Fire. NORCAL. Being evacuated

[ghostsinthemachine]

Voluntary but making ready. Pilot Hill+Cool area, foothills above Sacramento. Scary, we saw it was close coming home from the dentist. Looks to be about a mile or more away. Very close to Folsom lake. A few planes, including a big ass jet dropping on the fire.

We've been working on our fire suppression system on the ranch. New pumps, lines and cutting most grasses. We should be safe. 10 people here, 4 living buildings, more shops, storages as well as some livestock, dogs, cats.

Just gonna be ready to go, if it changes to mandatory.

[malaise]

1. Please stay safe

[Takket]

2. Be safe. Things can be replaced, lives cannot.

[H2O Man]

3. Be safe.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Take care of yourself and hope it doesn't reach you!

[Zoonart]

5. Keep safe GITM.

[Docreed2003]

6. Stay safe...keep us posted!

[Leghorn21]

7. Sounds as if you're as ready and prepared as possible, ghost - GOOD. So, so sorry you are

having to experience this, but glad you are are prepped and ready for possible evacuation.

HANG TOUGH

ALL BEST WISHES

[FirstLight]

8. *gulp*

Good Luck... I'm up the Hill from you in Tahoe/Truckee area. Angora was over 10 years ago and I'm worried we are due...

Stay safe!!

[handmade34]

9. oh my...

hope for the best, be safe... so difficult for us to imagine here in the Northeast

[applegrove]

10. Vibes to you all.

[DarthDem]

11. Stay Safe and Good Luck!

Hope everything turns out well for you.

[ghostsinthemachine]

12. Looks like they are getting to it

On the news KCRA, they are showing less fire, some hot spots, and there is way less smoke around.
I imagine the evacs will be lifted soon.

[A HERETIC I AM]

13. I hope this doesn't sound like a stupid question.....

because it probably will!.......


Would it help mitigate risk to your structures by turning sprinklers on and basically trying to keep the buildings wet, from the roof on down?

I realize how intense these fires can get, but if the ground around them is free of trees and has had the grass cut, as you mentioned, wouldn't it help to keep them wet?

[Hekate]

21. Sometimes it does, sometimes al it does is reduce the water pressure the firefighters need.

What you don't want to do is try to save your property with a garden hose.

[A HERETIC I AM]

39. Yeah...like trying to put out a big campfire by peeing on it.....

My thoughts were along the lines that if everything was wet...if you did have a sprinkler system installed such that it soaked the roof and sides of a wooden building, flying embers would not be able to light up your barn.

I lived in SoCal from late '01 through '04 and seem to remember a fire that went through a neighborhood and just consumed everything....except....the one guy that built his house so that it didn't have any exposed wood.

The lesson there is build everything out of concrete

[Hekate]

41. I've been living on the Central Coast since 1979. It's gorgeous here, but flammable...

...more so these days, with climate change a fact of life.

The Painted Cave Fire of 1990 ran from the mountains nearly to the sea, jumping the 101 and everything else in its path. Above a County park called Tucker's Grove is a row of churches and one synagogue. They were all saved, but in the case of B'nai B'rith the caretaker stayed on and turned on every sprinkler. The consensus was that it seemed to make a difference, but who knows.

We moved from Santa Barbara to Ventura year ago. A lot of neighborhoods we had looked at in the spring were lost in the Thomas fire that winter. We were evacuated for two weeks. Our new neighborhood was mostly saved -- on the first night the fire passed over in one direction and on a whim just charred the surrounding hills; during the next day the fire turned back toward us but the firefighters were able to use water-dropping helicopters in the daylight and save the houses. We all lost a bunch of vegetation, but you can prune and replant.

The exception was one house that was built to be completely fireproof. The works, in terms of materials. The only flaw in the design was a raised foundation, under which cinders gathered. Everybody else is on the usual cement slab. The firefighters literally had to watch that thing burn to the ground -- we are up a hill, and with the power out all over there was no way to use fire hoses, and I don't know where the helicopter was by then.

>sigh< This is my dream home, custom built by the prior owners when they were 60 and sold by them to us when they were 90. It looks simple in some ways -- it's not ostentatious or grandiose the way so many we looked at were, but the level of detail still amazes us, and it is all one one level. We are unlikely to have 30 years in it ourselves, since we were 70 when we moved in, but every time I hang another painting or buy another piece of furniture I've always wanted, it is with the knowledge that everything is temporary, one way or another. I won't live forever, and Fire season is now 12 months a year.

[A HERETIC I AM]

42. I used to haul cars out of Port Hueneme

I lived in Palmdale and delivered to dealers all the way up 101 from Ventura to San Jose, and even up north of the bay to Eureka, the central valley and down to San Diego. I've been around California!

In the 3 plus years I lived there, I was fortunate to not have to deal with any fires in my town, but saw them all over LA and surrounding counties as well as the mountain range separating the Antelope Valley from the LA basin. I specifically recall one that burned significant portions of the area around Santa Clarita and along the valley Rte 126 follows, scorching the mountains all the way out to Santa Paula.

I had a love/hate relationship with your state. Gorgeous scenery, but some serious environmental issues, both natural and man-made.

I'm in NE Florida now, so the most I'll have to deal with is heavy rains and wind! I'll be long dead before high tide is my front yard (about 12' above sea level here) and since I don't own, I'm not too worried.

Those Americans who live in danger zones, be they from fires or floods or earthquakes or what have you, do indeed have my sympathies. Living in an area that you love, that has beauty you adore and/or amenities and a lifestyle you can't be with out, but has with it serious hidden dangers can be stressful.

The "First Coast" of Florida has not had a direct hit, meaning one traveling westward, of a hurricane since Dora in 1964. Since I've lived here there have been two that were close and blew hard, but weren't any big deal, really. Last October Hurricane Mathew looked for a time that the eye was going to come right up my street, but it passed some 30 miles offshore and the damage was minimal right here. Many, MANY trees down in the area however, but no loss of life.

Having to worry that my entire neighborhood might burn to the ground is not something I care to contemplate.

[dooner]

40. Rural areas

Rural homes often use electricity to power their water/well/pump. Power typically goes out during a large fire, so it would not be a given that one could even run sprinklers for very long, if at all. I also agree that when facing a raging fire fed by a lot of dry brush, a few sprinklers probably wouldn't do much. Better to have prepared land around your home long in advance by trimming back brush, etc. Most important thing to focus on is readying family and pets, important documents and small valuables and be ready to drive away safely when ordered to evacuate.

My family has been evacuated 2x for wildfires in past 10 years, and we feel very fortunate that the homes in our area were spared. But the feeling both times, in the strange panic of it all... was that stuff doesn't matter. (I don't own much of value, so maybe that's an easy call.) But family and pets were truly the only concern.

My heart goes out to anyone facing wild fires. It's a horrible feeling.

[world wide wally]

14. Do what you have to do... Just don't do anything stupid!

Know when to hold them... Know when to fold 'em.
Know when to walk away
Know when to run

Good luck!

[Hekate]

15. Stay safe, and get the heck out if it gets any closer. Keep us posted if you can...

This is scary shit. Last winter's Ventura - Santa Barbara Thomas Fire traveled like lightning.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

16. Some years ago, one of our Alpaca rancher friends

Was in the path of a fire, so many of us, who were not in harm's way, took our trailers to their place and picked up every one of their animals so that was taken off their shoulders. Once they knew their herd was safe, it really helped them to think more logically about what to do. When you've been a rancher for a long time, the desire to stay for your animals can be overpowering.

PLEASE stay safe. Take care and think of your safety FIRST.

[Lefta Dissenter]

20. Thank you for doing that

From a former llama rancher.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

34. Alpaca ranchers often

have a few Llamas around as guardians. We did.

Sometimes it kept the uppity female Alpacas in line

[barbtries]

17. good thoughts to you and your loved ones

and everyone going through this catastrophe. Stay safe.

[locks]

18. The whole nation

is thinking of all the good people of CA and what you're going through. Colorado has sent a lot of of our firefighters and planes. Wish we could do more and hoping the federal emergency declaration is helping. Hope you won't have to evacuate but grateful that lives were saved.

[elmac]

19. live scanner feed

https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/20854/web

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

43. Is that just one tac channel or is it scanning more?

How do you find the channels used on a fire? I have friends in Lucerne, East side of Clear Lake in Lake Co. CA. L.A. Co. Fire Crew saved a property I know of last night just North of Hwy 20. There are mandatory evacuation notices for areas East of that property, but Lucerne isn't mandatory yet. This is the Ranch Fire, also called Mendocino Complex, joining the River Fire which started near Hopland and is moving to Lakeport. I'm interested in finding the Tac channel for the SE flank of the Ranch fire. Thanks.

[elmac]

48. its the Northern California Major Incident feed

which covers a wide area. If you have a scanner here are the tac freqs for the area: http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=205

here is the county feed which has both fire and pd, ambulance audio: http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/6248/web

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

44. Here is a link to maps of the fires I mention in my earlier post.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/multimedia/8578464-181/live-map-of-the-river?ref=related

(I'm listening now to the radio traffic on the link you posted. Someone is in heavy timber, near an old airstream, trying to make his way to someone else.)

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

45. The traffic I'm hearing is the River Fire traffic

I'm hearing about Scotts Valley and Blue Lakes. I thought I would be hearing about the fire near Cool, where GhostInTheMachine seems to be...

[Shrike47]

22. We're all concerned and worried about you. Be safe.

[ghostsinthemachine]

23. Power out until tomorrow

Fire damage. Glad its only in the nineties, not the 100° days we've been having. Glad my portable power is charged along with my other devices.

[Ellipsis]

26. Good to hear about the portable power

[denbot]

24. Good luck.

K&R

[radical noodle]

25. Keep safe

Will you be able to take the animals with you, I hope?

[Brother Buzz]

27. Sacramento NPR just went through the list of all the fires east of SAC

Cripes, this fire season is turning into a wicked game of bop-a-mole; put one down, two more pop up.

Stay safe

[Blue_true]

28. What type of a ranch do you live on, skilled craft ranch, farming ranch? nt

[ghostsinthemachine]

31. Pot farm mostly.

we have fruit trees, nut trees, a large garden,, a couple of horses (we board for others) and some chickens and a bunch of cats. We have a big shop too where there are various cars under repair or restoration. But mostly we grow pot. Our county, for the time, being wants to be cool and become the NAPA of cannabis. We aren't very big, probably 30 lbs this year. We do a lot of clones in the spring. The land is paid off, everything free and clear, so we don't monetize much here.

[Blue_true]

32. Great. Stay safe. nt

[panader0]

29. I was ordered to evacuate during the Monument Fire in 2011. (So Az)

Our band had been expecting this for a few days, so every day we played as
if it could be our last get-together. On the day we were ordered out, we were
playing and drinking when the cops arrived. It was a rush to load equipment, photos and paintings from the house and a wild caravan to Tombstone for a few days.
Luckily, the fire was contained a mile or so away from my land. The Huachuca
Mountains will take years to recover.
Good luck, and that's what it is---luck.

[badhair77]

30. Good thoughts going your way.

Please be safe and keep us updated.

[SCVDem]

33. Thirty years in Santa Clarita, Ca.

We made national news way too much due to the Northridge earthquake, yearly fires and a road which looked like Tremors.

One time my wife woke me at 11:30 at night and showed me the fire coming over the hill two blocks away. Surprise! Grab something important and get ready! I loaded my Packer stock. She was somehow not amused. The airshow was intense but we won!

That was scary as hell and it doesn't take Dante's Inferno to do it.

I hope you're out ten minutes before mandatory.

Be safe!


It's never good when the news vans are on your corner!

[cp]

35. Lot of good thoughts

May you and yours be safe.

[bluestarone]

36. Good Luck to you and ALL CALIFORNIANS!!

STAY SAFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Algernon Moncrieff]

37. God be with you. When they say "go" get the Hell out

I had family that lost everything in the Cedar Fire many years ago outside SD. Hopefully they can control it before it reaches you.

[suffragette]

38. Stay safe.

[gademocrat7]

46. Take care, ghost in the machine.

[TallMike]

47. be safe!

We had 200 acres burn last year. Cal-Fire saved the house and trailer(sadly...), but it was moving toward us at about 20 mph. Sounded like a freight train from hell. Got completely doused with retardant as I was getting my MC out. Scary, scary shit. We were lucky. 2 inch water lines through out the property. However, the water evaporated almost before it hit the ground. We watered for a full two hours as the fire was approaching. Didn't do much good. Defensible space (at least 2x the prc4291 recommendations) and the amazing folk at calfire saved the day. Lost a couple of miles of fence posts. Easy fix comparatively speaking.

Be ready ghost. Get out while you can.

All the best.

[padfun]

49. Smoke in all Foothill valleys

I just drove from Sacramento, up hwy 70 to Oroville, followed hwy 70 back over the Sierra's thru Quincy and then down 395 to Reno. And then back to Sacramento on I-80.

There was smoke in every valley we went through, and some valleys were pretty thick with it. View points just become a hazy stop.

[heaven05]

50. Hope, for you

things turned out well.....

[redstatebluegirl]

51. Please stay safe.

We have lots of friends in the way of this fire, it is terrifying.

[WinstonSmith4740]

52. Take care.

Keep us posted. "Should be" and "will be" are two different things. I've got 10 acres outside of Las Vegas if you need a place to land.

[calimary]

53. Take care, ghostsinthemachine!

Having lived with the threat of brushfires for most of my life, I sympathize. The last one came the closest, and for the first time in 55 years there, many of our neighbors were all loading their cars just in case. It was the first time I ever saw our next door neighbor backing his car into his driveway (to load up the back of his car).

Scary! Stay safe!

[secondwind]

54. I hate to say it, but leave soon without all

the drama and the added stress, make all the animals are in a safe place.

I hope you won’t have to. N

[2naSalit]

55. Yikes, with that many people and animals to deal with

I don't know that I would be voluntarily evacuating or in the process.

[onethatcares]

56. be safe, and take care

You're support group is all around you on this site.

[ghostsinthemachine]

57. Power back on,fire contained

No worries. Devices charging. No fridge loss.Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Was scary but the fire was a good piece away. CalFire rocks. To think these firefighters get paid bupkis is sickening. Especially compared to any Metro Fire department.

[Rhiannon12866]

58. Good news and thanks for checking in!

Stay safe and kudos to the brave firefighters!

[appal_jack]

59. glad to hear it, ghost!

Do you have a flail mower for grass-cutting on your ranch? I'm consistently amazed about how these types pf mowers can reduce debris compared to brush hogs and other mowing attachments.

Stay safe,

-app

[ghostsinthemachine]

60. I know not..

We have modified lawn tractors. Most of the ranch is regular lawn grass, green. Only on the hill do we have long indigenous grasses. And that never gets cut. Long way from any structure,

[appal_jack]

61. Probably not necessary for you, then.

Flail mowers do a good job of taking 5' tall grass and reducing it to a flat layer of fine mulch. They work for regularly-mowed grass too, but if your lawn tractors are already doing the job well, all the better. Hope the fires stay far from you!

-app