Yes, the Calfire crew got here just as the house was starting to burn. The fire
moved from the north to the south, and unfortunately the shack/workshop/tower
was on the north side of the property. There is a large cleared area around the
house which likely slowed it down a bit, but I still lost the wood front porch
and the wood power pole. Of the 7 houses in the immediate area, only two
survived (mine and one other). We are all on 20 acre parcels, so there is lots
of space between houses. The fire destroyed about 80 houses and 200
outbuildings total.
The area around the tower was not cleared at all. What made it especially bad
was the type of trees present, which was mostly Manzanita which burns quick and
hot.
The good? thing now is that I don’t have to worry about fire for quite a while.
There’s nothing left to burn.
Ken K6MR
From: W0MU Mike Fatchett
Sent: Monday, 26 May, 2014 14:52
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Sorry to hear of your loss. I am surprised that an Engine crew would
have been in the area with temps so hot. Maybe they got in right after
the flame front?
Having steel at the bottom may also discourage vandalism. Phillystran
is really easy to cut through with a knife. As N2IC said it wouldn't
have mattered with the temperatures of the fire.
Was the area around the tower mowed and cleared of heavy fuels? How
close were the trees and other heavy fuel loads to the tower and
outbuildings. More curious from a Firefighting standpoint than
anything. The books are not always right!
*
At what temperatures do forest fires burn?
*An average surface fire on the forest floor might have flames reaching
1 meter in height and can reach temperatures of 800°C (1,472° F) or
more. Under extreme conditions a fire can give off 10,000 kilowatts or
more per meter of fire front. This would mean flame heights of 50 meters
or more and flame temperatures exceeding 1200°C (2,192° F).
If you live in an area that could see wildfire check out Firewise.org
for information on how to properly make your home defensible for
wildfire. Get rid of wood piles next to your house, remove the pine
duff or straw and other fuels from around your house and gutters. Clean
your gutters regularly. Be aware if you live on a hill that there may
be what we a call a chimney that will help fuel the fire. Fires love to
burn up hills. In some cases, you can't do enough. Mother nature does
what she wants.
Good luck on the rebuild!
Mike W0MU
On 5/25/2014 12:56 AM, Chuck Smallhouse wrote:
> A story for those of you using Phillistran cable for guying a tower.
>
> I was talking to a ham that lives in far N. CA, in area that is
> subject to wildfires. A couple of years ago the area had a bad
> wildfire that moved in the direction of his QTH, in a somewhat rural
> area. Even though the area around his home was quite well cleared,
> they couldn't save his workshop where most of his test equipment and
> ham equipment was located.
>
> When he returned after a mandatory evacuation and surveyed the damage
> , he found that not only was his ham shack destroyed, but also his
> guyed tower had fallen over. It turned out that he had guyed it
> using Phillistrand and that the fire had burned the guys through and
> which resulted in the catastrophic demise of his tower and beams.
>
> I guess that the lesson to be learned is, to at least have the bottom
> sections of your guys be of steel cable and not any type of flammable
> material, especially if you live in a wildfire prone area.
>
> Chuck, W7CS, with no Phillistrand guys .
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|