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I know the majority of you aren't on the west coast, but for those that are, hope you are all staying safe.

For us here in Portland, it's been crazy skies and lots of smoke and ash, but luckily the windstorms from Tuesday thru Thursday have died down and crossing fingers it doesn't come up my way.  Central Oregon is unreal. Nearly 10% of the state has had to be evacuated. I've got friends from Sisters, OR staying at my place on the coast as they had to leave, and honestly, I don't know yet if they'll have anything to get back to. 

Bout 3 weeks ago, we needed to get away before kids started up school, so we hit a few spots here in Oregon. Went to Bend and played some golf. Spent a day at Crater Lake. And on the way home stayed at a little lodge on a lake and then rented a boat the next day in Detroit, OR.

Detroit, OR is almost entirely burned to the ground. In the video below, when he says "the hotel and all this on the right" - that's the place we stayed. The town is/was basically that block he's driving, couple restaurants, a motel, a post office, and a grocery store. I think the Post Office remains, but everything else? completely burned to the ground.  (In the video he says Post Office gone, but that little building still standing on the right side at the end of that video is in fact the post office) And they literally went from "all is well" at like 9PM to getting told to leave RIGHT NOW at 3AM. 

Stay safe everyone and send some rain our way if you can.



Last edited by Timpranillo
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We have had our share here in Colorado too, some major fires this year, one of our biggest ever.  We had to shut down the interstate in Glenwood Canyon for a week or two.   Fortunately 14 inches of snow the other nite put a bit of a damper on the Cameron Peak fire.   Most of ours this year have not been near any towns.  Lucky.  

Here is one mans take on our American West in late summer 2020.....scary.

[NY Times article I'm sure you can all find about the fires in California that I'm deleting because...] 

Last edited by Timpranillo

What a gut punch now and for what the future holds. We’ve helped destroy our planet and now the planet is taking revenge.

Some local isolated fires here in Southern Utah, but no major worries. Our bright blue skies are a thing of the past due to the haze coming over from California.

Be safe all.

My oldest daughter and her husband live in Fort Collins, CO. This was the view from the balcony of theirIMG_7930 apartment on Monday around lunchtime. At this point, they were wondering if they'd have to evacuate. Then, after a couple days approaching 100 degrees, it snowed about a foot to the West of them. Fires are still there, but that suppressed it some. 

 

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As an aside, the biggest fire in Colorado history burned within about 7 miles from my house and town.  That was 18 years ago. The burn area and burn scar are still at the early stages of coming back.  The aspens have started to take over and and some are now about head high. The ponderosa pines however take a real long time.  They, where they have popped they are knee high.  When we get rain,the grasses are green and have a fair foothold to prevent most erosion.

My point, in this dry west it takes a long time to get back what has been lost.

In laws winter home in Tucson area was close to the fires and it was nerve racking a few months back.   

Having lived in So Cal many years ago I had a chance to deal with and observe the fires and as I explain to my friends in the Midwest there’s nothing like it.  I said, it’s destructive like an F5 tornado, the size and width can be like a hurricane, and in some cases they move quickly like a derecho.   Then the winds whip up (like Santa Ana’s) and all bets are off.   

A good friend of mine lives in SF and he described β€œits like living on Mars” and I believe it.  Scary shit.  Hope everyone stays safe and for the idiots out there making light of or downplaying the fires you can eat a giant bag of dicks. 

Last edited by Tschmack

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