I agree. On the other hand, fires we had or the monster fires, were beyond our VFD. They faught it against all odds. Many of us that were evacuated left our doors unlocked (including me) with signs to take or use whatever then needed, with no expectations of being reimbursed. Left water and food for them if came in. (the national guard blocked all unauthorized access). There were certain homes they used as home bases. Homes of the VFD members, or acquaintences of them, huge plus for all the fighting they did. (yes I was listening to the radio transmission for several weeks). I remember hearing them needing access to a property with a locked gate to stop approaching flames, over the air came "stop at sosoandso's ranch on the way there, bolt cutters on the wall of the shed". VERT COOL STUFF like that happened all day long, every day, for weeks.
What you guys went thru with those fires had to be scary as h3ll !!! You'd said the boys were dippin' the chopper buckets in a pond right by your place... that's close ... Good thing you Wyomins' are little tougher than the average cat...
The retardant is essentially water, fertilizer and some other minor stuff.... The formula causes it to stick to the fuel and keep it moist vice running off and drying out.. http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/fire/documents/envissu.pdf Composition Long-term retardants, mixed for delivery to the fire, contain about 85 percent water, 10 percent fertilizer, and 5 percent minor ingredients: colorant (iron oxide - rust, or fugitive color that fades with exposure to sunlight), thickener (natural gum and clay), corrosion inhibitors, stabilizers, and bactericides. Fire suppressant foams, diluted for use in fire fighting, are more than 99 percent water. The remaining 1 percent contains surfactants (wetting agents), foaming agents, corrosion inhibitors, and dispersants. Water enhancers are 95 to 98 percent water. The remaining 2 to 5 percent contains thickeners, stabilizers, and other minor ingredients
I was just getting ready to post a new thread and saw this one- WOW! redneckdan, your whole story is a wonderful testament to how we should be as neighbors, community members, and ultimately Americans! So thankful you and yours are safe, I echo the other above statements about what you didn't lose, and hope going forward that you will be somehow publicly recognized for your contribution to the folks who showed up unprepared. Having said that, you may not wish to receive acknowledgement, & I would applaud your humbleness, too; the firefighters/ forestry guys/gals do what they can with what they've got, one may only hope in the future they learn from this near-miss. Perhaps some of those folks could be handed some FHC business cards?! Glad y'all are ok- if you're going to put up pics, I suspect the support and responses here will only increase! I'm proud to be apart of such a thoughtful and caring group of folks- way to go FHC family on sharing our concerns and thoughts with each other! Respectfully, Eric Van Wickler
I just found an ABC News video of the fires that wildwest was part of. Some impressive footage and interviews. Sure highlights what redneckdan was looking at head-on, thankfully on a smaller scale and they got the fire put out. Here's the ABC clip...
I'm glad everything turned out good for you I couldn't imagine that helpless feeling. I don't live in fire country I would imagine it's a constant worry for those who do. Around these parts we take out spark arrestors on saws and other things I guess we take for granted those things that could make a difference
Very glad to hear everything is okay Dan! Great that dogs can smell a lot better than we can, and they knew something was threatening their best friends.
Glad the house could be saved. I'm hoping the saw can be fixed with just a piston and wrist pin bearing.
Been a long day. Really short on fire crews around here so I jumped in to help with mop up. Lots of hot spots yet. Probably will be out all day again tomorrow and I might take off work to help out on monday. Fire was started by three teenagers who were camping and their fire got out of control. In their defense, they did have the moral fortitude to call it in immediately and stay at the scene to guide fire crews in. They could have run away instead and my first post would have a much different tone to it. This area hardly got any snow this winter, hasn't had any significant rain yet, the humidity is drier than a pop corn fart and we have had very high winds lately. I do have some pictures and a video that I will post when I get back to work this week. The local media was trolling pretty hard as soon as law enforcement opened the perimeter. She approached me and I politely stated that I was thankful for the fire crews and had no further comment and politely asked that she vacate my property. Mainly because I have a rather extensive collection of tools and I did not want a lot of footage on the news. Haven't torn into the 395 yet. The guy who borrowed it was very sorry and wanted to pay for it personally. I told him I wouldn't take his money. Near as he can figure he made an honest mistake and grabbed the wrong fuel bottle in the heat of the moment. chit happens. Time and budget don't allow for it right now, probably will have to be a winter project. I was running amsoil saber pro at 32:1, so I have hopes the bottom end isn't trashed. I looked at the trees they cut down and they had chunks of barbed wire fence buried in the wood. The 20"s were mostly used up but the 24" and the 36" were new. At least the chains lasted long enough to get the job done. We had some issues up here with bad gas this winter. The VFD was mixing their own and I think that is what skuzzed up their carburators. One of their saws was a 455 like I have and I could see in the primer bulb there were chunkies floating. I recommended they look into TruFuel. When I first moved here I had considered getting an old military 2000 gallon trailer and a high flow pump. Would not last long but might make the difference between the fire department making it in time or not. Probably going to pursue that a little more seriously.
End result is you and your family are safe, and that's what matters. Your thoughts about it all are really good to read these days Dan. You're a class act and this forum is lucky to have you.
I did meet another one of the neighbors today who gave me permission to cut on his land. He owns about 800 acres in the area. Lots of standing dead and he has a birch grove he wants thinned for a deer food plot. I turned in my township VFD application this morning to the chief. The township supervisor had been after me to join up for close to a year now. This incident hit a little close to home. I took several fire classes in college, had a red card for years, and held an EMT - I for a while, so they are looking into what I have to do to get current again and complete the structural fire training.
You have a good clear head on your shoulders. I'm I pressed by how rational you were and how well you reported it to us. Your dogs have earned a nice cut of meat. I like you plans for your the metal roof and wide fire brake. Glad you and your wife are OK and your losses were replaceable. I also think a higher power was with you.
Love stories with Walt Disney " ending Good things happen to good folks Bet the local fire dept may help you out with the cost of saw repair . If you wanted to ask , be worth a try anyway
