Fires

[r***@yahoo.com]

Mr David, are those fires near you ?

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Mr David, are those fires near you ?

No, but all the smoke is blowing this way. There's going to be a
very orange sun set today.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Mr David, are those fires near you ?

No, but all the smoke is blowing this way. There's going to be a
very orange sun set today.
--
Dave

Good to hear you're not burning.
Thick smoke your way ?

Randy

[David V.]

Good to hear you're not burning. Thick smoke your way ?

Yes. Lots of smoke. The problem is that most of our resources for
Yosemite, and the whole county, are fighting fires elsewhere. I
hope nothing breaks out here.

I was supposed to participate in a benthic macroinvertebrate
(big bugs that live in the river) survey this weekend but the
tributaries to the Merced River dried up too fast and we had to
cancel. It's gonna be a dry summer.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.

Good to hear you're not burning. Thick smoke your way ?

Yes. Lots of smoke. The problem is that most of our resources for
Yosemite, and the whole county, are fighting fires elsewhere.  I
hope nothing breaks out here.
I was supposed to participate in a benthic macroinvertebrate
(big bugs that live in the river) survey this weekend but the
tributaries to the Merced River dried up too fast and we had to
cancel. It's gonna be a dry summer.
--
Dave

It just sounds like you're not having a good summer or time these
days.

Was at the feed store this morning and was talking to some neighbors
and other farmers. Most of them have not been able to hay at all this
year due to the weather. And now all the grass is way to stemmy for
much use other then silage. Some have cut the grass and was waiting
for it to dry for a couple days and it rained on it. The weather
forecasters
around here are pretty bad. So I'm guessing just from what I heard
today
that hay prices are going to go up pretty high around here.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
It just sounds like you're not having a good summer or time
these days.

I get to work in Yosemite. That's always a good summer.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Was at the feed store this morning and was talking to some
neighbors and other farmers. Most of them have not been able
to hay at all this year due to the weather. And now all the
grass is way to stemmy for much use other then silage. Some
have cut the grass and was waiting for it to dry for a couple
days and it rained on it. The weather forecasters around
here are pretty bad. So I'm guessing just from what I heard
today that hay prices are going to go up pretty high around
here.

I'm going to go look at some different grass hay. This guy swears
it's orchard grass. It will probably be around $15/bale. The
delivery would only be $75 for 75 bales. That's 3 trips at $25
each trip and that included them stacking it in my hay storage
shed. The other one would deliver a squeeze for $175 delivery. It
may be cheaper to pay more for the hay and less for delivery.
I'll have to do the math later. I hate math.

[David V.]

There's a fire about 10 miles down the hill from my place. It's
burning down slope on another hill. The winds are blowing away
from my place, but they will reverse direction in the morning.
Most of our local equipment is in Northern Calif fighting fires
there. They got some hand crews on it but I don't think they're
going to get any air support.

It looks OK, for now. I'll let you know more as things progress.

I got my valuables in the car anyway.

[cycjec]

Post by David V.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Mr David, are those fires near you ?

No, but all the smoke is blowing this way. There's going to be a
very orange sun set today.

Hoping they 1. stay away and 2. go out.

[David V.]

Post by cycjec

Post by David V.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Mr David, are those fires near you ?

No, but all the smoke is blowing this way. There's going to
be a very orange sun set today.

Hoping they 1. stay away and 2. go out.

The one below me was put out. There are two more big ones not
more than 10 miles away.
I was just up at the local fire lookout watching them. I'll be
the one staffing the tower on Thursday. I hope they're out by then.

My critters are safe and the local sheriff knows to send anyone
with llamas over here. It's gonna be a hot summer.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.
The one below me was put out. There are two more big ones not
more than 10 miles away.
I was just up at the local fire lookout watching them. I'll be
the one staffing the tower on Thursday. I hope they're out by then.
My critters are safe and the local sheriff knows to send anyone
with llamas over here. It's gonna be a hot summer.
--
Dave

Take your camera and don't forget fresh batteries this time.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Take your camera and don't forget fresh batteries this time.

I have some good pictures. I'll post some when I get the time.
I'll be staffing the tower this Thursday and word has it that
another dry thunder system is going to be coming in that day. It
could start another 600 fires.

Coming home from work I saw fire crews from Nevada and Idaho. It
looked like they were heading home, or at least to a place to rest.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Take your camera and don't forget fresh batteries this time.

I have some good pictures. I'll post some when I get the time.
I'll be staffing the tower this Thursday and word has it that
another dry thunder system is going to be coming in that day. It
could start another 600 fires.
Coming home from work I saw fire crews from Nevada and Idaho. It
looked like they were heading home, or at least to a place to rest.
--
Dave
"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is
putting on its shoes."
Mark Twain

I heard you were getting quite a bit of out of state help.
Thats a good thing to hear .
Lightning sucks. Our house was hit 3 times in 2 days a few months
ago. Neighbors up the road had their house get hit also and their
house burned.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
I heard you were getting quite a bit of out of state help.
Thats a good thing to hear . Lightning sucks. Our house was
hit 3 times in 2 days a few months ago. Neighbors up the road
had their house get hit also and their house burned.

We're getting a lot of help, but it's going to be at least a
month before we get these all contained, and out.... and there's
more summer left.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.
We're getting a lot of help, but it's going to be at least a
month before we get these all contained, and out.... and there's
more summer left.
--
Dave

Probably a dumb question but where to all the fire fighters stay to
sleep, etc when they come from out of the area to fight these fires ?

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Probably a dumb question but where to all the fire fighters
stay to sleep, etc when they come from out of the area to
fight these fires ?

The county fairgrounds in Mariposa.

They don't eat all that well though.... I heard one guy place an
order for 15 cases of powered Gatorade, 80 cases of MRE's, 15
cases of toilet paper, and a few other things.

It was a quiet day in the tower, I just watched the fires grow..
Everyone else was busy. The radio chattered all day. Tomorrow is
when the T storms are supposed to form on the crest of the Sierra
and then move downslope, with the winds, in the after noon. That
means big trouble!

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.
The county fairgrounds in Mariposa.
They don't eat all that well though.... I heard one guy place an
order for 15 cases of powered Gatorade, 80 cases of MRE's, 15
cases of toilet paper, and a few other things.
It was a quiet day in the tower, I just watched the fires grow..
Everyone else was busy. The radio chattered all day. Tomorrow is
when the T storms are supposed to form on the crest of the Sierra
and then move downslope, with the winds, in the after noon. That
means big trouble!
--
Dave

I can understand the gatorade and MRE's.

I'm thinking that tower might not be a great place to be during
a thunderstorm. Maybe you will get lucky and get some good rain
out of these storms.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
I'm thinking that tower might not be a great place to be
during a thunderstorm. Maybe you will get lucky and get some
good rain out of these storms.

The tower has a lightening rod on it. I was up there Friday and
I couldn't see the big fire that was 5 miles away. It's just now
clearing up with a slight shift in the winds. It's still hazy.

The news is saying that there's about 1000 fires burning in
California right now. More, dry, thunder storms are due next week.

Can we borrow some water?

[r***@yahoo.com]

The tower has a lightening rod on it.  I was up there Friday and
I couldn't see the big fire that was 5 miles away. It's just now
clearing up with a slight shift in the winds. It's still hazy.
The news is saying that there's about 1000 fires burning in
California right now.  More, dry, thunder storms are due next week.
Can we borrow some water?
--
Dave

We've been thinking about putting lightning rods on our house and
barns. House has taken 3 direct hits from lightning so far this year.
Gets your attention when it happens.

Sure, come on over and will send you home with some water.
We got another 3.5 inches the other morning.

You been taking pictures from the tower ?

Randy

[(David P.)]

In alt.animals.llama,

Post by r***@yahoo.com

Post by David V.
The tower has a lightening rod on it.
I was up there Friday & couldn't see
the big fire that was 5 miles away.
It's just now clearing up with a slight
shift in the winds. It's still hazy.
The news is saying there's about 1000
fires burning in California right now.
More, dry, thunder storms are due next week.
Can we borrow some water?

We've been thinking about putting lightning
rods on our house & barns. House has taken
3 direct hits from lightning so far this year.
Gets your attention when it happens.
Sure, come on over & will send you home
with some water. We got another 3.5 in.
the other morning.
You been taking pictures from the tower ?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/us/19fire.html

Anxiety Grows in West Over Firefighting Efforts

By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD and KIRK JOHNSON
Published: June 19, 2008

SAN DIEGO -- As fire season arrives in the West,
there are growing doubts about the region’s ability
to attack the kind of sweeping blazes that
devastated parts of California last year.

The cost of fuel in fire trucks, a scramble to hire
new firefighters and new budget constraints have
sowed anxiety as a persistent drought worsens in
California and elsewhere, even as heavy rains
cause flooding in other parts of the country.

Here in San Diego County, where eight people
died in two big fires last year, a long-recom-
mended regional county fire department has still
not been created, and the San Diego city fire
chief has warned that a number of homes built
ever closer into wild lands face peril in another
major blaze.

On Wednesday, the union representing federal
firefighters testified before Congress that nearly
a third of the federal fire engines in California
are unavailable because of staffing shortfalls.
Many firefighters have retired or moved to
higher-paying jobs, said Casey Judd, the
union’s business manager.

Over all, the United States Forest Service and
other agencies "are not as prepared for the
wildfire season as the agencies would like us
to blindly believe," Mr. Judd said in an interview.

In other Western states, high gas prices are
battering firefighting budgets, tough economic
times are making it harder to recruit volunteers
in some rural areas, and the prospect of deep
cuts in assistance from the Forest Service is
darkening the horizon.
[...]
.
.
--

[Susan Gawarecki]

AAL finally came back, so I can catch up with what's going on with our
group. I've been horrified by the fires in California. The satellite
photos are fairly graphic, though I'm sure things on the ground are
worse. This site shows stop action satellite over the course of the day:
Loading Image...

Or, see
Loading Image... for an
annotated photo.

Dave, at the Miami Mtn fire tower website, which directional shot is
towards your farm? I tried the webcam, but it didn't load. Maybe it
doesn't like Firefox, or is the server still down?

It's been warm and dry here, but last few days we've finally got some
rain with strong thunderstorms. My llamas are doing fine, and I've got
8 newly hatched guinea keets to fuss over. The hens laid over 100 eggs
in a big rubber feed tub, and for quite a while 3 hens were sitting on
it at the same time. Too funny! I doubt these will all hatch, as a lot
of them aren't being properly incubated.

Susan G

Post by r***@yahoo.com

Post by David V.
The tower has a lightening rod on it. I was up there Friday and
I couldn't see the big fire that was 5 miles away. It's just now
clearing up with a slight shift in the winds. It's still hazy.
The news is saying that there's about 1000 fires burning in
California right now. More, dry, thunder storms are due next week.
Can we borrow some water?
--
Dave

We've been thinking about putting lightning rods on our house and
barns. House has taken 3 direct hits from lightning so far this year.
Gets your attention when it happens.
Sure, come on over and will send you home with some water.
We got another 3.5 inches the other morning.
You been taking pictures from the tower ?
Randy

[David V.]

Post by Susan Gawarecki
AAL finally came back, so I can catch up with what's going on
with our group. I've been horrified by the fires in
California. The satellite photos are fairly graphic, though
I'm sure things on the ground are worse. This site shows stop
http://www.osei.noaa.gov/Events/Current/CA_FIRE_July09.gif
Or, see
http://www.osei.noaa.gov/Events/Current/FSHScalifornia191_G11.jpg
for an annotated photo.

It's pretty bad here. A heat wave has caused another inversion
layer and even though there are no fires in the area we still
have the smoke from other fires trapped close to the ground and
the visibility, and air quality, is the worst I've ever seen.

Post by Susan Gawarecki
Dave, at the Miami Mtn fire tower website, which directional
shot is towards your farm? I tried the webcam, but it didn't
load. Maybe it doesn't like Firefox, or is the server still
down?

Go down to the 4th picture and count 4 tree tops from the left.
My place would be on the right of that tree top. I think the
server is still down. You can see my place if you have Google
Earth; lat 37.437028 Long -49.830272

Good news though - a local lady bought some nice grass hay and
there were some seed heads in it and she's refusing it. She
believes it will harm her horse. I think I like her - I now get
that hay at almost half price. 80 bales, and I only need 50. I
can sell the rest at a slight profit to a friend.

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
We've been thinking about putting lightning rods on our house
and barns. House has taken 3 direct hits from lightning so
far this year. Gets your attention when it happens.

I was in Florida one fall and I learned why lightening never hits
the same place twice - the place it hit isn't there any more.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Sure, come on over and will send you home with some water. We
got another 3.5 inches the other morning.

Now we really need the water... heat wave. it's 6:30am and it's
80 degrees already. Yesterday I was at Tioga Pass, 9985 feet, and
it was 84 degrees. I laid down in a patch of snow for a few minutes.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
You been taking pictures from the tower ?

I have some pictures. I'll post them somewhere so you can see
them. I've just been busy working 10 hour days and playing hard
on the weekends. No play this weekend - too hot.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Lightning never strikes the same place twice ?
Hmph, I can prove that wrong.

I was trying to figure out how many trees in our pasture are
dead because of the lightning strikes. It's a bunch. I think there
must be something at our place that just attracts lightning.

Did I ever mention we lost a llama to a lightning strike ?
She didn't take a direct hit but close enough it just frazzled her
entire nervous system.

Sure wish we could ship you some of our excess water. It rained
again the last couple of days. No t-storms, just rain for a change.
Hay is still standing in the fields and is now pretty worthless. I
will
probably be going down to a friends when things dry up and we will
end up bush hogging about 80 acres of tall dry & dead grass.
Don't know if we can just leave it at that point or if we will have to
burn it.
Guess it depends on how thick it ends up on the ground.

Our weather is starting to warm up also. Supposed to be around 90
for the next week or so. I guess it is July however and those would
be normal temps. Just gotten used to cooler temps this year.

Post by David V.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
We've been thinking about putting lightning rods on our house
and barns.  House has taken 3 direct hits from lightning so
far this year. Gets your attention when it happens.

I was in Florida one fall and I learned why lightening never hits
the same place twice - the place it hit isn't there any more.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Sure, come on over and will send you home with some water. We
got another 3.5 inches the other morning.

Now we really need the water... heat wave. it's 6:30am and it's
80 degrees already. Yesterday I was at Tioga Pass, 9985 feet, and
it was 84 degrees. I laid down in a patch of snow for a few minutes.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
You been taking pictures from the tower ?

I have some pictures. I'll post them somewhere so you can see
them. I've just been busy working 10 hour days and playing hard
on the weekends. No play this weekend - too hot.
--
Dave
"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is
putting on its shoes."
Mark Twain

[David V.]

Lightning never strikes the same place twice ? Hmph, I can
prove that wrong.
I was trying to figure out how many trees in our pasture are
dead because of the lightning strikes. It's a bunch. I think
there must be something at our place that just attracts
lightning.

The part of the tree that was originally struck is gone. Most of
the tree may remain, but that one part is gone - disintegrated.
Just like the building in Florida that I was in when it was
struck. The building is there, but the corner of the building it
struck is gone. It took out about a 6 inch chunk of cinder block.

Did I ever mention we lost a llama to a lightning strike ? She
didn't take a direct hit but close enough it just frazzled
her entire nervous system.

And the storm doesn't even have to be close. I've heard tale of
lightening coming from over the horizon to strike something.

Sure wish we could ship you some of our excess water. It
rained again the last couple of days. No t-storms, just rain
for a change. Hay is still standing in the fields and is now
pretty worthless. I will probably be going down to a friends
when things dry up and we will end up bush hogging about 80
acres of tall dry & dead grass. Don't know if we can just
leave it at that point or if we will have to burn it. Guess it
depends on how thick it ends up on the ground.

I got lucky. A local horse person bought a squeeze of grass hay
from a local grower. She claims she found some burrs in it and
wanted him to come get it. He called me up and offered me a good
deal. When he delivered it I could not find any burrs, but I did
find some of the orchard grass seed heads. He said $10/bale and I
couldn't write the check fast enough.

I only needed 50 of those bales so I sold the rest to someone
down the road for $12/bale. And to top that off, the woman that
gave me 3 of my llamas is going to send me $500 for feed.

I might get to eat this year after all.

Our weather is starting to warm up also. Supposed to be
around 90 for the next week or so. I guess it is July however
and those would be normal temps. Just gotten used to cooler
temps this year.

Friday morning I woke up at 4am. It had cooled down to 98. It's
cooler now, 90 in the shade. It's still too hot to stack most of
that hay that I just got. I'll do the other half next week. It's
not going anywhere.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Friday morning I woke up at 4am. It had cooled down to 98.  It's
cooler now, 90 in the shade. It's still too hot to stack most of
that hay that I just got. I'll do the other half next week. It's
not going anywhere.
--
Dave

Remind me not to bitch about our temps anymore.
Actually the temps haven't been so bad, it's been the humidity
and dewpoint. Just muggy.

Randy

[David V.]

Remind me not to bitch about our temps anymore. Actually the
temps haven't been so bad, it's been the humidity and
dewpoint. Just muggy.

We've had some higher humidity and add on top of that the smoke
from all the fires around the state. It tends to pool in the
Central Valley and foothills.Everyone has a sore throat and
bloodshot eyes. We need one big wet storm to clean things up.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.
We've had some higher humidity and add on top of that the smoke
from all the fires around the state. It tends to pool in the
Central Valley and foothills.Everyone has a sore throat and
bloodshot eyes. We need one big wet storm to clean things up.
--
Dave

We got more rain just the other night.

Randy