So think about standing in one of those places and then surrounding yourself with fire.
Posted on 09/01/2023 6:11:29 PM PDT by Libloather
“ More than likely a cigarette butt. Probably started on the shoulder of the road. “
No, this is probably a left-wing conspiracy.
What keeps our fires small in East Texas is that we rarely have high winds this time of year to drive them.
“ You can call me a tin hatter… “
You’re a tin hatter
Now over 1,000 acres. I would be upset if my pine investment burned up.
Waller county is west of Houston, adjacent to Harris County (where Houston is).
Whoops - Walker County. Yup North.
Lotta counties in Texas.
It’s a tinder box here. All the grass is dead, trees stressed and dying.
We just had our first rain in close to 3 months in the mountains of south-central BC. Our twin rivers are at the lowest in recent memory.
The Houston area is not quite a temperate rain forest. But it isn’t Dallas either. This has been Dallas weather
Does anyone read the articles posted before commenting?
1000 acres is not a particularly large fire. 500 acres in a few hours is really rather small given the fuel load. Look at the pictures and video. That’s a crazy fuel load. I would have predicted a much quicker spread.
I am very sorry for those forced to flee. It’s a scary traumatizing event. However, given the vegetation in this area, it really is the best and safest thing to do.
Yaupon holly, raytan and dry pine trees. Yaupon does not burn, it explodes, full of wax.
We will see if the authorities engage in bizarre behavior, such as blocking unauthorized supplies, stopping private firefighting efforts, and using police to block escape routes, that we have seen in Hawaii and Canada. Texans won’t put up with such government lunacy.
They prevent unauthorized people from going behind lines because they seek to avoid what they call an incident within an incident.
People who are not firefighters are ill advised to try and fight a fire. I work in the field and will do certain things with regard to wildland fire, but I would never attempt to fight a structure fire. There are plenty of places I will not go, structures I will not protect, roads I will not go down because they are dangerous. The average homeowner does not have that knowledge and many who do make poor judgements when it comes to their own property.
On these fires, I’ve seen people injured entering burn sites, falling through weakened bridges, rolling vehicles off roads, falling into compromised septic systems. I heard of someone stuck under a care trying to rescue a cat. And that says nothing of the looters who enter under the guise of helping.
When these people are hurt, services are taken away from firefighting to address their idiocy.
No one can kick you off your property, but once you leave, they can be prevented from reentering,
A simple rule of thumb for a safety zone is 4 times the flame height. Should those 75 foot trees in that area torch, you can easily be talking 150 foot flames. Very few homes I googled in the area of this Texas fire had that. And that 4 times distance assumes no wind and flat terrain , which of course is never the case.
If you have a red card (training) you can get authorization, particularly if you are with an agency or nonprofit. There are many groups that county agencies and sheriff departments authorize to enter. But if you just show up, you will be directed elsewhere to help.
Download the safety zone app.
https://wise.wildfireanalyst.com/
Yeah. It’s crazy how some of that stuff burns. There are many species, particularly palmetto grasses and palm trees that can burn at 200% moisture content. There are many pines that readily burn with a fair moisture content.
Thanks for sharing what tree species are there. I’m always fascinated by that stuff.
Apart from Olympic level stupidity with regard to the authorities' response to the Lahaina fires, it appears that the post-fire actions by police and other officials in Hawaii and Canada have been more about control than assistance.
preach!
Not really. It’s the same reason you don’t let people into accident scenes, they can get hurt and can cause problems. It’s the same reason a firefighter isn’t allowed to run into a structure fire alone his first day on the job. It’s more than kinda dangerous.
Lahaina has insane levels of asbestos in their debris. You simply can’t let anyone into a highly contaminated area. To knowingly do so is criminal. And all these disasters have issues like that. I’ve seen skin slough off of animals recovered from flood waters. The contaminants will do the same to you.
I’ve seen many unauthorized people show up and get turned away. The smart ones set up outside the prohibited area or work with an agency or group that has access. The smart ones later work to gain authorization to enter.
There’s a wonderful woman from Paradise who lost everything in the Camp Fire who used the insurance money to purchase a food truck and trailer and serves the most fantastic BBQ to any and all free of charge at fires throughout California.
I personally was given a Subway sandwich someone gave to a deputy to distribute to those behind the lines where they couldn’t go. They had purchased dozens to give away. I cannot begin to tell you what that sandwich meant at that moment.
In addition to being a Cal Fire contractor, I belong to a handful of CART (Community Animal Response Team) and CERTs (Community Emergency Response Team) and I belong to two county emergency communications teams. To be part of these teams, I took several classes, earned my red card, achieved licenses, passed background checks, and am a sworn disaster service worker in 4 counties.
I understand how the command system works and where I fit in. You simply can’t have unaccounted people running around in these situations. Moreover, I go to the briefings and understand what is happening at these incidents. I know what freqs medical help is on. I know where the aid stations and hospitals are. I know what freqs air is on and what freqs corresponds to each branch. I’m able to monitor what’s going on and someone knows where I am. Simply wandering around someone could get themselves in a lot of trouble.
I have been to many incidents in many different capacities. There are many things that need to be done from dispatch, to public information, to accounting and record keeping. We need radio operators and computer savvy people. We need fund raisers and logistical support. Drivers licensed for various vehicles are needed. My point is a wide range of skill sets are needed and not everyone needs to go behind a fire line to have an impact.
Certifying those who may enter helps to filter out most of the yahoos that show up, and trust me, a lot of them show up. If someone goes into a disaster and doesn’t come out, who knows? Even if someone reports them missing, no one has any idea where they are.
It isn’t that they do not allow help, it’s that help needs to be managed to prevent complicating an already complicated, chaotic situation.
And for anyone who sees this response, I highly encourage everyone to look into becoming a CERT, CART, or any other sort of volunteer. For you veterans, there are several veteran based organizations that aid in these situations. You will be around fellow service members and do good things. Perhaps, eventually, you we can organize a Freeper disaster/emergency relief group.
Probably a 50/50 chance it was arson.
When we cleared our lot I had a huge pile of Yaupon and burned the stuff out in the unfinished culdesac. I was never so glad as to see that explosion burn down and I though it never would. After that I bought a chipper.
Where were Y’All driving from and to also what Highway/Road ?
So think about standing in one of those places and then surrounding yourself with fire.
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