So other than 2020 bringing us a grinding halt to what we thought was normal, the Western States are under some serious drought conditions especially in my state of Colorado. Information on current wildfires in the states https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/nfn.htm Wildfires are unpredictable fires that are either caused by normal (lightning) or by carelessness from human activity. 90% is normally human activity which is a very staggering number. I am here to post updates of fires or if you want to post fires on your relative state you can. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If you or your family is at risk for a evacuation, Follow this list Have your Emergency Supply Kit/Evacuation Bag ready to go Ensure a Wildfire Action Plan is prepared ahead of time Make sure you know your community’s emergency response plan and have a plan on where to go when it is time to evacuate, and best routes for leaving your location. Shut all windows and doors, leaving them unlocked. Remove flammable window shades, curtains and close metal shutters. Remove lightweight curtains. Move flammable furniture to the center of the room, away from windows and doors. Shut off gas at the meter; turn off pilot lights. Leave your lights on so firefighters can see your house under smoky conditions. Shut off the air conditioning.
Current Colorado Fires Cameron Peak Fire: 5400 acres Larimer County 0% Contained https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6964/ Grizzly Creek Fire: 25,690 acres Garfield and Eagle Counties 0% Contained https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6942/ Pine Gulch Fire: 81,107 acres Mesa and Garfield Counties 7% contained https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6906/ Williams Fork Fire: 4,300 acres Summit and Grand Counties 0% Contained https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6971/ In total, 116,497 Acres have burned as of 10:05am 8/16/20 in Colorado
Oh god, I'm so sorry Conductor... California's wildfires are taking off early. California is currently experiencing dangerously high temperatures. Downtown Sacramento registered 111ºF yesterday. Los Angeles has it worse as part of the county is currently on fire, and they have higher temperatures than we do. --- I feel really bad for Los Angeles, because first it was COVID-19, now it's intense heat, and finally, wildfires... :\ Here's what it looks like in Los Angeles: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lake-fire-threatens-thousands-homes-north-of-los-angeles-ranch-fire/ This is starting to bring back memories of 2018 again... ._.
Yeah, feel for ya. We had to evacuate from the fort McMurray fire in 2016. Ended up almost 1.5 million acres burnt.
Yes, almost always. In Costa Rica the government does controlled burning along the highways for about 50 meters per side. Tourists tend to complain about the pollution it causes.. but we feel it's less pollution than 100s of acres burning due to tossed cigarettes or other causes.. In BC, Canada we average 350 wildfires annually, burning thousands of acres. About half are caused by humans.
Nevada County is on fire. The firefighters are having a really difficult time combatting the flames due to the terrain. Also, since there's no road that is "close enough" the the fire itself. When my mother and I went for a walk this morning, every car that was outside last night accumulated a thin layer of ash on its surfaces. The sky was filled with smoky streaks, of which I dismissed as clouds. Only when the sun shone through the smoke in the sky with a red color did I realize that it was not clouds but smoke. (Even at the time of me writing this, the sun is still red.) As we walked, I was very surprised to see fine particles of ash falling from the sky. I could even taste it as we went walking. If the sky is like this tomorrow, I will be wearing my mask the entire time we walk. (Seeing this gives me flashbacks to 2018 and the Paradise Fire... ._.) Here's the news to the fire in Nevada County: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article245077940.html
Conditions got worse. Turns out that lightning storm we had a few days ago started a number of fires. The smoke is thicker than it was yesterday, and it never cleared. I don't even know what blue sky is anymore, the sun was red all day long. https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/ Since I'm on the valley floor, all the fires around Sacramento release smoke that pools into the valley and it sits. My COVID-19 mask is now my "wear this or choke on ash" mask...
(This information is dated, and should have been posted yesterday.) California's Governor was on TV yesterday, reporting about the current status of COVID-19 and the fact that California is on fire. He said that within the past 24 hours California had 10 more fires that sparked. In total, he said there was about 600 fires burning in the entire state. Our fire department is stretched so thin that we are getting help from the other firefighters from other neighboring states. Also, you can see the smoke and fires that California is producing from space. This last one shows the smoke from California spreading over to the other states. If any of you live in any of those states and you see ash falling from the sky, sorry, but not sorry. We're trying our best to take care of these fires. :\
Wanted to give a update, many calm wind days gave firefighters a big chance to contain these fires in Colorado. My last update was 10 days ago and it felt needed. Note that my totals are from previous numbers posted here on this thread to the ones that are updated now. Pine Gulch Fire: 134,999 acres 47% contained. Grew 53,892 acres Grizzly Creek Fire: 32,060 acres 44% contained. Grew 6,370 acres Williams Fork Fire: 11,266 acres 5% contained. Grew 6,966 acres The only fire currently is still out of control is the Cameron Peak Fire No containment. Grew 14,718 acres. In other news, my state finally opened up the interstate that passes through the burn area from the Grizzly Creek Fire. Was the longest Closure of a major interstate in the states history. Here are some photos of the area. Very charred and can be another closure if there is any moisture at all. The vegetation held up rocks and with it gone, very high chance of mudslides and rockfall.
Thanks man. For me, the fire itself is not a danger, but the amount of smoke that's pooling into the valley in California is polluting the air. I think on the news the other day, parts of the Bay Area had "Hazardous" levels of air quality, the worst air quality possible on the chart.
The smoke is so bad I could stare directly at the sun this evening on my way back from the store in Chicago. Of course I've never experienced wildfires myself, just the effects of them as the smoke blows over us. I hope y'all can stay safe <3
Today was the first day in many weeks that the air was clean enough to breathe without smelling or breathing in smoke and ash. --- I'm savoring it before the triple digit heat returns this weekend... :\
We are going through a massive heatwave this weekend. The smoke was clearing but the intense heat is making the fires tougher to contain. This evening was very depressing as the smoke was thicker than it was for the majority of this week. Thankfully the smoke is not thick enough that it's smell-able, nor is it raining ash, but the fact that the sun was red for 3 hours before sunset is not any more reassuring... :\
Oh, so that's why skies look ugly over Sacramento today... ._. Top comment: "In a normal year, this would be considered insane. Now in 2020 its just Wednesday."
