Anyone know if they conducted the firing operation in “MM” today?
Since this is the ?? thread allow me to say I “think” so. I had the radio going while reroofing my shed to beat the rain. Lots of firing in those areas this afternoon, but it was all a picture in my head and not written down. Visibility tanked mid-afternoon and tankers returned to respective bases, some still loaded not able to drop. And the entire fire started to see a significant wind influence to the SW.
You can see them working down Priscilla Spur in LL with the firing op in that IR flight.
Side note, rain can be a blessing, but it can also be a curse when your only access to the fire area is on steep or midslope roads that can get real muddy or unsafe, or you’re fighting indirectly with these firing ops and distant dozer work, but now you’re firing wet veg and getting dirty burns etc. Hopefully it’s enough rain to put this thing to bed, along with the rest of the north state season, and we can hold our breath for socal.
Anyone know why they aren’t mobilizing the OES type 2 meduim rescue task force trailers? You would think those would go before the big FEMA teams.
Purely a guess, but a trailer comes with a guy pulling it, a Team comes with tons of people and Dogs etc.
The incident needs cadaver dogs and search technicians more so than heavy lifting and shoring capability.
My old agency being part of CA-TF4 has 2 dogs and handlers and they have been deployed.
My wife has been talking about this but I don’t recall seeing anything about it here:
Despite a grand jury report calling for wider evacuation routes, Paradise town leaders did the opposite and reduced travel lanes on a key evacuation route.
A Butte County Fire Safe Council brochure explaining evacuation routes also recommended people living along those routes to “shelter in place.”
In 2008, a wildfire near Paradise destroyed hundreds of homes and caught thousands of residents in snarled traffic trying to evacuate.
A grand jury report following the fire recommended improving evacuation routes so it wouldn’t take people fleeing a fire three hours to get out of harm’s way.
Around the same time the grand jury report was issued, the council members in the town of Paradise began studying renovations to Skyway Road and began considering traffic calming methods. Consultants even acknowledged it would impact the use of Skyway as an evacuation route.
In 2014, the town removed one lane of traffic in each direction, added parking and bike lanes, as well as curbs which jut out at intersections.
The Butte County Fire Safe Council created a brochure to explain how drivers could use center turning lanes in emergencies. The brochure stated “Residents who live along a one-way evacuation route that is being used are encouraged to shelter in place at your home.”
People fleeing the fire on various evacuation routes described being stuck in gridlock.
The mayor of Paradise, who was vice-mayor at the time the decision was made to reduce lanes on Skyway Road, did not respond to questions from KCRA.
Narrowing the skyway is one of the dumbest things the town ever did.
Does anyone have access to the first couple of 209’s done for the Camp Fire? I am helping review a textbook and it has a list of resources on the fire but it is way shy of what we ended up with. I am thinking their numbers might be from the IA/first operational period and just want to confirm.
I pm’d you some links to the Team 4 Box account… Let me know if you need more.
Is there an “official” report detailing the investigation as to the point of origin for the Camp fire?
365 1/2 days ago…
https://www.netflix.com/title/81050375?s=a&trkid=13747225&t=cp
Camp Fire: One Year Later | Full documentary: https://youtu.be/yuttFn9zZ-k
Have been wondering too. Can’t find anything online.
I believe PG&E accepted responsibility for it from a tower back near concow
They have, that part is known.
Eric Knapp, of the US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, and Yana Valachovic, from UC Cooperative Extension, came by last week to talk with me about their new paper on home losses in the Camp Fire. Our talk is live on Amanda Monthei’s Life With Fire Podcast, today.
https://lifewithfire.simplecast.com/episodes/homes-as-a-fuel-type-with-zeke-lunder-yana-valochovic-and-eric-knapp
A writeup on their research is available here:
This month is the 5-year anniversary of this event, and there has been a lot of remembrance going on here in Butte County. Here is a wide-rambling and deeply personal essay written by a local journalist named Kevin Jeys, who has been romping his free-association-word-blender around Butte County for the past 40+ years. His house in Paradise survived the Camp Fire, and he stayed on the Ridge through the long evacuations. He’s had a really wild ride, and the story might make you cry.
Also, we’ve been posting short interviews with young people who were inspired by the Camp Fire to get into prescribed fire and land management. You can see some of there here:
https://x.com/wildland_zko/status/1720836804088401986?s=20
and here: https://x.com/wildland_zko/status/1725343549678592068?s=20