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Getting Smoky Around Here

Thanks for being our on the spot reporter Vaughn :thumb: Talk about being on the front of it all:eek: Glad things are "cooling" down somewhat for you and your neighbors.
 
I kept watching the news. I knew from your updates you were still ok.
I watched CNN, Fox, and a few other news channels covering the fires.
I was waiting for one reporter to say, "while canvassing the neighborhoods around the fire zone, we came across the most peculiar sight this reporter has seen in a while. A home, with 38 stools on the roof, almost like sentrys.
Would love to question that homeowner."
 
allen levine said:
..."while canvassing the neighborhoods around the fire zone, we came across the most peculiar sight this reporter has seen in a while. A home, with 38 stools on the roof, almost like sentrys.
Would love to question that homeowner."
Click to expand...

If I was smart, I could've been selling front row seats for the show, huh? :D
 
Just wanted to say we have been watching your posts closely and glad to hear it's calming down. Don't ever want to experience that! At least Tornadoes are over quickly. No waiting for days on end. :rolleyes:
 
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Good News !

I just came across this thread and HOLY COW Vaughn !:eek: Those are some scary looking fires. I heard about it on the news but you had to live it ! I sure am glad things worked out well for you. Thanks for all the photos and updates and for looking after the firefighters. I don't think we could burn anything around here if we tried-way too wet and green. We have had record rainfall this year. Wish I could send some out your way to cool things down.
 
Vaughn I was dipsticking the site the last couple of weeks. Mainly to see you were ok. Boy I am glad everything has turned out ok for you. Those pictures sure are scary.

I really like the picture of the poster you showed. Its real good to see the guys and gals on the fire engines are appreciated.

With all the celebrity that there is in California, I think these guys deserve the recognition same goes for the boys in blue.

Thanks for posting this post. It gave us a more real account of the fire than the TV did in my opinion.:thumb:

Those water bombers are somthing Eh! But they would bankcrupt a state if they were used all the time.


Just thought on a lighter note, boy you must be relieved that the Viking furniture made it through the fire. Imagine having to remake all of it. LOL.
 
Rob Keeble said:
... With all the celebrity that there is in California, I think these guys deserve the recognition same goes for the boys in blue.
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We (the neighbors and I) made it a point to tell the firefighters on our street how much we appreciated them being there. I told one of the guys "You probably hear this all the time, but we really appreciate what you guys go through for us." He said "Well, we appreciate hearing it. It never gets old." ;) I can't really describe the emotions that go through me when I see the picture of that poster. I've seen that type of sign on TV many times, but this one really hit home.

Rob Keeble said:
... Those water bombers are somthing Eh! But they would bankcrupt a state if they were used all the time.
Click to expand...

No worries, our state is bankrupt already. :p

Rob Keeble said:
... Just thought on a lighter note, boy you must be relieved that the Viking furniture made it through the fire. Imagine having to remake all of it. LOL.
Click to expand...

My BIL was at the house when we got the first evacuation order. As we were rushing around loading my SUV, I jokingly told him he was on his own if the Viking furniture didn't make it. :D

Although the fires are still burning, they are not threatening much except forest land. It's barely mentioned on the front page of the LA Times today. Things are pretty much back to normal. I washed all four of our vehicles yesterday afternoon. Of course, there were ashes all over all of them again this morning. :doh:
 
Vaughn McMillan said:
We (the neighbors and I) made it a point to tell the firefighters on our street how much we appreciated them being there. I told one of the guys "You probably hear this all the time, but we really appreciate what you guys go through for us." He said "Well, we appreciate hearing it. It never gets old." ;) I can't really describe the emotions that go through me when I see the picture of that poster. I've seen that type of sign on TV many times, but this one really hit home.

Those water bombers are something Eh! But they would bankrupt a state if they were used all the time.

No worries, our state is bankrupt already. :p
Click to expand...

Rob and Vaughn,

Those guys will never get enough appreciation in my book. I used to be one of them, running around the state in our yellow Nomex outfits, back when it was called the CDF instead of CalFire. Wildland firefighting is a special version of hell, and back then we worked 120 hours a week (five days on, two days off), for peanuts. I'm sure not much has changed, given the budget problems.

What's amazing to me is how little has changed in firefighting technique since the 70's. On the LA times site, I saw pictures of guys carrying chainsaws, shovels, and pulaskis for clearing firelines, humping 80 pound backpacks of hose up the hills, manning the line as the fire approaches. In fact, the only thing that's changed is they used to drop the phoschex from prop planes, and now they have jets. I guess all the DC-3s eventually crashed, and they ran out... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
Great pics, Stu. Thanks for the link. We came real close to buying a house in Vogel Flats (pic #17) when we bought our place.

Welcome%20to%20California.jpg
 
Vaughn and I are about 30 miles apart as the crow flies. The fire has burned close to 150 square miles of forest.

But something odd about the weather conditions during this fire has been how normal they are, a consistently light wind off the ocean blowing northeast. Usually we seem to have a Santa Ana wind condition during our fires. These winds are caused by a high pressure ridge over the southern Nevada and Utah border area that pushes winds opposite what we normally experience. I only saw the smoke haze one day. This satellite pic shows why Denver saw more smoke than I did (according to the news). Our planet never stops boggling me.

califfires_tmo_2009242_lrg.jpg

Link to the original image http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/40000/40011/califfires_tmo_2009242_lrg.jpg
 
Firefighters, what a rare breed.

Incredible stuff they have to deal with.

When they work, they WORK.

I tip my hat to every fire fighter in this country, and will never forget how NYC's dept was devastated 8 years ago almost to this day.

(I cant imagine having to trek up and down mountains first, then have to spend hour upon hour in an oven hauling heavy equipment)
 
cCool footage, Dan. Can you imagine the panic if it had looked like that in real time? :eek:

For those of you keeping score, the fire is still burning, although no structures are currently in danger. It has burned in excess of 160,000 acres (250 square miles) and as of yesterday was about 71% contained. We can still smell the smoke at our house late and night and in the early morning.
 
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