighters were using their place as a command center - but the wind changed and doubled and the fire flared so fast everyone had to flee in a storm of embers...They only had maybe 5 minutes notice from a dead sleep and the house was burning when they left.
After the sun came up, they could see there wasn't a stick left standing in the whole valley

[MTT]

Highangle. Sorry to hear about your family’s loss
It’s big loss. People don’t realize how beautiful norhthern California is. Winding 2 lane roads in the trees or along a river. These little hamlets some don’t have a name. Nothing more than a 50s motel a gas station and dinner. And they are burning. It will never be the same. And there’s Colfax area. All the people up along the Yuba river. ?? People who keep to themselves own a piece of land with a small trailer on
All the way along 6. Clear to Sodasprings. Bad But you could see it commg

[abraham]

Holy fuck highangle, glad they're alive.

[Skidog]

Alright so I watched that meh movie "Those Who Wish Me Dead" with the ever hot Angelina Jolie. In this movie she plays a wildland firefighter. I just want to know from all you current and ex wildland fire folks. Ever work on a crew with a chick as hot as Angelina? I know there are a few ripping chick skiers who firefight in the summers, but I still dont know that they are Angelina caliber...just thought she was an interesting pick for the role...

[old_newguy]

Alright so I watched that meh movie "Those Who Wish Me Dead" with the ever hot Angelina Jolie. In this movie she plays a wildland firefighter. I just want to know from all you current and ex wildland fire folks. Ever work on a crew with a chick as hot as Angelina? I know there are a few ripping chick skiers who firefight in the summers, but I still dont know that they are Angelina caliber...just thought she was an interesting pick for the role...

Everything about Hollywood wild land fire movies is an accurate depiction of the actual job, including the women.

[Meadow Skipper]

Got a crazy time lapse of the Pyro cumulus on my insta. Lots of thunder going on

Follow requested - @paisalto

[Meadow Skipper]

+ vibes, highangle. That’s a terrible thing. Did your s-s live in town or out in the valley?

Alright so I watched that meh movie "Those Who Wish Me Dead" with the ever hot Angelina Jolie. In this movie she plays a wildland firefighter. I just want to know from all you current and ex wildland fire folks. Ever work on a crew with a chick as hot as Angelina? I know there are a few ripping chick skiers who firefight in the summers, but I still dont know that they are Angelina caliber...just thought she was an interesting pick for the role...

Maybe on a helitack crew, never a jumper.

Everything about Hollywood wild land fire movies is an accurate depiction of the actual job, including the women.

Heh.

[splat]

Don't let old newguy fool you. The chicks on the fireline are HOT. They parachute in wearing bikinis and this makes the ground crews run, humping it up the mountains to the fireline, where they work harder to earn the affection of these smoke jumper hotties. That's why the camps have communal showers where you get to see them naked after you pulled 96 hours straight.
Then the guys line up for blowies once they wash the soot off. What else would motivate them to work a life endangering job detrimental to their health that doesn't pay shit? This was the only logical move after the FS discovered everyone had figured out how to squeeze 186 hours onto a timecard meant for recording a 12 hour shift.

[Skidog]

Everything about Hollywood wild land fire movies is an accurate depiction of the actual job, including the women.

damnit...i got into the wrong line of work then....are the ratios right? Seems like it would be like a hot chick in a ski town....tons of dogs always sniffing round.

[old_newguy]

To get a real, accurate feel for the profession I recommend the 1998 classic Firestorm, starring Howie Long. It’s probably as close as it gets to depicting the job and relationships.

[TBS]

Oh, and this little Nugget...
A crew on the early days of the Grandview Fire north of us was denied service at McDonalds in our little burg. The nicest place in town learned of this and opened their doors on an off-night to feed them gratis.

Firefighters given free meal after being denied service at Sisters McDonald's
https://www.kptv.com/news/firefighte...b581e127d.html

Chops Bistro FTW
https://www.yelp.com/biz/chops-bistro-sisters

As it turns out, this whole dustup was based on social media bullshit. Pasting the entire article from our local paper to help set the record straight.

McDonald’s never turned away firefighters
By Jim Cornelius, News Editor
Tuesday, August 3, 2021 1:30 PM
Sisters McDonald’s has taken a severe beating in the news and on social media for the past month — for something that did not happen.

A viral Facebook post, amplified by a story run on KTVZ-21, led people across the nation to believe that the local McDonald’s had refused service on July 13 to firefighters battling the Grandview Fire, who were then treated to a steak dinner at another Sisters restaurant. But a timeline and evidence from security cameras, confirmed by Oregon Department of Forestry officials, demonstrates that, as owner Scott Acarregui asserts, “McDonald’s did not at any point refuse service to ANY firefighters.”

He told The Nugget, “We refused service to the general public at times to serve the firefighters. But no firefighter was ever turned away.”

Acting State Forester Nancy Hirsh confirmed that in a statement provided to Acarregui: “I have not seen or heard anything that indicates that your restaurant refused to serve firefighters assigned to the Grandview Fire.”

Acarregui reconstructed a detailed timeline of events backed by camera footage that demonstrates that allegations that firefighters were not served or were turned away were false.

In an interview with The Nugget, David Morris, Oregon Department of Forestry liaison for the Grandview Fire Camp confirmed that Acarraqui’s account of events is accurate and explained what appears to have sparked the controversy.

“These were contract firefighters that were not ODF firefighters or municipal firefighters that were coming off their shift,” he said.

They seem to have misperceived the actions McDonald’s staff were taking to accommodate a late evening flurry of activity. One firefighter apparently assumed that the restaurant’s lobby gate was closed. However, Acarregui reported, “the gate was partially open to allow firefighters to come in to be served.”

Acarraqui further noted, that, “The shift manager said she was happy to serve them individually but suggested a group order of similar products to make service faster. The firefighters declined and asked if they could order individually. The shift manager said yes, and began taking orders.”

Some firefighters left McDonald’s when they were invited to enjoy a meal at Chops Bistro in Sisters.

“I think, in the big scheme of things, the firefighters who came through had a misunderstanding about what McDonald’s was trying to do to help them,” Morris said. “Their view of it wasn’t accurate. They did not understand what was going on and got frustrated. They were complaining to their wives and girlfriends, who sent out inaccurate information.”

That inaccurate information, posted on Facebook, quickly went viral, and the story was picked up by the local NBC affiliate, KTVZ-21, who ran a story that itself propagated across the country.

The impact was significant.

Initially, calls came in from the local area asking why the alleged incident had occurred, Acarregui said. Then calls turned nasty.

“People were using such inappropriate language to our managers, to our crew people,” said Acarregui, who noted that many crew members are under 18. “Then it started to escalate to the point where we got specific threats to the safety and well-being of our crew.”

A YouTube video containing the Z-21 story has been viewed 1.3 million times. As the story went viral and was picked up by other media, calls started coming in from all over the country.

“Most are just spiteful and inappropriate to my crew,” Acarregui said.

Three employees quit because they felt intimidated or distressed by the harassment. The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office was contacted, and has been providing extra patrol for the security of the restaurant and its employees.

“These people are stressed out,” Acarregui said.

Acarregui, who grew up in the local area, said that he is proud of his team, many of whom have worked for him for a long time.

“We just want to go back to normal,” he said. “I just want my people to feel valued and supported by the community they serve… My employees are busting their butts to take care of everybody… It makes me sad, the way they’ve been treated. They don’t deserve this. No one deserves this.”

He said that his focus currently is on being supportive and “making sure that they understand that they did nothing wrong.”

Morris said that the Sisters McDonald’s has been a good partner with firefighting teams, which makes the incident of July all the more unfortunate.

“McDonald’s of Sisters has been such a huge supporter of the wildfire camps,” Morris said. Dealing with a surge of firefighting crews is challenging, Morris said, and, “McDonald’s has done an extremely good job of it over the years.”

The incident demonstrates how destructive an errant social media post can be.

“It’s very unfortunate that it went as viral as it did,” Morris said.

He said that he encourages members of firefighting teams who have any issue in a community to take it to staff like himself in the fire camp to handle, not to social media.

“We’ll do it in a manner that is fair and respectful to everyone,” he said.

Acarregui said that he understands that one of the Facebook posts that started the firestorm was deleted and its contents retracted by the poster. He said the McDonald’s PR firm is working with Z-21 and “it’s positive and they’re going to make it right.”

However, he recognizes that it is difficult to unwind a social media thread once it’s out in the world.

“Once it’s shared a thousand times or more, you can’t unshare those,” he said.

https://nuggetnews.com/Content/Curre...JZllIEFjBcr1qQ