Our "Summer" So Far

[floyd]

Dollar Fire N of Mt Hood was pushing smoke into the Gorge but it blew all last night.

 

[RandyMac]

Now that Summer is just about over, we get a couple warm days, yep, just two days all Summer that went over 70.

 

[Gologit]

Now that Summer is just about over, we get a couple warm days, yep, just two days all Summer that went over 70.

Wanna trade weather for a few days? It's almost seventy outside right now. We've been on hoot-owl for so long that we're starting to get used to it...and that ain't good.

 

[slowp]

I think I will pick a small, ripe tomato today. It will be the first one off my Topsy Turvy tomato setup. They grew no better--maybe worse, than if they had been grown right side up in the little dirt patch.

 

[RandyMac]

Looks like rain on Sunday, yep, Summer is over.

 

[teatersroad]

we went from 90+ to 70's in a few hours yesterday afternoon. kinda nice. crisp fall days on the way.

 

[teatersroad]

Sure is smoky around here tonight, makes for a cool sunset though...

Looks like a nice place, if you like that sort of thing. I doubt this is your smoke. I said here I felt like I had enough with fire, but couldn't help myself. I went out last week on an Rx. 2400 acres, Juniper with some Pine to protect and Mt. Mohag. Really steep, with timber above the unit. The day I was there we had to stop lighting at about 1:00 'cuz rh got down into single digits. Then the wind kicked up - 15mph+ gusts. Started spotting in the timber, maybe 200 acres worth. They were lucky to get away with that little (I distance myself from that - "wanna burn that hot? ok - uh go ahead") pics with fire in the distance - maybe 800' down and a half mile away. gps 44.2058n, 120.4503w if you want to GoogleEarth it.

Now I'm pretty sure I've had it with fire, barring a community effort to put one out.



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[madhatte]

How do you like working with that skidgeon? Seems like the tires would be its only weakness, and even then, only if it's out of water.

 

[teatersroad]

How do you like working with that skidgeon? Seems like the tires would be its only weakness, and even then, only if it's out of water.

I'd like to work with it. It's a track skidgeon, and the feller on top has a monitor (mounted nozzle, not computer screen). Don't really know the specs on it.. butload of water. I've seen it around on other fires, belongs to a contractor in town.

 

[madhatte]

Hrmm, tracks. Bummer. I understand that one of the bonuses of a rubber-tired skidder is access to places where soil compaction is not desirable, but, of course, all bets are off a lot of time during WUI situations. A tracked skidgeon, though, could handle steeper slopes and generally worse conditions, so it's a trade-off. I've seen monitors on a few Type 4 rigs; seems like a good way to move a lot of water during pump-and-roll operations. Of course, we're ghetto -- we just pull hard hose from the booster reel to the driver's window and hang a Forester nozzle off it, then drive counter-clockwise around the unit with one hand on the hose and one hand on the wheel. Not as much water as a high-flow pump attached to the appropriate nozzle, but good mobility and solo operation.

 

[teatersroad]

Hrmm, tracks. Bummer. I understand that one of the bonuses of a rubber-tired skidder is access to places where soil compaction is not desirable, but, of course, all bets are off a lot of time during WUI situations. A tracked skidgeon, though, could handle steeper slopes and generally worse conditions, so it's a trade-off. I've seen monitors on a few Type 4 rigs; seems like a good way to move a lot of water during pump-and-roll operations. Of course, we're ghetto -- we just pull hard hose from the booster reel to the driver's window and hang a Forester nozzle off it, then drive counter-clockwise around the unit with one hand on the hose and one hand on the wheel. Not as much water as a high-flow pump attached to the appropriate nozzle, but good mobility and solo operation.

familiar with the above. I sure like the lightweight booster hose, though I can't speak for it's service life. The soft-tracked skidgeon seems pretty agile, we put it up where most the action may be then follow along with Type 4's.

 

[madhatte]

We get a better bang for the buck with Type 6 rigs -- they'll go anywhere -- and we have a single Type 5, which is sort of the worst of both worlds because with 600 gallons on a 1 1/2 ton chassis, it's not got the capacity or the flow to act as a tender, and it's too long, wide, and heavy to follow the Type 6 rigs everywhere. Type 4 rigs move a lot of water at the expense of mobility. They're really at the mercy of water availability.

Soft hose gets beat up or burned up pretty easily but the hard hose is usually good for a couple of seasons. Once it starts blistering, it can be cut back some and the appliances re-fitted, but by then it's just a matter of buying time.

 

[teatersroad]

We get a better bang for the buck with Type 6 rigs -- they'll go anywhere -- and we have a single Type 5, which is sort of the worst of both worlds because with 600 gallons on a 1 1/2 ton chassis, it's not got the capacity or the flow to act as a tender, and it's too long, wide, and heavy to follow the Type 6 rigs everywhere. Type 4 rigs move a lot of water at the expense of mobility. They're really at the mercy of water availability.

Soft hose gets beat up or burned up pretty easily but the hard hose is usually good for a couple of seasons. Once it starts blistering, it can be cut back some and the appliances re-fitted, but by then it's just a matter of buying time.

did I say type 4's? I meant type 6's. The 4's usually sit around doing tender duty or otherwise waiting to be useful. I stay out of the thick of it, for the most part. The role with my job is mostly monitoring burn prep and fire effects. I'll be on ignitions or initial attack if or when the need is there.

 

[madhatte]

I seem to always draw the straw that has me running a holding crew. I've bossed a few burns, too. I hardly ever get to light any more. I do get to dodge some mop-up duty, though!

 

[teatersroad]

I seem to always draw the straw that has me running a holding crew. I've bossed a few burns, too. I hardly ever get to light any more. I do get to dodge some mop-up duty, though!

I rode with the holding boss on this fire, a role he did not relish either. Resources spread pretty thin - in crazy conditions. Fire's been maybe 5-15% of my job for the last ten years. More than enough.