Western Wildfires

[eagle1462010]

USA TODAY: We love our national parks so much they're in disrepair and both parties agree on a fix

 

[Old Rocks]

Again, like fucking hell. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And the BLM and Forest Service are a part of that, managing our lands for the best use for all of us. Of course, liars like you would love to see those lands go to the corporations and very rich. Then we would only have wealthy Chinese and Saudis hunting and fishing on them. That is the case of many privately held ranches right now.

The amount of land in the West that the BLM has will grow. As the land becomes drier, there will be abandoned ranches, and someone has to manage the land. People like you that try to make the Federal Government separate from the people are doing Putin's bidding, wittingly or unwittingly.

 

[Old Rocks]

USA TODAY: We love our national parks so much they're in disrepair and both parties agree on a fix

Yes, we need to increase the funding of our National Parks in a major way. Forget the orange clown's stupid wall, and fund our parks.

 

[skookerasbil]

USA TODAY: We love our national parks so much they're in disrepair and both parties agree on a fix

Yes, we need to increase the funding of our National Parks in a major way. Forget the orange clown's stupid wall, and fund our parks.

Actually we need to do both....people with both feet planted firmly on the ground know exactly why the modern day environmentalists are for open borders. The wall will go up or Trump will be ridden out on a rail by the voters....they'll elect somebody who will build the wall. Voters think its 1,000 times more important than the parks!

Take a gander at any poll on "voter concerns". Any poll.....funding the parks .......nowhere to be found.

 

[eagle1462010]

Again, like fucking hell. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And the BLM and Forest Service are a part of that, managing our lands for the best use for all of us. Of course, liars like you would love to see those lands go to the corporations and very rich. Then we would only have wealthy Chinese and Saudis hunting and fishing on them. That is the case of many privately held ranches right now.

The amount of land in the West that the BLM has will grow. As the land becomes drier, there will be abandoned ranches, and someone has to manage the land. People like you that try to make the Federal Government separate from the people are doing Putin's bidding, wittingly or unwittingly.

States are this country. Your major malfunction. Federal Parks would still be there just not as massive as beforehand.

More land. lol. They feds own most of the land anyways.

Your perception of daddy govt is clear, just as much as it you want it bigger. Current fire was caused by a car but on federal land where the BLM office of mismanagement failed to contain it. Failed to build fire breaks. State of California even worse in doing so.

An ounch of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[longknife]

Dr. Daniel Swain on Twitter

 

[skookerasbil]

Again, like fucking hell. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And the BLM and Forest Service are a part of that, managing our lands for the best use for all of us. Of course, liars like you would love to see those lands go to the corporations and very rich. Then we would only have wealthy Chinese and Saudis hunting and fishing on them. That is the case of many privately held ranches right now.

The amount of land in the West that the BLM has will grow. As the land becomes drier, there will be abandoned ranches, and someone has to manage the land. People like you that try to make the Federal Government separate from the people are doing Putin's bidding, wittingly or unwittingly.

States are this country. Your major malfunction. Federal Parks would still be there just not as massive as beforehand.

More land. lol. They feds own most of the land anyways.

Your perception of daddy govt is clear, just as much as it you want it bigger. Current fire was caused by a car but on federal land where the BLM office of mismanagement failed to contain it. Failed to build fire breaks. State of California even worse in doing so.

An ounch of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

But he thinks if we drop the temperature 0.3 degrees will stop the fires!

 

[waltky]

Australia And New Zealand helping out w/ western US wildfires...

Western Fire Crews Get An Assist From Australia And New Zealand
August 7, 2018 - Resources are wearing thin as wildfires burn in 11 western states. Firefighters are getting an international assist from Australia and New Zealand. Teams from the two countries spent the weekend in Idaho training before being deployed to the West Coast to battle flames in California, Oregon and Washington.

Before they hit the fire lines, the 140-member team got an orientation and some last-minute training at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. Across the western U.S., fires are burning on roughly 1.6 million acres. The National Preparedness Level is at five — the highest the index goes. That means there's a high level of wildfire activity across the country and that many resources have been committed to fight fires. Level 5 also lets fire managers call in help from the military and abroad. The last time firefighters were brought in from Australia and New Zealand was 2015.

Techniques and tools

In a field at the complex near the edge of town, training specialist Matt Skudlarek leads a practice involving personal fire shelters. Deploying one is a decision of absolute last resort when a fire is closing in. Skudlarek outlines a scenario where flames are bearing down on a group from the north. He points south, down the field, to a couple of cardboard boxes and says that's a good area to deploy the shelters. The drill begins and the visiting firefighters bolt down the field. "Let's go for it," Skudlarek calls out. "Drop those packs!" The firefighters drop to the ground and wrap themselves in what looks like a cross between a bright orange tarp and a sleeping bag. For most, it's the first time using a shelter. While standard issue here, they're uncommon in Australia and New Zealand. With only 25 shelters to go around, the group has to meticulously refold and repack them before the next bunch can practice.

Firefighters conduct a controlled burn to defend houses against flames from the Ranch Fire, as it continues to spread toward the town of Upper Lake, Calif., last week.​

Peter McKechnie is watching the group perform the fire shelter drills. He's the liaison between the two South Pacific nations and the U.S. He says the personnel that've traveled half way around the world aren't the rank and file. "They're all supervisory in some ways," McKechnie says. "There's people looking after helicopters, people looking after crews. So, it is a mix in terms of the skills that have come across." The firefighting partnership between Australia, the U.S., and New Zealand dates back more than 50 years. McKechnie says ties are strong between the three nations and that the U.S. has answered the other countries' calls for assistance in the past. In a big warehouse across the base, another group of firefighters collect gear in what looks like a buffet line of equipment.

Taking in the scene is Chris Eagle, a liaison officer from the Melbourne area. He says fighting fires Down Under is similar to here, but there are some differences — like terminology. "We were laughing because if we ask for a tanker at home, we get a truck with wheels on it," Eagle says with a smile. "If you ask for a tanker in America, you'll get an airplane to drop water on top of you. So it's things like that that if you don't know those little, little things, it gets a bit embarrassing when you get the wrong thing you didn't think were coming."

"Ready to get out there"

See also:

Remotely Piloted Aircraft Become Mainstay of Wildland Firefighting
7 Aug 2018
-- Five years after a proof-of-concept mission to use the California Air National Guard's remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) in support of domestic wildland firefighting operations, the MQ-9 Reaper has developed into a key asset in California's fight against wildfires, including the Carr and Mendocino Complex Fires, which are currently burning in Northern California. "It's a technology I never thought I'd see," said Jeremy Salizzoni, a fire technical specialist with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) who embedded with the Cal Guard's 163d Attack Wing at March Air Reserve Base, California, during 2013's devastating Rim Fire.

More than a quarter of a million acres burned in August 2013 as the Rim Fire raged in Tuolumne County, California, to become the state's third largest wildfire on record, at the time. More than 100 structures were lost in the blaze, which took nine weeks to fully contain. Eleven days after the Rim Fire started, the wing launched a first-of-its kind mission to overfly the fire with an MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted reconnaissance aircraft and beam back real-time video footage of the fire to Salizzoni and wing intelligence analysts working in an operations facility at March. Through the Predator's footage, Salizzoni, who was used to driving for hours through rugged terrain to access overlook points and put eyes on the leading edge of a fire, could see any area of the fire he wanted, in real time and without ever leaving the operations facility.

An aircrew from the 163d Attack Wing, California Air National Guard, fly an MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft to the Mendocino Complex Fire in Northern California, Aug. 4, 2018, during a mission to support state agencies.​

The remotely piloted aircraft's thermal imaging camera provided a view of the fire unlike anything he'd ever seen. Traditional aerial assets are important, but encounter limitations due to smoke, fuel, altitude and field of view, he said. "It was such a dramatic change from anything I'd seen in my career," Salizzoni said. "It was like being blind and then having vision in the blink of an eye." Salizzoni and his colleagues knew they had a new tool in their firefighting toolbox. "We saw things over the course of that fire that you couldn't have made up," he said. "I don't think there's a better intel resource at our disposal right now." During its eight-day emergency activation for the Rim Fire, the 163d Reconnaissance Wing -- the unit's name at the time -- logged more than 150 hours of fire support and was credited with helping firefighters expedite containment.

In the five years since, the 163d has changed its name and the kind of airplane it flies, but one thing hasn't changed: the wing's dedication to domestic disaster response missions right here at home. The unit remains impassioned to innovate and provide first responders with instantaneous insight into what a fire is doing. RPAs are no longer just trying to prove their worth, said U.S. Air Force Maj. Mike Baird, the senior intelligence officer at the 163d. The wing's MQ-9 Reaper RPAs -- a big-brother to the recently-retired Predators -- are an in-demand incident awareness and assessment asset preferred by California's civil authorities when disaster strikes. The wing has supported more than 20 wildfires since 2013, but it takes more than just airplanes, Baird said. Keeping California safe takes a wing-wide effort. "What we've been doing behind the scenes from maintenance and communications to refining our deployment and personnel processes has led up to our ability to provide an unprecedented level of MQ-9 support," Baird said.


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See also:

Active-Duty Army Engineers Being Sent to Fight California Wildfires
6 Aug 2018 | About 200 troops from the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion at JBLM will get a course in becoming "wildland firefighters."

About 200 active-duty troops from the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, will get a quick course in becoming "wildland firefighters" to battle the deadly wildfires devastating wide swaths of California, the Pentagon said Monday. The 200 troops, plus command and support staff, will get one day of classroom training from firefighters at JBLM this week and then two more days of field training once it's decided which of the 18 major wildfires burning across California they will be asked to help contain. The expectation is that the JBLM engineers will be on the ground in California by Aug. 13, said Army Col. Rob Manning, the Pentagon's director of press operations. "The soldiers will be outfitted with wildland fire Personal Protective Equipment and all of the gear they will need to serve as wildland firefighters," U.S. Northern Command said in a statement.

A U.S. Air Force plane drops fire retardant on a burning hillside in the Ranch Fire in Clearlake Oaks, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018.​

The fledgling wildland firefighters from JBLM will be organized into 10 teams of 20 soldiers each, Manning said, but they won't be sent to battle a blaze on their own. While supporting the overstretched California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), they "will be accompanied by experienced wildland fire strike team leaders and crew bosses from wildland fire management," NORTHCOM said in a statement. It is not the first time active-duty troops from JBLM have been sent to help with California wildfires. Last August, JBLM soldiers gave support in battling blazes in northern California, said Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. The 18 large wildfires burning across California have consumed about 559,000 acres, destroyed homes and forced thousands to evacuate.

One of the wildfires, the "Carr fire" near Redding, California, on the Sacramento River about 120 miles south of the Oregon border, has claimed seven lives, destroyed more than 1,000 homes and scarred more than 163,200 acres, according to CAL FIRE. In Redding, the Northern California Health Care System (NorCal) of the Department of Veterans Affairs has battled to keep open the Redding Outpatient Clinic, which serves about 11,000 veterans in the area, despite Redding clinic employees losing their homes and being forced to evacuate. About 177 of the clinic's 199 staff have continued to report to work, NorCal said last Friday. "The VA NorCal staff in Redding has set a standard in their commitment to local veterans," said VA NorCal Director David Stockwell in a statement. "Despite personal loss in many cases, they've managed to not only keep open the Outpatient Clinic's doors, but travel deep into the community to ensure displaced veterans are receiving the care they need and deserve."


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[waltky]

More than 100 large wildfires in U.S. as new blazes erupt...

More than 100 large wildfires in U.S. as new blazes erupt
11 Aug.`18 - Six large new wildfires have erupted in the United States that pushed the number of major active blazes nationwide to over 100, with more expected to break out over the weekend sparked by lightning strikes on bone-dry terrain, authorities said on Saturday.

More than 30,000 personnel, including firefighters from across the United States and nearly 140 from Australia and New Zealand, were battling the blazes that have consumed more than 1.6 million acres (648,000 hectares), according to the National Interagency Coordination Center. “We are expecting that there will be more fire-starts today,” Jeremy Grams, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma, said in an interview on Saturday.

People near the Glen Ivy Hot Springs resort watch flames from the Holy Fire in Corona, Calif. on Friday. The fire, which has spread to more than 21,000 acres and displaced 20,000 people, was only 29 percent contained Saturday.​

He said dry thunderstorms, which produce lightning but little rain, are expected for parts of the Rocky Mountain region, while the U.S. northwest has critical fire weather conditions that include strong winds and low relative humidity. Firefighters were battling another day of extremely hot temperatures and strong winds on Saturday, the National Interagency Coordination Center said. The fires have scorched states from Washington to New Mexico, with California among the hardest hit.

A mechanic helping to fight the Carr Fire near Redding in northern California was killed in a car crash on Thursday, the eighth person to die in that conflagration. The 181,000-acre (73,250-hectare) Carr Fire has destroyed nearly 1,100 homes. About 100 miles (160 km) southwest of the Carr Fire, about 3,500 firefighters are battling the Mendocino Complex Fire, which has burned 325,226 acres (131,614 hectares) as of Saturday and was the largest fire on record in California.

More than 100 large wildfires in U.S. as new blazes erupt

 

[eagle1462010]

USA TODAY: We love our national parks so much they're in disrepair and both parties agree on a fix

Yes, we need to increase the funding of our National Parks in a major way. Forget the orange clown's stupid wall, and fund our parks.

Your malfunction is thinking our government is a entity of it's own.........The people make up the the country............States are made up of the people........and they are capable of managing their own land in the State without daddy day care............

Power to the States.....less to the Feds...........

 

[Old Rocks]

USA TODAY: We love our national parks so much they're in disrepair and both parties agree on a fix

Yes, we need to increase the funding of our National Parks in a major way. Forget the orange clown's stupid wall, and fund our parks.

Actually we need to do both....people with both feet planted firmly on the ground know exactly why the modern day environmentalists are for open borders. The wall will go up or Trump will be ridden out on a rail by the voters....they'll elect somebody who will build the wall. Voters think its 1,000 times more important than the parks!

Take a gander at any poll on "voter concerns". Any poll.....funding the parks .......nowhere to be found.

November. The GOP is going to reap what they have sown. Then the orange clown will get the deserts he so justly deserves. No wall, and no one imprisoning little children and infants.

 

[AZGAL]

It is about time that California gets those desalination plants working to provide needed moisture there.

 

[eagle1462010]

USA TODAY: We love our national parks so much they're in disrepair and both parties agree on a fix

Yes, we need to increase the funding of our National Parks in a major way. Forget the orange clown's stupid wall, and fund our parks.

Actually we need to do both....people with both feet planted firmly on the ground know exactly why the modern day environmentalists are for open borders. The wall will go up or Trump will be ridden out on a rail by the voters....they'll elect somebody who will build the wall. Voters think its 1,000 times more important than the parks!

Take a gander at any poll on "voter concerns". Any poll.....funding the parks .......nowhere to be found.

November. The GOP is going to reap what they have sown. Then the orange clown will get the deserts he so justly deserves. No wall, and no one imprisoning little children and infants.

Same dang junk as other Presidents have done............but your little catch and release program is dead..........Obama's legacy is in ashes........his pen and a phone BS...............

America wants our border secure. We don't agree with you........You go ahead and run on that platform and higher taxes.........Good Luck.....you're going to need it.

 

[eagle1462010]

It is about time that California gets those desalination plants working to provide needed moisture there.

Countries all over the world are using them............they work.........but they'd rather spend the money on a high speed train to line the pockets of their favorite donors.................

 

[AZGAL]

Many fires have been started by careless idiots and that is unfortunate. Thank you to the fire fighters.

 

[eagle1462010]

The fires will happen in the west.........whether man caused or by nature.............prevention is the key...........controlled burns and fire breaks......

The enviro wacks have made it near impossible to do what needs to be done to stop the dead fuel from piling up.........and now they see the consequences of their stupid politics................

 

[Billy_Bob]

Here is a bit of good news..

The blocking highs are breaking down and water from the Gulf and cooler northern flows may soon be giving California some much needed relief.

 

[Billy_Bob]

USA TODAY: We love our national parks so much they're in disrepair and both parties agree on a fix

Yes, we need to increase the funding of our National Parks in a major way. Forget the orange clown's stupid wall, and fund our parks.

Actually we need to do both....people with both feet planted firmly on the ground know exactly why the modern day environmentalists are for open borders. The wall will go up or Trump will be ridden out on a rail by the voters....they'll elect somebody who will build the wall. Voters think its 1,000 times more important than the parks!

Take a gander at any poll on "voter concerns". Any poll.....funding the parks .......nowhere to be found.

November. The GOP is going to reap what they have sown. Then the orange clown will get the deserts he so justly deserves. No wall, and no one imprisoning little children and infants.

Your going to be sooooooo disappointed...


The only blue wave your going to see is the blue tidy bowl wave....

 

[skookerasbil]

USA TODAY: We love our national parks so much they're in disrepair and both parties agree on a fix

Yes, we need to increase the funding of our National Parks in a major way. Forget the orange clown's stupid wall, and fund our parks.

Actually we need to do both....people with both feet planted firmly on the ground know exactly why the modern day environmentalists are for open borders. The wall will go up or Trump will be ridden out on a rail by the voters....they'll elect somebody who will build the wall. Voters think its 1,000 times more important than the parks!

Take a gander at any poll on "voter concerns". Any poll.....funding the parks .......nowhere to be found.

November. The GOP is going to reap what they have sown. Then the orange clown will get the deserts he so justly deserves. No wall, and no one imprisoning little children and infants.

Your going to be sooooooo disappointed...


The only blue wave your going to see is the blue tidy bowl wave....

Yep....in 2016, if you watched posts by progressive activist types like Old Rocks et. al. youd think Trump had zero chance of victory. These climate bozo's have the political IQ of a handball.

 

[Treeshepherd]

Recent California fires have been started by PG&E power lines, hot cars pulling over on dry grass, and the Redding fire was started by a rancher's poorly installed electric fence.

The area where I lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains ( 2013-'15) burned in 2017 because of arson.

A dozen years ago a mother started a huge wildfire in California because she wanted her firefighter son to have work.

Not much u can do about that stuff