Fires in 2014

[Kathie in Thorp]

Dave, do you know a Swank cattle family up in that area? A co-worker knows them; said they lost 250 head. Losses may not reach those in the Oct. 2013 S.D. blizzard, but I wouldn't be surprised if it got close. There had to have been lots of folks like us (me) -- 10-12 head -- that just had to open their gates, run like hellll, and pray.

We had rain on/off all day today. Just drizzles and no big light shows.

 

[Nesikep]

It's been raining good here for a few hours now, and light drizzles during the day..

I didn't realize you had to open your gates and run.. sure hope you and your family and critters make it alright!.. I can't imagine doing that, though someday I may need to

 

[Dave]

That name rings a bell but not someone I know well. I haven't been up there much since Charlie past away and I guess that has been over 10 years now. That area is a combination of small places in the valley and larger outfits that run their cattle in the hills over the summer. I think the smaller places would have faired better. The cattle in the hills between the Methow and the Okanogan would have been on their own. That is horse back country and there is simply no way to get in front of that kind of fire on horse back gathering cattle in that country. Hopefully the cows found the pockets that didn't burn.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Dave, I sent an email to Cass Gebbers today -- it was his fruit outfit that sent over all the boxes that required the packing tape . . . . that's a different post. Anyway, just told him to let me know if the people in our county could do anything for the cattle folks over there, and that we were working on hay donations. Will LUK if I hear back from him.

 

[PLTannery]

I've heard lots of people talking about cattle that died against fences and natural barriers.. I am trying to get in contact with some of the people who have lost stock to try to salvage some of the parts I can use. I am looking to buy them, but am having a hard time getting anyone to work with me. The fires are still spreading, but slowly. We got quite a bit of rain on the Fire side(west), Not so much on our side (east) with WIND and lightning. We had at least two new strike started fires in our district dispite the rain. One just about a mile and a half from the house. Fortunately we got about 1/4" of rain that really slowed the spread of the new starts.

With as fast as that fire spread, as little warning as everyone had, it would have been IMPOSSIBLE to move any of the cattle off of the larger range areas. Even people who had stock in corrals had a hard time getting them out. Here we have a large, heavily grazed pasture we can get the cattle into for a fire evac. We are not in the timber so the fire would not be as intense as the Carlton Complex area. The last time it burned thru here (big) we just opened the gate and the cattle got themselves into the black unharmed.

We donated some hay, feed and medical supplies earlier this week to the fairgrounds. At that time they had about 17 ton in donations. But it appeared that most of the evacuated livestock at the fairgrounds was horses and a few goats/sheep. From the sounds of it, most of the cattle on the Malott/Chillowist side of this were lost.

It seems there is less delays with smaller fires because the chain of command is shorter. Once a fire gets this big, there are so many meetings and hands for orders to pass thru that it does slow stuff down.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Hope the weather changes for the good. I have been a wildland firefighter for 41 years and in times like this I have learned that the weather change is the only thing that really stops the fires.

Kenny, they say that containment on Carlton Complex is now just over 50% -- that has to be on the outside edges. Lots left to be burned inside that loop. Cooler weather and some rain has helped a bunch.

 

[kenny thomas]

Hope the weather changes for the good. I have been a wildland firefighter for 41 years and in times like this I have learned that the weather change is the only thing that really stops the fires.

Kenny, they say that containment on Carlton Complex is now just over 50% -- that has to be on the outside edges. Lots left to be burned inside that loop. Cooler weather and some rain has helped a bunch.

Yes the figures are usually figuring the outside edges where further movement of the fire is.
We sent crews to central Oregon last Sunday. Have not heard from them since they went on the fire.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

FOR DONATIONS FOR WA CARLTON COMPLEX FIRE , I would recommend two:

Chelan FFA Alumni, P.O. Box 1530, Chelan, WA 98816. Rod Cool set that one up; he is FFA advisor in Chelan and a Chelan Rodeo grounds director. We've been coordinating hay deliveries to Chelan through him, for either hay or hay transport $$. His no., if you have ??s, is 509 470-0360. This is not a 501(3)(c) outfit, but I trust him.

Nourishing Hand, P.O. Box 2106, Oroville, WA 98841. Janice Andrew heads this and is working with rescue/recovery out of Okanogan Fairgrounds, about 3 hrs. N. of Chelan. On your check, write "Fire Livestock" or "Fire Pets" or "Fire Animals." This is a 501(3)(c) charity. Phone service is still out up there.

I have been dealing with both Rod and Janice -- they are sharing resources as they get them.

Thx.

 

[Nesikep]

What's the status of the fire for you guys? I think we got around 2" of rain here wednesday-thursday last week that pretty much put ours out.. my friend closer to Armstrong said he got WAY more rain, and hopefully you got that dousing.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Nesi, perimeter containment for Carlton Complex Fire is still around 60%, I believe. Another one is acting up above Leavenworth. We had 2 days of on/off drizzle and that helped some, but not enough.

 

[PLTannery]

New update today.. Estimated 1000 head of cattle lost in the Carlton Complex. New large fire going in the Keller/San poil area. Devil's Elbow Complex. We had a 500 acre fire near the Timm Ranch in our District. Lightning caused.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

New update today.. Estimated 1000 head of cattle lost in the Carlton Complex. New large fire going in the Keller/San poil area. Devil's Elbow Complex. We had a 500 acre fire near the Timm Ranch in our District. Lightning caused.

All bad news. All over the state over the Cascades. Oregon has problems, too. It would be so nice to just ENJOY summer, but we actually sort of dread summers here.

 

[Nesikep]

I think our steeper mountains here are both a bit of a curse and a bit of a blessing for firefighting, Might make for tough access, but I think the fire can't spread quite as fast as over 'hills'.
We have a new fire here right in the Stein Park, fixin' to be a doozie, NO road access within about 20 miles, so it'll burn for a long time... It's a good distance away from us, and we see the smoke pouring out of a valley to the south of us, but we had burnt pine needles falling at our place.

The fire in Botanie Valley (started about the same time as Carlton Complex) is also only 65% contained, though much less devastating.

Stay safe folks!

 

[PLTannery]

Extreme flooding in the Carlton burn scar. Listening to the scanner. Multiple reports of homes flooding, mud slides trapping people and even a car with people in the river. Stay safe everyone!

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Extreme flooding in the Carlton burn scar. Listening to the scanner. Multiple reports of homes flooding, mud slides trapping people and even a car with people in the river. Stay safe everyone!

The storm after the fire? Craaap! Thx for the info, Shelby.

 

[PLTannery]

That was last night. Hwy 153 and 20 are still closed. Hwy 97 was blocked by a mudslide near Beebee bridge. Heard reports of a house sliding across 153.

Huge SLOW moving storm that dropped lots of rain. Heavy lightning has sparked several new fires even with the rain.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

We've had issues w/ our TV antenna for months; finally replaced it the other day and can follow the evening news. Looks like a mess up there, PLT.