As Donald Trump congratulates himself on the booming economy, is he aware of the tragic loss if life and property from massive fires happening on his watch? There is a connection between the two if you choose to look. Climate change deniers and evangelical blamers may have a different take when their own homes are torched in one of these conflagrations.
24
Most people who don't have a clue, blame it global warming or climate change. It actually a few things which causes the up tick in fire sizes increases. The number one thing that causes large fires, is the excellent job WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS do with extinguishing them. Think about the four elements to life. What four basic elements do we need to have in order to live on planet Earth. What do Wildland Firefighters do????? Whats the impact??? More fuel, dryier weather, and unhealthy Forest. Now if there is more unhealthy fuel in the forest floor can the bark beetle spread easier???? When you were in elementary school, you were taught to give matches to an adult, the next year in elementary school your taught strangers are danger.. Remember the slogan "ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT" finish the line.
5
My heart goes out to the families of the brave young men and women who accept the dangerous challenge of wilderness fire fighting and whose courage and commitment, under terrible physical circumstances is extraordinary. Both of my sons have been on Hot Shot crews in New Mexico. It is not easy to watch the inferno from afar, not knowing, as you wait for them to come home.
11
It is stunning that the press is ignoring the politics of fighting these catastrophic fires that are destroying our landscapes.Climate change/drought means our forests are not coming back,yet those agencies responsible for stopping these fires continue to fight little fires in a way that enables them to become out of control big fires .Small payload planes and helicopters now have a proven track record of not stopping these fires in their early stages,or are not used when the fires are still small,while the " fire killer " 747 air tanker goes unused
because of politics,money and red tape.Before we are stripped of all of our forest land,the gloves need to come off and the press and the people need to expose what is really going on , and demand a change in fighting these fires and of the persons
whose policies are preventing firefighters from using the tools
to stop the little fires before they become big ones.
4
The Earth has undergone cycles of cooling and warming for thousands of years. The current phase of warming may be part of this natural cycle, but we now know that a good part is man-made. The is no unified political will to stop it. The only thing that could is a world government with a dictator at its head. Otherwise, human life on earth will become unsustainable.
and if Brian Rice was a little older he would recall that fire season used to start in late august at the and run until sometime in october when the first rains came. i am talking about the 70s and early 80s, not ancient history. i can think of several reasons that people don't "believe" in climate change:
1. it interferes with their money
2. it is too frightening to let into their consciousness.
3. they don't spend any time in the wild lands.
i have spent time at the same cabin on a lake in the sierra almost every year since 1978. the changes started a long time ago. this year there is an algae bloom in the lake. this lake is usually so cold that it takes some getting used to when you swim. now the lake is warm and you can hike to lakes at 10,000 feet elevation and swim comfortably. unfortunately this climate has changed and i do not believe there is anything to be done about it. hello tipping point.
20
Our ever-expanding population has forced people to build homes on totally unsuitable sites. Sometimes it's on the side of a hill in a dry wooded area, and sometimes it's on a flood plane; but the end result is the same - a disaster.
The best way to prevent these awful occurrences, is to recognize that while United States is a large country, only a small portion of the land is really suitable for homes.
Immigration was a plus after our male population was depleted during the Civil War, but we need to keep the numbers way down now - not because immigrants are bad, but because we are out of space.
Large birth rates should also be discouraged - making abortion illegal would be an ecological disaster.
Population 1870: 38,558,371
Population 2017: 325,700,000
Increase in sites suitable for homebuilding: Zero
18
The extended fire season has everything to do with climate change. When will this country wake up? I am astounded they vote for climate change deniers. Are they suicidal or what?
16
Climate change is real, but its human-caused acceleration is also real - except among almost all Republican politicians. So the trumpists fiddle while America burns. Thanks for nothing, folks.
19
If it is not permitted to manage the forest, Mother Nature will.
1
California is but a microcosmic example of the #1 problem facing the entire nation, and the entire world. OVERPOPULATION. In 1950, California had 10 million people. It now has over 40 million. That's a more than fourfold increase in the demands on aquifers and tributary water sources, which simply cannot be sustained. California is the shining example of insane runaway population growth and the apocalyptic effect that has on regional ecology. It will only get much, much worse over the next decades, including for Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. Much, much worse. And virtually no one, and I mean no one, wants to even talk about controlling populations of humans. This will be the eventual tipping point toward the extinction point of most mammalian species. But don't trust my words, go research what every leading Ph.D. in climatology and ecology have to say about our only true remedy. They are completely ignored by the media, and by their own faculties, in many cases, because people are too afraid to say what needs to be done: Forced sterilization of humans after spawning one child.
17
The new normal in higher heat index and resulting fires makes bringing a snowball into the Senate really sick.
7
I wonder if these firefighters make the connection between this deadly reality and climate change.
4
Climate change is real, but NY Times readers should know that NYC, 10 000 years was covered by a one mile thick sheet of ice. On the global time scale we are in an interglacial warming period that will end in 20 000 years and some 4 C higher than the long term average.
To ward off a rerun of the ice age, nothing is more efficient tha global warming
As to CA, if you built your house in the middle of a heap of fuel, expect to be burned.
Contributing to it is a stubborn refusal of even elementary safety measures. When I lived in the City of Los Altos, ca 20 years ago, there was a debate on a law to replace wooden roof shingles with something less flamable.
(If you wan the perfect tinder to start a fire, use cedar roof shngle that sat witihout a drop of rain for 5 month)
11
@Gerhard
The comments about global warming mitigating a future ice age provide little comfort for us now. But you are correct in your observations that too many homes are built in the woods without any defensible space. I see it all the time here in southern Oregon: 100 feet is the minimum, but that's not enough when you have a raging firestorm blowing at 40 mph. Most houses do have metal roofs, but not all.
6
@Gerhard Fortunately, Los Altos did not burn 20 years ago and residents have indeed changed their roof materials to fire-retardant ones. As for living in danger-prone areas, I sometimes have misgivings when my daughter travels to NYC because, of all the large US cities, it is most definitley a target for terrorist activity. My inlaws are teachers living along the NJ coast where Sandy struck and a friend lives in tornado alley in Oklahoma where he is based as a pilot for a governmental agency. I'm tired of the "where you live" shaming. As for myself, I live in the woods, albeit by a river where I can get out.
6
@Gerhard
Thanks for letting the hundreds of homeless people watching their houses burn in Redding know that they'll be ok in 20,000 years.
I live in Santa Rosa California where 5000 houses burned last October. For the majority of those houses, the "heap of fuel" was their neighbors's houses.
If anyone's still around in 20,000 years, they will look at us and say we were an insane civilization. As cities began to burn, fulfilling scientific predictions made at least a generation ago, we elected a President who promised to burn more coal.
11
Trump's ultimate legacy may be his complete disregard for climate change. He won't be around for the rough stuff, but his grandkids will. Merry Christmas boys and girls, this is what your grandpa left for you. And the guy won't even hedge his bet.
42
These terrible and continuing fires are not "fake news." Our country needs to return to controlling climate change . It won't help the people being burned out of their homes now, but it can make a huge difference in the future.
25
@Cone The problem may have been started by America, but the rest of the world has joined in on the climate change express to burn more fossil fuels. Now America will reap the unfortunate disasters it helped to create. With trump and the republicans believing in the power of prayer to be the answer to everything, there doesn't seem to be much hope for any reality check which might help to mitigate any damage.
8
I lived in this area in the late '70's, and recall summer temperatures routinely over 100 degrees. 117 was the hottest I experienced. Creosote would sweat out of the telephone poles. We did farm work at night, hauling hay when the sun went down. The base of a bottle could act as a magnifying glass and start a fire. Now the area is home to many more people, compounding opportunities for accidents that have this sort of result.
It never occurred to me then, forty plus years ago, that humankind wouldn't take the obvious steps to prevent this outcome. I knew things would get bad, but not this bad this fast.
There's still time to turn around, but the clock is ticking very loudly, and our government is not listening.
45
Jobs in the defunct coal industry are not worth my house and community and potentially my life and the lives of loved ones. I started cycling to work over 10 years ago and when we got our new car we made sure it was a plug in hybrid. I have been a vegan for over 10 years, too, for environmental reasons. I have lived in California most of my life and despite everything I have been trying to do to live lightly here, the fires are more frequent and demonstrably worse than ever before. I have family and friends who lost their homes. My own parents nearly lost theirs, and this year a fire threatened the community where I live too. Who are these fools who insist on the unabated and unnecessary burning of fossil fuels? They should find another industry to work in. They care a lot about their own homes and jobs and families, but apparently they do not care about mine. No more coal! Cut our dependence on oil! Shift quickly to as many renewables as possible -- NOW!!!
33
Well.
If fighting fires of this type WAS a 3-4 months a year job, and NOW is a year round job .... are we going to raise the pay of firefighters to cover that change?
If grass is getting drier and flash fire movement (I'm not sure what the correct term is) is making it riskier for the fire fighters (hence the death toll on firefighters lately) are we going to pay them more for handling/working in that riskier environment?
I'm not related to (and actually know only one) firefighters, but I'm a business person and I see this as a MONEY issue for California and other Western states as time moves on.
It's NOT going to get any better.
Maybe this is what part of Gov Brown's emergency fire fighting fund, is for?
Susan
Expat in Ireland
12
Governments could subsidize the collection of brush and trees for use as biofuels. They already subsidize farming, water supplies, and sewage treatment, so this would not be an entirely different function.
Of course, this would only ameliorate the fire risk, not solve the problem of climate change.
And yes, we all know the Earth was molten 3.4 billion years ago, but nothing could live on it then.
8
Why all the complaining? Look at the bright side. Warming weather has made it a lot easier to drill for oil in the arctic now that all the pesky ice is gone. There are fortunes to be made. North to alaska!
9
And the sale of large, gas guzzling SUVs, the construction of ever larger homes and a Washington determined to dismantle all efforts at climate mitigation is the normal in Trumpland- our new name for America.
People vote for climate change based upon their behaviors- not just the polling place on Election Day. The biggest consumer of energy- embodied and ongoing - is the built environment and we keep buying bigger homes for smaller families. We keep buying large and less efficient SUVs and crossovers instead of more fuel efficient cars, and those SUVs usually have one person in them on the road. And cities keep allowing more energy efficient public transit to fall into disrepair.
America has long been warned of the causes and potential consequences of climate change, but we act as if it will never come. Every year we see the impacts become more and more profound, yet we elect politicians who will not take action. Our consumer choices are as if the problem does not exist.
This is not a red state/blue state problem- it is an American problem. I do not care who you voted for if your lifestyle acts as if Climate Change is not a real problem that will only get worse without serious changes to our behaviors.
20
Don’t believe what you read or see or what anyone says except Donald Trump. Climate change isn’t real for heaven’s sake or here to stay and relentlessly get worse. So don’t worry!
8
California has almost 40 million people; the second most populous sub national entity after San Paulo Brazil; 3rd highest population density for the United States and expected to add another 10 million people in the next 30 yrs.
There are natural consequences for having this many people in an area that is designed to burn and renew regardless.
14
Lemme see if I've got this straight. Cali has ~40 million people. It's not getting any bigger, yet the states "leaders" insist they want to add ever more people. The cities are spectacularly crowded and increasing not family friendly so the people with money move out into what used to be undeveloped land. This land routinely catches fire. The people rebuild. More people push further out. It catches fire again. This is the blue print for current and future development in much the West. You know what they call doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, right?
23
Our friends live in Redding and evacuated safely. Now they must watch and wait as the fire marches within blocks of their neighborhood. Temperatures here remain in the triple digits at least through Monday. We survived the Oakland Firestorm in 1991 and the helpless feeling as you watch the fire advance is indescribable. If this is the new “not normal” we need to rethink our urban/wildland land use strategy.
15
No one defeats Mother Nature but at least an entire industry emerged employing thousands that keep trying and the taxpayers will be forever footing the bill.
3
@D. Whit., who's trying to defeat mother nature? We're trying to defeat greedy corporations and politicians who are hell bent on continuing to increase emissions and guarantee our offspring a life of hell on earth. Taxes? Pfft! Who cares about taxes in a world that will be uninhabitable to human life?
6
Sweden too is burning, a greater number of forest fires during a single time interval - weeks - than ever before since records have been kept.
Here on an island, Styrsö, off the west coast we can look around and understand better how fires in populated areas in California can suddenly reduce homes to the smoldering remains of a particular day.
All the leaves on one tree after another simply turn brown and dry. A total ban on charcoal grilling is in effect in Sweden. Single-use grills are simple fire starters.
Why write this? There is an important reason I have not seen presented yet in the Times, a reason of particular relevance after Donald Trump trashed Europe and the EU.
Sweden, never before having such forest fires, simply does not have the tools needed to fight forest fires occurring simultaneously from the Arctic Circle south.
First to arrive were flying boats reminding me of the PBYs I saw at Quonset Point RI as a child during WW II coming all the way from Italy. To see them land on lake, take up water, and release the water over a fire is an extraordinary sight and testimony to the skill and courage of the Italian pilots. Then a long, long line of red fire trucks coming all the way from Poland was also a dramatic scene as they passed through rows of cheering Swedes lining the highways. Helicopters from several countries, no longer can count.
EU to the rescue.
And in the end a bitter truth, climate change cannot be stopped.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
41
@Larry Lundgren - but the human-caused aspect can be slowed. However, that takes wisdom, a commodity seriously lacking in the current American government. Please remember, Larry and all the international readers and commenters, that a plurality of 2.7 million voters cast their ballots against trumpist ignorance. We are trying to gain the control we voted for and do what we can to restore sanity to our nation's policies, including the environment.
8
@Larry Lundgren
Not paying for your own fair security share is a form of exploitation.
1
California, Greece, Finland, Sweden and points all around the globe. Planet Earth is on fire and all we're (that is Donald Trump and his E.P.A.) doing here is literally pouring gasoline on the fires with climate-denying pro-fossil fuel policies that are pouring more global warming greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This a global, five-alarm fire. We can't allow our Nero in The White House to continue to fiddle with the fossil-fuel spigot while Earth burns.
33
@Paul Wortman You forgot to include the do-nothing Republicans in Congress. Vote for a Democratic congressional restoration in November; they won't be perfect, but at least they will bring us some hope and sanity.
10
To reduce the impact of climate change every person needs to consider how much CO2 they put into the atmosphere. A gallon of petrol or a 50 mile drive produces 10kg of CO2. On average, in the first world,each person generates around 20kg of CO2 emissions daily as a by product of day to day living which totals around 7 tonnes a year. Each of us can choose how much CO2 we emit, and even a kilo a day less is a step in the right direction.
26
@Robin. Partially true. As those people in cal trudge forward in huge traffic jams in the unregulated sprawl it should point out the limitations of what you propose. Also, and the left won't like this, every time you import a low co2 producing poor person and make them an American they automatically make our co2 production much worse. The left claims to care about the environment, yet it's immigration policies are probably the single worst thing you can do for climate change.
5
@Robin Yes, but the heavy pollution comes from industry. Do not delude yourself that the problem can be corrected or slowed by individual minor reduction.
9
@AI I think the single worst thing that you can do in terms of climate change is adding to Idaho’s population of xenophobes. Each kid you bring into the world adds tons of carbon per year to our friendly atmosphere.
5
One of these days the giant sequoias are going to burn up. See them while you can :(
21
The state bird of California is no longer the quail. It’s the big red bomber.
17
Part of the problem in CA is that residents in the hills and mountains often resist or don’t know how to properly maintain the vegetation on their property to avoid or mitigate the impact of fires on their and neighboring land.
Another problem is pencil-whipping by some local firefighters conducting inspections and complacency, or worse, of some fire department officials. What happened with the former Fire Chief in Oakland a year or two ago is case in point, and she is still receiving a city pension. This year it came out that the fire department has been years behind in its inspections of city schools, a number of which are in or near the wildfire-vulnerable hills. Other major population areas in the SF Bay Area are also behind in fire-prevention inspections of schools, and the entire Bay Area is a risk zone for wildfire, as evidenced by the horror and grief caused by the Berkeley/Oakland Hills firestorm in the 1990’s, the Wine Country fires last autumn, and others.
Perhaps the NYT could do some of its own investigative reporting
31
@InTheNo: Too true. Here in the Sierra Nevada foothills we have a serious problem with people not maintaining defenseless space and most of our fires are caused by human activities. Every day, I read in out local news sources of another fire stated by a rural homeowner using power equipment like mower that hit a rock and start a fire, or ignoring the burn ban to burn their garbage.
4
Many of the so called "firefighters" battling these blazes are prisoners with California Department of Corrections.
18
@Aaron
Thank them for their service.
25
@Aaron. I saw a show about this program. It seems like a good thing. It's too bad they can't do something better than fight fires due more to our unregulated growth than risk their lives fighting this years fires.
2
@Aaron
That has been the case for a long time now; they do a good job.
12
This article has a different headline the night of 7/27/18 than it did earlier.
I really wish The New York Times would, as it once did, pick a headline and stick with it!
It’s needlessly confusing to readers and others who may wish to cite an article if the (online) headline changes and, especially, if it changes more than once. The changes also interfere with subscribers’ attempts to refer other s, who may be potential NYT customers, to a given article — say during a lunchtime conversation.
I understand there’s a new trend to “test-market” headlines/titles and perhaps to change them in order to give the appearance of a fresh, new article to garner reader attention. But many of my friends and I find these changes irritating and distracting and a little misleading.
NYT: You have fine writers and copy editors. Why don’t you do us all a favor, and trust them the first time around? Happier, better informed and more loyal subscribers and other readers will result.
47
you would have to be a real idiot to think this has nothing to do with climate change. especially since we've been recording record temperatures nearly every month, and it's not even august yet.
it's a shame that the NYT doesn't report the NCDC monthly national data and global data. you never know guys...you might learn something, that can actually save the lives of your readers. which...is a little more important than the new Pirelli calendar, or the stupid fashion articles that the NYT is intent on publishing.
36
@dad
Climate change ? Definitely ! Over population ? Definitely !
Why must people insist on living in harms way ? Can they not see the hand writing on the wall ?
4
well duh...as some one that's observed the climate in CA for over the last 40 years? especially in the high sierra? the only surprise is that i thought i'd be dead before the worst aspects of climate change were upon us..... mea culpa.
13
If the Trump types can’t admit climate change and insist on increasing it, can they at least pour some of that seemingly infinite military budget into increasing fire, flood, and other emergency preparedness staff and services? Can they create jobs that save, and not just end, lives?
38
@Dagwood
Pentagon is the biggest gatherer of climate change information. There are thoughts that the billionaire "deniers" believe fervently in climate change but put out denials to calm the credulous public lest they do something unruly. There are layers and layers of hidden actions and disguised beliefs some say. To what end?
15
@dressmaker
To the end of making more money. Profit at the expense of all else is the goal.
@Dagwood. Trump is clueless on science and climate change, but how do you explain the behaviour of the enlightened democratic leaders of California that insist they want more people to move there " fueling" the growth and development that drives climate change and fires?
5
Radical fires burn out of control in California, Greece, and England. CNN is reporting 89 fires burn around the Country. Every where I traveled in California this year there are fires burning or have been fires. Outside my door smoke from the Cranston Fire is in the air and it's windy and the fire is only 3% contained and out of control. Two days ago we called friends will a house full of art to say we're here to help move it. The fires are now ten miles from their home. We need 'daily' real time tracking of all 'fire incidents' as if we were tracking and charting Wall Street and the stock exchanges.
30
@Emma Jane
For daily, tracking of fires, try this link:
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/
1
It used to be all we talked about here was earthquakes. Not anymore. That’s hardly a relief.
11
The population increases in California are rising, mostly due to immigration both legal and illegal. Where is the water going to come from? The more homes built the more there is to burn down. People are now living in areas that in the past there were no inhabitants or very few. So when fires come blazing through there is more in its path. This destruction will continue, stay tuned.
13
@Sam yes, all those illegal immigrants are populating what were pristine forested areas, that's the problem.
9
@Sam
The population rises in California because that’s where there are jobs, the weather is great and the scenery is incredible.
Water has been an issue for many decades.
13
@Sam , first of all, many of the homes that have burned in the Carr Fire have been there for 50 years. Secondly, growth in Redding is fueled almost entirely by people being priced out of the Bay Area. But it's easier to blame immigrants, right?
17
This is one of those negative feedback loops that result from global warming. The globe warms and areas dry and burn which releases more carbon dioxide and the warming increases. The globe warms and permafrost that contains methane warms and releases methane which causes the globe to warm. The globe warms and the seas warm and gasses dissolved in them are less soluble and release gas including carbon dioxide which causes the earth to warm (not to mention when the seas warm they expand thus increasing the sea levels even independent of the ice caps melting) The globe warms and the tectonic plates warm and thus expand and slide and increase volcanic activity and the eruptions release carbon dioxide which cause the planet to warm. At some point there is no going back.
27
@Chris
It’s already too late. The damage has been done. We are already on the road to extinction. And that will include the entire Trump clan. We’re in this together.
3
As the article states, such "severe wildfire seasons...may occur more frequently because of climate change." Of course, scientists always qualify such states with words like "may" because it's impossible to establish direct causality. One can never say "this fire was caused by climate change." It's precisely this kind of nuance that climate change deniers don't understand, and then take as prima facie evidence that the climate is fine.
We live in a time of dystopian normalization: we get used to a completely unethical, corrupt President who lies compulsively; to truth telling from every sphere labeled as "fake news"; and to perpetual wildfires, record heat waves, and increased devastating hurricanes as something we just need to learn to live with.
33
@jrinsc
Let's not get too far off the reservation with the California wildfires. The Tubbs fire and devastation, for example, in Santa Rosa where 1,400 homes were lost in one area in a few hours appears to be the result of PG&E negligence followed by Santa Rosa City's water department drawing down a number of crucial water tanks for maintenance coupled with high-winds. Perfect firestorm. Nothing to do with "dystopian normalization".
13
@aliceR: global warming doesn’t start the fires. It creates the conditions that allow super-fires to run wild.
10
I want to recommend to readers that are interested in managing CA going forward, that this book may be of help. "Tending the Wild, Native American Knowledge and the management of California's natural resources", by M. Kat Anderson.
13
Year long wildfires have seemed to become the sad truth to many locals living in California. With continuously raging fires, the fire department has to be ready 24/7 to go out and be in near death situation. The devastation of these fires are having huge effects on both local and tourist levels. I am hoping that more funding can be put into these events, especially with people putting their lives on the line to save ours.
13
@Evan
We might consider containing developers who build homes with no water hook ups available. The Central Valley has a lot of Indian transplants who are growing a water sucking plant, hop sacking cotton. The water table is low, and the ground is sinking. Miles of rice growing ponds. FL grows plenty of rice, and they have plenty of water.
7
Thanks to California's Bravest for putting everything on the line, day after day, to help others.
Manmade global warming works by reducing the outflow of heat energy from the atmosphere. A system that is more energetic is more volatile, with wilder swings, among other effects.
This implies we may also see record stretches of cold and violence of blizzards.
19
It is amazing how EVERY single comment to this article states that without question this is 100% the cause of global warming or climate change or whatever the kool-aid drinkers are calling it today. Yes Global warming is happening but no it is not entirely man made because it has happened before in the earth's history. Ice core samples prove this to be a fact. Even Al Gore's mentor changed his mind abut man's affect on climate change and when he did Al went from calling him brilliant to calling him senile. Unreal.
Listen up people...Redding California is hot in the summer. Most often over 100 degrees all summer due to the inversion layers created by the huge mountain ranges on all sides of it. It has always been that way and this has nothing to do with climate change.
On top of that the reason that wildfires are so prevalent in California is 100% due to environmentalists who every year fight Cal Fire's requests to clear dead brush and trees which fuel these massive fires along with doing controlled burns which would also help keep them smaller and less frequent. This is not something the "evil" republicans are doing since they have no power in this state. It is all on the backs of the leftist environmentalists the democratic politicians that run this state. They don't want to do it because it isn't "natural".
It also isn't natural to have your home burn down because Cal Fire isn't allowed to do their job. Global warming has zero to do with this. Stop the hysteria.
14
Yes the earth's climate has a long history of change, but never this rapid. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, the acidification of the world's oceans, the retreat of glaciers and the melting of polar ice caps in my lifetime, 70 years, has not occurred in the course of human history.
At the current rate of change, large parts of the planet may be uninhabitable by the end of this century. Coastal cities like Miami are already flooding, and will be under water by 2100.
Where is all the carbon dioxide coming from? Much of it from burning the eons of fossil carbon that had, until the last hundred years, been safely buried. Human activity is concentrating carbon in the environment. If you have children or grand children you should be concerned.
49
@Bill G They don't manage the trees and brush out there.In the North East its been hot ,on and off totally normal. and its green here ,real green .because they manage the forests,it's called logging.Look at the records ,before autos,Needles California,120 to 130 degrees still does get that hot. Palm Springs was 114degrees at 3 am back in the mid seventees.
@Bill G
I agree: stop the hysteria. We are facing a complex and rapidly developing global problem. I do not think it is helpful to panic and go off on Al Gore and environmentalists being to blame for it. Calm down, and let go of trying to blame the messengers.
23
I wish one article or one source or one time someone would explain why it is called the Carr Fire. Carr, California, is a small town far from the location of this fire, so that's not the origin of the name.
@S T
Hey there, it's called the Carr Fire because it started near the Carr Powerhouse west of Redding.
17
@Jacqueline Yay, thank you. You are more useful than the NYT, NPR, and lots of other useless sources.
@S T And a local newscast reported that the fire started on Carr Road.
4
"Year-Round Wildfires Are Called the New Normal in California" I understand that CA officials are referring to their fire response requirement, but when media use the term 'New Normal' it subtly reinforces yet another myth the fossil-fueled disinformation network wants propagated: that climate change is like a switch that goes from 'Old Normal' to 'New Normal', and that resilient societies need merely adjust to this switch and proceed toward capitalist greatness as before. But we're at the very beginning of a process that will accelerate greatly in the lifetimes of our children, for whom no amount of adjustment will ever be enough for the climate just a few years to come. The pace of these changes will be so fast most species will simply go 'extinct-in-place': for them no adjustment will be fast enough. And there will henceforth be no 'New Normal' for hundreds of years into the future. We should try to be accurate in our descriptions now, as labeling inaccuracies are exploited by the destroyers of our planet, and has led in part to the situation we're in.
30
Spoke with my sister up in Redding and she thinks her old house is gone due to the Carr fire. She is now living on the east side of I-5, hopefully out of harm's way. Weather is calling for 108 with hope they can get a line around it before the high school and other businesses are affected.
21
Thanks for this excellent reporting. I grew up in Loma Rica, CA - which burned badly last year, and our Mom lives in Redding, now (so far, still safe). Means a lot to get a trusted scoop, especially after watching the KRCR crew evacuate last night. Thanks from Portland, Oregon.
19
So frightening for the people here in CA always ready to be on the move in case of fires that spiral out of control. Another horrible twist to the climate change and dry conditions is arsonists that have set massive blazes in recent years. It is a sobering thought that someone would put the lives of firefighters, homes and people on the line for some thrill seeking.
13
@Anitakey
Some arsonists hope they can get paid as volunteers, income supplement. Arsonists are a mixed bag of seriously bad people.
4
many, many more fire marshalls, checking properties where parched tree, bushes have not been removed! fines and responsibilities urgently issued.
positively no new building permits issued, unless property is fire insured and built only with fire retardent materials. no wooden structures, roof sprinklers installed on all "new" and all existing properties.
no hindsight excuses, large summons, and mandatory jail sentences for owners of "malfunctioning" vehicles.
9
@carmelina , this fire was apparently started by a flat tire. Do you really want to put everyone who gets a flat tire in jail?
4
My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the wild fires. Be safe all.
8
California forests evolved with frequent fires from the last ice age until the early 1900's, when a policy of complete fire suppression was instituted by federal and state agencies. At the time of the Gold Rush, Northern California forests characteristicly were open parkland with large mature trees. The understory growth was kept in check by frequent fast moving fires.
In the late 1800's, sheep were driven from Redding and Red Bluff up into the Trinity Alps for summer grazing. Today, you'd need to cut your way through dense underbrush and young trees with a chainsaw to make the same trip.
in the 1820's, Jedidiah Smith rode on horseback from the Sacramento Valley to the North Coast through country that today is covered in thick forest.
Logging may not be the answer. The Lake Tahoe basin was an open forest of Jeffrey Pine that was clearcut to supply the mines and railroads. A thick forest of white fir grew up in it's place.
The locals warned the nacient US Forest Service in the 1910's that they were making a mistake with their new fire suppression policy. They predicted the outcome we're seeing today.
It's's a complicated situation with no easy fixes.
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@Bob
Have you seen a book called "Tending the Wild", by M. Kat Anderson, "Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources"? We slaughtered the care takers of this magnificent state long ago. The much of the lands were naturally tended by them for thousands of years. Maybe reading this book may help going forward. That and the immediate halt to making climate change worse.
11
Not that particular book, but there have been voices over the decades in both academia and the USFS about the wrongheadedness of fire suppression.
I was taught about the Native American use of fire to manage the California landscape in college ecology in the 70's.
The indigenous Californians used fire as management tool for something like 9,000 years. That all changed dramatically with the Gold Rush.
How do we get back there? Can we get back there?
I was shocked flying into Seattle a week ago. Once west of the Cascades, Western Washington still is lush with evergreen trees, but more than 95% of the grass is parched and looks like straw. I have never before seen that in my hometown. The temperatures have been hotter than in the Great Lakes region of Midwest, often at least in the 80s and several times 90F.
There is very little snow on the Cascades, and only a faint amount on any of the Olympic Mountains.
Fire season last year was horrific from British Columbia and all the way south through Washington. It looks like much high risk this year.
Meanwhile, we see on the news that even upper Sweden and the Arctic Circle are having bad fires this year.
It is crisis time for us to address climate change.
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While climate change can or does play a role in these wildfires, one has to realize also that it is quite easy to spark a fire in dry places during the peak summer months. We read a lot about fighting wildfires, but never enough about their prevention such as controlled burning of weeds in dry areas prior to the summer months, or removing brushes that are close to home and power lines.
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@Bun Mam
You're right, and forest cleanup is done (they do controlled burns here in southern Oregon in the hills above Ashland).
The problem is that you're talking about millions and millions of acres of forest, often in remote and rugged terrain. The slopes of the many of the ranges of Oregon and CA are very steep. It's simply too much land to "clean up."
1
Scary stuff. I am familiar with the area where the fire broke out (along Highway 299 West of Redding). Residents and travelers exiting the area must have been extremely challenged because the terrain is so rugged and the roads are so few. It's amazing there have not been more serious injuries or deaths. Undoubtedly a testament to the outstanding multi-agency response in this case, as in every instance whenever and wherever a big fire breaks out in California. Seeing so many different Federal, State and local resources work in coordination convinces me that under the right leadership government can and does work.
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The majority of fires are exacerbated by climate change but much of the carnage has its root in environmental policy. We are only now understanding that wildfires are necessary to maintain a healthy ecosystem, especially in California's climate. Unfortunately, the policy has been to suppress wildfires at all costs; this led to a large accumulation of dry brush and tinder - perfect ingredients to start a wildfire. Hopefully California moves ahead with planned fires to reduce the number of wildfires as our climate warms.
19
@I Heart Build in a fire zone, eventually you'll be within a fire. Keep holding the small fires back, eventually you'll be in a big fire. Wow, wutta surprise.
10
@I Heart - Fire suppression began back in the day at the behest of the timber, railroad, real estate development and ranching industries. As far back as the 1920's, Aldo Leopold, godfather of the "enviros", called for letting wildfires burn to maintain forest health - to no avail. "Enviros" objections to timber harvest on public lands have been rooted in poor management practices that damaged overall forest health in order to allow the timber industry to remove the most desirable timber at the cheapest cost, regardless of damage created, so we Peeps can buy cheap 2x4's at Home Depot to build oversized houses in the woods that are intended to impress the neighbors. Throw in bad grazing policy that altered forest/grassland ecology in order to support our Welfare Ranching industry. Now, our forests are in such bad shape, that the problem if pretty much unmanageable. And so it goes…
People think we can have our cake and eat it, too. That we can live in fire-prone, water-stressed areas and still enjoy all the amenities of a modern life. The population of parts of the west has doubled in 40 years, as average temperatures and droughts have become more intense. Something’s gotta give. Technology won’t save us from what’s in store.
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@D. Plaine Actually this is in an area where the population is very low with tons of open spaces, forests, national parks, and ranches. And the average temp in this area in the summer is either high 90's or in the 100-110 range. Happens every summer like clockwork and has forever. In addition this area is hardly in a drought, has a very high level Sacramento river running through it along with a number of major dams that are all full currently. So nothing you stated is accurate, sorry.
The reason for the wildfire problem in California is because the state legislature which is all democratic backs up the environmentalists who fight Cal Fire's request to clear the dead trees and scrub from the forest floor along with doing controlled burns because it isn't "natural". If Cal Fire was allowed to do their job all over the state in the non-fire season, you would not see the amount of fires or huge ones like this at all.
And all this time you thought evil conservatives were to blame for this and because of climate change but it is really just another example of wrong headed liberal ideology at work.
3
@D. Plaine Theres ten million more ready to rush the border as soon as the politicians throw it open,just wait.
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@Bill G. You make good points but they don't refute the fact that more people means more development, recreation, activities, etc in areas that didn't have them before. We see the same thing happening in the so called rural "undeveloped" areas all over the west. This all adds up with climate change to disaster.
As an individual who often flys between Northern California (Sacramento) and LA, I was distressed beyond expressing to note that the entire length of the central portion this beautiful state was obscured by smoke last evening. I always take a window seat to be able to view with profound appreciation the magnificent Sierras, find the iconic landmarks of El Capitan and Half Dome in the Yosemite Valley and marvel at the geometry of the farm fields to the south. I could see none of those things. That precious almost uncountable acres of wilderness are lost is bad enough, but the terrifying ferocity with which these fires threaten and destroy more urban areas is quite another. Unless we have political leaders who understand or at least appreciate the scientific reality which is global warming, and act with others to try to mitigate the causes (thank you Governor Brown) we will all be toast. Burnt toast.
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@AKM
"That precious almost uncountable acres of wilderness are lost"
..... and this is why cityfolk should stay in cities, and not vote. The wilderness in still in exactly the same place as last week, only it doesn't look like a Disney set. Fire is a natural and essential part of that ecosystem, but by extinguishing small fires and then artificially sparking them later, the fires have different pattern.
There are fewer natural ignition sources, so natural fires were probably quite large as well even before artificial fire suppression. There were just no TV/movie brainwashed fools around to blibber on about them.
2
And yet you continue to fly. Hmm...
4
@AKM
Well, flying is well known to greatly add to Global Heating gasses mostly because it deposits pollutants high in the atmosphere...
The sacrifices required to blunt global heating will have to be lead by government, and they will be serious.
4
'“This fire is extremely dangerous and moving with no regard for what’s in its path,” said Bret Gouvea, the incident commander for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.' You know, unlike other fires that do have some regard for what is in their path. Ah, gotta love N. Cal...
10
@Kathy Bayham...this is a tragedy, and, your “humorous “ comment is way out of line.
22
@Patrick alexander I think your comment is out of line! I, too, wondered what was meant by that statement. What fire takes note of what is in its path? It is a bizarre thing to say, worthy of note.
@S T...read the last sentence of hers. If you don’t think that’s out of line, under the circumstances, perhaps you need an infusion of humanity.
I finished High School in Redding. Some of the comments here are unfortunate and off base. The extremely dry conditions over the past decade compounded with a wet winter have worked in concert to create conditions that make wildfire a real possibility. There is little man can do about it. Redding sits in valley surrounded on two sides by rugged terrain making the situation worse.. Redding has not experienced rapid growth or extracts petroleum products?? They are not like Portugal and left their forest untended and full of fuel.
Lets pray for them and hope for the best.
24
@gardener in the Thank you! I am in Redding all the time and have been responding to so many incorrect comments blaming global warming for how hot it is there. It is always hot in Redding in the summer! And also have had to point out that if Cal Fire was allowed to clear the scrub and dead trees from the forest floor along with controlled burns, all of which would alleviate these wildfires greatly, that we would not have this problem. But as anyone paying attention knows the state and the courts take the sides of the environmentalists who fight Cal Fire against taking these measures because doing that would not be natural. Good people pay the price for bad ideology.
10
@gardener in the - Thank you. I have a family member who is fighting that fire and I appreciate your kind thoughts.
7
One can only hope the climate deniers awaken.
24
@heysus. We haven't seen anything similar from the open border democrats regarding mass immigration, so I wouldn't hold my breath.
2
Whatever you do NYT, don't show us any MAPS that would make it possible for us to easily visualize exactly WHERE these fires are!!
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@Albert Yokum The upper part of Northern California about 50 miles south of the Oregon border where it is always hot every summer and quite often over 100 degrees.
6
Pat, too late now. Nothing else to do. 15-20 years ago was borderline possible but now the planet entered into an irreversible temperature rise process.
YouTube Guy McPherson and find why.
13
@Dontbelieveit ; We can slow it down. McPherson is a nut case. I would not be surprised to find out if he takes payments by fossil fuel corps and foreign agents.
Here, in S.W. Oregon, our hearts go out to the People of Redding, but - we can also "certainly relate".
Last summer, it was WAY over 100 degrees here, every day, from July 1st through the end of August. Two weeks into August, the Forest Fires started with ferocity that was horrifying.
This year, the Weather, and Fire Season are even worse. We are three weeks into 107/110 degree days, and there are 7 major Wildfires surrounding the area. The air quality is so bad, you can barely see the trees across the road. If you have Horses or Livestock, there is no place to evacuate to. The entire S.W. corner of the State has Fires that could go in any direction rapidly, with the intense winds we've been having.
I've only been here for 10 years, but folks who have lived here their entire lives say they've never seen anything like it. It is too hot to be outside and do the simple everyday chores to run a place, let alone major hard work. Last night, waking up at 2 a.m., it was 92 degrees.
We've built our lives here in this beautiful part of America, but the thought of this Summer, and then another, (and another) of two months of endless 110 degree days is rough to contemplate. But this is Home, and I dearly love this area.
From England to Redding, the writing is on the wall.
May America have an Administration in Washington that seriously fights Global Warming - and not one that favors Big Oil and Peabody Coal's obscene profit.
And, THANK YOU, Firefighters, for your Work!
193
@W.Wolfe Thank you so much, Red Bluff, CA
14
@Bill G...quite correct. Your posting does sound ridiculous.
3
@Bill G
We don't live in 100K years ago, we live in now.
(funny thing , the anti-science crowd was just telling me that the world is really 6000 years old, anything about 100K years ago is a giant fraud, etc)
The climate has been remarkably stable for about 6000 years, and trivia like agriculture and civilization is adapted to it. Yeah, the Earth will keep turning with any climate change possible, and whatever happens, the effects will be small for at least the next 30 years, and probably the next 50.
But we do know that when C02 was at 400, ocean level was much higher than now, and the ocean volume will balance out at around the same volume again if it stays at/above 400.
When it eventually gets there (after a long time, probably many centuries), most of the world's coastal cities will have to move, no small task. Along the way, the world's agriculture will be shaken up like the Colonel's spice mix, some dry areas will be wet, some wet areas dry, etc etc. That'll be after we're gone (most commenting here are over 50), and it'll happen slowly, but it's highly disruptive and not a natural or inevitable process.
1
110 that far north. Yikes.
18
Redding is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and doesn't get any ocean air. We usually hit 110 a few times a year, but a week in that range is rare.
1
Along with major efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels, we must put some effort into developing plans of action and technologies that will help us survive high daytime temperatures. It's pretty hot in many places right now, but this is not as hot as it will get.
12
@Betty Really Betty? Do you know anything about this area? It is always super hot all summer in Redding. Has been since I was a little kid in the 60's, was prior to that forever, and has been ever since. It has NOTHING to do with global warming for god's sake!
Plans of action to survive high daytime temps? It is already here Betty...it is called air conditioning! Lol.
7
@Bill G Air conditioning, yeah, let's burn more coal and make more coal dust and send the mess into our streams and rivers. The water? We'll think about that later.
7.5 billion air conditioners running.
what a laugh. Paradise run amuck. We choke, the rich get richer. Sooner or later, they choke too. Bye, bye humans or least our numbers will be greatly reduced. That would be good esp. for the ignorant among us.
@Betty
Wet cloth on your head, stay out of the sun, install evaporative coolers in areas of moderate humidity.
If it's 110 and humid, don't live there.
5
These extreme weather news pieces need to include information on climate change.
Tragic phenomena like this are the dots the journalists need to connect for their readership to see and understand the truth of what is happening.
56
Fox News purposely keeps its viewers ignorant about anthropogenic climate change. Nothing is more important to Fox than keeping Trump and Republicans in power because the only thing that is important them, to Rupert Murdoch and his elder son is evermore money; they’re so filled with greed that there’s no space for love for even their own young children and grandchildren. There is no amount of money or power that allows any adult today to give even their own child a chance for a decent, healthy future that even remotely resembles life today. By the time today’s child reaches from mid life into their elder years, the earth will be so saturated with toxic pollution and overwrought by unmitigated climate change that the best the wealthiest will be able to do is confine themselves in luxury enclaves fearful of the masses outside who are desperate for basic necessities - clean water and adequate food.
The Trump/Republican base will hold only while Fox deceives them about scientific facts and climate change. Is there no one at Fox - even lower level local Fox reporters - who understands that their own children’s future is at stake?
53
@Bill G\Way to ignore reality. When you are setting records for temps, it is far longer than a thousand yrs.
Don't pray. Instead, vote for politicians who aren't in the pockets of fossil fuel companies, and will carry out aggressive policy attacking climate change.
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@Pat
Our Congressman, Doug LaMalfa-R, has made no comment on this fire so far. His Democratic opponent Audrey Denney, has a full account and updates on her website. She cares; LaMalfa does not seem to know that Shasta County/Redding is even in his district. Vote!
109
@Bill G You are correct: wildfires have been happening forever. What we are seeing however, is that a warming atmosphere extends the life cycling of both individual fires and the season overall, as well as intensifies the fires. It also intensifies the drying of the forest floor materials, which sets up the severe antecedent conditions necessary for fire starts. Just because these connections are not immediately obvious doesn't mean they aren't there; it just requires everyone to think a little more about what is actually happening.
7
@Bill G yes! another climate change denier protests while the climate changes...
1
Interestingly wild fires are no longer just “ in the wild” and at the borders of the” urban/ wilderness interface” but are now actually taking place within urban areas and this is because homes are being built by people who refuse to use fire retardant shingles or clear fire perimeters around their houses.
8
You can't install a roof on any building in California without using materials approved by the State Fire Marshall. That's been the case for decades.
As for the urban-wildland interface; first, folks in rural California are well aware of the fire danger they're exposed to, second, Old Shasta, one of the towns sadly destroyed, dates from the 1850's, and third, defensible space won't necessarily protect from a fire storm.
11
@Mad Town Patriot
How abiout the majority of the population that bought, in good faith, older homes that were up to code and considered safe until recently? I live in such a house in a fire-prone location and wish I could afford to replace our shingle roof with a metal one and our standard siding with Hardee siding, and many other improvements. Will you agree to higher taxes so that local governments can get grants to assist homeowners fire-proof their homes?
17
@Mad Town Patriot
Fire retardant shingles are required here. And everyone in my area clears grass in spring so that it doesn't become a fire hazard during the summer.
But the trees are literally falling apart during the very hot summer days we've been having. Sometimes they land on power lines and transformers. Then we have fires. I live next to an Arroyo (river) and due to very large eucalyptus trees in the riverbed falling on power lines and transformers, had to evacuate twice last year. PG&E can't keep up with the maintenance because so many trees are dying.
8
Excellent article about wild fire trends in last month’s Harper’s magazine. As always, human greed and stupidity are major factors here and in Europe where there are a surprising number of fatal fires in places like Greece and Portugal.
37
@Bill G You really think this is a left-versus-right issue? How about showing some compassion for those losing property and the firefighters putting their lives on the line to safeguard communities.
3
@Bill G Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, where the Carr Fire originated, regularly practices prescribed burning as part of its land management. But go ahead, blame it on enviros, politicians, or whoever as long as it fits on a bumper sticker.
5
Talk about Summer re-runs. Why "on earth" do we go through this year after year, decade after decade?
We have obviously not changed a policy of doing the same thing year after year even though that policy obviously does NOT work.
12
@Reggie It's not 'year after year'. Problem is: it's dryer, less humid, more days of extreme temperatures. Problem is: we have climate change making its impact in our state. Let me spell that out for you: c l i m a t e c ha n g e'.
81
The policy that would be pursued cannot d/t libertarian and Republican resistance to being told what to do by the government.
9
@Reggie - the western US is a fire-based ecology. It is dependent on fire, it will burn, it must burn.
1
Awful scenarios, the so-called wild fires consuming California's forests. Unless we suspect arson, which ought to be punishable with the highest possible punishment, as a dissuader from further attacks by perverse minds.
7
As I hear about flames licking at the Artic Circle and elsewhere, I feel as if the whole world is on fire. Is Mother Nature trying to get rid of the species that continues and continues to multiply and abuse the planet they live on?
Smart planet.
173
@Nightwood. Mother Nature always wins....we need to respect her or suffer the consequences....we are below the Cranston & Ribbon fires....no end in sight, terrible air quality and people and animals are suffering. Drought continues.
27
@Sandra Garratt If I could I would send you all some rain.
1
@Nightwood - Yes, tho' Mom Nature is indifferent to homo sapiens. We're just committing communal suicide as fast as we can.
2
You can't dig up fossil fuel that was sitting underground for millions of years and then burn it in massive amounts to power the rise of industry over the last 140 years and expect that there will be no affect on the world in which we live.
Humans took fuel that was sitting idle for millions of years, dug it up, and burned an incredible amount of it in 140 years.
That's a lot of stored fuel burned in an instant.
The result of burning it changed our climate.
Now, we suffer.
The next economic wave (creating millions of jobs), the next era of human-kind, is the transformation of our world wide energy system to clean non-fossil energy.
Jobs, jobs, jobs.
And something good for our planet and our kids and their kids.
Other countries are going there ahead of us.
We can't get there, we can't compete and grow American jobs and help our climate problems if we have dogmatic, compromised Republicans in power. Who think reality is fiction and fiction is reality.
Job 1:
They have to be stripped of power in this country.
Then, we can get down to some serious business.
And, Americans know business.
194
@Paul King
Thanks Paul... The climate deniers around me have been silent lately as the fire threat is all around us. I was evacuated from my home twice last year due to fires surrounding Brookings, Oregon. Add in dry wells, the drought- it's been terrifying. I am a mid-westerner from Minnesota and was not prepared mentally for what it means to be under a constant fire threat. Today I will pack my little car with my family photos, water, camping gear, food and plan my exits. Once you have been touched by fire (my home almost burned down last year and i had only minutes to escape- and could not round up pets- only leave the door open.) Humans caused this- there is no doubt. The resulting P.T.S.D. fallout is all too common. Anyone who has had to outrun a fire and spend nights in a shelter knows what I am talking about.
58
@Paul King sounds like jumping to too many conclusions to be factual.
4
@Alan Einstoss
That's because you don't understand the science behind it.
This is a nightmarish replay of what my county went through last year. I pray for those people and their homes. How can there be any doubt of global warming and climate change? Over my long years of life here in CA, I have recently witnessed too many hot summers, fierce and destructive winds, and dry winters. Yet the powers that be deny us the means to at the very least assuage the wrath of Mother Nature. We can do something about this. But this administration sacrifices the many for the few who are parasites off the land in the name of greed.
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@Kathy Lollock
How much parasite money goes into ofshore accounts held by our belivid leader and his minions?
6
@Kathy Lollock How can there be any doubt? How about looking at history and temperatures and wildfires that have been the same for the last 100,000 years? How ridiculous and by the way how about telling me what the last administration did about "solving" global warming? Nothing is the answer.
4
@Kathy Lollock ... This is not "the wrath of Mother Nature." This is the short-sightedness, greed, fantasy thinking (religions), and stupidity of humans. Mother Nature is a victim, not a perpetrator.
7
My daughter is a firefighter with a crew from Redding. They've spent the past 16 days on the Ferguson fire and now have a mandatory 2 days off. The crew returned home from the Ferguson fire yesterday to find the Carr fire at their doorstep.
This fire crew will take those 2 days off to rest, relax and ready themselves for the Carr fire on Sunday. I'm very proud of my daughter and the great crew she's working with.
A total of 37,000 people have evacuated Redding as of 4:00 pm on Friday. More than 150 homes have been destroyed and more than 5,000 are at risk. Redding has a population of 90,000. I'm located 80 miles south of Redding near Chico. The smoke is so thick I can't see a half mile. Temps in Redding today will top at 113 with a stronger breeze picking up in the early evening.
159
@Robert My highest praise and thanks to your daughter and her fellow firefighters for their bravery that allows them to fight these horrendous firestorms. May they all stay safe as they work the fire in their hometown. My dear friends evacuated last evening and sadly their home was leveled when the firestorm exploded on the NW edge of Redding. My thoughts and hopes for safety are with all those living in the fire-threatened and devastated areas of my home state of California.
25
@Robert - First your daughter is a heroine. I know this first hand because I, too, experienced devastating fires here in Santa Rosa almost one year ago. Our firefighters saved thousands of us and protected many of our homes. My large neighborhood alone was surrounded on threes sides by flames. It was a miracle that only two homes here burned down out of hundreds. That is a tribute to our first-responders. Please know my thoughts are with you all during this horrible time. My best to you, your daughter, and everyone there. You will get through it...
36
@Robert: Actually the very thick smoke has held down the temperatures today. I don't believe it got above 100 degrees and my patio thermometer registers about 89 right now. I remember that temperature moderation has occurred with previous wildfires.
If climate change isn't real and pollution is not the culprit then just what is causing weather to change? Do the deniers have a plausible explanation?
13