West Coast Fire Thread

[RZehr]

Today we spotted a wildfire that just got started. A bunch of us neighbors grabbed water trailers, shovels and backhoes and got it under control just in time. Burned a bunch of junipers and sagebrush. If it would have gotten away a neighbors house would have been burned, most likely. And as one guy put it, good thing we didn’t wait on the wild lands fire crews; they’d have let it burn for ten days before deciding to put it out. Eventually the BLM fire crews moseyed on up in their unripe green tomato colored trucks, after the fire was put out by neighbors.
Today is pretty smoky from fires south of here. We also had a 35-50 mph wind cone blasting through this evening. Yesterday and today have been 105+ degrees.

After we had the fire under control, I found out that one of the guys is a preacher, originally from N.C., now from O.K. He came out to preach in I.D. and O.R., and is staying at a house near the fire. Said he knew some Overholt Mennonites in N.C.

[temporal1]

2023

WASHINGTON / ‘This is far from over’: Sourdough wildfire unlikely to be contained until October
https://www.thecentersquare.com/washing ... d7f13.html

Lots of active fires in WA, OR, Western Canada.
In addition to devastation in Maui.

My grdaughter+i got a birds-eye-view of the Sourdough fire about a week ago from an AA flight.
It was spectacular. The thickest smoke i’ve ever seen IRL, in pictures, films. Unnerving.
It’s not far from Leavenworth, a fav tourist spot.

i might be able to load a photo she took. i’ll work on it.

[RZehr]

Yes. Today is one of our smokiest days of the year so far.

[temporal1]

Yes. Today is one of our smokiest days of the year so far.

Smoke adviseries here, Seattle area. Not too bad so far. That could quickly change. Some years have been bad.

[temporal1]

My grdaughter took this picture from American Airlines. AA506 CLT-SEA

i hope you can zoom in on the smoke. So thick.
There are more big fires in the pic, too.


Sourdough Fire Update - August 15, 2023
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-public ... st-15-2023
^^includes map

(Newhalem, Wash.) -- The Sourdough Fire started with a lightning strike on July 29 near Diablo in the steep and rugged terrain of Ross Lake National Recreation Area, 7 miles northeast of Newhalem. The Sourdough Fire is estimated at 2,953 acres and is 11% contained. .. ..

[temporal1]

Maui
114 reported dead, 850 still missing

ABC Chicago / 'Too much to bear': Incalculable emotional toll of Maui wildfires as death toll rises to 114 / -2min

[Josh]

And Kelowna, BC. Seems a lot of playgrounds for the wealthy are burning down. Of course, the working class people who have to actually live there are the ones suffering.

[RZehr]

After a week of 100 degree days, we’ve had 5 different wildfires start locally. One neighbor completely lost his house. We went over, but there wasn’t much to do but watch it burn and wait for fire trucks. New pickup was lost too, since the keys weren’t in it.
Yesterday’s fire started on in a vehicle on the road and quickly burned 700 acres of rangeland. They were using airplanes and a couple helicopters, taking water from a lake.
North of us one fire grew to over 7,000 acres in less than 24 hours.

[Szdfan]

We had a bad grass fire about a mile from me a couple of months ago, but have generally been rather fortunate this year.

[RZehr]

Cow Valley Fire in Malheur County

73,727 acres (According to the Oregon Fires and Hotspots Dashboard)
0% contained
2 structures burned
30-50 homes threatened in the Brogan area
Highway 26 is closed between Ironside (milepost 231) and Brogan (milepost 254)

https://www.centraloregondaily.com/news ... d6253.html