West coast fires

[bcla]

My heart goes out to all of you and everyone suffering with these horrible fires. There really are no words.

I am wondering, however, is there aby way to possibly reduce the risk of these in the future? I remember learning way back in fourth grade when we were studying “forests”, etc.. that one thing that helps is to do “controlled” burns of the forest floor to get rid of the dry dead brush and allow for new growth. We were taught it also helps prevent wildfires.
Would this be feasible for states to implement? If they were to do smaller controlled burns in areas of high risk throughout the year, wouldn’t this help prevent some of the raging ones? I also realize the land mass involved is huge and a lot of what is burning is not necessarily forests. I also know there have been ongoing droughts which play a large part in this as well.
I guess I am just curious if there is “anything” that can be done to cut the risk going forward? It is just so horrible to see this happening year after year.

Praying the West Coast gets some relief soon.

Sure. I've been in certain areas during a controlled burn. Once I was in Yosemite when there were doing a controlled burn right in Yosemite Valley. I was driving by firefighters in those metallized heat resistant suits and they were using these things to apply fire to the brush. It was hazy as heck but frankly not as bad as the air is right now.

But what's to be done now after decades of putting out fires almost immediately? There used to be a lot more small fires where they'd take of protecting homes and lives over trying to save trees, but it shifted to putting out every little fire to the point where there's a pretty big buildup of underbrush.

 

[okeydokey]

My heart goes out to all of you and everyone suffering with these horrible fires. There really are no words.

I am wondering, however, is there aby way to possibly reduce the risk of these in the future? I remember learning way back in fourth grade when we were studying “forests”, etc.. that one thing that helps is to do “controlled” burns of the forest floor to get rid of the dry dead brush and allow for new growth. We were taught it also helps prevent wildfires.
Would this be feasible for states to implement? If they were to do smaller controlled burns in areas of high risk throughout the year, wouldn’t this help prevent some of the raging ones? I also realize the land mass involved is huge and a lot of what is burning is not necessarily forests. I also know there have been ongoing droughts which play a large part in this as well.
I guess I am just curious if there is “anything” that can be done to cut the risk going forward? It is just so horrible to see this happening year after year.

Praying the West Coast gets some relief soon.

Controlled burning is a great way to reduce brush to prevent larger unintentional burns, but they can only be done under very strict conditions regarding weather etc. It is harder and harder to find the opportunity to do successful controlled burns due to increasingly dry conditions because of climate change and that will only continue to get worse in the future.

 

[Carol_]

Air quality where I am is 409 right now, but people have said it went over 500 the two previous days. I drove up to Salem to get my son a couple days ago, and the darkest part of the trip was around Brownsville (a little north of Eugene). My son was out in the woods a ways outside the Salem area. He evacuated to Stayton first, then to Salem the next day, and is now home. We think where he was burned down, which is just tragic as it was a camp for disabled people. The family that runs the camp likely lost their home. But we won't know for a while.

He took this pic in Stayton when he first evacuated:


View attachment 525084



It was dark but he said the sky was red--and it was at 11 a.m. when he took it. Just scary.

He left the Beachie Creek Fire area. but what's closer to home is the Holiday Farm Fire. My friend's mom had to evacuate her memory care because of it (can you imagine? Cottages full of demented elderly people being asked to leave their home and move to a church? It's just awful. )

A 12 year old boy died up in the Salem area (and his grandma). I couldn't stop crying yesterday. It's just so awful. The family is one who made a roadside amusement park that my family has always enjoyed (Called Enchanted Forest), and I went to as a little kid, then took my own kids to. Just so freaking tragic. I am so grateful my son and the group he was working with heard to leave the area--how hard it must be to get the notification out to everyone, and the situation can change so fast. They left at level 2 (level 1 is get ready, level to is be set, and level three is go immediately).

I cried over that story, too. Just horrible.

 

[bcla]

Controlled burning is a great way to reduce brush to prevent larger unintentional burns, but they can only be done under very strict conditions regarding weather etc. It is harder and harder to find the opportunity to do successful controlled burns due to increasingly dry conditions because of climate change and that will only continue to get worse in the future.

Yeah. I mention Yosemite, where they do a lot of these. However, one time the acting Superintendent approved a burn under conditions that were poor, and it ended up burning several private homes in the Foresta private inholding. They were planning on burning 90 acres, which then got away.

https://wildfiretoday.com/2009/09/1...s-responsibility-for-escaped-prescribed-fire/
Controlled burns in grassy areas is different. I was in an area to watch fireworks (a tribal casino). The area around there got heavily scorched. While we were there one of the people watching was a local landowner. Said that most of her crops got destroyed, although it could be replanted the next season. I don't know how much can be done for that kind of land, because typically it's grazing animals that help to reduce the growth. However, forests are another matter. I've seen the devastation from a large fire. I was in Yellowstone about 15 years ago and they still had areas with lots of downed trees from a large fire from the late 80s.

Still - many of these forests in the west coast survive. Redwoods and many tall conifers are uniquely suited to surviving fires. There isn't a thousand year old redwood that doesn't have extensive fire scars. I've seen lightning holes going up and down redwoods and giant sequoias.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My heart goes out to all of you and everyone suffering with these horrible fires. There really are no words.

I am wondering, however, is there aby way to possibly reduce the risk of these in the future? I remember learning way back in fourth grade when we were studying “forests”, etc.. that one thing that helps is to do “controlled” burns of the forest floor to get rid of the dry dead brush and allow for new growth. We were taught it also helps prevent wildfires.
Would this be feasible for states to implement? If they were to do smaller controlled burns in areas of high risk throughout the year, wouldn’t this help prevent some of the raging ones? I also realize the land mass involved is huge and a lot of what is burning is not necessarily forests. I also know there have been ongoing droughts which play a large part in this as well.
I guess I am just curious if there is “anything” that can be done to cut the risk going forward? It is just so horrible to see this happening year after year.

Praying the West Coast gets some relief soon.

CA is horrible for allowing homes to be built in high fire risk zones. Homes add a fuel source to fires not to mention people's lives lost, pets lost, wildlife lost and property damage costs. That would be something they can actually control but they have shown not to put that as a priority, sadly. They continue to allow building in these high risk areas and the population there continues to want that as well. And it's not as if they haven't been advised not to allow building either. So yup.

 

[linzjane88]

We are about 45 min north of Portland. We are at 354 which is the worst we've been as far as I know. We're inside and have burny eyes and scratchy throats. Over the course of the day it's slowly gotten inside the house. It almost makes you feel claustrophobic, like there is no where you can go to get away from it.

 

[DLgal]

We are about 45 min north of Portland. We are at 354 which is the worst we've been as far as I know. We're inside and have burny eyes and scratchy throats. Over the course of the day it's slowly gotten inside the house. It almost makes you feel claustrophobic, like there is no where you can go to get away from it.

Get an air purifier. We have one and even at just 130 on the AQI, our air purifier is picking up increased PM2.5 and PM10 inside (we have AC and never open windows). My sister in San Francisco doesn't have AC and her air purifier was also working overtime to clean their home air.

I can't imagine being in worse conditions without an air purifier.

 

[disneychrista]

Get an air purifier. We have one and even at just 130 on the AQI, our air purifier is picking up increased PM2.5 and PM10 inside (we have AC and never open windows). My sister in San Francisco doesn't have AC and her air purifier was also working overtime to clean their home air.

I can't imagine being in worse conditions without an air purifier.

And if you can't get an actually air purifier you can make one out of a box fan and air filter. Just place secure the air filter to the front of the fan .

 

[barkley]

And if you can't get an actually air purifier you can make one out of a box fan and air filter. Just place secure the air filter to the front of the fan .

this started being suggested a couple days ago on facebook-air filters are the new toilet paper in our area. every size, shape, type has been stripped from local shelves.

until things improve area school districts that were just set to begin their school year this week have cancelled due to the air quality. the 2 local universities that were actually doing full or partial face to face have cancelled as well. hoping things improve-this evening on the air quality scale that maxes out w/the worst at 500 we were at 498/now it's 12:20 a.m. local time and we are at 465

 

[bcla]

The A's are playing the end of a doubleheader right now in Seattle. I'd note that their stadium is not fully enclosed. There's the retractable roof, which I saw close when I was there and it started raining. However, the roof makes it more like a covered, open air patio. The players weren't too happy about it, and some were in the field wearing respirator masks.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1305625198926934021

 

[DisneyandBeerLover]

I'm about to lose it tbh, I never thought I would be craving clean (or even decent) air for so long. It was supposed to rain tomorrow and now it's not...

 

[DLgal]

I'm about to lose it tbh, I never thought I would be craving clean (or even decent) air for so long. It was supposed to rain tomorrow and now it's not...

OMG, seriously. Me too. We are on like day 10 of being stuck inside. To be fair, our air isn't TERRIBLE, but it's at the red "unhealthy" level at around 150 and has just stayed there. There is a haze and I can't even see the foothills that are 2 miles away. It's crazy. I just want get outside for a run and see a blue sky and breathe clean air.

 

[lifesavacation]

I'm about to lose it tbh, I never thought I would be craving clean (or even decent) air for so long. It was supposed to rain tomorrow and now it's not...

Me too. The pandemic is hard enough but now the air is literally poison. Our AQI has been over 500 and I feel trapped. I keep refreshing the AirNow site hoping to see the numbers drop, which they aren't. I need to stop torturing myself.

 

[linzjane88]

Me too. The pandemic is hard enough but now the air is literally poison. Our AQI has been over 500 and I feel trapped. I keep refreshing the AirNow site hoping to see the numbers drop, which they aren't. I need to stop torturing myself.

OMG me too. I feel exactly the same way. It's so depressing feeling trapped inside with nothing but white to stare at out the window!
We got down to the 170's this morning but back in the 320's now. 500 is insane! It started sprinkling for a few minutes--I hope it continues and washes away all this grossness.

 

[godisney14]

And if you can't get an actually air purifier you can make one out of a box fan and air filter. Just place secure the air filter to the front of the fan .

I stated this earlier, but to repeat in case people glossed over it, I would suggest to whoever does this (myself included before we got true HEPA air purifiers and HVAC filter) to get the highest MERV/FPR/MPR rated filter available from the store. Filters below MERV ~11 are really pointless for the type of air most here are trying to clean indoors for on the West Coast right now.

And, in case any one ever wondered, an air purifier does not remove the smokey smell. You would need activated charcoal for that (look up on Amazon). The air filters that market having a charcoal layer integrated is just misleading advertising fluff. That small amount is not going to make any difference (more like a placebo effect).

Also, if one runs a box fan with a filter continuously for extended periods of time, occasionally check to see that the motor isn’t becoming too warm. Those small motors aren’t really designed for extended usage under restricted load.

https://abc7news.com/amp/bay-area-orange-sky-ash-in-the-air-when-will-get-better-nws/6422938/
And, try to stay indoors whenever possible. Even with an AQI or ~150 outside. Best to use that N95/KN95/KF94 mask when outdoors.

I’m actually surprised to learn the other day that NFL (49ers vs Cardinals) allows games to occur as long as AQI is <= 200.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

The A's are playing the end of a doubleheader right now in Seattle. I'd note that their stadium is not fully enclosed. There's the retractable roof, which I saw close when I was there and it started raining. However, the roof makes it more like a covered, open air patio. The players weren't too happy about it, and some were in the field wearing respirator masks.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1305625198926934021

I understand why they want them to play, but they need to move the west coast teams to safer stadiums. There are plenty of AAA & Spring Training stadiums they could use. It's not like they have to play in a Major League stadium. Playing in Buffalo is working for the Blue Jays.

 

[bcla]

I understand why they want them to play, but they need to move the west coast teams to safer stadiums. There are plenty of AAA & Spring Training stadiums they could use. It's not like they have to play in a Major League stadium. Playing in Buffalo is working for the Blue Jays.

Every stadium up and down the West Coast has the issue with smoke. And the smoke is actually going quite far - I heard even affecting the air quality in New York. But an actual indoor stadium with a filtering system would probably be ideal. Not that they chose it because the current smoke situation, but the new ballpark where the Rangers play has a retractable roof that will fully enclose the stadium, and that's been chosen as the neutral site for the World Series.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Every stadium up and down the West Coast has the issue with smoke. And the smoke is actually going quite far - I heard even affecting the air quality in New York. But an actual indoor stadium with a filtering system would probably be ideal. Not that they chose it because the current smoke situation, but the new ballpark where the Rangers play has a retractable roof that will fully enclose the stadium, and that's been chosen as the neutral site for the World Series.

The Rays have a fully enclosed stadium also, but I'm not suggesting they move the teams that far south. There has to be many areas that aren't affected by the smoke that also have AAA or Spring Training stadiums. We live in South Florida. Our air quality hasn't been affected. None of my family on the Southeast coast have mentioned a change in air quality. As I said earlier, I understand why they want them to play, but the players, coaches, umpires, etc. shouldn't have to breathe in toxic air, when we have other options in the country where they could play.

 

[bcla]

The Rays have a fully enclosed stadium also, but I'm not suggesting they move the teams that far south. There has to be many areas that aren't affected by the smoke that also have AAA or Spring Training stadiums. We live in South Florida. Our air quality hasn't been affected. None of my family on the Southeast coast have mentioned a change in air quality. As I said earlier, I understand why they want them to play, but the players, coaches, umpires, etc. shouldn't have to breathe in toxic air, when we have other options in the country where they could play.

The original Kingdome would have been fine. Well - maybe not the AstroTurf playing surface.

 

[Jnjtrio]

Finally saw a slight glimpse of the sun today just outside of Portland, OR. We even got a light rain shower for about 10 min just before 8pm. AQI is just above 200, which is not great by any means but better than 400 - 500 it has been in the area.