Fires in Northern California

Post #420,734 by rcareaga 10/9/17 10:04:40 PM 10/9/17 10:04:40 PM Reply	Fires in Northern California The frau and I passed the weekend in the wine country, in the company of her loathsome brother and his pleasant, superhumanly patient wife, seeing them off at mid-day on Sunday. We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the rental (with intervals spent lolling by and in the pool), and briefly considered, before we finally bailed at sunset, delaying our departure until morning. We did not, which is fortunate because all hell broke loose overnight, with wind-whipped fires consuming the countryside. This morning I saw footage of several structures we had driven past on Saturday, now being consumed by flames. Anyway, among the communities under evacuation orders was Kenwood CA, where resides Founding IWT Member Ashton B. I heard from him via landline this morning. He is sans electricity and sans internet, and passed a sleepless night, but reports that his rural redoubt appeared not to be immediately threatened. I extorted from him the promise to quit the premises and head for our comfy Oakland garret should the conflagration become visible from his parlor. I will keep the group here advised. cordially,
Post #420,735 by Another Scott 10/10/17 12:52:01 AM 10/10/17 12:52:01 AM Reply	The pictures are horriffic I thought it was just the peninsula above SF, but it seems to be a huge area involved. CalFire: California Statewide Fire Summary Monday, October 9, 2017 Overnight significant winds fanned over a dozen fires across Northern California. 15 new wind whipped wildfires in nine counties have already burned over 73,000 acres in the past 12 hours. Firefighters have been challenged with winds gusting in excess of 50mph causing extreme rates of spread and volatile burning conditions. Governor Brown has declared a State of Emergency in Napa, Sonoma, and Yuba Counties. One confirmed fatality has occurred in Mendocino County, with several reports of injuries to civilians. The focus continues to be the evacuations of thousands of residents and protecting property. These fires have already burned an estimated 1,500 homes and commercial structures. Several Damage Assessment Teams have been activated to get a full account of the destruction. The strong winds are expected to decrease today, but Red Flag Warnings due to gusty winds and high fire risk remain in place across many parts of the State. Residents across the State are urged to remain prepared for wildfires as extremely dry conditions continue. The potential for an increase in winds later in the week could challenge the efforts of firefighters. Learn more evacuation tips: ReadyForWildfire.org [...] Nuns Fire, Sonoma County NEW Hwy 12 north of Glen Ellen 5,000 acres [...] It looks like the Nuns Fire is the one closest to Ashton. Fire Map :-( Fingers crossed for our Mr. B and for everyone else out there. Thanks for the update!! Cheers, Scott.
Post #420,739 by scoenye 10/10/17 8:00:27 AM 10/10/17 8:00:27 AM Reply	One thing lacking from that map: evacuation zones We spent about an hour on the phone yesterday with a rather frantic friend just south of Santa Rosa because it is near impossible to find information on the evacuation zones. There is one at her latitude just across 101, but it took forever to find the extents. (Luckily, this one goes eastward.) Compounding the issue is that authorities are trying to keep the zones as small as possible but the shifting winds are turning that into a game of whack-a-mole.
Post #420,737 by pwhysall 10/10/17 3:41:30 AM 10/10/17 3:41:30 AM Reply	Good man. Glad to hear AB is safe.
Post #420,738 by CRConrad 10/10/17 7:48:20 AM 10/10/17 7:48:20 AM Reply	Yeah, so he can keep building kitchen appliances for us.
Post #420,740 by mmoffitt 10/10/17 8:10:53 AM 10/10/17 8:10:53 AM Reply	Ibid. bcnu, Mikem It's mourning in America again.
Post #420,743 by boxley 10/10/17 8:17:59 PM 10/10/17 8:17:59 PM Reply	how far is this from modesto? hope Ash is ok "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #420,745 by rcareaga 10/10/17 10:59:15 PM 10/10/17 10:59:15 PM Reply	Re: how far is this from modesto? It is a considerable distance. Modesto would likely be safer. cordially,
Post #420,748 by mmoffitt 10/11/17 8:16:57 AM 10/11/17 8:16:57 AM Reply	Map of fire locations. http://www.calfire.ca.gov/general/firemaps bcnu, Mikem It's mourning in America again.
Post #420,749 by rcareaga 10/11/17 10:35:43 AM 10/11/17 10:35:43 AM Reply	Looks grim A’s street in Kenwood is half in, half out of the “active fire” zone. apprehensively,
Post #420,750 by Another Scott 10/11/17 10:43:07 AM 10/11/17 10:43:07 AM Reply	:-(
Post #420,752 by mmoffitt 10/11/17 1:35:40 PM 10/11/17 1:35:40 PM Reply	Any news from A? bcnu, Mikem It's mourning in America again.
Post #420,753 by rcareaga 10/11/17 3:42:14 PM 10/11/17 3:42:14 PM Reply	Re: Any news from A? Nothing since Monday. I’ll try rattling his chain this afternoon. He may be somewhere near a working cellphone repeater. cordially,
Post #420,758 by rcareaga 10/12/17 10:19:44 AM 10/12/17 10:19:44 AM Reply	cryptic text message from AB Received last night at 11:13 PDT. In its entirety: Ar Your guesses are as good as mine. bemusedly,
Post #420,760 by drook 10/12/17 10:21:11 AM 10/12/17 10:21:11 AM Reply	He's a pirate now? -- Drew
Post #420,762 by rcareaga 10/12/17 11:21:08 AM 10/12/17 11:21:08 AM Reply	status update (Great minds run in similar gutters. I asked him that very thing in my response) Received just now (excerpts from the Ashtonese): Mainly hanging out with ill friend, akin to frying pan into fire, as the air tankers seem chimerical as any sort of authentic preventative: now Sonoma is add-to-list…We’re (bipeds n’ cats) looking for the Cosmic humor within this present air war over CA…for the nonce, Stet Fortuna Domus (both)…motto of one Ricketts House. Or as the Orange one’s Duh goes…We’ll /cough/ see shortly. cordially,
Post #420,764 by Another Scott 10/12/17 11:36:38 AM 10/12/17 11:36:38 AM Reply	Thanks. Fingers crossed for him, his ill friend, and everyone else in the vicinity. :-( Cheers, Scott.
Post #420,766 by mmoffitt 10/12/17 11:41:15 AM 10/12/17 11:41:15 AM Reply	Thanks. Send him well wishes from me, if you've the opportunity. bcnu, Mikem It's mourning in America again.
Post #420,782 by a6l6e6x 10/12/17 11:26:00 PM 10/12/17 11:26:00 PM Reply	Amen to that! Just got back from a "retreat" in NC mountains and have been out of the loop. No TV and very sketchy cell phone connections. Thanks for the updates Rand! Alex "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov
Post #420,779 by pwhysall 10/12/17 10:50:50 PM 10/12/17 10:50:50 PM Reply	Well, that's definitely really him, and not an imposter.
Post #420,783 by drook 10/12/17 11:51:25 PM 10/12/17 11:51:25 PM Reply	Trooth -- Drew
Post #420,761 by Another Scott 10/12/17 11:19:54 AM 10/12/17 11:19:54 AM Reply	Good even if it's a "butt text". :-) TLaPD was September 19, so I assume that's not it. ;-)
Post #420,913 by Ashton 10/19/17 12:55:54 AM 10/19/17 12:55:54 AM Reply	Sorry.. (just an oTpy which had no bizness escaping.)
Post #420,770 by rcareaga 10/12/17 6:04:14 PM 10/12/17 6:04:14 PM Reply	Talked to him again at mid-day Looks from the map link mmoffitt provided that his home may be history. He’s some distance away looking after a friend of similarly advanced years who has mobility issues. They may be subject to evacuation orders, in which case we will expect them at The Crumbling Manse™ on short notice. cordially,
Post #420,778 by pwhysall 10/12/17 10:48:52 PM 10/12/17 10:48:52 PM Reply	Re: Talked to him again at mid-day I don't live in an area at risk of wildfire, flood or any other natural disaster. But this does make me think about how much worse such a situation could be for those folk who are inclined to place value in stuff. I don't mean monetary value; a prudent insurance policy covers that. I mean "here's the thing that Bob brought us back from his trip to Darkest Peru", and "this is an ornamental picture frame made out of your dear old dad's luckiest lucky socks". I don't. I have literally one single physical memento of my late father, and I could not tell you right now where it is. For me, losing my home to flood or conflagration would lead to a heavy sigh and a phone call to the insurance company. For someone whose home is filled with physical expressions of their experience and memories, it would be something rather less mundane.
Post #420,784 by drook 10/12/17 11:57:11 PM 10/12/17 11:57:11 PM Reply	I once heard an interview with Julio Iglesias (not Junior) He was playing for Real Madrid when he broke his back in a car accident, ending his career. The interviewer asked him if he had any mementos from his playing years. He said that he didn't believe in keeping things as memories. If he ever wants a good memory, he'll go do something worth remembering. -- Drew
Post #420,790 by rcareaga 10/13/17 10:26:29 AM 10/13/17 10:26:29 AM Reply	combustible memories I am acquainted with a couple who were vacationing in Nepal when the Oakland Hills burned in 1991, taking out their home and about 3500 others. The internet was not yet a commercial phenomenon in those days, meine Kinder, and mobile communication technologies in their rather bulky infancy, so my chums were not exactly keeping current with the news as they hiked and explored out in distant Woglandia. When their son picked them up at San Francisco Airport upon their return, they asked him “Anything happen while we were gone?” “You could say,” he replied. The house, goods, chattel were all a total loss, I gather, with not so much as a scrap of paper saved. Talking about it a couple of years later, one of them said that while they’d as soon it had never happened, the loss of everything was strangely liberating. “We’ll never accumulate so much stuff again,” she said. As I look around my cluttered study, crammed to the rafters with the books, files, equipment I transported here last month from BDS—a python attempting to digest a largish porcupine—I feel wistful, though not sufficiently so to take up arson as a retirement hobby. I got the sense that A is disposed to be philosophical about the likely loss of his cottage, although he sounded wistful about a couple of oscilloscopes. I’d cross my fingers for his place, but the efficacy of the gesture is unproven; I have never heard even anecdotal accounts that it is effective ex post facto; it becomes damnably difficult to type with one’s digits so arranged. ashes to Ashton, dust to debris,
Post #420,807 by a6l6e6x 10/13/17 5:20:25 PM 10/13/17 5:20:25 PM Reply	What people grabbed before evacuation. NY Times: Fires Rage. You Must Evacuate. What Do You Take? I wonder what Ashton did with the cats. Alex "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov
Post #420,810 by rcareaga 10/14/17 10:22:26 AM 10/14/17 10:22:26 AM Reply	cats are safe with A Ashton is presently on the west side of the town of Sonoma. The east side has just been ordered evacuated. There’s a good chance we’ll see him and the kitties here by evening. cordially,
Post #420,811 by a6l6e6x 10/14/17 10:50:55 AM 10/14/17 10:50:55 AM Reply	Excellent! I've heard about what it's like to be herding cats, but clearly Ashton managed it. Alex "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov
Post #420,813 by rcareaga 10/14/17 12:26:55 PM 10/14/17 12:26:55 PM Reply	herding cats He reports that it was tricky—one of them is making the transition from feral to domestic, and is more accustomed to being outdoors than in—but that it was his (perhaps fanciful —Ed.) notion that their senses were conveying that Something Bad was going on, and disposing them to perhaps delegate these decisions to Management. cordially,
Post #420,812 by malraux 10/14/17 11:47:51 AM 10/14/17 11:47:51 AM Reply	That's great news Give him and the cats a scritch behind the ears for us. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #420,814 by Another Scott 10/14/17 12:52:10 PM 10/14/17 12:52:10 PM Reply	Send my best wishes. Let us know how we can help, please. Thanks. Cheers, Scott.
Post #420,912 by Ashton 10/19/17 12:47:12 AM 10/19/17 12:47:12 AM Reply	Scritches/ear area applied.. ack/nak ..purring reported. Biased I am, but have been surprised at the level of acceptance these two* have demonstrated: from hours in back seat as I gathered the necessaries, emptied fridge/unplug and like that, on through release into tiny bathroom (tub prepared by an ept cat-person with one carrier as hiding-place at one end.) It's a week now, some small mews not Yowls and such. (Maybe they're not well.. but appetite, digestion say Fine.) * 'recovering feral' previously had been briefly in my kitchen, then hid silently for a dozen hours/thought he had found door outside ajar/ but nope.. made a sound and got let out at bedtime. This was only his second experience being un-free. How cuth is that ..Y'know? as Ripley was saying (as a drooling vulgarian-Cabinet Operative uncoiled behind her) Lucky.. lucky.. lucky..
Post #420,932 by malraux 10/19/17 11:14:20 AM 10/19/17 11:14:20 AM Reply	Glad to (h)ear it! Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #420,817 by Another Scott 10/14/17 3:39:55 PM 10/14/17 3:39:55 PM Reply	Map of evacuation areas, etc. https://sfgov.maps.arcgis.com/apps/InformationLookup/index.html?appid=2fda90d67ffb4b8bb3f7d595cadf2e0f :-( Cheers, Scott.
Post #420,820 by rcareaga 10/14/17 10:54:28 PM 10/14/17 10:54:28 PM Reply	Condition Brown At last report, two hours ago, the evacuation zone began a block north of his location. It’s looking likely that we’ll see him sometime this PM. cordially,
Post #420,821 by rcareaga 10/15/17 12:51:29 PM 10/15/17 12:51:29 PM Reply	Update Spoke this morning: he is still in Sonoma; will probably stay put until further notice subject to the vagaries of the winds. cordially,
Post #420,822 by Another Scott 10/15/17 1:31:51 PM 10/15/17 1:31:51 PM Reply	Thanks. Fingers crossed.
Post #420,825 by rcareaga 10/16/17 4:06:04 PM 10/16/17 4:06:04 PM Reply	Update redux He has word this morning that structures close to his own have survived, and may have word from on-site by this evening. cordially,
Post #420,754 by rcareaga 10/11/17 3:45:44 PM 10/11/17 3:57:55 PM Reply	wholly smoke I stepped outside at noon (the pooch having reminded me, with many a doleful look, that I have now inherited the entire dog walking portfolio) and realized that the attenuated light I had been subliminally registering as consequence of overcast weather is actually reaching me through thick smoke: the sky is yellow from horizon to horizon. Edit: This is where we were a day before the fire. hazily, Edited by rcareaga Oct. 11, 2017, 03:57:55 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #420,830 by rcareaga 10/16/17 9:43:55 PM 10/17/17 9:22:35 AM Reply	Update finalmente (for now); a good one—now with Chronicle Just off the blower with AB. A kind acquaintance of his is married to someone who has the power to bind and to loose the “DO NOT CROSS” plastic tapes, or at least to pass these checkpoints with official impunity, and this individual has gone to A’s address and reports that as of this afternoon it remains standing and apparently undamaged, although a bit sooty. Edit/further to: the linked account has some background on his little hamlet. cordially, Edited by rcareaga Oct. 17, 2017, 09:22:35 AM EDT Expand All History
Post #420,831 by Another Scott 10/16/17 10:01:56 PM 10/16/17 10:01:56 PM Reply	Excellent! Cthulhu and the FSM be praised. :-)
Post #420,833 by boxley 10/16/17 10:37:33 PM 10/16/17 10:37:33 PM Reply	awesome! "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #420,834 by scoenye 10/16/17 10:44:09 PM 10/16/17 10:44:09 PM Reply	Woot!
Post #420,837 by mmoffitt 10/17/17 8:24:35 AM 10/17/17 8:24:35 AM Reply	Outstanding! bcnu, Mikem It's mourning in America again.
Post #420,843 by a6l6e6x 10/17/17 11:06:00 AM 10/17/17 11:06:00 AM Reply	Makes my day! Alex "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov
Post #420,850 by drook 10/17/17 12:29:55 PM 10/17/17 12:29:55 PM Reply	That's a tough one On the one hand, it's usually idiots who defy evacuation orders for either fires or hurricanes. On the other hand, these two seem to have their heads on straight. They're packed and ready to run, they've got a clear marker for "this is close enough", and they're doing something useful by staying. It's good that no one has gotten heavy-handed and forcibly removed them. -- Drew
Post #420,853 by Another Scott 10/17/17 1:08:18 PM 10/17/17 1:08:18 PM Reply	Thanks for the PS. That's a huge amount of devastation. :-(
Post #420,898 by Ashton 10/18/17 6:30:11 PM 10/18/17 6:30:11 PM Reply	Hola! Me Droogies.. Finally.. despite this $&^$^&@# Doze 8.ugly.000 box, infected with some scam-Oversight layer by A.V.G. [the Bastards, here..] I managed to login, after a momentary power outage forced this kluge to reboot. Thanks for all Kind- and Fire-retardant.. Words (as seem to have helped.) Currently still in Sonoma (the town-name as also, County) from whence we were on edge of abandonment also-Too! not long after moi+cats' arrival last week. Given stats all have seen, my/our travails have been as fluff compared with ..you Know, now. The two cats are ensconced in a sm. bathroom, one kitty-carrier in tub, etc. and have behaved near magically in abiding n-Hours within separate/facing boxes in car.. thence to all these days in a tiny place. Can only attribute this behaviour to some innate Sense that: we all Were escaping some bad-ju-ju-so-Behave! ..or like that. Lastly & still: my spot at a street (Cypress) which ends at the very bank of Sonoma Creek is within the vicissitudes of wind and ongoing ill-contained mess which evacuated/nearly ate-up 'Oakmont' earlier (retirement village for the well-heeled tribes, up the road.) So odds are [+] but mutable. I hope that the slow.. friendly possum who frequented kibble-dish after dusk, has made it through without these K-rations, this more-so than The Stuff (so aptly addressed in Geo Carlin's famous skit.) There's enough personnel about (and space to bulldoze) methinks that were Kenwood next to conflagrate -??- then the entire Fire-cohort could not Live With That-shame, this late in the n-$B-Game. On that, I am unanimous, so shall not worry-pretty-little head. Carrion Sometimes it's tasty :-)
Post #420,899 by scoenye 10/18/17 6:43:05 PM 10/18/17 6:43:05 PM Reply	Yay!
Post #420,905 by malraux 10/18/17 8:25:34 PM 10/18/17 8:25:34 PM Reply	Awesome! Give the kitties a scritch for me! Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #420,908 by Another Scott 10/18/17 8:42:47 PM 10/18/17 8:42:47 PM Reply	Very good to see you!! Hope you get back home soon.
Post #420,929 by mmoffitt 10/19/17 8:34:09 AM 10/19/17 8:34:09 AM Reply	Ibid. bcnu, Mikem It's mourning in America again.
Post #420,934 by Andrew Grygus 10/19/17 11:34:48 AM 10/19/17 11:34:48 AM Reply	And his ancient silyscopes . . . . . will display joyous wiggly lines at his return. Incidentally, mine is an ancient three color DuMont. Blue for short persistence, green for normal and orange for long.
Post #421,025 by Ashton 10/25/17 5:12:00 AM 10/25/17 5:12:00 AM Reply	Don't think I've heard* of such a 3-layer working-phosphor of that vintage Dew tell a bit more of its pedigree? (I mean.. these ain't digi-colour dots n'such; these be spectral doohickeys (to use the technical term.)) * but then, there are many more things I Haven't heard of than Have. Miss Pratchett, just now.

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