West Coast Burning: The Western Wildfire Thread

[Washington Resistance Army]

So I talked to my parents, who live near Seattle, and they tell me they are going to visit Portland. I don't know what they are thinking.

A family friend who lives near Portland was like, "You know what's going on here, right?"

But they're still going...

...When, because that is really silly. I live in Portland and now is not the time to visit. I mean, protests are still going on (though probably reduced in size from hat I can tell) and the air here is really unhealthy.

Yeah that's a really questionable move. Even up here in Washington the air is bad. I can't fathom a reason why you'd want to get that close to the fires.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

Did you know Colorado is on fire too?

[Reploid Productions]

I can't fathom a reason why you'd want to get that close to the fires.

People with latent pyro tendencies wanting to get close to the danger without actually endangering themselves (too much)? That was actually part and parcel of how I conquered my panic by going to the edge of the evac zones with my camera for fires in the area but not where my house was in any danger. Granted, those times were all in suburban places that backed up to wilderness with lots and lots of readily accessible ways out of the area rather than anything truly stupid like driving up into isolated canyons or places where escape routes were limited and easily cut off.

Did you know Colorado is on fire too?

It would be faster to count the western states that aren't on fire right now.

[USS Monitor]

So I talked to my parents, who live near Seattle, and they tell me they are going to visit Portland. I don't know what they are thinking.

A family friend who lives near Portland was like, "You know what's going on here, right?"

But they're still going...

...When, because that is really silly. I live in Portland and now is not the time to visit. I mean, protests are still going on (though probably reduced in size from hat I can tell) and the air here is really unhealthy.

Right now. They said the air quality in Seattle is crap too, so they're going to have crappy air no matter what.

[USS Monitor]

I can't fathom a reason why you'd want to get that close to the fires.

People with latent pyro tendencies wanting to get close to the danger without actually endangering themselves (too much)? That was actually part and parcel of how I conquered my panic by going to the edge of the evac zones with my camera for fires in the area but not where my house was in any danger. Granted, those times were all in suburban places that backed up to wilderness with lots and lots of readily accessible ways out of the area rather than anything truly stupid like driving up into isolated canyons or places where escape routes were limited and easily cut off.

I don't think it's a pyro thing. They had some other travel plans that got fucked up, so they decided to go to Portland instead, very last minute.

I still don't get it, though.

[Kowani]

US wildfire smoke triggers air quality warnings in Canadian British Colombia

[Wahlid]

So I talked to my parents, who live near Seattle, and they tell me they are going to visit Portland. I don't know what they are thinking.

A family friend who lives near Portland was like, "You know what's going on here, right?"

But they're still going...

The air quality across Puget Sound isn't great right now either, although it's nowhere near as bad as Oregon. Better to drive down within the next few weeks before the rainy season/second COVID wave hits.

It's been mostly the same across most of the Pacific Northwest. Also, "getting out of here" entails having both somewhere else to go and the means to do it.

After trying for years, I left Portland for good in 2016, really the only thing I truly missed was Southeast Grind, but now everyone probably misses it because it closed late last year. Oh, you probably meant right now, not in general.

Been here a year, I enjoyed it until around March when the Coronovirus picked up...then I started having to deal with the protests.

Nice, do you live in the city proper?

[Borderlands of Rojava]

Why do I feel like the death toll is actually well over 100, but they just haven't found the bodies as of yet?

[Auze]

ahahahahaha

The current plan is "throw men and water at it them 'till they stop"

how else do you fight fires?

Liberal use of dynamite.

[La Xinga]

San Francisco Everyone.

[La Xinga]

Did you know Colorado is on fire too?

Pine Gulch Fire?

[Borderlands of Rojava]

(Image)

San Francisco Everyone.

Still? Damn.

[Greed and Death]

...When, because that is really silly. I live in Portland and now is not the time to visit. I mean, protests are still going on (though probably reduced in size from hat I can tell) and the air here is really unhealthy.

Right now. They said the air quality in Seattle is crap too, so they're going to have crappy air no matter what.

The blocking of the sun will increase Corona virus transmission outside during the day. The Smoke and ash will render masks ineffective much faster. A mask designed to last 8 hours might become unusable after 4.

We will see but I put good money for a spike of Corona virus cases on the west coast.

[Geneviev]

Right now. They said the air quality in Seattle is crap too, so they're going to have crappy air no matter what.

The blocking of the sun will increase Corona virus transmission outside during the day. The Smoke and ash will render masks ineffective much faster. A mask designed to last 8 hours might become unusable after 4.

We will see but I put good money for a spike of Corona virus cases on the west coast.

Wait, the smoke and ash are a problem for masks? I didn't hear anything about that and it might be an issue.

[Northwest Slobovia]

We will see but I put good money for a spike of Corona virus cases on the west coast.

Conversely, anecdotal reports suggest people Out West are simply staying in their own homes as much as possible, which limits the spread.

[Reploid Productions]

Why do I feel like the death toll is actually well over 100, but they just haven't found the bodies as of yet?

Unfortunately that could be very likely, especially in places where a fast-moving fire had overtaken and surrounded small towns. Anybody currently listed as "missing" in the wake of a fire moving through area is potentially another death that just hasn't been discovered yet. Sadly the victims in such cases are often the elderly or disabled who may not have access to a car and just end up forgotten and missed in the chaos because they couldn't evacuate on their own.

... Or the mulishly stubborn who COULD have gotten out but decided that they were going to defend their home with their piddly garden hose that won't do jack shit against a wildfire. Seriously, for any folks in the fire zones going through this for the first time, speaking from experience when they tell you to get out, get the fuck out. Have your bug-out bags packed and ready so if you have to GTFO in a hurry you can do so. (Not to mention, if the bug-out bag is already packed and you're paying attention to your surroundings, you'll then have more time to pack up more than just the bare minimum essentials if an evac order comes down. Y'know, things like computers with your personal documents, photo albums, all that jazz.)

[Washington Resistance Army]

Why do I feel like the death toll is actually well over 100, but they just haven't found the bodies as of yet?

Unfortunately that could be very likely, especially in places where a fast-moving fire had overtaken and surrounded small towns. Anybody currently listed as "missing" in the wake of a fire moving through area is potentially another death that just hasn't been discovered yet. Sadly the victims in such cases are often the elderly or disabled who may not have access to a car and just end up forgotten and missed in the chaos because they couldn't evacuate on their own.

... Or the mulishly stubborn who COULD have gotten out but decided that they were going to defend their home with their piddly garden hose that won't do jack shit against a wildfire. Seriously, for any folks in the fire zones going through this for the first time, speaking from experience when they tell you to get out, get the fuck out. Have your bug-out bags packed and ready so if you have to GTFO in a hurry you can do so. (Not to mention, if the bug-out bag is already packed and you're paying attention to your surroundings, you'll then have more time to pack up more than just the bare minimum essentials if an evac order comes down. Y'know, things like computers with your personal documents, photo albums, all that jazz.)

I can't blame people for staying honestly. As much as I want to say I'd be rational and just evacuate I probably would end up staying and try to save everything.

[Geneviev]

Unfortunately that could be very likely, especially in places where a fast-moving fire had overtaken and surrounded small towns. Anybody currently listed as "missing" in the wake of a fire moving through area is potentially another death that just hasn't been discovered yet. Sadly the victims in such cases are often the elderly or disabled who may not have access to a car and just end up forgotten and missed in the chaos because they couldn't evacuate on their own.

... Or the mulishly stubborn who COULD have gotten out but decided that they were going to defend their home with their piddly garden hose that won't do jack shit against a wildfire. Seriously, for any folks in the fire zones going through this for the first time, speaking from experience when they tell you to get out, get the fuck out. Have your bug-out bags packed and ready so if you have to GTFO in a hurry you can do so. (Not to mention, if the bug-out bag is already packed and you're paying attention to your surroundings, you'll then have more time to pack up more than just the bare minimum essentials if an evac order comes down. Y'know, things like computers with your personal documents, photo albums, all that jazz.)

I can't blame people for staying honestly. As much as I want to say I'd be rational and just evacuate I probably would end up staying and try to save everything.

I'd be tempted. It would be stupid, but I don't know that I could just leave Leaves of Grass behind. I do understand the people who choose to stay.

[Reploid Productions]

I can't blame people for staying honestly. As much as I want to say I'd be rational and just evacuate I probably would end up staying and try to save everything.

I'd be tempted. It would be stupid, but I don't know that I could just leave Leaves of Grass behind. I do understand the people who choose to stay.

I can certainly understand the temptation (as mentioned before, this season is not my first wildfire rodeo,) but the important thing is your personal safety. Material possessions can be replaced, you can't be. Plus staying behind not only puts yourself in danger, it also takes firefighting resources away from protecting structures to try to rescue you. So you're not just endangering yourself, it's also putting the firefighters in unnecessary danger as well and making it more difficult for them to try and protect the homes since their priority is protecting lives first, then property. With the lives safely out of the area then they can focus entirely on that structure protection. Unless you have the necessary training and proper equipment, trying to stay behind and defend your home yourself just puts the place in even greater danger as counter-intuitive as that seems. Best you can really hope to do with a garden hose is to spray down your house before you leave, but with the kind of heat a wildfire can produce the actual help that does is pretty negligible.

It also depends on where you are in relation to the fire. If you're in an already inaccessible area, such as up in the mountains or a canyon where you only have a couple of roads in and out of the region, you need to evacuate much earlier; simply because it will take you longer to get out of the danger zone. You have more miles to go to reach safety and those access points will quickly be choked by both outbound traffic that waited too long and fire equipment trying to get in plus the possibility of the fire cutting those routes off entirely. You've got a lot more leeway to wait to evacuate at the last minute if you're in an apartment or suburban home in an area with myriad escape routes, plus in a large suburban area (NOT a small town!) you also won't have to travel nearly as far to reach safety. And in both cases, if you're alert to your surrounding conditions and already prepared to get out in a hurry before the moment of crisis, that gives you a lot more leeway to rescue a lot more of your most valuable possessions and mementos before you need to get out. Last time I had to evac I was able to pack up a lot of my personal stuff because I was aware the fire was heading my direction more than an hour before it was on my doorstep. Good thing too, because the flames were on the hills right above us before the evac orders even arrived because of how fast-moving it was.

[Helseth]

The AQI is consistently over 500 near daily between noon and night, it's terrible.

[Shanghai industrial complex]

As far as I know, the west coast of the United States is burning.

Wait,I was given an up-to-date picture of the scene.

[Greed and Death]

As far as I know, the west coast of the United States is burning.

(Image)

Wait,I was given an up-to-date picture of the scene.

(Image)

Wouldn't the west coast be the Empire of the Rising Sun invading?

change the blimps to Mechas.

[Shanghai industrial complex]

As far as I know, the west coast of the United States is burning.

(Image)

Wait,I was given an up-to-date picture of the scene.

(Image)

Wouldn't the west coast be the Empire of the Rising Sun invading?

change the blimps to Mechas.

Emmmm But the sky on the West Coast really turned red

[Borderlands of Rojava]

Any new towns burn today?

[Greed and Death]

Wouldn't the west coast be the Empire of the Rising Sun invading?

change the blimps to Mechas.

Emmmm But the sky on the West Coast really turned red

Like a Rising Sun ?