[TowerTalk] Wildfires

[Roger (K8RI) on TT]

On 5/27/2014 2:54 AM, Chuck Smallhouse wrote:

Even the Northern half (give or take)of lower Michigan has the fire 
warning/(no outside burning)flying.  The difference here is the altitude 
and fuel. We do have pine and spruce, but in general they are quite 
scattered.  Most have died due to the pine beetles in the last 5 years 
unless you spray them every year. We missed one season and row of 40'to 
maybe 50 foot spruce are gone.  Our wood is quarantined between 
counties, but the Ash are gone in all around here so it makes little 
sense.  The Emerald Ash Borer can kill one of those big trees in about 
two weeks.

Unoccupied land has very heavy under growth of brush and fast growing 
trash trees. Much is the kind you can't walk straight through. So we 
don't "normally" have fires moving as fast as you do out there, but fast 
is a relative term. HOWEVER even with a light wind up a shallow grade 
and it's faster than a high school kid can run.  Might keep up with a 
good road bike.  Unless they've seen it, it'd difficult to get people to 
believe how fast that fire moves which as I said is no where near what 
some of them do out there and we don't get the Santa Ana winds.

Some years back, I was headed North from Midland at 3,000, just playing 
around. I saw a column of smoke form quite a ways to the NNE,(just 
measured at abt 40 miles) so I headed in that direction.  (NW of West 
Branch)  I arrived overhead about the time the ground crew arrived.  If 
I had to guess, I'd say in about 10 minutes from start that fire had 
already covered 3/4 of a sq mile.  It appears a campfire got loose.  (I 
was traveling about 190 mph) 3000 MSL would have been about 1600 +/- AGL 
so I was flying much slower over that rising heat which makes for a real 
rough ride.

I have heavy brush up to back lot line which is about 75 feet of clear 
space to the NW guy anchor and I doubt that it would survive.

73

Roger (K8RI)

> Here in the Oracle AZ area, we're infamously known as being the most 
> susceptible wildfire area in N.A.  The terrain, altitude and foliage 
> is almost identical to that of the area where the Darnell Hill fire 
> occurred (near Prescott AZ),  where they lost 19 fire fighters last 
> year.  Only we are rated more risky !
>
> We are at a nominal elevation of 4500 feet (my QTH is at 5K') and the 
> vegetation is manzineta, small scrub oak,(< 16' tall) and bear grass.  
> I live on a N facing ridge and have chimney type terrain below me.  
> I've cleared all plants and other fuel for at least 50' around my all 
> cement block house with a cement tile roof.  My "Antenna Support S
> tructures", towers and 5M dish, are all freestanding or have steel 
> pipe braces.
>
> Our community has the most active Firewise and CERT (of which I'm a 
> member) organizations of any in the state.  We have had grants to 
> allow Hot Shot crews from DOC, and other communities, to clear ladder 
> fuels on private property, on a cost sharing basis, over the last 
> several years.  Our vulnerability has been reduced considerably.  My 
> biggest  concern is the FS land adjacent to mine, which they refuse to 
> clean up.  Our communities's main problem now, is with absentee 
> landowners, who won't clean up their property, some on large acreage.  
> We do have purposed state legislation, to penalize them, for this lack 
> of responsibility.
>
> Our local FD has had their "Red Flag" flying all this last week !
>
> Chuck,  W7CS
>
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