Hey Jameson. Stayin dry?
Fire
- Thread starter Gologit
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forestryworks
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Holy hell! There ya are! Me and Cody figured you drowned with all that rain in TX.
Nice to be in the high desert this time of year - high and dry. We sure had a wet winter though.
By god, I'll pay that bill and return to sender with a bill paid charge!
Sounds fair to me.
We had a good-ish one yesterday. Structure guys got it the night before with their "surround-and-drown" tactics and were surprised the next morning when the fog lifted and the fire woke back up. I ordered up a dozer and got it contained and watched it for an hour or so until the RH bottomed out, then went home. Easy money.
You guys use air tankers much?
Very rare on the west side. All of the DNR helicopters are based east side (Ellensburg, I think), no bases Westside. I think there a couple of SEATS over east, and Oregon has them in Redmond.
Metals406
Granfodder Runningsaw
That's why it's called "Hose & Doze". . . Not "Hose & Go". ;0)
We get rotors once in awhile, when the army offers them, but we don't really have a practical way to order them. You have no idea how frustrating it is to see them flying buckets around for training and know they're not coming to your fire. They are also not particularly good at observing the rules for where to dip. Sometimes it's best not to ask questions you don't want the answers to.
Ouch. Too bad, I've seen the military Blackhawks and Chinooks do some really good work.
Wildfire Today showed that Predictive Services has release the newest outlook. They are now calling for conditions in NE Washington to rise to above normal in June, and the entire PNW in July.
Monthly Outlook
Wildfire Today showed that Predictive Services has release the newest outlook. They are now calling for conditions in NE Washington to rise to above normal in June, and the entire PNW in July.
Monthly Outlook
Metals406
Granfodder Runningsaw
I'm pretty close to NE Warshington -- the contractor I work for is outta Twisp.
All the fire maps I've seen for this year so far -- show red for most if Oregon, Nor Cal, WA, ID, and parts of MT.
I want a good season, but would prefer to keep the urban-interface down to nill. I hate watching folks lose property!
All the fire maps I've seen for this year so far -- show red for most if Oregon, Nor Cal, WA, ID, and parts of MT.
I want a good season, but would prefer to keep the urban-interface down to nill. I hate watching folks lose property!
I suspect it will be a rare year we don't have some interface involvement any more.
Metals406
Granfodder Runningsaw
Agreed
Well, our crew started trickling in this week. Of 6, 3 are red-carded already. This is promising. We might have a full crew by the time August is here.
Not 100% positive on this but the local Search and Rescue/ sheriffs copter is outfitted for buckets, they are the guys I saw flying one around the other day.
Otherwise... last time I seen a fire bomber on this side was the gold hill fire. that was the early 90's some twin prop b-17 c 130 ancient looking death traps... doing stuff fighter jockeys would get queezy over, recess had a whole new meaning.
LOL...free airshows. They don't use B-17s on fires any more and after two wing failure incidents the private contractor C-130s are being phased out too. The military is still using C-130s in the MAFFS program but...hopefully...their inspection procedures for things like wing spar stress cracks have improved.
The "air port" in Darrington is brutal short, and bordered on one end by a cemetery the other by power lines that may or may not be too close/tall for comfort, no tower to speak of...
Having them fire bombers parked there for a few weeks made the whole town look like some kind of international airport diorama...
Having them fire bombers parked there for a few weeks made the whole town look like some kind of international airport diorama...
They have a set up at the airport above East Wenatchee for air tankers and also will fly out of the Omak airport. I worked as a parking attendent for the planes in Winslow, AZ. We were redundant. There were lines painted for the pilots to follow and they mostly paid attention to them. I got sunburned lips but fire camp was a nice motel room instead of a tent, and no night shifts.
We did have a low speed chase (cue Yakkity Sax) when a guy in a motorized wheelchair came into the danger zone. (More Yakkity Sax) and we watched a guy spend hours assembling his parachute with fan flying machine only to crash on take off. It was like the tricycle tip over on Laugh In.
We did have a low speed chase (cue Yakkity Sax) when a guy in a motorized wheelchair came into the danger zone. (More Yakkity Sax) and we watched a guy spend hours assembling his parachute with fan flying machine only to crash on take off. It was like the tricycle tip over on Laugh In.
They also fly the larger planes out of Moses Hole, WA, Redmond, OR and Trout Lake, OR. They had them on two fires on the westside in the General Portland area last year, Scoggins Creek and 36 Pit. I won't be surprised if we see them on the Olympic Peninsula this season, or really, anywhere on the westside.
Other than the P2 Korean War vintage plans, most of the large air tanker fleet is more current. The USFS has 7 retired USCG C-130H planes they will place in service over the next couple of years, two should be ready with MAFFS slide in units this season. The rest need wing box replacements, the USAF is managing that for the Forest Service. One of the private contractors has a C-130J in service, and is building up a second. The remaining private large air tankers are older passenger jets, BAe-146 and RJ-85s, MD-87s and 3 DC-10s. We used to have 44 privately operated air tankers available, right now the USFS has 15 on contract.
Other than the P2 Korean War vintage plans, most of the large air tanker fleet is more current. The USFS has 7 retired USCG C-130H planes they will place in service over the next couple of years, two should be ready with MAFFS slide in units this season. The rest need wing box replacements, the USAF is managing that for the Forest Service. One of the private contractors has a C-130J in service, and is building up a second. The remaining private large air tankers are older passenger jets, BAe-146 and RJ-85s, MD-87s and 3 DC-10s. We used to have 44 privately operated air tankers available, right now the USFS has 15 on contract.
