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News: Creek Fire: National Guard Helicopter Crews Rescued trapped campers (Oregon,Washington having wildfires as well)


Arcadia
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Creek Fire rescue continues 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/national-guard-attempting-rescue-dozens-trapped-amid-california/story?id=72873871

“The National Guard is working to rescue dozens of people who are still trapped near the Creek Fire in Fresno County, California.

There are multiple locations where people are unable to get out; the record-high heat, low humidity, wind conditions and rugged terrain have made rescue operations difficult.

There are currently rescue operations underway -- a National Guard helicopter is trying to reach Hidden Lake and a Navy search and rescue helicopter is heading towards Lake Edison where people are trapped, Col. Jesse Miller with the California National Guard told "Good Morning America" on Tuesday.

"Mother Nature is trying to help us out this morning with some of the smoke clearing, allowing visibility for the aircraft to pick up the landing zones and get in safely to our folks here in California," Miller said.

Overnight, 13 people were rescued from China Peak by a National Guard helicopter. There were more than 200 people rescued on Monday, officials said.

At least 65 structures have been destroyed and more than 5,300 homes are threatened.

The Creek Fire is located near the communities of Shaver Lake, Big Creek and Huntington Lake. The fire has also spread towards the San Joaquin River.

Approximately 976 firefighters were battling the blaze on Monday, Cal Fire said.

The National Guard said it was unable to access the area overnight and were forced to halt the rescue because of the conditions -- efforts to reach people trapped will resume Tuesday morning.

The condition of the people who remain trapped is unclear, the National Guard said.”

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This is so sad for me. I grew up in the Central Valley and our vacations were in this area--skiing at China Peak (Sierra Summit) in the winter and backpacking in the summer. I remember a backpack trip that started and ended with a ferry boat taking us across Lake Edison to the trailhead. I can imagine what it would be like to be in the backcountry, out of touch, and realizing kind of late that you need to be getting out of there.

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Our electric service area had around 100 structures destroyed by fire last night   (they don’t know yet if there were people killed in them).  Nothing super close to me.  Winds are supposed to pick back up this afternoon.  All electric that hadn’t already gone out anyway was turned off to reduce fire risk.    A lot of our fire and electric crews were helping out elsewhere.  

Meanwhile Black Lives Matters apparently continuing to set fires and attack LEO

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

Our electric service area had around 100 structures destroyed by fire last night   (they don’t know yet if there were people killed in them).  Nothing super close to me.  Winds are supposed to pick back up this afternoon.  All electric that hadn’t already gone out anyway was turned off to reduce fire risk.    A lot of our fire and electric crews were helping out elsewhere.  

Meanwhile Black Lives Matters apparently continuing to set fires and attack LEO

 

 

And in the capitol this weekend after a Trump rally where there was much talk of both Trump and Jesus, some of the attendees chased down and beat up BLM counter-protestors. There’s plenty of bad behavior on both the extreme right and and extreme left here and also people with no affiliation just taking advantage of the situation. And also people from out of state coming in just to stir up trouble, although that is nothing new. But I think the majority of people on both sides want peaceful protests and rallies.
 

It does all seem worse though with the fires raging, no electricity, eerie orange sunsets and skies, and smoke and haze obstructing so much.

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24 minutes ago, Frances said:

And in the capitol this weekend after a Trump rally where there was much talk of both Trump and Jesus, some of the attendees chased down and beat up BLM counter-protestors. There’s plenty of bad behavior on both the extreme right and and extreme left here and also people with no affiliation just taking advantage of the situation. And also people from out of state coming in just to stir up trouble, although that is nothing new. But I think the majority of people on both sides want peaceful protests and rallies.
 

It does all seem worse though with the fires raging, no electricity, eerie orange sunsets and skies, and smoke and haze obstructing so much.

 

Also heat (and perhaps smoke etc) tends to inflame behavior .  Pretty much all riot behavior l have been around in my lifetime has been in hot weather.  I am not sure why, but I think there’s a tendency for people who would otherwise like to be peaceful to snap in such weather.   

 

 
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Where I am, the power has been shut off due to fear of high winds causing power lines to start fires, ETA for power resumption is Wednesday night but no one expects it until Thursday or later.  Air quality is really bad.  Red to purple on the Air now map.  But no actual fires in my vicinity.  

I’m on several facebook pages for backpackers in the Sierras, and it’s wild hearing about people hiking out through heavy, dangerous smoke, hoping to beat the actual fires.  The folks that they have not been able to rescue yet were mostly backpackers that were told or messaged to assemble at specific resupply locations to be evacuated safely.  It is VERY alarming that they can’t be gotten out of there yet even with military helicopters.  Pray hard.  This is a tragedy in the making with the fire growing fast and not contained at all.  

Edited by Carol in Cal.
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I totally understand if you are all too busy dealing with actual fires to answer my question but I’ve been wondering whether the traditional owners/native Americans (apologies if I’m using the wrong term) of land in California used to do any kind of ritual or cultural burning similar to the indigenous people in Australia?  

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5 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Where I am, the power has been shut off due to fear of high winds causing power lines to start fires, ETA for power resumption is Wednesday night but no one expects it until Thursday or later.  Air quality is really bad.  Red to purple on the Air now map.  But no actual fires in my vicinity.  

I’m on several facebook pages for backpackers in the Sierras, and it’s wild hearing about people hiking out through heavy, dangerous smoke, hoping to beat the actual fires.  The folks that they have not been able to rescue yet were mostly backpackers that were told or messaged to assemble at specific resupply locations to be evacuated safely.  It is VERY alarming that they can’t be gotten out of there yet even with military helicopters.  Pray hard.  This is a tragedy in the making with the fire growing fast and not contained at all.  

Which part of the sierras are the hikers stuck in?

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49 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I totally understand if you are all too busy dealing with actual fires to answer my question but I’ve been wondering whether the traditional owners/native Americans (apologies if I’m using the wrong term) of land in California used to do any kind of ritual or cultural burning similar to the indigenous people in Australia?  

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/13/902073784/california-teaming-up-with-native-american-tribes-to-prevent-wildfires

“For more than a century, California's Native American tribes were largely banned from doing traditional burning of the landscape. Now, they're restoring that practice to help prevent fires.”

34 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

Which part of the sierras are the hikers stuck in?

I am following California National Guard’s Twitter for the Creek Fire rescues

https://mobile.twitter.com/CalGuard

 

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Things are the worst I’ve ever seen them in the 20+ years we’ve lived here. It was like night here almost all day due to the smoke and to the east, small towns in the canyon heading towards the Cascade Mountains have been evacuated and some are on fire. It’s just heart breaking to see the videos and pictures. The state fairgrounds here is already full of evacuees.
 

https://www.oregonlive.com

 

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21 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/13/902073784/california-teaming-up-with-native-american-tribes-to-prevent-wildfires

“For more than a century, California's Native American tribes were largely banned from doing traditional burning of the landscape. Now, they're restoring that practice to help prevent fires.”

I am following California National Guard’s Twitter for the Creek Fire rescues

https://mobile.twitter.com/CalGuard

 

Thank you!  We are going through a similar process here of reinstating “cultural burning”.  I really hope long term this can drive change away from these kind of tragic events.  

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1 hour ago, mathnerd said:

Which part of the sierras are the hikers stuck in?

 

“There are multiple locations where people are unable to get out; the record-high heat, low humidity, wind conditions and rugged terrain have made rescue operations difficult.

There are currently rescue operations underway -- a National Guard helicopter is trying to reach Hidden Lake and a Navy search and rescue helicopter is heading towards Lake Edison where people are trapped, Col. Jesse Miller with the California National Guard told "Good Morning America" on Tuesday.

"Mother Nature is trying to help us out this morning with some of the smoke clearing, allowing visibility for the aircraft to pick up the landing zones and get in safely to our folks here in California," Miller said.

Overnight, 13 people were rescued from China Peak by a National Guard helicopter. There were more than 200 people rescued on Monday, officials said.

At least 65 structures have been destroyed and more than 5,300 homes are threatened.

The Creek Fire is located near the communities of Shaver Lake, Big Creek and Huntington Lake. The fire has also spread towards the San Joaquin River.

Approximately 976 firefighters were battling the blaze on Monday, Cal Fire said.

The National Guard said it was unable to access the area overnight and were forced to halt the rescue because of the conditions -- efforts to reach people trapped will resume Tuesday morning.

The condition of the people who remain trapped is unclear, the National Guard said.””
 

 

That Lake Edison mentioned above is the Vermillion Valley Ranch resupply stop on the John Muir Trail.  They moved out most of their staff for safety reasons, but kept a skeleton crew to provide for backpackers expected to resupply there, and to facilitate them being able to get off the trail and out of the mountains.  I’ve been watching with others the progress of a woman hiking the JMT alone who was between there and the Muir Trail Ranch when the fire broke out, and the main contact was trying to figure out whether to tell her to keep going, turn back, or try to hike out to the East.  I’ve got online friends who are picking up strangers who hiked out east to Mammoth and since that was not their plan, have to figure out how to get to their next destination from there.  It’s nice to see all the people helping out, but the descriptions of trying to hike at high altitude in thin air with a ton of smoke in it are pretty awful, and there are some who are reporting lung issues subsequently.

Edited by Carol in Cal.
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The phenomenon of riots in hot weather is actually a fairly well established sociological theory.  I remember reading a journal article in the mid 90's talking about the switch from thinking it was a correlation to thinking it actually was a causation.  

I have a friend who is just outside of the area that has to evacuate (so far).  He said the forecast for today was for yet another day with a high of 110, but that there is so much smoke and debris in the atmosphere that the high was only 73.  That's a shocking difference.  He says it's eerie how little sunlight filtered through and how difficult it is to breathe.

 

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2 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I totally understand if you are all too busy dealing with actual fires to answer my question but I’ve been wondering whether the traditional owners/native Americans (apologies if I’m using the wrong term) of land in California used to do any kind of ritual or cultural burning similar to the indigenous people in Australia?  

 

I'm actually working on a project right now funded by the state to address forest management & wildfire risk mitigation & resiliency in the North Coast (Sonoma county up to the Oregon border). The Tribes are important partners on the project, sharing Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) on forest management practices. Reinstating controlled burns is their number one priority and we have a group of foresters working with tribal experts on best management practices for controlled burns. They are incredibly important, but land owners are pretty resistant. Lots of opportunities for education.

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@Carol in Cal.

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/09/08/dolan-fire-15-firefighters-injured-critically-hurt-near-big-sur-doubles-in-size/

“3 Firefighters Injured, 1 Critically, Battling Dolan Fire Near Big Sur; Fire Doubles In Size

MONTEREY (CBS SF) — Three were injured, one critically, when a group of firefighters were forced to cover under fire shelters after being overwhelmed by flames from the exploding Dolan Fire near Big Sur, with two of them airlifted to a hospital in Fresno Tuesday, officials said.

Fifteen firefighters were involved in a shelter deployment Tuesday at around 8:30 a.m. in the vicinity of Nacimiento Station in the Los Padres National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service reported. The Nacimiento Station was destroyed, according to the forest service.

A statement from incident commander Rob Allen said two firefighters were airlifted to a hospital and that one was in critical condition, the other in serious condition, with injuries including burns and smoke inhalation. At a 2 p.m. press conference, officials clarified there were three firefighters injured among the 15 firefighters who had to deploy shelters.”

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39 minutes ago, Chrysalis Academy said:

 

I'm actually working on a project right now funded by the state to address forest management & wildfire risk mitigation & resiliency in the North Coast (Sonoma county up to the Oregon border). The Tribes are important partners on the project, sharing Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) on forest management practices. Reinstating controlled burns is their number one priority and we have a group of foresters working with tribal experts on best management practices for controlled burns. They are incredibly important, but land owners are pretty resistant. Lots of opportunities for education.

It’s interesting because many landowners here have wanted to do controlled burns but have been blocked by people believe if it was bad for threatened species etc.  but I think we’re now learning that if done in the right way they are actually better for biodiversity etc.  because many of the native species are reliant on the open spaces and grass created by cool burns.  I might not have that quite right because I’m still learning. But in areas where they have been doing cultural burning correctly we are seeing a resurgence in numbers of endangered animals.  

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12 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

@Carol in Cal.

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/09/08/dolan-fire-15-firefighters-injured-critically-hurt-near-big-sur-doubles-in-size/

“3 Firefighters Injured, 1 Critically, Battling Dolan Fire Near Big Sur; Fire Doubles In Size

MONTEREY (CBS SF) — Three were injured, one critically, when a group of firefighters were forced to cover under fire shelters after being overwhelmed by flames from the exploding Dolan Fire near Big Sur, with two of them airlifted to a hospital in Fresno Tuesday, officials said.

Fifteen firefighters were involved in a shelter deployment Tuesday at around 8:30 a.m. in the vicinity of Nacimiento Station in the Los Padres National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service reported. The Nacimiento Station was destroyed, according to the forest service.

A statement from incident commander Rob Allen said two firefighters were airlifted to a hospital and that one was in critical condition, the other in serious condition, with injuries including burns and smoke inhalation. At a 2 p.m. press conference, officials clarified there were three firefighters injured among the 15 firefighters who had to deploy shelters.”

Oh no.  

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2 hours ago, Chrysalis Academy said:

 

I'm actually working on a project right now funded by the state to address forest management & wildfire risk mitigation & resiliency in the North Coast (Sonoma county up to the Oregon border). The Tribes are important partners on the project, sharing Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) on forest management practices. Reinstating controlled burns is their number one priority and we have a group of foresters working with tribal experts on best management practices for controlled burns. They are incredibly important, but land owners are pretty resistant. Lots of opportunities for education.

“Tending the Wild”

This book looks interesting.  It’s on my ‘read sometime’ list.

Edited by Carol in Cal.
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11 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Thank you!  We are going through a similar process here of reinstating “cultural burning”.  I really hope long term this can drive change away from these kind of tragic events.  

 

9 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

It’s interesting because many landowners here have wanted to do controlled burns but have been blocked by people believe if it was bad for threatened species etc.  but I think we’re now learning that if done in the right way they are actually better for biodiversity etc.  because many of the native species are reliant on the open spaces and grass created by cool burns.  I might not have that quite right because I’m still learning. But in areas where they have been doing cultural burning correctly we are seeing a resurgence in numbers of endangered animals.  

Florida has a controlled burn policy that works very very well. Our ecosystem is designed to have frequent fires  that clear out the underbrush and some of our plants only seed during a fire. Our wildlife needs that open space, and can't deal as well with the underbrush that fills in if there is no fire. And the fires themselves are not as hot and dangerous if that underbrush is regularly cleared out - the fire moves through quickly and therefore the bigger trees survive, the animals hide in burrows, etc. But we've been doing them long enough that kids grow up being educated about controlled burns, seeing the evidence along the highways (scorched bark on trees), etc so there is public buy in. Plus, we have a different landscape so I think less houses right up IN the forest I guess, compared to CA. 

"

Prescribed fire is used to reduce hazardous fuel buildups, thus providing increased protection to people, their homes and the forest. Other uses include disease control in young pines, wildlife habitat improvement, range management, preservation of endangered plant and animal species and the maintenance of fire-dependent ecosystems.

The Florida Forest Service oversees one of the most active prescribed fire programs in the country. In an average year the Florida Forest Service will issue approximately 88,000 authorizations allowing landowners and agencies to prescribe burn over 2.1 million acres.

https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Wildland-Fire/Prescribed-Fire

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12 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

It’s interesting because many landowners here have wanted to do controlled burns but have been blocked by people believe if it was bad for threatened species etc.  but I think we’re now learning that if done in the right way they are actually better for biodiversity etc.  because many of the native species are reliant on the open spaces and grass created by cool burns.  I might not have that quite right because I’m still learning. But in areas where they have been doing cultural burning correctly we are seeing a resurgence in numbers of endangered animals.  

Yes, it's so interesting - it's all about flame height. One of our mapping experts has produced this really amazing map showing the effect of flame height on different ecosystems. Turns out - unsurprisingly - that low height flame fires improve habitat for most endangered species while high flame height fires destroys it. 

10 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

“Tending the Wild”

This book looks interesting.  It’s on my ‘read sometime’ list.

 Mine too!

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Bear Fire, part of North Complex Fire, worsen yesterday night, forcing evacuations 

https://mobile.twitter.com/ButteSheriff

Butte County Sheriff

EVACUATION ORDER 9.9.20 12:25 a.m. BCSO is issuing an IMMEDIATE EVACUATION ORDER for Cherokee Road at Highway 70, south to Thompson Flat Cemetery Road, and all areas east to Lake Oroville. http://sartopo.com/m/bd55 #ButteSheriff #BearFire #NorthComplexFire
 
@ButteSheriff

 

EVACUATION ORDER 9.8.20 11:00 p.m. BCSO is upgrading the EVACUATION WARNING to an IMMEDIATE EVACUATION ORDER for the communities of Kelly Ridge and Copley Acres. ***All previous EVACUATION WARNINGS are now EVACUATION ORDERS.*** #ButteSheriff #BearFire #NorthComplexFire”

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“SEPTEMBER 9, 2020, 7:33 AM

California National Guard rescued 146 people and their dogs September 8, 2020, after being stranded by the Creek Fire in the Sierra National Forest near Fresno. They arrived at the Yosemite International Airport after being rescued from Lake Edison.”

https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article245593910.html

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🙂 looks like all rescues were completed for Creek Fire

https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2020/09/08/california-national-guard-rescue-creek-fire-campers/

“STOCKTON (CBS13) — Hundreds of campers that had been trapped by the flames of the Creek Fire in the Sierra are finally safe. The final stranded group was airlifted out of the fire zone Tuesday by California National Guard helicopters.

The crews performing the rescues are based in Stockton and Mather Field.

California National Guard Chief Warrant Officer Michael Hames, based at Mather Air Field, was one of the pilots performing the successful rescue operation, guided by first responders grouping stranded people together inside the fire zone.

“Just using our god given eyeballs,” Hames said. “You just kind of imagine your family being in that situation, and everything in you wants to go get them.”

...

A wildfire rescue. A mission to save people stranded inside the firelines.

“It’s just been a constant effort to try and get these people out,” Hames said.

It took a military operation to make it happen. In all, 373 people were airlifted out of the Creek Fire.”

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@Carol in Cal.

https://mobile.twitter.com/usfs_r5/status/1303771607890944000

“Due to unprecedented & historic fire conditions in CA, we are temporarily closing an additional 10 National Forests, meaning all 18 National Forests in California are now closed. The closure of the additional ten forests will be effective at 5 pm today. https://fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD801394”

https://mobile.twitter.com/CAL_FIRE/status/1303774761315491840

“The #AugustComplex has grown significantly in size taking 2nd spot on the Top 20 Largest Wildland Fires in CA. #SCULightningComplex is now the 3rd largest fire and the #LNULightningComplex is the 4th largest fires in California history. https://fire.ca.gov/media/11416/top20_acres.pdf.
 
 
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On 9/8/2020 at 11:10 AM, Ali in OR said:

@Frances and @Pen, yeah, I'm waiting for our rains and cold weather to return and see if that changes the protest scene. Not as fun in the cold rain.

 

19 hours ago, Frances said:

Things are the worst I’ve ever seen them in the 20+ years we’ve lived here. It was like night here almost all day due to the smoke and to the east, small towns in the canyon heading towards the Cascade Mountains have been evacuated and some are on fire. It’s just heart breaking to see the videos and pictures. The state fairgrounds here is already full of evacuees.
 

https://www.oregonlive.com

 

Stay safe

https://www.opb.org/article/2020/09/09/live-updates-wildfires-oregon-evacuation-orders/

“The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center said Wednesday morning that fires in Oregon and Washington burned 515,135 acres in 24-hour timespan, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said in a tweet Wednesday that 27 large fires are burning more than 900,000 acres in the Northwest currently.”

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...

The Butte County sheriff deputies confirmed Wednesday that three people have died in connection to the Bear Fire, which is part of the lightning-caused North Complex Fire in the Plumas National Forest.

It flared up overnight and prompted the Butte County Sheriff's Office to issue an emergency evacuation order at about 12:30 a.m. for the following areas:

  • Cherokee Road at Highway 70, south to Thompson Flat Cemetery Road
  • All areas east to Lake Oroville

A temporary evacuation point was established at Church of the Nazarene 2238 Monte Vista Ave. in Oroville, officials said.”

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10 minutes ago, Plum said:

My brother just closed on a house in the woods of Sonora. I asked if he had trouble buying home insurance. He said a couple of insurance companies wouldn’t cover him. I’d be like 😳. It sounds like his fixer upper is going to cost a lot more because of insurance. 

Our friends got a discontinuation of coverage notice right before the CZU fires started, then obviously no one would issue  coverage on a house that was under an evacuation order. Their only option was state insurance. I feel like it shouldn’t be legal to drop people in those circumstances. 

Edited by sassenach
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11 minutes ago, sassenach said:

This was us all day yesterday. Today is a little less apocalyptic but the air quality is actually worse. 

Today is more grayish than orangy.  I am in the “moderate zone” currently. Looks like you are situated in the “unhealthy zone” currently.

https://cfpub.epa.gov/airnow/index.cfm?action=airnow.local_city&cityid=318

7 minutes ago, Plum said:

My brother just closed on a house in the woods of Sonora. I asked if he had trouble buying home insurance. He said a couple of insurance companies wouldn’t cover him. I’d be like 😳. It sounds like his fixer upper is going to cost a lot more because of insurance. 

Insurance would definitely worry about insuring any building “in the woods” considering how many structures are already destroyed by the Lightning Complex fires.

Current California fire incident map https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/

“LNU Lightning Complex, multiple North Bay counties(more info…)
...
*1,491 structures destroyed
*Evacuations in place

...

SCU Lightning Complex, multiple Easy Bay counties(more info…)
...
*Evacuations and road closures in place
*224 structures destroyed
...

CZU August Lightning Complex, San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties (more info…)
...
*Evacuations and road closures in place 
*1,490 structures destroyed” https://www.fire.ca.gov/daily-wildfire-report/

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20 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I am quite far from the wildfires but skies are orange tone today and DS15 was affected by the haze. Now having windows shut and all room air filters running.  

C79C4BF8-83A7-40DD-ACFC-70093EC33FF5.jpeg

Doesn't it feel like we all moved to Mars and this is the Martian landscape, though?

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2 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

Doesn't it feel like we all moved to Mars and this is the Martian landscape, though?

News channels were reporting people coming out onto the streets just to take photos. Below photo was taken on Sunday near Golden Gate Bridge, what a contrast. 

I would appreciate the humor of the skies looking like Mars if DS15 and I don’t suffer from allergies. Luckily I “stockpiled” Energen-C, asthma inhalers, and air filter replacements.

888379CC-E9DB-49C4-AB90-88623CEA23D4.jpeg

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6 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

 I’m thinking Pacific coast fires have a season, not unlike hurricane season. 

Fire season is now year round 😞

https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2019/06/27/wildfires-all-seasons

“But for many USDA Forest Service employees, fire season is something they remember from the start of their careers, when they quickly learned there were five seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall and fire season. However, wildfire is year-round for much of the United States and the Forest Service is shifting to the concept of a fire year.

Wildfire season has become longer based on conditions that allow fires to start and to burn—winter snows are melting earlier and rain is coming later in the fall. What was once a four-month fire season now lasts six to eight months. For example, fires in recent years have burned well outside of the typical fire season throughout California, Arizona, New Mexico, Tennessee and New Jersey. Fires in the winter months are becoming part of the norm.

Other factors contributing to longer fire seasons include extended drought, tree mortality from pine beetles and invasive species such as cheat grass that allow fire to ignite easily and spread rapidly. Added to all this were policies that encouraged aggressive fire suppression for more than a century. These policies had the effect of allowing fuels to accumulate, leading fires to grow in size and intensity.

All these conditions are making wildfires harder to control and allowing forests to hold fire longer. For years, agencies relied on seasonal firefighters for summer months, but now that wildfires are burning into the winter, they need to reevaluate their hiring plans. Wildland firefighting agencies also need to evaluate the way they conduct training for year-round fire, as well as how to handle the inevitable workforce fatigue.”

 

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I would appreciate prayers for safety and endurance for our DS#2 (and his crew). He is a wildland firefighter, and just was transferred over last month from his regular crew to doing fill-in work on a hotshot crew. They are stationed in another western state, and the hotshot crew just drove to Northern Cal. yesterday, where they will be plugged in to 1 or more fires for the next 2 weeks. Thank you!

Edited by Lori D.
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It's really hard to fathom just how much of the west coast is burning right now. The past couple of days the sky has been dark, and the light is an eerie yellow, but today the smoke is so thick and acrid that my eyes and throat are burning. There are fires less than 15 miles from me in two different directions. They're both mostly contained now, and I'm not personally in danger, but so many other fires are still out of control, and so many people have lost everything. 😥

Screen Shot 2020-09-10 at 12.13.19 PM.png

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2 hours ago, Lori D. said:

I would appreciate prayers for safety and endurance for our DS#2 (and his crew). He is a wildland firefighter, and just was transferred over last month from his regular crew to doing fill-in work on a hotshot crew. They are stationed in another western state, and the hotshot crew just drove to Northern Cal. yesterday, where they will be plugged in to 1 or more fires for the next 2 weeks. Thank you!

Will do. 

I didn't appreciate how incredibly brave and strong those hot shot firefighters are until I read, of all things, a Nora Roberts book about one. It was eye opening. I mean, I know it is fictional, but she's pretty good at research so I assume at least a portion of it was accurate. 

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3 hours ago, sassenach said:

Our friends got a discontinuation of coverage notice right before the CZU fires started, then obviously no one would issue  coverage on a house that was under an evacuation order. Their only option was state insurance. I feel like it shouldn’t be legal to drop people in those circumstances. 

This forum needs an angry emoji!  That should not be legal.

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8 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

 

I didn't appreciate how incredibly brave and strong those hot shot firefighters are until I read, of all things, a Nora Roberts book about one. 

Firefighters also face increase in cancer risk https://oem.bmj.com/content/77/2/84

as well as other medical risks https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/firefighters/health.html

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2 hours ago, Lori D. said:

I would appreciate prayers for safety and endurance for our DS#2 (and his crew). He is a wildland firefighter, and just was transferred over last month from his regular crew to doing fill-in work on a hotshot crew. They are stationed in another western state, and the hotshot crew just drove to Northern Cal. yesterday, where they will be plugged in to 1 or more fires for the next 2 weeks. Thank you!

Prayers for safety for your son.

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4 hours ago, Plum said:

My brother just closed on a house in the woods of Sonora. I asked if he had trouble buying home insurance. He said a couple of insurance companies wouldn’t cover him. I’d be like 😳. It sounds like his fixer upper is going to cost a lot more because of insurance. 

State Farm is still writing policies up here.  Sometimes you need an especially good agent to get through underwriting.  LMK if you want a referral, I know one who has researched this extensively and is good at it because he has relatives that bought in nearby Twain Harte.

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Dh said he has had several coworkers get phone notifications to evacuate during teleconference meetings today. 😞 The crews are pulling out of the Riverside fire due to unsafe conditions and they just expanded the Clackamas (County, Oregon) evacuation zones to reflect that. They have grounded the air crews also due to high winds. 😞 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Plum said:

He said State Farm would cover the first house he put an offer on in Sonora and that one was surrounded by trees. But they won’t cover the house he got a little further down the road that has clearing, Maybe it was about timing? He was a real estate agent so he’s familiar with a lot more ins and outs than I am. He did find insurance though.  

It could be timing.

Also, when we got ours (up the hill) there was a questionnaire that an eyes on agent had to go through.  It had whether the house was  actually in a forest, as opposed to in a neighborhood with trees, whether there were bushes in the flower beds right next to the house, and how close it was to a fire hydrant, and whether it was on a road with two exits (ie no dead ends, which are very common around here.). 

Twain Harte dude ended up getting his fire coverage through the CA Fair Plan, but his liability coverage turned out to be accessible through his homeowner’s policy at his primary residence, something not even very many State Farm agents know is possible.  That saved him a lot of money because he did not have to buy separate liability coverage as most people do that use the Fair Plan (state plan).

Edited by Carol in Cal.
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1 hour ago, Arcadia said:

Firefighters also face increase in cancer risk https://oem.bmj.com/content/77/2/84

as well as other medical risks https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/firefighters/health.html

In addition, the suicide rate is higher than the average among wildland firefighters (as with military personnel).  😢

Thankfully, DS is well-grounded and has a small network here at home during his off season. And he is aware of these statistics and factors, so more likely to seek help if he needs it.

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