Fire

[northmanlogging]

Ok it is probably a little presumptuous of me to comment on this since I'm retired but here goes. I see way to many images of firefighters, mostly local government, covered in slurry from air tanker drops. (I've been rained on lightly a couple of times and hit once hard by a bucket drop.) These images are all over facebook and twitter and I suppose snapchat. Somehow a pinked out ff is a sign of courage or the badge of a "hero". I say ********. It is the sign of a mistake that should not be allowed to happen. It should be the sign that something wrong just happened here. Instead of showing off these ff's need to be interviewed for an AAR so that it does not happen again. Now we have learned that one of the ff's killed on the Mendo Complex was killed when a VLAT drop broke branches of a tree striking the ff. (I don't know more than that at this time.)

For those of you on the fireline whether ff or contractor please stay as far as possible from any retardant drop or bucket drop. Don't risk your life just to be part of the club and get a cool picture.

(I also hate seeing over weight guys from volunteer departments especially "battalion chiefs" out on the fireline. How many times have you seen chiefs on an engine from some little department because they know they are making $1,000.00 per day just to polish a seat?) Rant off. For now.

As for the last part, wa dnr needs people, and its really good money, i have the skills to do the job.

But i am a fat ass, and running is not an option, so rather then be a burden i decided not to apply, even though some local guys here are making a killing on the fires...

 

[madhatte]

Y'know though there's always a need for equipment operators; I flat can't do my job without a dozer because we just don't have the people.

 

[RandyMac]

Even odds they will regret this large a backfire.
Firefighters Doing Large Backfires to Contain the Mendocino Complex

 

[madhatte]

I don't know how the prevailing winds run there, but I'd be nervous as hell about crowning and spotting after letting that much fire loose. Dozer lines aren't magic.

 

[RandyMac]

Kinda hard to tell, but it looks like the wind came up from the south.
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/wfo/eka/h5-loop-vis.html

 

[madhatte]

You can click the "wind" tab to see the barbs... looks like NW corner coastal is NNW wind, more southerly in the valley. Over the hills, less data, and lots of terrain-generated wind detail. I concur with your original statement: they're gonna regret biting off that much at once.

 

[Gologit]

Even odds they will regret this large a backfire.
Firefighters Doing Large Backfires to Contain the Mendocino Complex

That's huge. The wind forecast for tonight talks about north and north-west winds. But like Nathan says, lots of terrain generated wind, too.

 

[RandyMac]

Oh Lordy.
I saw that this morning and wondered if they really had a plan or if it was an act of desperation or both.
There isn't a whole lot in that area to lose, A ten mile long backfire seems extreme.

 

[madhatte]

Yeah, how are they gonna monitor that? Are they gonna pull crews off of other parts of the fire? What's the contingency plan for spots? What adjacent resources are available to shuffle from one incident to another? What if they lose resources because something gets bumped up in priority? I would not want to be the IC or Ops chief for this mess, and would likely turn down the assignment as SRB, unless I was very clear on what the goals and contingencies were. I feel for the TFL and DIVS because they're between a rock and a hard place. TFL and RXB2 are my next quals so you best believe I'm curious about how this plays out.

 

[RandyMac]

That odd little area of circulation off the coast is moving south, other stuff moving in, the Pacific is a busy place.
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/wc/h5-loop-vis.html
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/weus/h5-loop-vis.html

 

[RandyMac]

Going to get breezy along the coast for the weekend, clearing the smoke and fog out.

 

[madhatte]

Cleared out a lot here today, too.

 

[Gologit]

Oh Lordy.
I saw that this morning and wondered if they really had a plan or if it was an act of desperation or both.
There isn't a whole lot in that area to lose, A ten mile long backfire seems extreme.

One of the CalFire guys said today that maybe they'll get the Ranch Fire stopped when it hits the southern boundary of the Carr Fire.
He was kidding but...

 

[RandyMac]

One of the CalFire guys said today that maybe they'll get the Ranch Fire stopped when it hits the southern boundary of the Carr Fire.
He was kidding but...

I can almost believe that...lol.

 

[madhatte]

Maybe rename it the Complex Complex, or even the Meta Complex?

 

[RandyMac]

Cluster Fire

 

[Drptrch]

Even odds they will regret this large a backfire.
Firefighters Doing Large Backfires to Contain the Mendocino Complex

Workin so far. N-NW winds throughout the night

Pulled back in on its self all night, Nice having the Forests Shot crew on.
DP 67 to 69. Starting at both ends and meeting in the middle at 0300.

Erik

 

[Drptrch]

https://public.boxcloud.com/d/1/b1!...SGmLugWVUkGIUn3gc-Dz2HLMItsU3WT1Ow../download
Branch I map, Northern End

Erik

 

[Drptrch]

Part of the Dozer contingent that tracked the Dozer Highway above the Road Burn that night

And New Highway over Little Round Mountain

Erik

 

[Drptrch]

Workin so far. N-NW winds throughout the night

Pulled back in on its self all night, Nice having the Forests Shot crew on.
DP 67 to 69. Starting at both ends and meeting in the middle at 0300.

Erik

Erik