West is on fire

I read a headline today which stated "The West is a Tinderbox".
No s _ _ _ Sherlock. When you enlarge the NASA photo and see the circle of fires at the northern part of the state, that's us.

Dry lightening strikes caused hundreds of wild fires last week all over Northern California. Big Sur on the coast was hard hit; 12 miles of Hwy 101 is closed. So sad to see the coastal redwoods ablaze. And in the far north, we are surrounded by fire and have been living for days in smoke and haze. The air quality is considered "very unhealthy", the second highest level just below "hazardous". It is best to keep all windows closed with the air on 24/7 and limiting time out doors. Some are wearing masks which block the small particulate matter. Before I bit the bullet and closed up the house I suffered headaches, runny nose and allergy type symptoms. Kids seem to be faring much better. My dog is now stir crazy. We had a tiny bit of wind and the sun actually tried to burn through the haze today, so we took the dog out to stretch her legs. As night fell the conditions worsened. With over 450 miles affected by the smoke, we do not expect to get any relief until all the fires are contained and we get some wind to blow it all away.

There is a great deal of concern about the wildlife displaced from their homes and stressed out searching for breathable air and shelter. There is not many choices for wildlife as the fires are all over the place. Alerts were made about the mountain cougars coming into upper park seeking water and food. They live in the foothills and I saw one years ago driving in Cohasset. What a beautiful creature but not one to ever turn your back to. We saw a couple of buzzard volchers at the lake for the very first time. They took to flight we we approached; what a wing span. I kept a watch out for rattlesnakes as well.

So far, firefighters have managed to keep the fire from jumping the West Branch of the Feather River somewhere north of the old Whiskey Flats gold mining area, located down the steep unmaintained dirt road off Coutelenc. The road is the same one used every Gold Nuggett Days for the Donkey Derby; it also brings back high school memories of keggers at Whiskey Flats.

The cavalry finally arrived in the form of four massive Air National Guard C-130s from No Carolina and Colorado. The big boys work with Cal Fire, dropping retardant along fire lines. Interestingly, they arrived the day after Gov Arnold was in town to access the situation. They need 3 miles of visibility to fly and were grounded for a day, but were able to take off and head out to Whiskeytown. The largest water supertanker in the world, a 747 is expected to arrive soon from Vancouver. (6/30/08 Update. The Martin Mars has the same wing span as a 747 but is shorter and lighter. It arrived yesterday in Redding.) It can't come soon enough. Of course help could have been sooner and a lot more if not for the fact our National Guard is off being mercenaries in the name of W.

Air strikes (and clearing skies) are also hampered by the inversion layer which is covering the fires. That's a cold layer of air holding smoke near the ground. We need the layer to lift, but it is like a lid on a pot. If the lid is lifted too quickly, fire activity will increase drastically, like water in a pot boiling over. We need it to lift so more aircraft can be used for remote areas. If it does lift and the winds come, fire activity will increase but since the whole state is smokey the skies are not likely to clear up if the layer lifts.

What I would not give to be standing at the Butt of Lewis where the wind blows strong and the air is clean and it permeates every pore!!