Wildfires in "The West Beyond the West"

[Professor Marvel]

My Dear PJ -

I only wish more folks were like you & your neighbors!  there have been any number of grassfires here in the great
southwest that could have been stopped early if the local reporting it had actually acted. In many cases a mere handful of
of folks with shovels, "flappers" or even wet brooms can stomp it out.

but weight!
more broken news!

Egads!

lest we think the wildfire problems are limited to North America, My Lovely Spousal Unit has alerted me to an unprecedented
wildfire "epidemic" across Sweden!

"Sweden fire map: Sweden battles 21 raging wildfires amid worst drought in 74 years"
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/993472/Sweden-fire-map-Sweden-wildfires-drought-heatwave

Total fire ban enforced in several counties across Sweden
https://www.thelocal.se/20180724/sweden-wildfires-25000-hectares-of-forest-still-burning

yhs
prof marvel

[greyhawk]

We've been spared in the Central Cariboo Region so far. Came close last year and several ranges were closed due to the fire hazard.

We had a nearby wildfire that we nipped in the bud last month caused by careless smokers. Due to the high winds, it spread quickly from the shoreline, threatening to jump the road into a hay field.

Locals spread the word and we showed up with buckets, shovels, chainsaws, etc. I went home for my portable water pump and 50' of hose and we really doused it.

Two hours after it was reported, the forestry firefighters showed up. They asked if they could use my pump so they wouldn't have to take theirs off the truck! I said "Sure, bring it back when you're done". When they did, they hadn't even refueled it!

The local who made the call got a rocket from the Forestry people and he gave them some pithy Cowboy responses. Most of us that live on the lake (7 kms long) have skookum water pumps and 200'-300' of hose. I can get on both sides of our house which is on a bench over looking the lake 75' away.

We do not rely on or trust the authorities to do anything for us based on what we saw during the previous fire season. We are a farming/ranching community so we rank low on the priority list. Barns and modest ranch houses don't warrant air attack by helos and water bombers.

PJ ---same deal here downunder - our volunteer bushfire brigades have been taken over by shiney bums at the top end on really nice wage packeges - but the volunteers are expected to cowtow to these people when something needs done - in a lot of places they do toe the line too - our local crew has been known as obstroperous for several decades (like to think I had a part in that!!) so we ignore instructions from head office as much as we can.
What it all comes down to is these people in the organisations have a vested interest in BIG fires
- they get no news cover and reduced funding if they get on the job fast and actually put the fire out before it gets hold !!! but stall for a couple of hours while it gets going good, burn a couple of ranch houses out, close some roads, power poles down, lights out ----now we got something ---- the chopper comes in bombing it - news crews all over the place - sirens and flashing lights and all the chaos -     

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

No government executive ever got a merit badge for saving our money!

[PJ Hardtack]

When we had a big wildfire situation west and SW of us a couple of years back, the locals were of the opinion that they could have dealt with it MUCH faster than the official reaction response.

The authorities ordered them not to "for their own safety"! despite the fact that they had more experience than the pros. Consequently, things got out of hand very quickly and it was allowed to burn as most of it was sparsely inhabited if at all.

It devastated the wildlife and set the stage for erosion later. The soil was so burned, it won't support growth.

If you were ordered out and elected to stay, you got no support whatsoever. If you left for food or fuel, you were disallowed back in.
Locals who knew the back roads rescued all kinds of animals and livestock, housing them at local fairgrounds and makeshift animal shelters.

People can and will take care of themselves if allowed to by 'Big Brother'. Not everyone subscribes to the Nanny State mentality.

People donated hay and pet food and even walked the dogs who were cooped up.

[PJ Hardtack]

MANY new wildfires in the Central Cariboo Region of BC due to the repeated T-storms we've been subjected to of late. Some larger than others, several said to be 100% uncontained.

So far our Baker Creek watershed area has been spared and may that continue, God willing!