Wildfire ‘24

[evdog]

Small historic town of havilah in Kern county burned down yesterday. Borel fire

I was just in that area a few weeks ago. A couple of my favorite trails in the Breckenridge mtns have burned as well. Bummer.

[John_B]

I called this little guy in on the drive home from the store today. I wasn't the first person but the local crews got on it pronto and it was out in 30 min or less. A boat trailer lost a wheel and threw sparks before it slid to a stop. Fortunately it was a calm day and a good bit cooler than it has been.

[The Reverend Floater]

Good news on the Bench Lakes Fire being 72% contained. A few days if intermittent rain can make a big difference.

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[Meadow Skipper]

Good article on the stunning rate of spread of the Park Fire in NorCal. And Stephen Pyne knows.
Why the Park Fire exploded so quickly

That fire spread rate makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

[frorider]

Thx for the link MS. Surprised article didn’t mention the shithead who started it: https://www.redding.com/story/news/l...d/74551655007/

[TBS]

I believe in rehabilitation over retaliation, but if any crime called for a public stoning, this would be one.

[Toadman]

Thx for the link MS. Surprised article didn’t mention the shithead who started it: https://www.redding.com/story/news/l...d/74551655007/

The law of consequences. He's about to find out.

[byates1]

Wow that is... insane. Wtf. Dude will be spending quite a bit of time locked up... again..

[Boissal]

I believe in rehabilitation over retaliation, but if any crime called for a public stoning, this would be one.

The article mentions that dude has priors, sex crimes against a child under 14 and robbery with great bodily injury.
Dude's a serious POS.

[XXX-er]

hey if any of you wildfire/ forestry guys are into the good boots

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085815146240

Matt Webb a local is making them by hand, he was in Nelson but moved back here, seems to be a nice looking product and Canadain prices, but still fucking expensive eh

[skaredshtles]

Alexander Mountain fire has grown to around 2000 acres overnight. Highs down in Loveland forecast to push 100F today and mid to high 90's the rest of the week. Also - red flag warning for this afternoon.

Fack.

[thedude2340]

Alexander Mountain fire has grown to around 2000 acres overnight. Highs down in Loveland forecast to push 100F today and mid to high 90's the rest of the week. Also - red flag warning for this afternoon.

Fack.

This was yesterday into last night behind the house. Can confirm it’s hot as balls and dry, wind is just ok but the evac areas keep creeping closer to west part of town. Another one apparently just started in Boulder county, near Lyons I believe.

[North]

Hoping for the best, but if anybody here ends up being affected by these fires and needs support feel free to PM me.

Many of you know I lost everything aside from the clothes I was wearing and the car I evacc'ed in during the Marshall fire in '21. I definitely don't have all the answers for dealing with fire losses, but I now know more than anybody would want to about recovery resources, insurance, tax implications etc.

[cat in january]

Concerned about the strain and burnout on the hotshot crews who are fighting so much for so long.

[skaredshtles]

This was yesterday into last night behind the house. Can confirm it’s hot as balls and dry, wind is just ok but the evac areas keep creeping closer to west part of town. Another one apparently just started in Boulder county, near Lyons I believe.

Latest report is 3500+ acres.

[Meadow Skipper]

Concerned about the strain and burnout on the hotshot crews who are fighting so much for so long.

It’s a serious and almost unavoidable component of hotshot life. But at least the pay is really bad.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politic...ting-hotshots/

In the peak of fire season, around the month known as "Snaptember," emotions tend to spin out. As fire seasons grow more intense, so do their effects on firefighters. In early 2020, Aaron Humphrey, the respected superintendent of the neighboring El Dorado Hotshots, published a resignation letter addressed to his crew. In it, he described how worsening wildfires had helped to break down his personal life. "The day the fire tornado came and everyone did the best they could I lost the mental fight," he wrote in reference to 2018's Carr fire, which burned into Redding, California. "I can't describe it in words but from that moment on I was different. I became someone I don't recognize and pretended a lot.... For the first time in my career I considered just driving the crew home. I thought about quitting. The past incidents and guilt and sorrow all hit me at once. I felt dead inside that night. I wanted my wife and family and a different life. Instead I sucked it up…. By not being able to correctly express what I had felt and how bad it was actually distanced me from my family more. I became an even worse husband and father. I feel like I was leading multiple lives. I needed real help."

https://grist.org/wildfires/federal-...nia-wildfires/

Among firefighters at the career stage most important to those agencies — those sharp, hardworking, and experienced enough to take on the responsibility of helping to run a crew— the myriad sacrifices the job requires increasingly outweigh its rewards. Public service and a dismal hourly rate can become fragile justifications for half-year chunks of absenteeism from the lives of spouses and children, not to mention the extreme toll on the bodies and minds of forestry technicians. Chronic injuries abound, as does psychological damage. I can’t cite hard numbers because the federal government does not compile them, but among wildland firefighters, there is ubiquitous acknowledgment of problematically high rates of divorce, chronic sleep problems, depression, PTSD, and suicide.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...dfire-fighters

Fire seasons are now, on average, 78 days longer than they were in 1970, causing additional exposure to stress and trauma for the thousands of wildland firefighters working across the country. In many parts of the west, warmer temperatures, severe droughts, historic fire suppression, poor forest management and a growing number of people living in the wildland-urban interface have created an unsustainable crisis.

In 2020 alone, Colorado experienced its three largest wildfires in state history, and more than 4m acres (16,000 sq km) burned in California, where the August Complex fire was named the state’s largest ever. This year is on pace to be even more destructive.

Fighting wildfires is a physically exhausting and risky job that requires extended time away from home and regular confrontations with hazardous situations. It’s also not particularly well compensated: entry-level federal wildland firefighters earn a base pay below $14 an hour. In comparison, the same job with the California department of forestry and fire protection nets around $26 per hour. (In general, municipal and state firefighting agencies tend to pay better and offer more robust behavioral health services.)

Federal wildland firefighters earn low pay for a job that is dangerous and exhausting.

Many wildland firefighters are seasonally employed, working for six or so months a year. Depending on their positions, they may work 16 hours a day, up to 14 days at a time, with two mandatory days off between “rolls” (their term for those two-week shifts). Sometimes, calls come in so quickly that firefighters don’t have time to kiss their spouses or children goodbye. Sometimes they fight fires – and watch houses burn – in their own communities.

These firefighters rely on 1,000 hours or more of overtime and hazard pay to cover their bills throughout the year. Some sleep in their cars during the season because housing is too expensive in the areas where they work. In June, Joe Biden called firefighter pay “unacceptable”. His comment was part of an announcement that some federal firefighters would receive temporary pay raises to at least $15 an hour this year.

The steady accumulation of mental strains – financial stress, a demanding work environment, isolation from loved ones and the pressure to manage public expectations – creates the perfect storm for mental health problems to emerge.

“The more traumas that you have layered on top of each other, the more likely that you will develop PTSD or depression,” says Dr Angie Moreland-Johnson, a clinical psychologist and co-director of the Center for Firefighter Behavioral Health in Charleston. “Wildland firefighters are seeing close calls and really scary situations, so if they’re having those layer on top of each other, then that risk for mental health concerns just keeps doubling.”

[skaredshtles]

Latest report is 3500+ acres.

5000+ now. [emoji51]

[skaredshtles]

And this morning... [emoji35]

[smmokan]

Is there an all-out fire ban in Colorado yet? Because if not, there needs to be ASAP.

[concretejungle]

5000+ now. [emoji51]

Mother fucker. I hope all my friends in Lyons and PWS are ok.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Is there an all-out fire ban in Colorado yet? Because if not, there needs to be ASAP.

It doesn't work like that. I don't believe there is any state wide jurisdiction.

As our neighboring counties on the front range have experienced fires the last several days, we have received some questions regarding how we evaluate and implement fire restrictions in Grand County.
Grand County continues to use our scientific fire matrix to assess our need for fire restrictions. This scientific approach utilizes data specific to Grand County as data can vary geographically. The data is trending upward and the Sheriff and fire officials are closely monitoring the data as it changes. The latest data is scheduled to arrive towards the end of this week and the Sheriff is planning to discuss these updates with the Grand County Board of County Commissioners during their regular board session on Tuesday, August 6th.

Most people I know that have lived through fire really consider campfires something you kinda don't get in the middle of summer. But for many campers, its not negotiable. I take a lot of dirt bike rides Sunday morning. I've started taking this collapsible bucket to put out fires.

So short story. People don't give no fucks about no fire ban.

[The SnowShow]

How everyone here is doing ok. All these fires are brutal to hear about.

I’m out of town (Denver) but what is the view west like? I assume you can see all three fires lined up south to north? That must be eerie.

[Foggy_Goggles]

I could see the pyrocumulous from the Fraser River Valley yesterday evening.

[Skistack]

Wife took this north of Lafayette yesterday.




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[zion zig zag]

It doesn't work like that. I don't believe there is any state wide jurisdiction.

The latest data is scheduled to arrive towards the end of this week and the Sheriff is planning to discuss these updates with the Grand County Board of County Commissioners during their regular board session on Tuesday, August 6th.

Does the Sheriff drive around in a brush truck and cosplay as a firefighter?