Campfire ban, do you think?

[gbaglo]

We have smoke and we have fire. Village of Lytton totally destroyed; other towns threatened.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...2021-1.6087311

[Bea]

Our hearts go out to all those form Lytton. So sad. Hope you are safe. We are so dry now, I would not be surprised to see more bans on campfires with all the horrible mega fires recently. That's why we bit the bullet and bought a propane fire pit - those are normally allowed during campfire bans. Also, when crossing into CA at the border, not only do they ask about what fruits you have but if you have any firewood on board, so one less thing to pack.... Be safe all! -Bea

[emers382]

For those who might not be aware or did not read Glenn's link to the CBC story, the unfortunate people of Lytton suffered through three days of intense record heat culminating in 49.6C (121F) and now they've lost their homes.

[Mike G]

So sad, and so unusual for an entire town to burn up. The grief and stress must be intense. I hope the loss of life was minimal.

[Ops]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

We have smoke and we have fire. Village of Lytton totally destroyed; other towns threatened.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...2021-1.6087311

Our neighbourhood is fenced in by drying cedars. My father lived through the ravaging of Kelowna in 2002 where 100s of homes were destroyed. And I've worked through 3 forest fires, an experience I don't want to go through again.

AND A neighbour had a freakin' bonfire in his backyard 3 nights ago with sparks reaching into the canopy above at 10pm. Had the limbs caught fire, very little opportunity to prepare and/or escape since the trees and the underlying fuel beneath is so dry.

And yet...only NOW the government says no more camp fires. Great leadership

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Ops

And yet...only NOW the government says no more camp fires. Great leadership

Campfire ban took place Wednesday and extends to Oct. 15, so keep an eye on that neighbour.

[Fox hunt]

121 degrees that's so extremely hot- i didn't know anywhere up there got that hot! it was over 110 degrees in Olympia- also never happened before temperature - i cant imagine 121. that's very scary

[Eggscape]

We had a 3 or 4 days at or near 45 degrees here in the interior of BC. In the sun it was insane.

We planted a nice little fur tree last year and it was doing fantastic this spring. We kept the soil wet morning and night but it just turned brown in the heat of the sun and looks like a dead Xmas tree.

Next week we were to go camping without power…not happening. Smoke and heat is building from a few fires so we canceled. Looking at the web page shows we are not the only ones canceling as there are now empty spots everywhere.

[UncleTim]

We started freaking about 10 years ago when we traveled from Colorado to British Columbia and saw dead evergreen trees the whole way. Sometimes there would be only a small clump of green trees in a sea of dead, rust colored evergreens which covered the entire hillside.

Last year's late summer trip was a disaster. We constantly changed our plans based on smoke and fire. People in Oregon were telling travelers to head back to Idaho.

I have never seen such a thing. In Colorado we have had over 50 fires already. Only one basin had a normal water year, all the others are hovering around the 50% mark. In no way is this sustainable. Countless rivers start and depend on this snow.

Meteorologists are saying they never imagined a heat dome like this would settle in over the Pacific NorthWest. Yet it did.

One of the take aways for me is this. We are all one, borders be damned. What one does affects the many. We are as much connected to the people in this little town of Lytton as we are to our neighbors. What happens there will happen here.

We need to all get together over this. It is not going away. Everyone in the western states is affected. The results are outstripping all of the worst case estimates!

[Craiger]

After I left the regular Army I joined the California National Guard in our summer camps were always at Fort Irwin about 40 miles north of Barstow, in the middle of the California desert. It's always fun to be in an armored cavalry unit running around 120° temperature with your sleeves down wearing gloves because if you touch anything that steel will burn you. Showers consisted of a 5 gallon Jerry can poured over you as you soaped up off the back of a track. If I have air conditioning just lower the inside temperature maybe 15 to 20°, to be blunt I'm in hog heaven. I used to live a thousand feet from the Canadian border right where the five freeway ends. There is no way that my friends on either side of the border were able to cope with temperatures of 105 up. The five years I lived in Washington I think I never saw it above 90° Abbotsford BC is not Palm Springs California.

[kavm]

Really sorry to see what’s increasingly happening with the heat, precipitation and fires. I cannot imagine what it might be like to have the home threatened with incineration, let alone incinerated.

Having just returned from PNW with our camper, it is hard to imagine the temperatures one is reading about.

The water levels here too are 50% or less. But, the sales of firecrackers have not abated, neither has watering of lawns. The lawmakers have outlawed mask restrictions but not the firecrackers!

[sunrisetrucker]

Originally Posted by Ops

And yet...only NOW the government says no more camp fires. Great leadership

You know how it is. They're dammed if they do and they're dammed if they don't.

[Mike Lewis]

Do any of the western states ban the private sale or use of fireworks? I would think they would during fire season regardless of Independence Day.

[kavm]

There are all kinds of appeals but banning them would lead to a revolution. Our city has put some restrictions but is subject to lawsuits. The state of Utah has laws preventing the cities from enacting such bans.

With fox watching the henhouse, what else does one need?

[h2owmn]

I just returned from a four day whitewater trip. When I arrived in Grants Pass, Oregon, a week ago it was 113 degrees. Brutal and unprecedented. But I fear, the new normal. Only charcoal fires/campstoves allowed, and yet, fireworks for sale. That's nuts.

[Mike Lewis]

When driving into El Paso from the east on US 62 several years ago I came upon a tank farm. On the north side of the road was a collection of large, squat tanks about thirty feet wide and twenty feet high. Each one was labeled "PROPANE" in big letters. Across the road on the south side was a large metal building with the sign "Alamo Fireworks Supercenter". It was a Far Side cartoon come to life.

[UncleTim]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

Do any of the western states ban the private sale or use of fireworks? I would think they would during fire season regardless of Independence Day.

Yes! Colorado has banned them for years. That's why you can drive up to Cheyenne WY and as soon as you hit the state line you come across a place called Pyro City. You can buy whatever you want there.

Stupidity knows no bounds.

[Ooshkaboo]

The fire in the article is thought to have been caused by a train…

Maybe proper track maintenance could’ve prevented this, so many factors to these things.

Not being from California I was shocked to see the way eucalyptus brush flamed up when I tossed the clippings into the fire pit. They were just freshly clipped from doing some lawn care and they lite up like a dead pine tree would.
It’s like the leaves are filled with gasoline, there’s nothing that reacts that way here in the Midwest.
A family member that was from Cali told me it is a plant indigenous to Australia and at some point introduced to California.
He said the first thing a homeowner should do is remove them from your property.
I’d remove them from California, firefighters don’t stand a chance against these.

[UncleTim]

Originally Posted by Ooshkaboo

The fire in the article is thought to have been caused by a train…

Maybe proper track maintenance could’ve prevented this, so many factors to these things.

Not being from California I was shocked to see the way eucalyptus brush flamed up when I tossed the clippings into the fire pit. They were just freshly clipped from doing some lawn care and they lite up like a dead pine tree would.
It’s like the leaves are filled with gasoline, there’s nothing that reacts that way here in the Midwest.
A family member that was from Cali told me it is a plant indigenous to Australia and at some point introduced to California.
He said the first thing a homeowner should do is remove them from your property.
I’d remove them from California, firefighters don’t stand a chance against these.

The eucalyptus tree was brought over (from Australia) because they thought it would make excellent railroad ties, so they planted them across coastal California as the railroad took hold.

They caught on as an ornamental landscape tree, particularly in S. CA., with Eucalyptus citriodora becoming the most overwhelmingly used example.

They proliferated to the point of becoming noxious and then it turned out they made lousy railroad ties as well. Ready, Fire, Aim!

They are an exotic and should be removed. Their leaves are highly combustable. Most of the plant material in S. CA is exotic.

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by UncleTim

The eucalyptus tree was brought over (from Australia) because they thought it would make excellent railroad ties, so they planted them across coastal California as the railroad took hold.

They caught on as an ornamental landscape tree, particularly in S. CA., with Eucalyptus citriodora becoming the most overwhelmingly used example.

They proliferated to the point of becoming noxious and then it turned out they made lousy railroad ties as well. Ready, Fire, Aim!

They are an exotic and should be removed. Their leaves are highly combustable. Most of the plant material in S. CA is exotic.

It really cleared things up for me as to why the fires in California can become so wicked so fast.
I know I’d be doing my best to clear out anything that combustible anywhere near my home.
Here there are always threats of floods, tornados and the hell of winter. I suppose most everywhere has some sort of a downside to it.