Thankful for my fish

[pacu mom]

Weather pattern has changed to drier, more wind today (16 mph at my house)....critical fire weather conditions today. 76, 857 acres burned, 7% contained, 3,035 personnel now working on the fire building lines, back fires, etc., and the govenor of California has finally declared a state of emergency for our county.

It has been very smokey for days, and they have set up "clean air shelters" where people can go to get out of the smoke and where they can get N95 masks. The past few days there was fog and smoke, so when the fog cleared, a lot of the smoke cleared temporarily. No fog today, so don't know if the smoke will lift.

Yesterday morning:



One hour later:



When the smoke cleared enough, the tanker planes were able to drop retardant on the fires. Some of the tanker planes flew by our house. It was a beautiful sound and sight to see them flew above to help us out.

New video by shasta wake

photos.app.goo.gl

On this super critical fire day, if the firefighters are able to keep the fires within the fire lines they have worked so hard to build, we have some cooler days with some precipication coming in tomorrow night.


The fire continues to advance in Oregon.

 

[pacu mom]

Update: The fire consumed 94, 693 acres and is 90% contained now. There are still 603 personnel working to get full containment. At it's worse, there were over 3,300 personnel from different states helping us out.



The following pics were taken a month ago, the first time we were able to drive on the road that had been closed.

Smoke in the distance as we approach the fire area.




Devastation on both sides of the road


Right now, the road is open from 11 am to 1 pm, and from 4 pm to 8 am to controlled pilotted traffic. There can be multiple waits for up to an 1 hour each.

Over a mile of guard rails had to be replaced, either from the wood supports burning, or trees crashing down on them. A lot of the burned trees towering above the road have to be cut down, as they pose a hazard to the vehicles below.




There are a few areas that have always been a constant threat for landslides. Rock slides from high, barren rocky slopes towering over the road had closed the road numerous times in the past. They have placed metal mesh and barriers at the bottom of the worst areas. However, things are much worse now. With rain, rocks can come sliding down at any time from multiple places. Yesterday when we drove through, there were two 130' lifts against one slope, as workers tried to make things safer for the vehicles below them. Keeping this main road open is going to be a challenge for years to come.

On another note, all evacuation warnings have been lifted, and only a few structures in remote wilderness areas burned--so those fighting the fires did an excellent job keeping the rest of us safe.

 

[celebrist]

Great to hear