Wildfire(s) Out West

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  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,592
    brianlux said:
    We dont want to pay for infrastructure in America. Roads, Rails, Bridges. Utilities are no different. 
    Funny you mention this.  I had a conversation with some people talking about how NY does zero maintenance upkeep on may things and I think it's stupid.

    Someone brought up that it is just cheaper to let it run itself into disrepair and build new rather than maintain it.  I disagree with this but it sounds like NY's theory on things.

    I wonder if that is PG&E's stance on things?
    Good question!  I don't know what PG&E was thinking but here are  my guesses:

    Scenario one:  "Keep the stock holders happy.  It's all about money in the here and now."

    Scenario two:  some wealthy PG&E executives figured they could rake in a lot of money during the span of their careers knowing that the electrical grid would last the duration of their time of employment.  They would then walk away fan dumb and happy and not give two shits about what happens later.

    Or scenario three:  the left hand didn't have a clue as to what the right hand was doing and visa versa.

    We dont want to pay for infrastructure in America. Roads, Rails, Bridges. Utilities are no different. 
    Who is "we"?

    Our PG&E rates have gone up regularly and often for years and I would expect some of that money to pay for infrastructure upkeep. 

    Same with roads.  We pay very high taxes on our gasoline here in California (more than most states- on Pennsylvania pays more), and that money is supposed to be used for road upkeep.  The problem there- and I've seen this happen countless times- is that when road work is being done we typically see maybe one or two guys working while the others are standing around with their thumbs up their asses.  My father one watched a maintenance crew of  five workers take two full 8 hour days to remove one medium sized ash tree near the road at the next door neighbors house.  It's ridiculous. 



    Line work is extremely dangerous and slow. PG&E current budget for grid repair and replacement is $7B per year. Replacement estimates at a million $ a mile the grid could be redone in 40+ years. That does not even seem possible  

    We replace the grid and the dry and windy conditions  are still dangerous for electricity transmission and distribution. 

    California utility investing has always been high risk. Without 10%+ returns there are no investors. Can the govt do a better job? 

    In NY we are behind CA in gas taxes, 7th highest in the country, and they cant keep up with the maintenance here. The roads are pot holed and unsafe. There's no reason to think other infrastructure upkeep is any different. 
    I have no doubt it's expensive and dangerous work.  But here is yet another example of how PG&E has squandered money that would have help restore some of that crumbling infrastructure:



    This money could have been used to help cover the cost of outdated power lines and equipment.

    The other thing that would make sense is, wherever possible, if they put more power lines underground- it has been done in a few places- the risk of fire would be greatly reduced.

    There is just no excuse for them not doing a better job.  None.


    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    so many similarities in California & Australia what the hell is going on.
    Severe fire danger today all forests in NSW are closed to the public today and everyone is on edge  
    https://www.facebook.com/354115391435898/posts/1346530478861046/
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,592
    so many similarities in California & Australia what the hell is going on.
    Severe fire danger today all forests in NSW are closed to the public today and everyone is on edge  
    https://www.facebook.com/354115391435898/posts/1346530478861046/
    Certainly a little thing called "climate change" is a factor!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    edited November 2019
    brianlux said:
    so many similarities in California & Australia what the hell is going on.
    Severe fire danger today all forests in NSW are closed to the public today and everyone is on edge  
    https://www.facebook.com/354115391435898/posts/1346530478861046/
    Certainly a little thing called "climate change" is a factor!
    currently my area brian. Hot south westerly winds today with a temp maximum of 35 degrees. Powerlines sparked the last one which burnt out the area to the north in one afternoon. We had the DC10 Air tanker assist to protect one town. They are listed as under control but keep sparking spot fires everytime the wind blows. The next 3 days of high temps and desert winds is enough to give you anxiety. 
    Post edited by rhanishane on
  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    spoke too soon can already see smoke rising 😢
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,592
    brianlux said:
    so many similarities in California & Australia what the hell is going on.
    Severe fire danger today all forests in NSW are closed to the public today and everyone is on edge  
    https://www.facebook.com/354115391435898/posts/1346530478861046/
    Certainly a little thing called "climate change" is a factor!
    currently my area brian. Hot south westerly winds today with a temp maximum of 35 degrees. Powerlines sparked the last one which burnt out the area to the north in one afternoon. We had the DC10 Air tanker assist to protect one town. They are listed as under control but keep sparking spot fires everytime the wind blows. The next 3 days of high temps and desert winds is enough to give you anxiety. 
    Your anxiety is well understood, rhanishane.  I'm sorry to see how much fire you have going on there.   Only once has there been a fire close enough to where we could see it from home and that was very unsettling.  I hope you get some cooler weather and fewer winds.  Be safe.
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,592
    spoke too soon can already see smoke rising 😢
    Double my good thoughts for you and your area!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    i wish i could say its getting better but it's not.  red symbols mean lives are in danger. Hot winds from the west and mass dry fuel load. Tomorrow will be worse. We have fires both sides of my place now
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,592
    i wish i could say its getting better but it's not.  red symbols mean lives are in danger. Hot winds from the west and mass dry fuel load. Tomorrow will be worse. We have fires both sides of my place now
    Please be sure you have a escape route!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    edited November 2019
    think we may have to evacuate. Everyonr is receiving text messages from the RFS
    Post edited by rhanishane on
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,592
    think we may have to evacuate. Everyonr is receiving text messages from the RFS
    Time to take quick inventory of what to take with you.  Try to stay calm and think clearly about what is most important to pack- things like pets, phone, computer, cash, credit cards, water, photographs, things that would be hard to replace.

    Best wishes.  Keep us posted when you can but take care of business first!

    Good thoughts, rhanishane.
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    brianlux said:
    think we may have to evacuate. Everyonr is receiving text messages from the RFS
    Time to take quick inventory of what to take with you.  Try to stay calm and think clearly about what is most important to pack- things like pets, phone, computer, cash, credit cards, water, photographs, things that would be hard to replace.

    Best wishes.  Keep us posted when you can but take care of business first!

    Good thoughts, rhanishane.
    thank you. It has quietened down but we have ash falling. Its still in the forest the fire that is threatening my town, some houses have been lost near where it started. Close local towns have had fires raging through the suburbs so resources are stretched. The DC10 Air tanker has been protecting the major town nearby. Tomorrow is set to be worse than today and amongst the smoke i can see the plume in the forest. We had a fire start behind our work today and 2 workers left with inhalation. Tomorrow the dry fuel factor hits a top of 10 and there is no rain in sight for a long time. All state forests in NSW are closed. We have 2 evacuation centre's open but for us we have to head south as the main highway will most likely be cut. Im not to worried we have a very good warning system in place since black Saturday fires. I have access to all the information i need and believe me there are a lot of eyes open to what is happening and keeping watch. I know im vulnerable as im in bushland with one access road. i have informed my elderly neighbors who dont have mobile phones or internet. Tomorrow will test us all.
  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    edited November 2019
    this may give an indication of what today will be like. Its looking like black saturday all over again but in NSW this time. 
    https://www.facebook.com/213250965551/posts/10157403907265552/
    Post edited by rhanishane on
  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 49,473
    That is awful - why aren't those people running for their lives more?? I was surprised to see them kind of observing more than running and driving away as fast as possible!
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    PJ_Soul said:
    That is awful - why aren't those people running for their lives more?? I was surprised to see them kind of observing more than running and driving away as fast as possible!
    mentality of the people here in Oz. Used to fires i guess. The fires bearing down on us from the forest have got them running. Evacuations happening now
  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    highway shut north and south. stuck here for now.  luckily wind is heading away
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,592
    PJ_Soul said:
    That is awful - why aren't those people running for their lives more?? I was surprised to see them kind of observing more than running and driving away as fast as possible!
    mentality of the people here in Oz. Used to fires i guess. The fires bearing down on us from the forest have got them running. Evacuations happening now
    Continued good thoughts and hopes going out to you and your community, rhanishane.
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    That is awful - why aren't those people running for their lives more?? I was surprised to see them kind of observing more than running and driving away as fast as possible!
    mentality of the people here in Oz. Used to fires i guess. The fires bearing down on us from the forest have got them running. Evacuations happening now
    Continued good thoughts and hopes going out to you and your community, rhanishane.
    thank you. i am absolutely devastated for the wild life. No warning for them and its moving at a phenomenal speed it's sickening
  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    there it goes up like a bomb 😢
  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    I'm somewhat safe but this is what is happening here
    https://www.facebook.com/206757268330/posts/10157774936493331/
  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    we need all the help we can get. these are the smoke plumes in NSW Australia
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,592
    we need all the help we can get. these are the smoke plumes in NSW Australia
    That's bad! 

    Here in the western U.S., the cause of our ever increasingly large annual summer/ fall fires is due to a combination of
    1) too many years of natural fires suppression,
    2) too much human population moving in fire prone areas, and
    3) climate change.

    Are these the same factors in NSW Australia?
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    brianlux said:
    we need all the help we can get. these are the smoke plumes in NSW Australia
    That's bad! 

    Here in the western U.S., the cause of our ever increasingly large annual summer/ fall fires is due to a combination of
    1) too many years of natural fires suppression,
    2) too much human population moving in fire prone areas, and
    3) climate change.

    Are these the same factors in NSW Australia?
    too much red tape when it comes to burning off in the cooler months. Environmentalists in government doing more harm than good by locking people out of the forests.  cattle used to be able to feed in there to eat the fuel load and cool burns in winter would just burn along the ground slowly. Yes people live amongst the bush here but i wouldnt say over populated. 85% of the population live on coastal fringes. Yes the fires are getting hotter and unseasonal. People will argue till they are black and blue in the face it is not climate change because we have such a hot drought ridden country.
  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    fire currently a few kms from me ... pyro clouds
  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
  • Thoughts_ArriveThoughts_Arrive Melbourne, Australia Posts: 15,165
    I think this is the only time in history that the US and Australian fire seasons have overlapped?
    Correct me if I am wrong. I do not recall fires raging out of control in both countries at the same time.
    Adelaide 17/11/2009, Melbourne 20/11/2009, Sydney 22/11/2009, Melbourne (Big Day Out Festival) 24/01/2014
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,592
    I think this is the only time in history that the US and Australian fire seasons have overlapped?
    Correct me if I am wrong. I do not recall fires raging out of control in both countries at the same time.
    Could well be!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • rhanishanerhanishane NSW Australia Posts: 505
    1.1 million hectares burnt out on NSW now.
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,592
    1.1 million hectares burnt out on NSW now.
    Damn, that's 2.718 million acres. 

    Last year we had a total of 1,893,913 burn just in California- 8.8 million total for the U.S. 

    World wide?  A tremendous amount of acreage.  

    World on fire.  :frowning:
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













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