BBB's friend reports on the Nevada fires

Thanks for this report. It´s interesting.

Hi BBB.

My best wishes to your friend. I suppose you already know this website -- Active Fire Maps?



In the PNW we are hit every year by wildfires, both man-made and natural. There is a growing belief that fires may not be all bad. (Hard to believe when you're in the midst of one.) Meanwhile, family and friends have held summer jobs fighting them -- most of that is just hard, dirty work -- but there are some fire-fighters killed every year and the stories are horrendous. I hate to be near a fire or burned-out area... the smell is awful, as your friend said, and the smoke worse.

On this latest map, I was shocked at how many fires are burning in Alaska. I assume those are going to be allowed to burn, but haven't checked.

Piffka
Piffka, thanks for the fire map. Glad to see New Mexico doesn't have a current fire so far this month. We've already had several this year.

You may recall my reporting on the Bosque (forrest) fire on the Rio Grande River area last year that was about four miles from my home. It's really scary when they get that close.

BBB

You're welcome, BBB. If you look at that map, my horse was born and raised on a ranch near fire #13. I do remember there was a fire close to you. I hope there are none this year.

My county and all those adjacent issued a burning ban last weekend. Recreational fires can only be made in suitable rings and they must be surrounded by 25 feet of non-burnable ground cover. We built a patio that complies with the regulation and use a copper firepit.

Evening campfires are so enjoyable -- to me, it is as though another person has joined the circle. There is the crackling and flickering of the flames and the delicious smell of burning wood to keep up that side of the conversation. I can see why people of all ages would want them. If I were in NM, I'd have a chimnea and use mesquite wood whenever I could.

Piffka
Piffka, when Diane and I were at Home Depot a couple of days ago, she was looking small chimneas so I expect to see one in their back yard before long. Dys, the skinny-ass cowboy would be glad to have a fire to sit around in the evening, especially if it keeps the mosquitos away. Right now the only thing smoking is Diane's credit card.

BBB

Nevada Wildfire Is 30 Percent Contained
Nevada Wildfire Is 30 Percent Contained
Fri Jul 16, 2004
By BRENDAN RILEY, Associated Press Writer

CARSON CITY, Nev. - An army of firefighters, helped by higher humidity and diminishing winds, gained partial control over a wildfire that burned 14 homes and forced evacuations of hundreds of others.

"I think it's done its worst, I really think it has," said the fire incident commander, Marty Scheuerman. "Now we can do our job."

In California, meanwhile, a 10,000-acre wildfire forced 200 teenagers from two juvenile probation camps early Friday and continued to threaten rural hamlets on the edge of the Angeles National Forest. That blaze was 40 percent contained.

The 7,100-acre Carson City fire was 30 percent contained early Friday. Until the night before, Scheuerman said, "the fire had dictated to us what it was going to do, instead of us dictating to it."

But years of drought makes the fire dangerous and unpredictable, fire analyst Sandy Munns said.

"All the fuels out there are extremely dry. It wants to burn," he said.

The wind-whipped fire, with flames reaching 100 feet high, has also burned a business and 25 garages, barns and other outbuildings since it broke out before dawn Wednesday on the western edge of Nevada's capital. Five people have been injured.

On Thursday, the fire raged out of control through or near two northwest Carson neighborhoods with about 600 homes, but was stopped at a ridge separating the area from the Washoe Valley to the north.

All the homes had to be evacuated, and several hundred other homes and businesses were threatened by the fire, said Christie Kalkowski of the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center.

The cause of the fire remains unknown, but Carson City sheriff's deputies were looking for teenagers who may have been in a canyon area Tuesday night, before the fire started.

The blaze destroyed exclusive homes in the canyon and at one point burned to within half a mile of ?- but didn't threaten ?- the governor's mansion.

Firefighters were aided by more than two dozens planes and helicopters, including three heavy tankers.

Gov. Kenny Guinn said the fire hazard made it imperative for federal officials to quickly complete examinations of heavy air tankers recently grounded in nearby Minden. Once cleared to fly, he said those planes would be just minutes away. The big tankers fighting the fire flew in from distant locations to try to save homes and businesses.

"It just makes you sick," Guinn said Thursday. "You can't put a price tag on the misery these people who lost their homes will go through."

"You never think it's going to be you," said Robin Darney, who lost her home. "It's a grief I hope I will never feel again. But my children are safe."

The Angeles National Forest fire had already forced 600 people from their homes, and has destroyed at least one motor home and a building since it began Monday.

The youngsters from the two probation camps, who were convicted of nonviolent crimes, were evacuated after flames came within miles of the facilities, said Ken Kondo, spokesman for the county Probation Department.

Southwest winds blew embers along the smoldering ridgeline and expanded the fire Thursday, wiping out advances that 1,000 firefighters had made earlier in the day.

In Alaska, fire crews continued to fight 75 separate blazes, seven of them 100,000 acres or larger. One fire had spread to within 15 miles of Fairbanks and expanded to half the size of Rhode Island, blackening more than 379,000 acres.
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On the Net:
National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov

Re: Piffka


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