There is a huge fire(s) raging ~ 280 miles north of here.
The smell of burning stuff woke several friends during the night.
There air outside is brown.
500,000 acres burned so far. News said it’s burning the eq. of 150 football fields a minute.
Lots of evacuations.
60mph gusts yesterday and Monday.
Makes me sick to think of all the critters and livestock caught in this.
Expect beef prices to take a jump.
All the Best,
Jeff
1 Thank
That sucks, we got a mild version here in NY about 6 months ago. Very bad experience. I think it was coming from Canada.
I feel you. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, we had some of the worst fires here (WA state-one big fire happened just 30 miles NW-rained ashes on us), and the smoke combined from the big fires in california, Oregon, and WA and even parts of Canada, blew into the pacific NW to make the worst air quality in the world for 3 days. Our cars were covered with this brown dust from the fine particulates carried in the wind. It was bad. Thankfully no more big fires in 2023. Hoping for no fires in 2024!
1 Thank
Yikes!
I hate low air quality.
I’m glad I don’t live in the San Joaquin Valley anymore because the air there is frequently terrible compared to where I am now.
I don’t even like it when neighbors burn wood (to keep warm) because it stinks up the neighborhood.
Also, most of the time it’s so warm here that burning wood is a complete waste of resources, but I digress. 
I can’t even imagine what’s in the air. Texas has a lot of wells, many of them old, forgotten, and shut down in haste (aka zombie wells). Many have been mostly forgotten and allowed to pollute the land, some for hundreds of years. The owners have long gone bankrupt, and they are “monitored” by the Railroad Commission of Texas. Its a great example of “privatize the gains, socialize the losses”.
Then The Rio Grande floods and moves that nasty brackish water (potentially radioactive) all over the place. Some if it is consumed by livestock and spreads to feed lots.
Now its on fire and floating around in the air with the rest of the particulates.
3 Thanks
Yes, a hundred+ miles away south of Alpine Texas, there is no oil production.
The wind is usually away from the Permian Basin (where all the production is located).
When the wind shifts - you can smell the Basin.
Still, in West Texas we normally have good air Q indexes. Except when the dust blows…
All the Best,
Jeff
America ALWAYS has money to make money. But seems to never have money to clean up the damn mess making money seems to make.
1 Thank
Not completely correct… cradle to grave, as we discussed in environmental management courses, RCRA is an example Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Overview | US EPA
Great in theory, but has failed badly in practise. Old gas and oil wells leak huge amounts of methane here in NM, TX OK… I could go on, but I will not.
1 Thank
That sucks. I understand ‘theory… not so great in reality’
I was quite idealistic back in school and my professors were actually quite pragmatic, not indoctrinating but I’ve learned from being in various jobs of the environmental profession, there’s a big difference to practicing sustainable environmentalism compared to what was taught.
1 Thank
Unless forced by the “terrible, horrible, socialist government” pretty much no large corporation will clean up after itself, or take decent care of it’s employees. History has shown that repeatedly. That costs money. CEO’s don’t get paid ridiculous amounts of money to waste money on that kind of useless stuff. Negatively impacts profits.
Small companies can have a heart and conscience. Of course the big companies try to stomp or buy them out.
The only way big, or small, companies become environmentally friendly is if it will cost them more by doing business the old way.
Fines need to by more than the cleanup cost.
Or some cleaner process will yield higher profits in the future.
I remember going to college in Illinois in the early 70s. Peabody Coal would strip mine vast fields. The fine for not reclaiming the land was less than the cost to do so.
Guess which won?
All the Best,
Jeff
2 Thanks
More than a million acres burned so far.
Colder, less winds, and some precipitation have slowed things down.
But it’s getting warmer again.
Videos and pictures are just heartbreaking.
All the Best,
Jeff
Coincidentally, this morning I came across a story about uncapped, abandoned, and orphaned oil wells in Colorado. There are about 1800 in CO. The oil companies transfer ownership to another company that they set up for bankruptcy and then the state has to pay for the clean-up at an average of $76K per well.
Back to the topic, I hope everyone there in TX gets a break on the fires and can at least stay safe. Seeing the aftermath is totally depressing to me. I’ve seen and had close personal contact with too many wildfires.
1 Thank
Can you link that article? I’d like to read it.
1 Thank
Fossil Fuel companies… 
Will Trump/MAGA/lawyer them to death.
They obviously KNEW there was going to be a problem and serious expenses so they off loaded it to a shell. They have no intention of paying for it, never did.