Wildfires in Oregon block out the Sun

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K.O. SWINGER said:
the governor just announced that over 5000 square miles of forest are currently on fire in the state of Oregon. Most of these fires have zero containment at this time . many small communities destroyed and hundreds of structures and homes gone. with no numbers of loss of lives being given at this time. These fires we're fueled by 25 mile an hour winds that made inferno's down from the Cascades and pushed into the valleys. They went from 500 Acres to ten thousand acres in a few hours
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It’s really getting bad. The Leaburg fish hatchery is gone, they saved the high school in blue river. I’m a few miles from total evac. The fire was over 100,000 acres this morning 0% containment less than 100 firefighters on sight.
 
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I'm hearing rumors of as many as 8 people arrested for arson on some of these fires. Also hearing of looting going on after people evacuate . :BangHead: My inlaws have had to evacuate, and one of the guys at work has a fire a couple miles away, so he has there horse trailer behind his truck ready to leave if given notice. I think this is getting worse before getting better.
 
DrEamer said:
I'm hearing rumors of as many as 8 people arrested for arson on some of these fires. Also hearing of looting going on after people evacuate . :BangHead: My inlaws have had to evacuate, and one of the guys at work has a fire a couple miles away, so he has there horse trailer behind his truck ready to leave if given notice. I think this is getting worse before getting better.
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I wouldn’t be surprised on bit if most of this is arson related.

Most of the day yesterday we were blanketed with a nasty smog from all the fires. Doesn’t look much better today.

If it is arson, and we know the perps, justice should be swift and fierce.
 
On a bright note on my way home I saw a nice 69 4 spd swinger. Parked at the local church down the road, most likely fleeing fires.
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Scary stuff, be careful guys and prayers sent for you all to be safe....those pictures of the dark skies during the day is frightening....
 
66340SEDAN said:
Scary stuff, be careful guys and prayers sent for you all to be safe....those pictures of the dark skies during the day is frightening....
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The worst part about the dark sky is that it carries low quality air with it. The area that @Dartsun lives, and where I live 45 miles north, have air quality ratings in the hazardous range. The scores have been in the 400 to mid 500 numbers over the last few days.
 
Two towns about 15 miles from me went on level one evacuation warning yesterday. I won't be surprised to hear it in my neck of the woods.

Maybe this will sink into the thick skulls that run the west coast that if you don't log or thin the forests, or remove dead/dying/fallen trees, or otherwise manage the flammable material in the forests what could be a controllable fire becomes an out-of-control inferno.
 
halfafish said:
Two towns about 15 miles from me went on level one evacuation warning yesterday. I won't be surprised to hear it in my neck of the woods.

Maybe this will sink into the thick skulls that run the west coast that if you don't log or thin the forests, or remove dead/dying/fallen trees, or otherwise manage the flammable material in the forests what could be a controllable fire becomes an out-of-control inferno.
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You’d hope the knuckle heads would see what happened with the spotted owl, retarded forest management practices and a general nonchalant attitude by the people let this happen.
 
Just an update fires continue to rage and they say some won't he out for months or so. visibility from Portland to California down the I-5 Corridor is approximately 500 ft, the worst air quality in the world extremely hazardous and off the charts in most areas. To get a concept of what it's like look at the latest West Coast satellite view
 
No sun In N Idaho today, either. We now have the smoke from CA/ OR/ WA. Visibility about 1/2 mile, the wx guy says "it's hazardous stay indoors" and it smells REALLY bad

We have one fire here over near bayview has not even made the news it's "too small" in comparison I guess.
 
It’s real smoky here out East Springfield. Here’s couple pics out my backyard. Sheriff reports upwards of 50 missing people still unaccounted for, found 1 body so far.
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halfafish said:
Maybe this will sink into the thick skulls that run the west coast that if you don't log or thin the forests, or remove dead/dying/fallen trees, or otherwise manage the flammable material in the forests what could be a controllable fire becomes an out-of-control inferno.
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You have actually been in a forest ? Right ?? Exactly how are you going to clear 12,000,000 acres of forest from fallen or dead material ? Old growth stands of Ponderosa have very little shrubbery or kindling under them . It was the practice of clearcutting that left nothing but small brush as far as the eye can see . No shade... dries out very quickly. And you can take a propane torch to the thick bark of a mature Ponderosa with little effect .

Luckily here in Idaho they started using selective logging practices back in the 60s . Even so our fires can be intense due to beetle kill pine and long periods without rain . This year we have been really lucky to not have a Megafire ! We had a very wet spring which grew tons of fuel (brush and grass) followed by 2 months of dry sunny conditions.
 
mbaird said:
You have actually been in a forest ? Right ?? Exactly how are you going to clear 12,000,000 acres of forest from fallen or dead material ? Old growth stands of Ponderosa have very little shrubbery or kindling under them . It was the practice of clearcutting that left nothing but small brush as far as the eye can see . No shade... dries out very quickly. And you can take a propane torch to the thick bark of a mature Ponderosa with little effect .

Luckily here in Idaho they started using selective logging practices back in the 60s . Even so our fires can be intense due to beetle kill pine and long periods without rain . This year we have been really lucky to not have a Megafire ! We had a very wet spring which grew tons of fuel (brush and grass) followed by 2 months of dry sunny conditions.
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Not sure how clearing forests will make it rain.
 
1985 almost 8.5M board feet of lumber harvested in Oregon, in 2020 was about 4M. Forestry used to like about 40-60 healthy trees per acre, today they are at 100-200 tree/acre levels. Thank a tree hugger. You know how you clear 12 million acres of dead and fallen crap? Start tomorrow.......
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Hey, we are going to thin this forest so it will survive the next wildfire...." Oh no your not! Quick, everyone run out into the forest and climb a tree and stay there! We'll teach these eco-thugs who knows best...."
 
I don't think everyone does! If they knew what a properly managed forest required, they would ****! It's called logging....big burly people with huge chainsaws and miles of semi trucks hauling precious trees to their demise, a new coffee table or house frame up at about 10,000 new jobs. Who's gonna pay them? We are..by buying US lumber! Thanks Canada, but we got our own wood for the taking, and we need to start taking it big time unless it burns first. You know they used to use low risk incarcerated people to assist in forestry duties. How would that be for a work detail, 2-3 weeks at a logging camp away from the iron bar hotel? Sign me up.....if I were there... because I did something stupid. Down here in So Cal, I have not seen the sunshine in 3 days myself. We got local fires too, but that is nothing new here. All my wifes moms cousins live in Oregon and they are getting chased by these monsters again. One of them lost their house in a huge fire 7 years ago and now they have been evacuated from their new home built log house. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
 
Nothing wrong with logging if properly done . But the clear cutting during the 1900s was insane .
Weyerhauser and Boise Cascade have been selling off 100s of thousands of acres . The demand is just not there . It is not because they arent allowed to log .
Unfortunately for us those lands are being bought up by billionaires (Texans in our case) and gaited. hunting access , dirtbike trails and even Forest Service roads are now blocked .
 
It got even smokier overnight. View out my front window. Can’t even hardly see house across the street and it’s not far.
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Visibility in the Vancouver area was about a quarter mile yesterday. I had to work outside and even with an N95 mask, it was miserable. I cancelled some work for Monday, I'm just not doing that again. It can wait till the smoke goes away. I wonder how much death and destruction it will take before it becomes OK to manage the forests again. Government idiots... :BangHead::BangHead::BangHead:
 
pishta said:
I don't think everyone does! If they knew what a properly managed forest required, they would ****! It's called logging....big burly people with huge chainsaws and miles of semi trucks hauling precious trees to their demise, a new coffee table or house frame up at about 10,000 new jobs. Who's gonna pay them? We are..by buying US lumber! Thanks Canada, but we got our own wood for the taking, and we need to start taking it big time unless it burns first. You know they used to use low risk incarcerated people to assist in forestry duties. How would that be for a work detail, 2-3 weeks at a logging camp away from the iron bar hotel? Sign me up.....if I were there... because I did something stupid. Down here in So Cal, I have not seen the sunshine in 3 days myself. We got local fires too, but that is nothing new here. All my wifes moms cousins live in Oregon and they are getting chased by these monsters again. One of them lost their house in a huge fire 7 years ago and now they have been evacuated from their new home built log house. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
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Managing a forest properly with respect to fire risk is much more involved than simply harvesting trees. In California anyway, it involves clearing the understory and ladder fuels - albeit including some smaller more tightly concentrated trees, but this material typically has little to no marketable value once processed. The US Forest Service has fuels management teams and firefighters that work on these types of clearing projects constantly - when not on fires, obviously. When I fought fires for the Forest Service in the summers during college, we focused on areas adjacent to natural fire breaks, like roads, etc. in order to help the roads and streams to maintain their integrity as fire lines, should an active fire blow through. What's funny, is the enviros still freak out over this type of forest management, because the debris that is cleared is almost always burned. I guess they'd rather see the whole forest destroyed in massive fires??

My point is, considering the millions of acres and over 100 million dead trees in CA forests, there is absolutely no way the USFS could afford the resources to actively manage all of their forested lands in this way, even though it's what's needed to avoid these catastrophic fires. It's not as simple as allowing logging business to come in and cherry pick truck loads of trees. I wish it was.

You make an interesting point about convict crews. They actually still use convict crews on fires - at least in California. I've even seen them on fuels management projects. Not sure about in other states, but in CA, they pull inmates from the CA State prison system. I'm sure they're not free either if the fires or lands their working is owned by the USFS. The point is, tax payers are still footing the bill for administering the use of those crews. Maybe they should consider utilizing federal inmates? Who knows, maybe they do???
 
Crazy. We have the smoke, mild.
Crummy air. Big creek fire got close to my pops place, couple of his friends places burnt to the ground. Sucks. Everyone up there hooked up their 5th wheels, gathered the dog n cats and left town.
 
We can argue about forestry practices all day, and it won't change anything in the current situation. The smoke is still here, and making life a little more difficult. I am sure there are thousands of evacuated people who have lost their homes, or do not know if they still a have a home, would trade you places to sit at your keyboard in your house. The only good thing that I have seen is people stepping up to help out. When I was at the fairgrounds donating the other day, there were a constant line of cars waiting to give something to the evacuees. It was hard to drive by the people and know that what they had there, was most likely all they owned for certain. If you can drive by something like that , and not be heartbroken, then I don't want to know you.
 
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I come from four generations of oregonians and work in some of the biggest sawmills in the Pacific Northwest for 20 years my buddies were loggers and I lived in logging communities for decades. I have an understanding of the forest in my area, everybody has a opinion on forestry management. on one side the environmentalist and half of the community, on the other side the logging industry and half of the community, make no mistake the answer is somewhere in the middle. You will never manage that under stories of the Cascade Mountains or the Coastal Range to a degree that it would have much of an impact on this type of fire it would be economically impossible. When 30 mile an hour winds combined with drought conditions blowing out of the East down these watersheds it was just a perfect storm and no man-made deterrent or Millions spent on planning and best management practices will stop it. and to think otherwise is either naive or arrogant.
 
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