Hopefully you all have been paying attention to the town of Paradise in CA which burned up in whats called the Camp Fire...  Worst fire in CA history.  Its been said that 90% or more of the entire city/area was destroyed.  The news is reporting the death toll at almost 50 people, but those who are helping who know law enforcement have said that the media isnt revealing the true devastation as the death toll is supposed to be over 1000.  One house was found with 30 some people huddled in the basement who didnt make it out...  The community was full of retired elderly who werent able to escape and the road in and out didnt allow people to escape with their vehicles which had people running down the hill.  There's thousands of pets that have been rescued.  And the fire isnt fully contained yet.  Thousands upon thousands of people are displaced scattered from Redding to Sacramento trying to find housing and shelter.

Very sad situation to say the least. These people are in my thoughts and prayers daily. If only I could send some east coast rain out there. We're coming off the wetest summer in history and winter is looking to be much the same. Best wishes to you @KATOOM and you friends and family

Gladly send what I have been seeing to the west coast. Cant believe how fast the fire moved. My heart goes out to all on both coasts that have suffered thru the fires out west and the unwanted water out our way. 

W-T lives in Paradise, Calif. I hope he is okay as I've tried texting him several times. He wrote the article called 'W-T Grounding Mods' which everyone likes. He had just retired this fall. Keep prayers going for him and all the others there. 

 

Almost 40 yrs ago we used to make a yearly trip up thru there in which that area seemed alive,  vibrant and fresh back then. Now it is very shocking to see how many trees are dying from lack of rain. Even long established Oak trees. some whole areas along the I-5 look like they are dying. 

Edited November 16, 20186 yr by JAG1

Update; just got a text from one of W-T's associates at his place of work. It said that he is okay and staying with friends. I guess that means he lost his home I'm sorry to say. I hope he got out with his truck and it's okay as well.

I'm going to speak against USFS.

 

The problem I see is the USFS playing the Back Fire Bob Game. Like I found out USFS is the only agency in the world that fights fires in the daylight hours. All the other countries fight fires at night when its the quietest and laying down because of conditions. USFS will pull out at dusk and go to ICP for the night. Then after all the red tape, morning meeting, breakfast, stocking there trucks, etc. Then they travel back to the fire and go to work as the fire is becoming active again.

 

Funny part as for being with the local fire dept for over 13 years now. It doesn't matter what time of day or night we bail right out there and fight fire. We don't take a passive stance and wait for daylight we get in and kick the fire  and put it back to bed again. 

 

Even the Rattlesnake fire here was a waste. Instead of taking full advantage of backcountry road systems and natural fire breaks they let it get out of hand because it wasn't a "clean burn". So they go in and light backfires trying to clean it up. Opps... It got away and ran south to Pollock lookout. Ended up threaten more homes. Then USFS even screwed up again called out full evacuation orders for the entire canyon even though it was supposed to be only Hillman Basin Road. 

 

I touch on the backcountry road system. Here is another sore subject. Locally USFS has been gating and closing roads for years. There is a trick to this USFS gets X amount of dollars for their district to maintain roads. If they close off a road and no list that it's closed then they continue to get the full sum of monies for road maintenance. Now these roads would provide access to different areas and aid in fire suppression but of course, the road hasn't been kept up, and you can travel to make use of the road system to fight the fire. 

 

Now in regards to our own fire dept, they have created more and more rules preventing our fire dept aiding in fire fighting or working with USFS any longer. For years we were automatically hired for water supply and aid. Now there pull rules out stating you need to have a "Truck Boss" in the group to work with them. Our fire Chief has been working for YEARS attempting to meet their requirement and always hit with another rules and roadblock preventing our fire dept reaching these goals. 

 

Remember USFS is NOT a structure fire dept they WILL NOT attempt to fight a house fire. USFS will not call for structure protection of a structure till its too late. Seen this way too many times before.

 

Yes, I know all the dirty little secrets of USFS and the wasted money they perform every year on fires. 

You guys have probably heard about that super train that California is funding that's horribly over budget right? Is it a coincidence to anyone else that the fire started near, and by now has traveled through, land that the program was trying to buy for this train yet the people there didn't want to sell? What are the odds of a fire just convieniently wiping that area out completely? I saw this idea running around on the internet but you know what they say about believing stuff you see on the internet. Just some food for thought!

Edited November 18, 20186 yr by TheGreatWhite

There's been sooooo many fires and sooooo much smoke over the past few years that at this point I'm sure everyone is simply exhausted trying to ponder the whats and whys...  Last time I remember there are hills and mountains in the distance but I havent seen any of them for a long long time.

 

At this stage I'm just concerned that governmental incompetence and random arson's are both the problem and both the reason why thousands of people are now homeless or dead.

 

California is in an exodus of tax paying citizens who are seeking a better state to live but strangely we're also in a housing crisis of almost 200k homes a year due to the influx of migrants.  Burning down entire communities and displacing half the north state isnt helping either.

Couple that with prohibitive building permit fees and having to meet requirements that each one becomes another fee,  you have a system that is very efficient oppression and self perpetuation.

 

Katoom, if you live in the woods with a lot of trees around consider building an underground fire proof shelter for safety. You wouldn't want to be stuck in a traffic jam in an evac situation.

Edited November 18, 20186 yr by JAG1

42 minutes ago, JAG1 said:

Katoom, if you live in the woods with a lot of trees around consider building an underground fire proof shelter for safety. You wouldn't want to be stuck in a traffic jam in an evac situation.

 

???  ???

 

It only seems that California has that problem. I lived through 4 big fires and continued to drive back and forth to Ontario, OR for MoparMom's dialysis. Why is it that California makes the new channel of all the idiots waiting to the last second to jump on the I5 and try to run. Stupid... Absolutely stupid...There is more than one road. Emergency planner should of been closing off areas way before all this was critical. Then you look at the fact US95 is the ONLY north to south highway in Idaho. Rattlesnake fire happened right in the middle of this only highway and never had a single traffic jam. 

 

 

Mopar1973Man, Where you live there is no traffic and folks have enough smarts not to stop in the middle of the road when seeing flying embers.

 

You have to take hermit classes to live where you live. 

 

Edited November 18, 20186 yr by JAG1

14 minutes ago, JAG1 said:

Mopar1973Man, Where you live there is no traffic and folks have enough smarts not to stop in the middle of the road when seeing flying embers.

 

LOL. Actually, ITD (Idaho Transportation Dept.) had to put up 3 LED message boards stating to keep moving no stopping. Yes, we had tons of people out looky looing, shooting photos, and videos of the fire. The other problem is drones being flown in a fire area is ILLEGAL! 3 different people managed to stop all fire air traffic 3 different days. Then you have search and rescue being stationed roads to keep looky loo'ers out and keep people from looting homes in critical areas. 

 

You still have food trucks, fuel trucks, supply truck, man crews coming and going. The only thing they did out here is enforced a 45 MPH speed zone through the active fire area. Roads remained open. 

 

The number of people freaked out and scared to death that their homes would be lost. In the Rattlesnake fire not ONE home was lost or even damaged. Our fire dept worked longer hours than USFS till 1am to 2am protecting homes and making sure that the fire couldn't reach the homes or structures in any way. This is a major game difference to us and USFS as soon as the sun goes down USFS is GONE! We worked on through the nights protecting homes and keeping people safe and calming down people scared to even sleep. Typically our fire department was back on duty before USFS got done with breakfast at camp. We never left the scene unless we were absolutely sure the fire posed no danger to anyone!

 

Salmon River Rural Fire Dept is the largest fire district in the state of Idaho. It happens to be the 5th largest district in the United States for land coverage. Make you think...

Edited November 18, 20186 yr by Mopar1973Man