FIRE! Close -- too close.

[john250]

http://yakima.craigslist.org/grd/3210144578.html


Support within the community and neighboring areas has been nothing short of miraculous.

We saw the spirit with a tornado recovery effort--but a nader devastates a few and leaves many to help. Fire seems a different animal. Praying for your area every day. Good luck.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

They may have reached 25% containment today. Wind conditions today were greatly improved, and it was a little bit cooler. However, as Dave said awhile back, the forecast is for change that will not be helpful including dry lightening on the weekend. We continue to feel safe right here, since Wednesday morning.

It must be very uncomfortable for fire fighters to keep their angel wings tucked beneath all that gear they pack on their backs!

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Friday morning: Update this morning from our local newspaper's FB page: "The latest information we have from incident command: The Taylor Bridge Fire between Cle Elum and Ellensburg is 33 percent contained. Some people were able to return to their houses Thursday. A total of 955 personnel are fighting the blaze. The acreage is 22,787 (due to more accurate mapping).
Please share neighborhood reports here if you have one. And please stay out of firefighting areas and out of the way of firefighters. Let them do their jobs."

If this shows up properly, you will see close the Taylor Bridge Fire got to us on Monday night. Our place is marked on this map at 'A'. (Dave, the river is south of us, so that was no protection.) Whatever you can see here from Hwy. 10 north is black. . . . . And nobody knocked on our door that night! http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&b...a=X&ei=DlouUNntNO_oiwLwn4GACA&ved=0CAcQ8gEwAA

Back to the office today, portable oxygen tank in tow.

 

[dun]

Does tighten the old pucker string don;t it

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Still bad here for friends/neighbors. Fire kicked up again a few hours ago. Will drop off and start something new when there's something new to say. Heck, it's only a huge disaster that affects only 40K people, many working with livestock every day, so it's probably not of much interest nationwide.

 

[kenny thomas]

Its making the local news here. I keep up with it in the fire news also but your view is much better,

 

[Nesikep]

Well, I am glad to hear you're still OK, lets hope it stays that way.

We had a ton of smoke in the air earlier this week, no doubt from your fire... We had a small blaze start when some lightning hit about a week ago but it came with rain so it didn't spread.

 

[wbvs58]

Well it sounds like you have a good firebreak around your place now Kathie.
Ken

 

[greybeard]

Still bad here for friends/neighbors. Fire kicked up again a few hours ago. Will drop off and start something new when there's something new to say. Heck, it's only a huge disaster that affects only 40K people, many working with livestock every day, so it's probably not of much interest nationwide.

It's been on the news here too Kathie, and we here in Texas will keep you folks in our thoughts and prayers, having had a rough year of it ourselves in 2011.

he 2011 Texas wildfires were a series of destructive wildfires in Texas, United States that occurred in the 2011 fire season. Statistics :
From the beginning of the fire season to October 31, around 27,976 fires had burned 3,959,040 acres (about double the previous record), 2,862 homes (1,939 of which were destroyed over the Labor Day weekend), and over 2,700 other structures.[2] 47.3% of all acreage burned in the United States in 2011 was burned in Texas.

I think this was taken on the outskirts of Austin. looking East toward the Bastrop fire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bastrop_Wildfire.jpg

Not something I would want to wake up to one morning.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

I know the fire pain is getting shared in a lot of places right now.

I was at the fairgrounds yesterday, dropping off gas cards for the volunteers moving stock, and was so totally impressed with the 13, 14, 15 year old kids out there (the ones not old enough to drive) that were soaked with sweat and covered in hay dust, loading/off-loading feed and supplies, feeding critters, running messages from one place to another . . . . . It was awesome.

 

[Alan]

Hey Kathie! I'm just in from fixing some fence because it's raining so hard I'm getting soaked. Good summer rain, the kind you can smell dust getting knocked out of the air. I'm sure it won't last long but the ground is wet enough to not be dusty when I ride the 4 wheeler and it beats all the hot temps we have had. The weather EXPERTS :? Say we should be in a period of cooling and rain in a few days. With luck you guys well get this change? Hoping it makes it over the hill to your side and your worries are soon gone.

Alan

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Hey Kathie! I'm just in from fixing some fence because it's raining so hard I'm getting soaked. Good summer rain, the kind you can smell dust getting knocked out of the air. I'm sure it won't last long but the ground is wet enough to not be dusty when I ride the 4 wheeler and it beats all the hot temps we have had. The weather EXPERTS :? Say we should be in a period of cooling and rain in a few days. With luck you guys well get this change? Hoping it makes it over the hill to your side and your worries are soon gone.

Alan

Alan, our forecast is for virtually no precip next couple of days and dry lightening. Winds are too scarey calm right now -- like the calm before the storm.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Alan, our forecast is for virtually no precip next couple of days and dry lightening. Winds are too scarey calm right now -- like the calm before the storm.

Well, maybe it is a calm before one of those odd-ball unexpected "pop-up" storms that will actually bring a brief rain and hopefully help with the firefighting effort.

The local news here has been covring this fire. Each day I hope and pray that thing gets under control and put out.

Glad you're okay.

Katherine

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

At about 5:40 PM Saturday . . . . second verse, same as the first. Wind has kicked up again very quickly. We are OK here.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Sunday 8/19/12, late morning: Progress at containment continues. There were some lightening strikes in timber last night, but firefighters were on them in a hurry, and they are controlled. Forecast is "windy, likely thunder storms." Some rain with thunder storms would be welcome!

Have spent the last couple of days trying to find large quantity source for apple boxes or similar (boxes with lids), via nearby fruit packing companies, but, of course, anyone that has authority to cut loose of them will not be in the office until Monday. Food banks, clothing banks, etc. are in need of them as donations pour in, and they attempt to store what can't be used immediately but will be needed in the not too distant future. It's getting pretty hard to find a roll of packing tape in this town!

 

[dun]

Sunday 8/19/12, late morning: Progress at containment continues. There were some lightening strikes in timber last night, but firefighters were on them in a hurry, and they are controlled. Forecast is "windy, likely thunder storms." Some rain with thunder storms would be welcome!

Have spent the last couple of days trying to find large quantity source for apple boxes or similar (boxes with lids), via nearby fruit packing companies, but, of course, anyone that has authority to cut loose of them will not be in the office until Monday. Food banks, clothing banks, etc. are in need of them as donations pour in, and they attempt to store what can't be used immediately but will be needed in the not too distant future. It's getting pretty hard to find a roll of packing tape in this town!

You might contact some of the moving companys (Bekins, Atlas, etc.) to see what they might want to donate

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

We do not have Bekins, Atlas, ya da, ya da close. Closest thing we have is small U-Haul outlet. BUT, just talked to big-wig at WA Apple Growers. He's work'n on it (boxes). Not asking for $$ -- just stuff that is hard to get here right now and needed.

 

[Alan]

We do not have Bekins, Atlas, ya da, ya da close. Closest thing we have is small U-Haul outlet. BUT, just talked to big-wig at WA Apple Growers. He's work'n on it (boxes). Not asking for $$ -- just stuff that is hard to get here right now and needed.

Doesn't mean you can't contact them and they won't help, they may want to ship to an organization rather than "Kathie in Thorpe" :lol: . But I'm sure the local fire department will set something up, with your kind help.

Good luck,
Alan

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Alan . . . our FD people don't have time to mess with this stuff! That's why those of us in the community are here. Local/state/fed agencies are working with local resource people (Food banks, clothing/supplies donations/animal recovery and care) -- we're all in this together, and sometimes a private party can help with that traffic. So, here I am. And that's what I'm doing from here, locally. If you want to help from OUT THERE, your support is welcome. Thx.

Just had a call from WA Apple Comm. President. 1,600 - 2,400 apple boxes headed this way tomorrow.

 

[dun]

They've got them in Seattle maybe Issaquah if it continued to grow like it was when I left the area 30 years ago. Can't hurt to call and see what they may be willing to do for you. May even have a truck drop the stuff up there if they have a van going past.