So we had some local excitement yesterday. A fire started between the West Fork of the Feather River and Paradise. It was between the river and the flume. There was no lightening. That terrain is insane. Calling it a hillside would be incorrect. Calling it a sheer cliff isn't quite right either, but damned close. It's a very steep thing several hundreds of feet down at an angle of at least 60 degrees. If you were to fall at the top, you could not stop yourself, it's too steep. What would stop you is normally hitting rocks at the bottom. If you're luckier, you smash into a big oak or Douglas Fir tree. Folks do that every year. They are always young men, with an occasional young women. They end up with their bodies busted up and or/brain injuries.
The reason I gave you a visual of that area is to make it clear someone had to have climbed up from the river up a crazy steep-angled near cliff to start a fire. Perhaps they were smoking a cigarette and tossed the butt. I'm not buying that because it is not some place anyone would be unless they wanted to find themselves there after an arduous climb. I think this thing was most likely purposefully lit, but, of course, I could be totally wrong.
The fire was reported by two residents along Country Club Drive which is the last road along the top of that chasm that drops at least 400 feet nearly straight down to the river. They called in to say they could see flames in the canyon from their back yards. We live directly west of that fire about three miles as the crow flies. The picture below is just about what the fire fighting spotter plane looked like flying over our home. And yes, it really was that close to us.
The fire was 1/2 acre. Because it was 104 degrees (OK...103.7), CDF pounced on it immediately. Paradise almost totally burned to the ground in 2008 from wildfires. It was too hard to get hand crews in fast enough so they brought in a spotter plane, three water-bucket helicopters and five air tankers. What an air show we got last evening.
To get to the fire from the Chico Airport which is now exclusively used by CDF, they had to fly right over our home. Pretty damned impressive. Amazing aerial acrobatics too were on display. We watched a helicopter coming in just as the spotter plane was completing another circle. The spotter plane suddenly went straight up and sorta just glided in that assent to let the chopper pass...then back down the spotter plane went (like ballet!)
These are pics of the small air tankers they used for precision drops of retardant in a tight space.
They spent a good two hours entirely encircling the fire with red-orange retardant with the five air tankers, while the helicopters dumped water on the fire. The fire only got to one acre in size and was unable to get past the ring of retardant. It was 50% contained by 10 AM this morning. Bulldozers gashed open a huge fire line (four lane highway size) between the fire and Paradise.
This response is so CDF (California Department of Forestry). There is a huge fire raging in eastern Washington State that's consumed more than 58,000 acres and burned several homes and structures. They have 8 helicopters and 5 air tankers fighting that. I'm sorry to say this Washington State, but you've got to beef up your forest fire fighting capacity. This drought is coming for you...it won't stop.
~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, have you ever looked at pics of pot grows via Google Earth? Where we live they are everywhere. I'll put up some pics of some starting with one just down the street from our house. We walk past it every time we take our dogs on a morning walk. The other pics are of ones sprinkled all around nearby.
What do you want to kibitz about tonight?
|
|
|
|
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
|
|