Fire

[Joe46]

Looks like we're bringing in crews from B.C. to help.

 

[mile9socounty]

Its sad to say I wont be going to any of these large project fires. Our district manager wont allow any of us to go anywhere. We are needed here on our own home front. Our ERC's and BI's are suppose to be in the 60's today. Thats plum dry here. Just no fires.

 

[madhatte]

The Puget Sound Clean Air Act folks have this to say this morning:

For September 17-20: Smoke from the wildfires in Eastern Washington may reemerge in Puget Sound this week. Mornings will become increasingly more stagnant in Pierce and King counties where we could see MODERATE air quality as early as Monday. By Tuesday, most of Puget Sound could have MODERATE conditions. The fires over the Cascades have grown this weekend and we are likely to see some more air quality impacts, especially nearer the Cascades, where we could see levels UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS again. We will monitor the situation closely and we will keep this forecast updated as events develop.

and the NOAA folks have this to say:

.DISCUSSION...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL REMAIN PRIMARILY IN CONTROL
OF OUR WEATHER THROUGH THE WEEK. A THERMAL TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE
OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON WILL WAFFLE BACK AND FORTH ACROSS THE STATE
THROUGH THE WEEK RESULTING IN DRIER AND WARMER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS
AND AN UNSTABLE MID LEVEL AIR MASS. MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE SOME
FORM OF RIDGE BREAKDOWN/WEAKENING THIS COMING WEEKEND BUT THE
DETAILS ARE FAR FROM CERTAIN AT THIS TIME.

FORECAST FOR 20 FOOT WIND SPEED (VALLEYS AND RIDGE TOPS) ARE 10
MINUTE AVERAGES REFLECTING RAWS WINDS.


WAZ654>657-172330-
WESTERN WASHINGTON FIRE WEATHER ZONES 654-655-656-657
AREA 4...INTERIOR LOWLANDS-
814 AM PDT MON SEP 17 2012

.TODAY...
* SKY/WEATHER...........SUNNY. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
* LAL...................1.
* MAX TEMPERATURE.......73-83.
* MIN HUMIDITY..........29-44 PERCENT.
* 20-FOOT WINDS.........NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH.
* HAINES MID-LEVEL......6 OR HIGH.
* HAINES HIGH-LEVEL.....4 OR LOW.
* MIXING HEIGHT.........700-1700 FT AGL.
* TRANSPORT WINDS.......LIGHT WINDS BECOMING NORTH AROUND 5 MPH.
* CWR (>0.25)...........0 PERCENT.

....8 TO 14 DAY OUTLOOK FOR SEP 24 - 30, 2012
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION.

Yeah, we aren't going anywhere either. This "indian summer" is the gift that keeps on giving.

EDIT: oh, and here's a MODIS image from a few days ago showing why we've got so much smoke on this side:

 

[slowp]

I don't mind the smoke so much (and it is bad here today) if I know that our friends in Pugettropolis are inhaling it also. Somehow, I like that. I guess I'm evil.

 

[madhatte]

Sure was a cool-looking sunrise through all that smoke. Mt Rainier was silhouetted against solid red from Lacey this morning.

 

[paccity]

anyone know the restrictions over in lapine? was wondering because of our gtg coming up fri. we just went high level 3 east and west side of the coast range.

 

[mile9socounty]

No idea. I know that RFP just put out a nation wide email saying they are shutting down all their land to the public in CA and OR. You get caught on the property. Boy howdy, good luck.

 

[RandyMac]

Rural Homeowners Fight Back Against Calif. Fire Prevention ‘Tax’ « CBS Los Angeles

 

[Gologit]

Rural Homeowners Fight Back Against Calif. Fire Prevention ‘Tax’ « CBS Los Angeles

150 bucks a year? I spend more on coffee than that.

We had the same thing here last year. The fee didn't amount to enough to even notice but people still fought it. It passed but just barely.

Interesting side note...most of the people who were against the fee were newcomers and haven't seen a real bad urban-interface forest fire. Yet.

 

[paccity]

be driving threw this friday.:msp_sad:

 

[floyd]

If you are a district employee you should stay home. Let the pros hit the fire lines . That is why they have training you do not.

I would hazzard a guess LaPine is dry.


Very little smoke in the Gorge this am. Heavy smoke cover last evening.

 

[paccity]

just driving threw. looks like t-storms sat. damp here this am. be heading over the pass in about 4.

 

[northmanlogging]

bring a shovel anyway never know... Damn maybe I am paranoid...:help:

 

[mile9socounty]

As of noon yesterday. Douglas County DG-1 & DG-2 went back down into an IFPL 2. So its back to 1300 closure hour on the saws for us.

 

[slowp]

Hmmmm. If this one burns downhill on the south side, we can see what happens in a thinning in 2 year old slash. The only slash treatment was along a trail and on the landings.

South Point Fire

( PACKWOOD ) – When compared to the other fires burning in the state, the South Point Fire outside Packwood is pretty minuscule. About 90-acres have burned so far inside the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The biggest worry centers around key radio communications equipment. So far, the fire has been burning away from that electronic gear. Still, a lot of people can see the smoke between Randle and Packwood. Now, a public meeting is being scheduled to talk about the situation. It’s scheduled for 7:00 p.m. this Thursday at the Packwood Fire Hall.

 

[madhatte]

View attachment 254223

We have this one smoldering in the reeds around a marsh. It's impossible to contain because we don't have SCUBA gear!

 

[northmanlogging]

We have this one smoldering in the reeds around a marsh. It's impossible to contain because we don't have SCUBA gear!

That's a weird one, a guy would think that it would be wet enough to not burn, learn something new everyday...

 

[madhatte]

Oh, look, another Red Flag warning.

 

[mile9socounty]

I stopped paying attention to the red flags. It freezes at night, hot during the day and no humidity recovery. The other morning at 8am at the Silver Butte station. Humidity was down to 8%.

 

[ForestBound]

Well at least i wont have any shortage of morels to pick next year...