I am curious about how many BLF’ers might live in or near enough to an area where wildfires have happened, are happening, or could happen. I hope nobody has lost property or been injured by wildfire.
We’re in a forested area of the western US. In the past 12 years, we have had more memorable wildfires in the area than I remember in the previous 25 years. There were two large fires and one small fire that came close enough to cause concern. The biggest fire came within 1-1/2 miles more or less, the smallest, caused by a careless neighbor, 1200 feet of our residence. Thankfully we had a defensible space and the day it happened was not windy and there were no other fires in the area. We had numerous fire teams from a very wide area respond; the county, the forest service, and two pueblos all sent multiple crews out.
I live in a region with lots of forests, mostly spruce and pine. We get several small fires each year, usually not more than a few m² up to some ha and under control in minutes or hours. We have a pretty good monitoring system with cameras on high towers which automatically detect smoke (even from tiny fires) more than 20 km away. So all in all the danger from fires is pretty small, although the risk of fires is high.
We had some major fires pretty close over the last couple years, but still hours away by car. in 2017 we had the Eagle Creek Fire caused by a careless teenager throwing fireworks into Eagle Creek Canyon. It caused a huge fire that lasted for 5 weeks and rained ashes on us. It was 30 miles away. We see the damage when we go into thr Columbia River Gorge.
I wish we had something like that. The forest service still uses manned lookout towers. There is one near us. They work but are dependent on a person. They are only manned during the fire season.
No wildfires here. Also no hurricanes, cyclones, floods, earthquakes etc. Quiet boring compared to other areas of the world entertained by mother nature.
Mike
Awfully dry here in NE Washington. There are probably 5 or 6 fires within 50 miles of my house right now. Had one fire about 2 miles from my house but they’re in the mop-up stage with it. Only burned about 150 acres of timber. Smoke is heavy in the air all the time. It’s very unhealthy just to be outside doing anything strenuous.
Where I live is not a wildfire area in the sense that it could be for a few days if it gets really really dry like a few weeks ago. The real wildfire area is in the south and interior and some parts north. Big, growling, hissing, and fast-moving. In some places, people don’t have enough time to grab important things when the fire is approaching. Quite scary indeed for sure. Oh, and it’s 37°C here today! Tonight at around 9 pm it will be 27°C! For sure sleeping with underwear only tonight!
California Sierra Nevada mountains. Unrelenting how many fires we have; three within 6 miles of the house in the last two weeks or less. Neighbors have evacuated twice, but we were just far enough away to avoid that. Still, we get the air bomber planes flying directly over the house, tons of smoke and unhealthy air, power outages, roads closed. Each year is worse than the last with the drought and dying trees. But this is so much better than city life (when there are no fires) I will not trade it. Glad to live here.
….Here in the Yarra Valley (Australia, Victoria) , definitly in a high fire area. Seems every 10 years in the norm but as the OP said, from a country wide perspective, seem to have had a lot more major fires than the previous 25 years.
The 2009 bushfire completely destroyed this area (I was on the edge of town back then) Everything was black as far as the eye could see and burnt to the ground, 90% on the houses in my imeadiate area.
We hire your “Elvis” helicopter in our summer months (your winter months) for the bush fire season.
Sounds like Europe (Europian Union) badley needs something simular so assist with fire in their regions when you look at what Greece is going through at the moment.
While they can detect possible fires automatically, they still require someone to operate them, verify the data if an alarm goes off and to direct fire services to the right location. And they are not always manned as well. Only if the wildfire risk level is above a certain threshold.
Wildfires still are a major concern of mine. Much of New Mexico has been in a severe to extreme drought for the past few years. Our area in northern NM has had several wildfires in the past half dozen years; some very bad, one a disaster.
A few months after I started this topic last year we decided we might be smart to move out of the forest and into town. The housing market is nuts, a real sellers market. We had several offers the first day it was offered. We have moved into an urban property we have owned for some time. So where is this leading?
Last week, on a day with exceptionally fierce winds, gusts to 62 mph, a wildfire broke out a mile or so south of our old home. Wildfires can be very capricious things at times. The fire went through that distance in a very short time. Where this is the fire ran over the ground. At this time I have no idea if it was in the tree tops anywhere else. The past few years has seen a lot of crown fires as well as incinerating most things at ground level.
Our old home burnt to the ground. I feel very fortunate in that we had excellent timing for our decision to sell, but feel terrible for the purchasers. We retained a few acres close by with a small cabin on it, plus two sheds for storing “stuff”) and a gazebo. The cabin was spared. The other structures burnt to the ground. The fire was hot enough to melt an aluminum chiminea (outdoor fireplace) that was in the gazebo. We obtained these photos from the county emergency manager.
As of now this entire section of the national forest is closed to the public. The land owners within a wide area that is considered to be in the active fire zone are also locked out.
Don, what a shame! I know you’re safe and relocated but it must hurt to see your old home and area in ashes.
Have friends in Ruidoso and was watching all of the fires out there closely. And Flagstaff as well (again…and again). It’s sad to see these forests go. Sure, they may one day regenerate but two or three generations will be there to miss the beauty and deal with potential changes in the plant life (including invasives…or poison ivy explosion), ground temperatures, changes in recreation, etc, etc.
That was a very prudent and forward-thinking decision you made to move…very fortunate.
We have fire seasons here but generally less in the way of wooded areas and forest, or homes within. The last few years “fire season” has been nearly year round.
Where I’m at there are large amounts of pine forests. Most of the fires (say 90) we respond to are brush fires. Of them I say a good 80 are started by some moron burning in their yard when it is clearly too windy to do so.
This just happened the next county over from me. We didn’t have to respond but was put on standby.
Talk about timing. I hope the new owners were well insured. It must be hard living in an urban area now after living in the woods but you definitely made the right decision. The older we get, the harder it is to maintain rural properties.
Wow Don, that was close for you people! I’m sad to hear that the nice place where you lived, and posted many pictures about on BLF, is no more .
And what a luck that the cabin is still there, I hope that you will be able again to spend time there.
No wildfires here, but lots of land under sea level which may become critical sometime in the future. Our own house is at just 0.2 meter above sea level, but if the dikes fail the sea water will also be here at high tide and ruin all plants and many trees. And besides, if the west of the Netherlands floods, even the bits above sea level will be inhabitable until the dikes are repaired, all water is pumped out, and all infrastructure rebuilt. That will take years.
“Of them I say a good 80% are started by some moron…”
so, since MtnDon, asked: “How Many BLF’ers Live In A Wildfire Danger Area?”
well, we do since we live close enough to enough wild and dangerous morons.
Really sorry to hear that your old house is gone, with all of the memories that still must be difficult, but glad you are safe.
We had a level three evac without much warning. Super stressful and fortunate the fire didn’t come our way but it is a life changer, especially for kids.
Thanks for the post, reminded me to take a look at our readiness for this season. Attached (for all) an overview of levels, some good prep advice and how to protect your house if you have to go.
Wow Don that was very fortuitous- in a lucky sense of the word, while quite obviously a well thought out and timely executed decision.
Here in my part of southern Colorado iver the last several years, we have had a number of grassland fires race through the neighborhood. My place was right on the edge of one big one, another one burned a number of acres of my place (no structural damage thankfully, and the latest one last month was caught before it went more that about 100 acres and 1/4 mile thanks to our excellent fire depts. That despite the fact that the wind was about 40 mph+ that day!
Oh, and it’s 37°C here today! Tonight at around 9 pm it will be 27°C! For sure sleeping with underwear only tonight! 
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