Wild Fires

[Pat Germain]

Interesting, I watched a segment of a show where the homeowner did exactly what I suggested, cutting back brush and trees and installing a well pump watering system on his roof. His was the only house on the block that did not burn.

That guy got extremely lucky. In almost every case of a wildfire, even professional firefighting teams with the most powerful equipment can't save homes in the path of the fire.

I grew up in Southern California. Almost every summer there were wildfires in the hills. I could just see the orange glow of the flames through the thick smog. Back then there were some big fires that damaged homes, like the Belair fire, but it was rare. Now it's very common.

[Jim Becker]

Interesting, I watched a segment of a show where the homeowner did exactly what I suggested, cutting back brush and trees and installing a well pump watering system on his roof. His was the only house on the block that did not burn.

Preventative measures like you describe are always helpful. But my point was if that home actually caught fire, there is nowhere near enough water going to come out of that well to fight it...the volume of water that firefighters use to knock down an active structure fire is "substantial"...as in "yuge".

[Edward Weber]

I saw the same story and while I admire his ingenuity, the man did get lucky.

A garden hose of water is not going to cover my roof. (Though my roof is concrete tiles)
Not to mention, all this apparatus needs to be in place prior to knowing about a fire. Often there is little time to connect generators and hoses or you may not be home.
When the temperature is 100+ degrees to begin with and then the fire approaches, much of any water instantly turns to steam before it has the ability to extinguish any flammable material.

Looking out my back yard a few years ago
IMG_6679_renamed_2887.jpg
A human caused this one too.
It barely made more than the local news, as it was "only" about 700 acres. I was fortunate that the wind was blowing it away from my house that day.
This was .43 miles from my property
Burn Scar.jpg
As you can see from the 3.5 mile burn scar, there are no roads, just open land. This was fought with bulldozers and air assets.
It was over in a matter of a few hours, start to finish. Mostly due to the firefighters and lack of fuel. Wooded areas a a whole different story.

[andrew whicker]

I took a woodworking class in Grass Valley a few years ago (a bit north of Tahoe / Reno). The owner told me it used to be wetter and less hot. The reservoir near him was really low when I was there. The forest was super dry. Scary stuff.

You can't blame all homeowners for not knowing how bad it would get.

I also went to Jasper not too long ago (British Colombia). As temps got higher pine beetles weren't killed off in winter so they ravished the trees in the summer. Like half the trees were dead when I was there (probably 4 to 5 years ago). That's a forest fire waiting to happen. And who would have thought that was a major concern 20 years ago? You went from living in a healthy forest to living in a dead one in a matter of a few years.

I understand humans cause the spark, but from what I understand everything is so much drier than it used to be. So 1) the spark is more likely to start a fire and 2) there's a lot more fuel.

[Doug Garson]

I took a woodworking class in Grass Valley a few years ago (a bit north of Tahoe / Reno). The owner told me it used to be wetter and less hot. The reservoir near him was really low when I was there. The forest was super dry. Scary stuff.

You can't blame all homeowners for not knowing how bad it would get.

I also went to Jasper not too long ago (British Colombia). As temps got higher pine beetles weren't killed off in winter so they ravished the trees in the summer. Like half the trees were dead when I was there (probably 4 to 5 years ago). That's a forest fire waiting to happen. And who would have thought that was a major concern 20 years ago? You went from living in a healthy forest to living in a dead one in a matter of a few years.

I understand humans cause the spark, but from what I understand everything is so much drier than it used to be. So 1) the spark is more likely to start a fire and 2) there's a lot more fuel.

Yes the conditions for wildfires are dramatically worse now than 10 or 20 years ago. Both due to milder winters not killing off the pine beetle and hotter, drier summers. There was a major wildfire in Jasper this summer, I think the estimate was $800,000 Cnd damage. The wildfire broke out in mid July on the same day that the world saw the hottest day ever recorded. By the end of July, officials said the fire tearing through Jasper and Jasper National Park had burned an estimated 79,000 acres, about 123 square miles. It was the largest wildfire recorded in Jasper National Park in the last 100 years.

[Jerry Bruette]

Got back from our trip to Yellowstone last Saturday. Traveled through a part of Wyoming that had burned around August 21. That fire burned over 174,000 acres. Mostly grazing land, not sure if there were any homes burned, the newspaper stated it's the largest fire in recent Wyoming history. Estimated losses are north of 25 million dollars.

Conditions were blamed on a drier than normal last winter and hot, dry summer. I was amazed at how dry the air was while we were in Wyoming and South Dakota. I'm sure the type and lack of vegetation and type of landscape add to the problems. Having lived in NE Wisconsin and having nothing but trees everywhere I was amazed at the type of landscape in Wyoming. The burned area was as far as you could see and looked like a moonscape.

I don't know if I advocate climate change or not, but I do know that winters are drier and not as cold here where I live than they were when I was a kid.

[Bill George]

Climate change is here and will be, and it will always be changing... as it did 66 million years for the dinosaurs and PS we had no part of that! Average human life span is around 70 years or so. Big question... is it human caused and are we willing to bankrupt our country Only to find out in 100 years it makes no difference what WE do, the climate will change without us same as for the past millions of years!

[Edward Weber]

There is more fuel due to changing weather patterns, that is just an objective fact.
On the other hand, the humans need to open their eyes and pay attention to where they live.
Climate change is not the only reason why CA has had over 6,000 wildfires and burned almost a million acres so far this year.
https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2024

We have red flag warnings when the weather is ripe for fire. I still hear people out mowing and doing things that are not advised in these conditions. They also still allow roadside firework stands in this state. It makes no sense, it's simply too dangerous.

If there's a red flag, I say BLEEP that grass, you can mow it later. I'd rather have a shabby lawn than burn down the neighborhood.

[Michael Weber]

Immediately brought to mind the recent thread on home insurance increases.

[Edward Weber]

Immediately brought to mind the recent thread on home insurance increases.

Yep, no matter where you decide to live, there is a "plausible" reason to increase premiums or deny coverage all together.
Fire, flood, Hurricane, Tornado, you name it.

[Doug Garson]

Immediately brought to mind the recent thread on home insurance increases.

Yes, while there may be some doubters, those that depend on what's happening in the real world to make a profit, look at the facts and conclude that the climate is changing and as a result they will have to pay out billions more in claims for climate related disasters. They either increase rates or go bankrupt. The idea that ignoring climate change will not lead to bankruptcy of a company or county is crazy.

[Doug Garson]

Climate change is here and will be, and it will always be changing... as it did 66 million years for the dinosaurs and PS we had no part of that! Average human life span is around 70 years or so. Big question... is it human caused and are we willing to bankrupt our country Only to find out in 100 years it makes no difference what WE do, the climate will change without us same as for the past millions of years!

Explain to me why you don't believe the 97% of climate scientists who agree current climate change is man made but you believe the scientists who say the climate changed 66 million years ago?

[Pat Germain]

Climate change is here and will be, and it will always be changing... as it did 66 million years for the dinosaurs and PS we had no part of that! Average human life span is around 70 years or so. Big question... is it human caused and are we willing to bankrupt our country Only to find out in 100 years it makes no difference what WE do, the climate will change without us same as for the past millions of years!

The message we don't get from the "deniers" is nobody is claiming Earth's climate doesn't change without human intervention. What actual climate scientists who aren't on oil company payrolls are saying is climate change is being accelerated at a significant rate due to humans burning gargantuan amounts of fossil fuels over the past 100+ years.

Simple facts: the more carbon there is in the atmosphere, the warmer the climate. Scientists can see the difference between naturally occurring carbon and carbon from burning petroleum and coal. The amount of carbon in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels is currently very high and still growing.

Ironically, it was oil company scientists who first figured out human activity was affecting the climate. Oil companies know it's true. They are investing in "green" energy while simultaneously paying people to write articles and go on TV to deny human caused climate change is real. As your post demonstrates, their paid propaganda works.

Of course, I can't tell people what to believe, but those are the facts.

[Edward Weber]

Of course, I can't tell people what to believe, but those are the facts.

I was with you right up until you mentioned facts

What are these "facts? Where do you get them? Can anyone have facts?

I think I want some facts

For my area, the 5 hottest years on record since 1877
Hot.JPG
Odd that they all occurred in the last 7 years, out of 147

[Mike Soaper]

I recall reading 25? some years ago to not worry about co2 emissions because the oceans were big enough to absorb it.

A quick search didn't find that info, but search results came across plans to seed the ocean with iron so that phytoplankton will bloom and absorb co2. Geoengineering the ocean just seems so @#$%^ wrong to me.

Scientists Will Engineer the Ocean to Absorb More Carbon Dioxide | Scientific American