rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on May 4, 2016 19:35:16 GMT -8
I also noted the photo of them handing out cans of gas to evacuees, and I'm reminded that our habit of letting the car get down to empty isn't a good one. Unlikely to have a fire here (seriously. What's to burn?) but we are highly likely to have an earthquake. Note to self: fill at 1/4 tank minimum.
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on May 4, 2016 19:49:18 GMT -8
I'm curious why the highway is completely backed up in both directions in the pictures. One caption I found for that photo says: Smoke fills the air as cars line up on Highway 63, which was breached at the MacKenzie Boulevard intersection south of the city. From accounts I've read, the flare-up of the fire happened suddenly & dramatically yesterday - could be that all these people were going about their day with no expectation of the fire forcing a complete evacuation. Lots of stories of people having to leave without the chance to go home - the clothes on their backs now their only possessions. I hope the infirm & elderly got rescued......I imagine the toll of household pets is probably bad though.
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on May 4, 2016 20:03:28 GMT -8
Yeah, chaos: Inside Fort McMurray, when the fire hit“Everybody had the same idea to go home and get stuff out of their houses. Lots of people’s loved ones were on the other side of town. So you had this huge traffic jam of people trying to get to the north end, to their homes. No one’s moving and the fire’s constantly coming faster and closer..."Some people trying to get to their homes, others trying to get out. Traffic jam both ways.
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Post by llamero on May 4, 2016 20:22:16 GMT -8
but I always believed that there would be enough support from nearby municipal areas (Willamette Valley cities mostly) to prevent Bend from completely being torched. I wonder if this belief still has validity When did it ever have validity? It's likely to be over before the ground crews reach you. Be prepared to keep yourself alive until the mop up crews arrive.
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on May 4, 2016 20:28:35 GMT -8
When did it ever have validity? It's likely to be over before the ground crews reach you. Be prepared to keep yourself alive until the mop up crews arrive. Indeed. The wife and I re-worked our whole strategy on this tonight. Just a couple years ago there was a pretty robust fire on the western outskirts of town. Next time something like that happens, we're heading out to stay with family in the valley, right away. Before chaos could hit. Worst that could happen if we're wrong, is her massage clients would have to wait a few days for her magic.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on May 4, 2016 20:56:31 GMT -8
I listened to CBC on the way home from work tonight. It doesn't sound good.
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Post by starwalker on May 4, 2016 21:14:10 GMT -8
My son who is an over the road trucker is familiar with this town as he often goes through it to deliver loads to the oil field north of there. He has spent a number of nights in a motel there. He tells me that there is a really wide river that goes through the center of town and the area that is being effected is south of the river, which would include the motel he stays in. We looked at google maps this evening (he's in for a few days and leaves tomorrow to haul wind turbine blades from Garden City to Pratt Kansas on a dedicated run) and if the residents can get south of town, there are a number of towns to which they can evacuate. There is nothing north but the oil fields. The oil companies have pretty much shut down production to take care of workers, their families and refugees. Our world is smaller than it used to be, someone will know somebody who knows somebody............
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amaruq
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Post by amaruq on May 5, 2016 4:37:51 GMT -8
Where are they going to go? Tragic. I'm curious why the highway is completely backed up in both directions in the pictures. When New Orleans has an emergency, there's a "contraflow," where all traffic in all lanes goes the same direction; it's a way to get people out of harm's way more quickly (and has proven very successful). It seems like they need people to get away from the city, but it's hard to picture how going both directions achieves this goal. Enlighten me? Anyone? There is precisely one major highway through Fort Mac. People are split going north to the oil camps and south to civilization, probably based on where they were or had to get to in the city when the evacuation order came down. I know at least two people who were out there, one has gone up to the oil camp and the other, all I know is they are safe. There are incredible videos coming out of the area from dashboard cameras and passengers showing what it was like for the last throngs of folks evacuating. 100m tall flames lapping the sides of the highway, thick smoke obscuring visibility, and red hot coals swirling around the thoroughfare. It truly looks like the highway to hell. CBC has collected several videos: www.cbc.ca/news/trending/fort-mcmurray-wildfire-videos-round-up-devastating-footage-1.3567316The account behind one of the most incredible videos: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fort-mcmurray-beacon-hill-evacuation-video-1.3567571Now the fire is progressing southward resulting in a new round of evacuation orders for more municipalities, including many evacuees who just finished evacuating to these places. These folk can't catch a break. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/more-evacuation-orders-issued-for-fort-mcmurray-area-1.3566310Some further information: www.cbc.ca/news/technology/alberta-wildfire-science-background-1.3565932The CBC has about a dozen articles running on this as it quickly became a national tragedy. By the sounds of it, they managed to evacuate the entire city without serious injury or fatality.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on May 5, 2016 6:01:57 GMT -8
...and it must be said...in northern Canada, in early May?? I was thinking the same thing yesterday. Have to thank Reuben for the weather explanation. Austin had an outbreak a couple of years ago (IIRC) during an extremely dry period. One of these was just "down the road" from us. I guess "learning to live more lightly on the earth" is something I should get closer to. It's hard to realize that your lifestyle might have become a disease.
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Post by hikerjer on May 5, 2016 7:38:37 GMT -8
It's hard to realize that your lifestyle might have become a disease. A profound statement that has too much of the ring of truth to it. However, I have little faith in mankind to realize or admit they are a major part of the problem. I mean, our track record is not too good when it comes to things like this.
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Post by hikerchick395 on May 5, 2016 7:42:20 GMT -8
Horrific fire...saw accounts on the weather channel this morning. Traffic was at a standstill in places because folks ran out of gas. Gas stations were out of gas. Tanker trucks were heading out on the highway to help stranded motorists.
As for the time of year...you just never know when it is going to happen. Although small scale in comparison, we had a fire last year in February. It was fanned by 70mph winds, burned 7000 acres in 1/2 day and was only stopped by snow and rain. 49 homes burned.
It was almost a comedy of errors for myself. (I was home alone because my husband was working in SoCal.) I watched the fire from the start and it headed northwest. But later in the afternoon, the erratic winds had it turning toward our little community and everyone had to get ready to evacuate. I had to get my trailer hitched up. The hitch was out of the truck so got that in, then I had to uncover the 5th wheel. I couldn't. The wind had blown the trailer off of its jacks and the wheels were rolled onto the cover. I got the cover moved enough to get it hitched up and would just run over it to leave. Got the trailer jacked up again. So when I tried to start the truck to hitch up...it was dead. Took awhile to get it jump started but finally did and I hitched up, leaving the truck running for about an hour. (We had a 5 minute window to leave if and when the sheriff came with the bullhorn.) So got important papers and other stuff into the trailer and waited. Went to bed in my clothes. Soon after, heard the sound of rain...
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on May 5, 2016 8:51:10 GMT -8
It was almost a comedy of errors for myself. I smiled, but it must have been scary and frustrating. And a nice reminder to all of us to have a plan, and rehearse. As I noted above, we are less likely to have fire issues here, but much of the effect of an earthquake would be similar. Need to think through what one takes if you have to leave in a hurry. Having vital papers together in one place seems like a good start.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on May 5, 2016 15:05:05 GMT -8
It's hard to realize that your lifestyle might have become a disease. A profound statement that has too much of the ring of truth to it. However, I have little faith in mankind to realize or admit they are a major part of the problem. I mean, our track record is not too good when it comes to things like this. Probably not all that important to anyone's "take" on that statement, but I had only thought briefly, if at all, about the larger implications - I meant that observation as a completely personal note on how I feel I've become far too attached to this collection of material stuff I have, and how that could be terminated at any time and for a variety of unforeseeable reasons.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on May 5, 2016 15:32:53 GMT -8
A catastrophic wildfire that has forced all 88,000 residents to flee Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada exploded tenfold in size on Thursday, cutting off evacuees in camps and shelters north of the city.
The blaze, which erupted on Sunday, grew from 18,500 acres (7,500 hectares) on Wednesday to some 210,000 acres (85,000 hectares) on Thursday, an area roughly 10 times the size of Manhattan.Article
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on May 5, 2016 15:36:39 GMT -8
OMG
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