CA fires - here we go again

[smead]

Starting about 10 years ago, this has become a ritual whereby you can expect a 2-8 week hiatus from riding sometime during July-Sept. Lived here all my life and it was never like this before, so consistent, so chokingly bad.

[donevwil]

Yep, after yesterday's 100° we went to sleep with every window open only to wake up this morning to a lot of ash inside the house, ugh.

[Hindmost]

They have been evacuating Big Basin State Park and nearby areas. $#@& just got real.

[Wattvagen]

I'm sorry to hear our west coast friends have to go through this with another round.

I'm sure it's complicated, but putting aside climate change and rising average temperatures - are the "lessons learned" from past years just going unanswered?

are the vegetation management plans not sufficient, or sufficiently funded?

between the loss of life, property, health and the environmental impact - that has to be sufficient to cut some of the california red tape to aggressively manage the risk in a very proactive form no?

i dont know enough about wild fire management to speak with authority here, but if this goes on season after season, surely there must be a way to mitigate the risk?

anyway, stay safe and be careful out there guys!

[phoenix]

We didn’t rake our forests enough in the off season.

[GOTHBROOKS]

pg&e is a joke

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by Wattvagen

I'm sure it's complicated, but putting aside climate change and rising average temperatures - are the "lessons learned" from past years just going unanswered?

are the vegetation management plans not sufficient, or sufficiently funded?

between the loss of life, property, health and the environmental impact - that has to be sufficient to cut some of the california red tape to aggressively manage the risk in a very proactive form no?

i dont know enough about wild fire management to speak with authority here, but if this goes on season after season, surely there must be a way to mitigate the risk?

In years past, a lot of fires have started from high winds and downed power lines, but right now, these fires were started from an intense lightning storm, which is not common around here. Because of the storms, a lot of fires started simultaneously, many in extremely remote places with minimal access, making containment hard.

While Napa seems to be a tinderbox that goes up almost every year, but right now we've got fires among the redwoods in the Santa Cruz mountains, and those rarely burn because that area tends to stay moist, even in the summer. I'm not sure much could have been done different to prevent what we're dealing with right now. The biggest issue is we just don't get enough rain here.

[Louis]

Originally Posted by prototoast

The biggest issue is we just don't get enough rain here.

Midwestern summers are terrible, primarily due to the humidity, but one benefit of 70-75 *F dew points is that it keeps the wildfire threat down.

[smead]

Decades ago our fire season in CA was 6 months out of the year. On average it is now 10. It is hotter, it is drier. Amazing to see that change in one's short lifetime.

[mtechnica]

It’s gross. If rolling blackouts start I’m packing up and moving back to WA.

[pinoymamba]

Were the fires because of the lightening storm that rolled through a couple days ago?

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by pinoymamba

Were the fires because of the lightening storm that rolled through a couple days ago?

Yes.

[azrider]

Ugh.....been watching this intently the past couple weeks. A trip to the Rubicon Trail that has been 2 years in the making is in serious jeopardy after this recent increase in fires.

Much, much respect for the firefighters that're out there battling, and hope everyone stays safe.

[Llewellyn]

Our Black Summer is still a painful memory for many people. I watched something the other day that showed footage of some of the area that had been burnt out - there wasn't a blade of green vegetation anywhere. We're probably only a few weeks away from our next bushfire season starting....and we haven't even got to the end of winter yet.

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by Hindmost

They have been evacuating Big Basin State Park and nearby areas. $#@& just got real.

^^^
This is one of the worst things I have ever read on Paceline. Big Basin is a treasure. All appendages crossed…