Sold first stoves for the season and the hills out the back are on fire!!!

After spruikin how we are not near the fire area, we nearly went up.
The picture below is from our front yard and all the black on the hills is from last nights fire.
Was comin straight for us but then the wind changed and blew it the other way.



They had the DC-10 jet bomber, 2 multi prop and 3 choppers. The choppers were sucking out of one of our dams while the planes flew to their strip 40 miles away to refill. All pretty hectic stuff. Below is a link to the planes I think.
No Cookies | Daily Telegraph

 

Glad you didn't have to get out of Dodge and your property is in one piece!

Thanks for the link - that was cool watching them fly so low and drop their payload. Must be hard to get used to the plane/chopper getting light so all of a sudden. I can't imagine what they have to do to compensate - maybe they have a computer controlled trim that does the compensation for them?

 

Those big jets dropping water are impressive.

The now defunct Evergreen Airlines (15 miles from here) had a 747 converted for fire fighting duty.
That beast can carry 24000 gallons of retardant



Glad all is well.

 

Glad it changed direction....close call for sure !!

I recently saw a report of tumbleweeds being an issue in you area this year....talk about a fuel source for flash fire

 

Yeah we call it fairygrass.
Doesn't really burn though. Just makes a mess like in your photo. I have never seen it that bad though, might be a bit of a set up I think.
Pretty industrial strength leaf blower that bloke is wearing.

 

It must be true...its on the internet

Australian town overtaken by huge clouds of tumbleweed called ‘hairy panic’

 

DISPLACEMENT 64.8 cc (3.95 cu. in.)
ENGINE POWER 2.8 kW (3.8 bhp)
WEIGHT 9.8 kg (21.6 Ibs.)
FUEL CAPACITY 1400 cc (47.3 oz.)
BLOWING FORCE* 32 Newtons
AVG. AIR VELOCITY 89 m/sec. (199 mph)
MAX. AIR VELOCITY 106 m/sec. (238 mph)
AIR VOLUME AT NOZZLE 1150 m3/h (677 cfm)
SOUND PRESSURE RATING 75 dB(A)
POWER SOURCE Gas

 

^if i never see one of those again, it will be too soon.
i spent a couple seasons at a huge cemetery on the grounds crew.
so. many. leaves...
http://www.riverviewcemetery.org/files/9614/3405/6040/cemetery_website_map.jpg
serious elevation change up from the river.

 

I use the Husky version of one of those on a daily basis , shoulders get tired , got to keep the office pristine that's what membership expects .

 

We live only about 20 miles from there (south)

 

i definitely thought of you when i posted that.
the place is really amazingly beautiful.

impossible to convey in pictures.

 

Been there a looooong time

A tid bit of history.

Wyatt Earp's brother Virgil is buried there

 

i was string trimming around some stones and discovered a whole group of people who died in a big ship sinking.
lyle alzado is also buried there.

veterans day 2005, some guy hung himself in one of the creepiest old sections.
we had the day off, some jogger discovered him

 

Titanic ???

 

no. i'm fairly sure it was regional to the pnw.
i tried googling it, but no luck. nineteen 'o something as closely as i can remember.

but yeah, trancing out on a gas string trimmer all day and then i just kind of notice that all these people died on the same day.
there was some info showing the incident on all the stones.

 

this could be it, my remembrance of the date is nothing to say this isn't the most likely event.
with 20 people dead, and several buried at riverview and at least one at lone fir, it's hard to imagine there is another single marine disaster that fits the bill. (this one, the gazelle, being the worst in oregon history)

Steamboat explosions on the upper Willamette| Offbeat Oregon History | #ORhistory

i actually lived in canemah for a while.

though i have sidetracked the thread, it still remotely relates to a wildfire.

 

Let's bring it back on track Beer