blueskies Posted August 20, 2007 Report Posted August 20, 2007 Man, am I tired of the smoke... There's a new fire burning a few miles from Ketchum, ID. The smoke is so thick at my office I can't see across the street, and headlights look like they are shining through thick fog. Ash is falling like snow... Mandatory evacuations in several very high end neighborhoods. Winds are blowing very hard, fanning the flames. Here's a few pics of the fire on Saturday afternoon, taken from my Plymouth on the way home from a car show- This is about 60 miles away. Not a cloud in the sky, that's the smoke plume stretching to the east as far as the eye can see into Montana. A little closer... About 30 miles away from here- The fire originated as a lightning strike 11 miles west of Ketchum. That's Sun Valley's world famous Bald Mountain right under the highest part of the smoke cloud. My house is right behind the green tree on the right, at the base of the hills four miles ahead. The fire was 3,000+ acres at this point, not sure how big it is now. They've been running choppers and bombers all day, red cross is here for the evacuee's, etc. Quite the scene... I hope all the folks who've had to leave their homes come out of this alright. Pete Quote
blueskies Posted August 20, 2007 Author Report Posted August 20, 2007 tonight's moon, faintly shining through the smoke. Quote
Guest P15-D24 Posted August 20, 2007 Report Posted August 20, 2007 Down here in Santa Barbara the Zaca fires has been burning since July 4th. 188,000 acres up in smoke, with a lot of it blowing down on us. Latest estimate for containment is Sept. 7th. It was pretty touch and go for a couple days last week but the danger for my house has pretty much diminished. Today the sky was blue again Quote
Guest P15-D24 Posted August 20, 2007 Report Posted August 20, 2007 The ridge line 1s about 5 miles from my house. http://www.sbcfire.com/zacafirewebpics/zacafirewebpics-Pages/Image11.html http://www.sbcfire.com/zacafirewebpics/zacafirewebpics.html Quote
blueskies Posted August 20, 2007 Author Report Posted August 20, 2007 sattelite shot of Idaho... cough... Gerald- Your situation looks much worse than mine. There is not much danger for me personally, unless the whole town burns, which I doubt is a possibility. Think SNOW. Pete Quote
builtfercomfort Posted August 20, 2007 Report Posted August 20, 2007 I've been in Santa Barbara for the past few days visiting family. One day there was ash falling everywhere, bad air quality, 'stay indoors!' air warnings. When I'm there I always like to go driving in the hills above the town, but those roads are full of fire trucks or closed, so not this visit. It's burned over 200,000 acres at this point - they think they will be able to keep it in the 'back country' (away from the coast where most people live) and in the National Forest. http://www.independent.com/ has the best coverage of the fire, much beyond the press releases. The hot dry Santa Ana winds are not blowing - the huge fire is a result of fire-adapted desert plants with lots of dead material and an area that has not burned in 40 years. If those winds were blowing (over the mountains, down toward the coastal towns) it would be a HUGE problem, with many thousands of lives at risk. The winds usually start up in late summer, early fall, which is why this fire is so potentially dangerous. (In the early 80s, when these winds were blowing, I woke up at 7:00 am when Santa Barbara (on the Pacific coast) was 95 degrees, the hottest place in the country that day.) I hope the folks in ID and MT are okay - clean up the brush around your houses, etc. My grandfather stopped a fire from entering his property with a garden hose in 1971, but he was lucky enough to see it coming in the early evening. At night the few minutes it took to get dressed would have been too late. Quote
blueskies Posted August 20, 2007 Author Report Posted August 20, 2007 Just got off the phone with one of my past clients. The house we designed for her is in the potential path of the fire... The fire crews have cut a trench above the house on the hillside, and are starting a back burn to protect the houses on the hillside. She's a nervous wreck, has all her important belongings in the car ready to roll. Cross your fingers... Pete Quote
RobertKB Posted August 21, 2007 Report Posted August 21, 2007 Pete, we are getting a lot of smoke up here in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada from big fires where you are and in Montana. Sky has been really strange the last few days with strange light caused by the smoke. Even had some ash fall as well. Have a few fires of our own but nothing like those. Hope the lady's house is OK as it sure looks beautiful. You'll maybe have to change your handle from blueskies to smokegetsinmyeyes! LOL Quote
Normspeed Posted August 21, 2007 Report Posted August 21, 2007 Pretty scary GTK. Stay safe. We've been getting some ash from the Zaca fire all the way down here in the San Gabriel Valley. The ridge line 1s about 5 miles from my house. http://www.sbcfire.com/zacafirewebpics/zacafirewebpics-Pages/Image11.html http://www.sbcfire.com/zacafirewebpics/zacafirewebpics.html Quote
47heaven Posted August 22, 2007 Report Posted August 22, 2007 Pretty scary GTK. Stay safe. We've been getting some ash from the Zaca fire all the way down here in the San Gabriel Valley. Hey, Norm. That smoke cloud is moving towards my way now. This is s sign that the onshore flow is back. Right now the sun has an orange tint to it and so does everthing it's shining on. Quote
Normspeed Posted August 22, 2007 Report Posted August 22, 2007 I saw that cloud out towards you when I got off the train at Covina this evening. Haven't seen the news but there might be something going on even closer, like between your place and mine. Quote
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