Wildfires

[TDub]

arent they great.....shiittt.

gonna be little bit of an uneasy night. Just got moved to L2 evacuation order...which means....its not here yet but have a bag ready to go.

Its still about 4 miles north of us and wind is blowing the fire up the canyon to the north....so....we should be ok but...too close for my liking. The 40 mph winds with 60 mph wind gusts aren't helping anything. Neither is the miles of CRP land and last years wheat stubble fields. The canyons help a little bit....hopefully they'll funnel it north and away from my canyon.

[TDub]

next up is trying to figure out the logistics of moving a bunch of animals if the winds do shift.....

[ousdahl]

hang in there man. That shit's scary.

[Shirley]

Sorry to hear this TDub, that's got to be very unnerving.

[jhawks99]

Best of luck TDub, thinking of you and your neighbors.

[KUTradition]

do keep us updated if able

[TDub]

We're still here. Doesn't seem to be any updated official information that I can find. At first light I drove up to the top of the hill that looks down at the next canyon to the north of me..(this whole area is kind of a series of canyons, and draws running east west) and it was all clear. The fire stayed north of that..so never got down to our canyon.

So...in short, I think we're all clear. Phew...too close for comfort. Lasy night they moved the mandatory evac line to the road over the hill, its about 2 miles north of me but never got to my door.

Anyway, winds still blowing, and still.blowing northeast. Which...is good for me (well...not the wind but if it must blow thats the right direction) Only good thing about where this fire is.....not many people, house's or buildings to burn.

Thanks for everyone's concern, looks like we.should be ok. I'm guessing we'll get an all clear whenever the sheriffs department finishes their coffee.

[Shirley]

Thanks for the update TDub, glad the tide appears to be waning.

BTW, when are you buying a drone?

[TDub]

Thanks for the update TDub, glad the tide appears to be waning.

BTW, when are you buying a drone?

ha trail cams are about as fancy as I get....a drone is a little to technological for me. it'd probably attack me

[japhy]

Damn, that sucks. Glad to hear that you dodged the bullet.

[ousdahl]

Welp, CO on fire.

3000 acres so far down by Parachute.

Smoky skies here, but the silver lining is the sunsets

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

Mjl lives in a relatively small suburb of Chicago that yesterday was supposedly the worst place on the planet in regards to air quality. Yes, it was bad in Chicago but I didn't feel it was as bad as many were making it out to be. I have lung and heart issues and I survived my mile walks to and from work.

This sort of gives you a perspective. The orange dot is the sun.

[ousdahl]

Welp

https://www.skyhinews.com/news/wildfire ... humb-area/

[ousdahl]

0% contained.

7 miles from town.

Supposedly a squall rolled through and lightning is thought to be the culprit.

But considering it broke out along such a popular hiking trail, on the busiest holiday of the summer, and one known for shooting off fireworks, not to mention how careless yall are about discarding cigarette butts and joint roaches…color me skeptical.

[Back2Lawrence]

The fire up by Nederland a few years ago was caused by some Alabamans that didn't put their fire out right. Good times.

[ousdahl]

I dunno the exact stat, but the vast majority (like 80-90%) of wildfires are said to be human-caused.

Then again, like 60% of statistics are made up on the spot, so take that with a grain of salt.

The Williams Fork and East Troublesome fires (the two that got huge and threatened my area in 2020, with East Troublesome destroying hundreds of structures around Grand Lake and RMNP) were both human-caused. Same profile of a fire suddenly breaking out in a national forest area with a lot of human activity. Williams Fork started in a campground; East Troublesome started at a hunting camp up a forest road.

both started during active fire bans. Tho, that requires 1. yall paying attention to such things in the first place, and 2. yall heeding such bans even if you are paying attention, rather than being a bunch of entitled assholes and ignoring/defying bans instead. Big things to ask from yall, I know.

(oh, and here's yall's reminder that fireworks are never allowed in national forests)

so, like I said, considering the circumstantial evidence and the similar profile, I'm kinda skeptical to say it was lightning for sure.

And, I dunno how many times I'll be out hiking or fishing or something and come across a recently occupied campsite at which there's still a fire burning. Like, not even still just smoldering a little or still just "warm to the touch," but still open flames.

Rather than make any effort to extinguish, folks will often throw all their remaining firewood on the still-burning fire, and just fucking leave. Then, I gotta be the one to put yall's damn campfire out.

Yall prob abandoned the campsite in a hurry to get back to town and throw a tantrum about getting an early checkin to yall's airbnb. MOTHERFUCKERS IF YOU JUST TOOK THE TIME TO PUT OUR YER FIRE THEN THE EARLY CHECKIN WOULD BE MOOT. MOTHERFUCKERS!

There's a special place in hell...

[ousdahl]

related:

so my neighbor has rented his place out on airbnb for years.

The other day, while running around town getting the place ready for a new guest's checkin that evening, he gets a call from another neighbor. "Do you really need to have such a huge bonfire right now? In the middle of a windy day?"

huh? I'm not home right now, I'm running errands to get the place ready for airbnb guests arriving tonight."

"then who's got such a huge bonfire going at your place then?! The thing's literally got flames like 15 feet high now"

He rushes back to his place...the airbnb guests not only already arrived, not only treated themselves to an early checkin (which, legally speaking, is known as breaking and entering) but also got a bonfire going with multiple bottles of lighter fluid. Like, pour bottle after bottle on the fire, so the thing's flaring up in flame balls so large it's creating mushroom clouds.

He kicks them out, hoses out the fire, then calls Airbnb and condemns the guests and says he's done renting on that app.

[MICHHAWK]

airbnb owners are pretty much out of control. the last two times i have rented the owners required 100% payment up front. they charge a rediculous cleaning fee. then require me to leave the place exactly like it was when i checked in. what is the cleaning fee for if i do all the cleaning.

they have gotten out of control. i say trash the phucqueing place.

[KUTradition]

both started during active fire bans. Tho, that requires 1. yall paying attention to such things in the first place, and 2. yall heeding such bans even if you are paying attention, rather than being a bunch of entitled assholes and ignoring/defying bans instead. Big things to ask from yall, I know.

do your local offices (BLM, Forest Service) flag fire pits when there are restrictions?

we were up in the Uintas last weekend and were cruising around scouting for future spots when we notice not just a camp fire smoking/shouldering, but a massive log that the jackasses attempted to burn (cuz, ya know prepping with actual firewood is too goddamn difficult) was smoldering outside of any sort of fire ring

fortunately we had plenty of water with us

people fucking suck, and i’m starting to think that a lack of basic consideration is the rule rather than exception

[MICHHAWK]

it's a west of the mississippi problem. there are no wildfires east of the mississippi because we care.