Wine Country Fires

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balzaccom
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Wine Country Fires

Post by balzaccom »

Many of you know that we live in Napa. And if you've been following the news, you know that Napa has been suffering through terrible fires this week. Here's what we know.

We're in downtown Napa, so far so good. The fires are mainly in the hills above the valley floor, between Napa and Sonoma, between Calistoga and Santa Rosa, and between Napa and Fairfield. But none of the fires are close to being under control, and there seems to be no timeline for when that might happen. They are just too massive.

They've just announced mandatory evacuations of the town of Calistoga to the north...and lots of people in the outskirts of Napa itself are either evacuated or, frankly, burned out by now. We expect to have some houseguests tonight, who live up in the hills and haven't been home since Monday.

But so far we're OK. What happens next all depends on the wind--which direction, and how strong. There are major fires both East and West of us....but to the North we have vineyards, which don't burn very well. And to South it's clear, so far. But who knows what tonight and tomorrow will bring...I've seen weather reports of winds from 5 mph, which would be great, up to 35, which would be utterly disastrous. In winds like that, embers can carry more than 1/4 of a mile, and jump any barrier the firefighters might set up.

And the winds are projected to be from the North...so that's the best direction for us, really. We can only hope, and suffer with those who are less fortunate than we have been so far.

Thanks to everyone who has sent us their wishes and prayers.
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maverick
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Re: Wine Country Fires

Post by maverick »

Wish the best to you, Russ, and any other members/non-members, who are being affected by these devastating fires.
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Re: Wine Country Fires

Post by rlown »

Step Daughter is in Hidden Valley. Offered for them to come here if evacuated, as is Middletown soon. Opened to those in my wife's groups that may need a place as well. In most cases in Santa Rosa, there are no homes to go back to. And we generally complain about smoke. sigh..
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maverick
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Re: Wine Country Fires

Post by maverick »

Other members in that area: Scrotata, jgaffney, and frediver, hope they are okay.
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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austex
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Re: Wine Country Fires

Post by austex »

35yrs in SoCal and 3 fires in Malibu. You never forget the smell. We lost 6 of 8 buildings in the last one, Not my childhood home built in the 50's with a cedar shake roof, It survived all three fires, It fell to the blade of a Cat D8 when the subdivided the land. Most of the fruit trees and avocados where never the same. It was painful to sit 1/2 mile away and hear the gas tanks of the police impound lot's cars blowing up and seeing flaming palm fronds flying through the air across from the highway out to sea... I know the helplessness to such natural disasters. Be well all,
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Re: Wine Country Fires

Post by freestone »

My youngest daughter lives in Santa Rosa. She did not have to evacuate but is in tears over the devastation and personal lose that the residents are suffering.
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zacjust32
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Re: Wine Country Fires

Post by zacjust32 »

Fresno looked like some sort of post-apocalyptic world this evening. The sky was red-brown from all the smoke and it smelled like the sky was burning.
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balzaccom
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Re: Wine Country Fires

Post by balzaccom »

Well, made it through another night last night. But tonight they are concerned about high winds and very low humidity again, conditions expected to continue through Saturday evening. The winds will be highest on the ridge tops. No telling what that will bring.

We're fine in our house in the downtown part of Napa. The smoke is still quite think in Napa, and the streets are pretty quiet. No tourists, and even some of the local have left for greener or safer pastures. We've taken a carload of our most treasured items to my father-in-law's house in the East Bay for safe keeping. Calistoga remains completely evacuated, while in parts of Napa those evacuation orders may be lifted. Others have already lost their homes. Many businesses, including official offices, are closed due to the smoke.

And it all depends on the wind tonight. None of these fires is more than 10% contained...
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Re: Wine Country Fires

Post by dave54 »

Out of state resources are finally arriving, so now they can protect homes AND stop forward spread. In the initial actions the priority was saving lives and property, letting the spread go unchecked (which in turn threatened more lives and property).
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rlown
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Re: Wine Country Fires

Post by rlown »

just so we're all clear on what happened to lots of families in Santa Rosa.. The mail delivery drone video was interesting.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/75224 ... artslide=0

And the fires aren't done with us yet...
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