Arizona Fires

[Midnightmom]

Anyone here affected by the fires in Scottsdale or the newly erupted ones in Phoenix?

If so, were you "prepared" for action due to what you've learned here at MrsS?

Stay safe!

[Annarchy]

Fire?  I looked up on my map app….

 

North America is burning…..

 

[Jeepers]

I had no idea there were that many fires burning right now. 

[Littlesister]

I didn't know it either.  Have a GD living in CA and one in Washington. Haven't heard from either for a few days. Will check on them in a bit. Looks like from that map it is right over where they live. But hard to tell. I know we are still getting a slight haze from the one in Canada or at least that is the fires I am thinking it is from.  

Yep these fires will not be good for a lot of reasons other than displaced wildlife and trees all burnt up. Not to mention people's homes and them being displaced. The farmers will be having a hayday with that many fires. 

[Annarchy]

Yikes… isn’t that what they keep calling “global warming “?  

[Littlesister]

Just heard from GD in Washington state. They are doing good. No fires near her area and no smoke either. Still haven't heard from GD in CA yet. 

Annarchy I think these wildfires have been happening for years but seem to be getting much worse. Makes me wonder what is really going on with them. Either someone is starting one by throwing a lit cigarette out of a window while driving down the road and it catches fire, or a lighting strike or something. Either way they are getting worse and harder to control. Not sure if climate change would have anything to do with it but can't rule it out either. 

[Annarchy]

Sorry, Little Sister, I was being a brat.  Yeah, I know, around here in AZ, most fires are caused by careless people, who have no clue how to extinguish a camp fire, blow off fireworks in the desert, because they can, or terrible people who toss their cig butts out the window…that’s one of my personal pet peeves!  
 

We were 115° today, most of the plants, here in the desert,  are now dried up and a tinder box.  I dislike, to the point of hating, people who don’t respect the desert.  Been here over 60 years, and still can’t understand why people don’t care enough to prevent wildfires.  Even youngsters, born here, are adamant about protecting the desert.
 

 Our Sonoran desert is unlike anything on earth, some of our plants, only grow here, period.  Like the saguaro.  It’s the only place on earth our species grow.  Wildfires devastate their habitat and destroy the old growth.  Some have been dated back 6-900 years old!!!
 

Snowbirds, transplant northerners…. They don’t seem to care….  IDK… drives me bananas sometimes…..  

[Annarchy]

BTW, the free app is called ‘My Radar’, you have to select the “fire” selection in the preferences.  

 

http://MyRadar.com/
 

Tap on the fire decal, on the map & you can see when it was reported, and how many acres it is, including a link to the National fire service, which will show more information about the fires.

 

[Annarchy]

20 hours ago, Midnightmom said:

(are)….you "prepared" for action due to what you've learned here at MrsS?

Stay safe!

Absolutely prepared.  Every year… like Mt_Rider likes to post, because she is also in a wild fire area…. BOB, with supplies, paperwork, animal preps, for that all important, “get out now” event.  
 

God forbid, but, in the event of a wild fire, close enough to threaten our house/home, we could evacuate within 5 minutes… every year brings the awareness us, acutely!
 

So, our BOB is always ready, vehicles prepared, never without less than a half tank, BOB is updated/scrutinized 3-4 times a year, JIC.  
 

Right now, I weighed my updated BOB at 13 lbs.  JIC I have to carry it, long distance, and DH isn’t here or with me on the road.  My calculations, says I could potentially survive, with its contents alone, about a week. With my outdoor skills, even longer…JIC.

[Becca_Anne]

We actually moved to IL to get away from the fires in the west because my asthma can't handle it anymore. It was years of 4 months of smoke every year and Ben hadn't had a normal childhood because we couldn't go out to play often in the summer! I couldn't handle that anymore. Pretty much late June-Oct =Smoke in Oregon. We tried moving up to the northern area thinking that would be better but it wasn't so we made the hard choice to go to the midwest. There are several  good fire maps (see below) I used a lot when we were in danger of needing to evacuate (there were several fires close by while we lived there and we did evac out twice).  The thing I learned from that is fires are fast especially if it's windy. You have NO time, just go. Grab kids, pets and your purse and leave. So have anything you need in your car you will not have time to get out if you try to pack.

 

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/

 

https://nifc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=485292c7a3cd4b5ab3d4539162420d4b&extent=-15293678.3364%2C4586960.9504%2C-10597387.3186%2C6859280.9273%2C102100&fbclid=IwAR22gksrmCJalORM-Jnt-2lEPI7NX5JbAnvQeSCTWWBQrBPLHj0MpJE8MfY

 

http://www.wildcad.net/WildCADWeb.asp?fbclid=IwAR1GSjTRiW-02UrlaH0vPuwo48napeeOAMG37Bn_tA9muM5FDPD8YrBS2W4

 

https://firesmoke.ca/forecas?fbclid=IwAR0lqwoWqTau58OJ6ZvtuZvNciBCyVOOf978vLLBXHCMVHL9mjmnRDLxsZ0 (for Canada)

 

For those in WA or OR

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16U8Ckl9PxFUUZnV9PujeywMYqk0cA6ZTE6i6Igf8pCY/edit?fbclid=IwAR1JE_Oam0Mcpd8Ex6WWCyKnGg3-PcFPWMy-qYALAoVq09s72pxCpmfdWVY#heading=h.ituy8hj9mmro

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[Mt_Rider]

We've been so wet, my guard isn't tuned this year as much.  But there's aways stuff at the ready and things that stay in the vehicles.  Plus we've already had a fire near enough to be at the edge of EVAC zone.    Then we went back into winter!     Then we rained for a month.  WEIRD year. 

 

At the moment the weather is predicting rain every afternoon but it's been a no-show for 3 days.      We have VERY tall grass from the earlier rain.....along the roads and everywhere the creek waters.  But now the pond is a lot lower now than just a few weeks ago. 

 

I rode today in shorts, tank top, wet over shirt to keep from getting too hot and sunburned.  Last time I rode, I was in a coat and jeans.  Flipped the calendar and

 

Gotta stay on your toes in this life!  

 

Becca Anne.....is your area getting the bad air quality from the Canadian fires now?  That would be rough!  Yeah, wildfire can be truly a Rip & RUN !!!  situation.

 

MtRider  .....I hate fire season..... 

 

 

 

[Becca_Anne]

Thankfully we got back after the smoke had cleared but even at it's worst it wasn't much compared to the usual OR fire smoke (in the 100's here not 300+) Yellow at worst and all cleared up by the time we got back. 

[Jeepers]

5 hours ago, Annarchy said:

Yikes… isn’t that what they keep calling “global warming “?  

Hee-Hee. Yep. I'm no rocket surgeon but I would think a fire would heat the place up a tad.  

I hope careless fireworks don't add to the problems.

 

Becca_Anne, glad you are safe and sound at home now and missed most of the smoke. We were in the 300's most of this past week. 

 

As a rule we don't have wildfires in my area so I don't give it much thought. Blizzards and tornadoes are more of our forte. But I do believe a BOB is vital for all situations. Having said that, I'm woefully lacking in that department. Around March both of the BOB's I had prepared (son and I) were stolen. With all the things going on I just haven't given them much thought. Plus, I sort of already am bugged out in the hotel. And I'm trying to scale down at the house and replace other things. Poor excuse I know. I'm flying by the seat of my pants here lately in the prep area. 

 

[Littlesister]

I am prepared for hurricanes around here. Haven't had a blizzard in many years and hope it stays that way. Though we now have potential for tornadoes. Not as ready for those as there are no underground areas to go such as a basement or something. BOB stays in the car. And I have somethings by door to grab if I must leave house in a hurry. We don't have the fires here like in all those other places but can get the smoke at times.  We have actually been very fortunate with the hurricanes for a few years now. We would get the heavy rain and some wind but not much in the way of damage or loosing power. Some trees in other places would have falling down but other than that nothing major. But not letting my guard down either. 

 

Annarchy, I knew you were kidding about the climate change. You wasn't being a brat.  Frankly I don't buy into the climate change nor the new green deal. And they can leave my natural gas alone. It is the cleanest utility we have.