Hot hot hot

[California]

Evacuate if the wind shifts to you. You don't want long-term brain damage like from the military firepits. We have a friend with severe early Alzheimer's caused by that.

 

[Midniteoyl]

1/2 hour ago the winds changed, the plume shifted as it starts heading our way.



View attachment 702518

I would probably just head out. No telling where that will go once you go to bed.

 

[ruffdog]

Calm and cool night might have the toxic smoke lay right down to choke people out.

 

[scaredychicken]

chirping in from BC Canada, where it has been a mild winter, a dry spring, and Very Dry until about 4 days ago (burn ban in effect since last Friday at noon) - rain off and on since then ... and today a ridiculous and steady downpour. The ground is saturated now, mud everywhere. (and the mud is flavoured because we have lots of chickens ... I am trying to not wipe out )

 

[California]

That fire is about 5-miles from the homestead. Chemtool's been burning now for 5+ hrs.

The toxic fumes in the air is the issue ... The smoke is from all those B-12 penetration oils, plasti-dip, brake-cleaner, CRC fuel injection cleaners, etc.

Think Bhopal as an example of worst case if the cloud lands on you.

I know you can't clean with brake cleaner before welding, so I did a little research for a better understanding. Its ugly. In summary that fire will spread wholesale quantities of what was used for poison gas in WWI.

 

[ponytug]

Think Bhopal as an example of worst case if the cloud lands on you.

I know you can't clean with brake cleaner before welding, so I did a little research for a better understanding. Its ugly. In summary that fire will spread wholesale quantities of what was used for poison gas in WWI.

Yes, it is phosgene and hydrogen chloride. Both used during WWI to gas combatants. Kills lungs and eyes on contact. They come from the decomposition of perc (tetra-chloro-ethylene) in the chlorinated brake cleaners, which is now banned in many places. The non-chlorinated versions work well. (I'm not recommending those for clean up before welding either.)

Personally, I wouldn't hang around to see if the smoke settles, or came my way. Take a trip to the Dells, or Door county. The smoke from the wildfires out here in California last year over loaded the ERs with asthma patients, but also heart attacks and for months afterwards, people sick with autoimmune diseases. Talk to Gulf war veterans about what they went through from Kuwait.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I'm not sure that I would eat this year's garden vegetables either.

All the best,

Peter

 

[check]

chirping in from BC Canada, where it has been a mild winter, a dry spring, and Very Dry until about 4 days ago (burn ban in effect since last Friday at noon) - rain off and on since then ... and today a ridiculous and steady downpour. The ground is saturated now, mud everywhere. (and the mud is flavoured because we have lots of chickens ... I am trying to not wipe out )

Yup. We had a fire ban starting June 1, but I spoke to the Fire Chief yesterday, and they are hoping to lift it for this weekend given this week’s rain (which started yesterday).

 

[scaredychicken]

my Daughter (who is now married and living an hour away), and many of her friends, including one of our current Tenants, have all been local Volunteer Fire Fighters for the past 5 - 6 years. Everytime a match / lighter is lit, I get "a look" - so, I learned to hire them to do the burns for me on occasion. No questions that way LOL

 

[ruffdog]

Chemtool spent $40M to upgrade that building.

Chemtool to pour $40M into headquarters

 

[ponytug]

It is supposed to burn for another three days per this morning's press conference. Residents are advised to leave the area, and to wear masks. Known chemicals are said to include lead, cadmium, nitrogen compounds (I suspect that means urea, which does breakdown into some nasty chemicals when burning), and of course hydrocarbons. I assume that sulfur and manganese might also be in the mix.

The smoke looks vile.

I feel sorry for all who are impacted.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Username Taken]

Evacuate if the wind shifts to you. You don't want long-term brain damage like from the military firepits. <snip>

Sounds to me like it's contagious

 

[Midniteoyl]

Sounds to me like it's contagious

???

 

[Jchonline]

Colorado Front range (East of divide) is looking really green. We have had a ton of spring rain. However hot hot right now.

 

[Jchonline]

Climate change - it's not just an increase in temperature measured at various places. More important to humans - Everybody is starting to get someone else's weather pattern, as you noted. Wetter, dryer, hotter, whatever, weather patterns are moving around where they aren't expected. The example that first comes to mind is that Britain is rather far north but has a mild climate provided by circulation in the Atlantic that brings warm water up from the tropics. That circulation is slowing. I expect they will see some changes.

And we in California re getting slammed by drought. One theory is that the previous century was much wetter than the long term normal so that is what we expected to continue. But now the local climate is reverting back toward average - in addition to the global changes. We apparently can expect frequent massive fires, as the historic record indicates that was normal, pre-settlement.

It makes sense extreme fire behavior will be the norm when the forest is allowed to grow for decades unchecked. High temps, lack of humidity (and recovery in the AM), wind, and poor forest management(ie lots of available fuels) are the keys to extreme fire behavior. We cannot directly control the first 3...but we can control the last one.

This last fall we had some of our place burn (about 3 of 47 acres). It burned in the few places we had yet to do mitigation (on a steep ridge (lodgepole pine stand) and below it to the east (wind blew) in a stand of windthrow and down/dying firs. We have almost 35 acres fully mitigated...none of it crowned. It really does work. That said the only reason our place caught on fire was due to extremely poor management by USFS on their land to the west of us. It was about 60% beetle kill for over a decade. Never mitigated, never thinned. That is what caused the extreme fire behavior and caught our land on fire. Sure you could say they dont have the resources...but I would argue if they dont have the means to manage it, they should never own it in the first place. In the end we are of course thankful to only have a few acres to restore. It could have been much worse, no thanks to the USFS.

Now to sober everyone up that doesnt live in these areas with extreme fire behavior...I watched 1000 ft fire columns push OVER the highest part of the rocky mountain range around Estes Park CO. This is above the alpine line where it is just dirt and rock. No trees to burn for half to 1 mile over those peak saddles. The fire blew over it like it was a rock. Anytime a fire can go through one of the most significant natural barriers know to man....it is extreme. It reminded me of a tsunami but made with fire instead of water. Sobering stuff.

 

[Username Taken]

???

The officials in Kali. Can't get their act together

 

[California]

The officials in Kali. Can't get their act together

WTF? You sound consumed by jealousy!

You live inside the Loon News bubble?

An example of what they'll never tell you:

(source)

What's your source for your declaration?

Lets get back to reality. We were talking about drought and the chemical fire.

 

[Username Taken]

WTF? You sound consumed by jealousy!

You live inside the Loon News bubble?

An example of what they'll never tell you:

(source)

What's your source for your declaration?

Lets get back to reality. We were talking about drought and the chemical fire.

Yeah, I'm real jealous.

Sang Frang --

 

[Diggin It]

I'm crying for rain. Just seeded 20k+ft/2 'cause it said rain for 5, maybe 6 days.. I'ts been exactly one all week...

They called for 4-5 days of scattered rain chances. I laid grass seed and covered it with grass clippings to keep the birds off it.

I got the 4-5 days of rain alright ... in about 30 minutes. So much for the cover and the seed.

 

[orezok]

Gonna hit 120 this week. Earlier than usual.

 

[California]

Yeah, I'm real jealous.

Troll begone.

Plonk.