| Author | Message | ||
     Trojan |
Saw on BBC news that there are some pretty serious wildfires raging around Texas at the moment, and haven't seen anything from Blake in a few days. Anyone know if he and other Texas Badwebbers are OK? | ||
| Whistler |
Our area here in Texas is heavily forested and we've had ongoing fires for many days. The forest service has set up shop at our local airport and is using helicopters and crop dusters to drop water on the blazes. They start flying at sunup and fly back and forth to the fires until sundown. There have been a number of homes destroyed but no loss of life here yet. It is so very dry. Many trees are dead or dieing. Most people I know have some things packed if they have to leave their home quickly. Forecast for the next ten days is sunny skies, highs in the upper 90's and no rain. | ||
| Kyrocket |
I feel for you guys in Texas. What was it, two years ago, that there was severe flooding there and now it's dry as a bone? Last news I heard was over 500 homes lost, some close calls but no loss of life. That's awesome, other towns should take notes on how to evacuate when the notice comes down. Prayers heading south. | ||
| Hootowl |
Blake's been posting. Here's one from the Sunday in New York thread. "Might want to try the BBQ pork ribs here in Kilgore at Country Tavern. Right now, no matter what you choose around here, it's likely to be smoked." A rather clever, if a bit obtuse, reference to the fires. | ||
| Trojan |
Glad to hear that he and other Buellers in the area are OK  Looks like they could definitely do with some English summer weather! | ||
| Fahren |
Or some of the pelting rain we've had off and on through and since Irene, here on the right coast. | ||
| Blake |
Thanks for thinking of us Matt. If you come for a visit, bring hot-dogs and marshmallows! From a few days ago:  Lots of small fires around here (small meaning tens or hundreds of acres, not thousands). Closest to us was a mile south of the house. We live towards the south end of the Kilgore city limits. The entire town was blanketed in smoke, not too thick. Actually smelled great, like smokey wood incense. Had some ashes and cold embers falling here on Sunday, but no fires in any neighborhoods in Kilgore, just on the outskirts in the country where brush and tall grass make for great tinder. Living in the forest has its advantages and risks. A ways north of Kilgore, a mother and her baby daughter were caught inside their house and perished from smoke/fire. People just have no clue how fast a wildfire can spread. It is astounding. Worst is long past. Winds were gusting to 40 MPH over the weekend, but have thankfully died down. Temperatures dropped from around 100F to mid 80's with lows in the high 50's. But the humidity dropped with it. Will dig up some pics. Mine aren't very good. | ||
| Whistler |
http://texashelp.tamu.edu/004-natural/fires.php http://ticc.tamu.edu/Response/FireActivity/ | ||
| Never2late |
The local "big" fire is just east of Austin, 35,000 acres burned about 30% contained. A lot of people have lost their homes. Just in my office we have at least 5 employees that were forced to evacuate, fortunately none suffered fire losses, can't say the same for many others who have lost everything. Right now it looks like upwards of 1400 structures are lost. Fire service will start using a DC10 tanker in addition to all the other aircraft and ground forces tomorrow to try to knock it out. It is nice to see how people step up to help others out in a time of crisis. | ||
| Whatever |
Anyone heard from Road Thing lately ??? | ||
| Blake |
According to the fire maps, the Ranchito (Welcome, TX) is out of harm's way. | ||
| Whitetrashxb |
Yeah, both east and west of Austin have been burning pretty badly.. Never2, you ever get out to the local Buell gatherings? James | ||
| Road_thing |
We're OK here in the suburbs of Welcome, Tx, but 40 miles west of here, on the east side of Bastrop, things aren't looking so good. Almost 1,400 homes and 35,000 acres burned in this fire alone, since Saturday. Here's what it looked like just east of Smithville on US 71 Monday afternoon:  I've never seen anything like it, either that fire or this drought. I've got big trees dying all over my place, even the yaupon bushes (the cockroach of the plant world) are turning brown and dying. That fire at Bastrop could have happened almost anywhere in central Texas and, until we get some significant rain, more like it could happen any time. rt | ||
| Road_thing |
Here's one looking east from Bastrop. Got it in an e-mail from a friend, I don't know who took it.  That's even scarier than the one I took! rt | ||
| Whatever |
Holy crap !!! If it heads your way, whatever you do, do not jump in the "pond"!  Sorry I couldn't resist... say hi to Michelle and the fur-kids... | ||
| Whistler |
We've had a wide assortment of air support this summer but here's the current equipment flying in and out of my local airport to knock down the fires. Two of these guys- http://www.ask.com/wiki/Air_Tractor_AT-802?qsrc=30 44 And this big fella - http://www.ask.com/wiki/Erickson_Air_Crane | ||
| Just_ziptab |
Smoke plumes from space....  | ||
| Ducbsa |
Not the same, but there is a marsh fire near New Orleans that Tropical Storm Lee didn't put out. Last week the haze was very visible in Baton Rouge, 70 miles away. | ||
| Kenm123t |
HMM Mesquite smoked beef on the hoof Interesting | ||
| Whistler |
Looks like a more manageable condition at present. See link for today's situation report. http://texashelp.tamu.edu/004-natural/fires.php Interesting the number of aircraft involved, 69 and number of hours flown, 1800. | ||
| Davegess |
We have one up here, 60,000 acres in and around the Boundary Waters, haze and ash in the Milwaukee area and a strong smell of smoke. Huge fire, fortunately not a lot of folks live up there but it has moved out of the wilderness in the last 48 hours and is threatening some towns. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Glad to hear the situation in Texas is under control. Footage that was on the news last week was scary. Sorry about the thread jack but thanks for mentioning the BWCA/Ely, MN area fire, Davegess. Amazing you're feeling effects of it as far away as MKE. We grew up close to there, and we still have family, friends and property in that general area. Gonna be making some calls tonight. As much as I joke about it, if there's important stuff going on, chances are one of the places we hear about it first is Badweb. | ||
| Davegess |
The Texas fires are far worse because of the number of residents. I don't think there are a lot of people in serious trouble in Minnesota and hopefully the fighters can keep it away from the towns. It doesn't much matter inside the BW as it is wilderness and the fire will just burn itself out and regenerate the burned over areas. It is the towns nearby that will suffer if it stays out of control. It is supposed to be raining the next day or so but the winds will stay up. | ||
| Whistler |
One more quick update please. We had a restart of a fire in our area late this afternoon. It's so dry and the humidity is so low the monster just cranked up again. Little scary because that fire is just a couple of miles from my grandson's house and the wind is pushing in his direction. Went out to him and ended up watching the Erickson Sky Crane knock it down with a number of water/retardent drops. Earth moving and fire equipment along with boots on the ground have it contained for now. We are so fortunate to have all of these resources (many from out of state). Heck of an asset those aircraft. Heck of asset those men and women taking care of us. Thank you. May God bless you all. | ||
| Geforce |
Stay safe down there, my Dad has been keeping me in the loop as these fires are raging. I will keep you all in my prayers and thinking "rainy" thoughts. |
