Looking to move here in the future, but concerned about wildfires (Portland: power lines, homes)

[moshywilly]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

I don't think you understand how "the news" works. The fires are real, and no matter how badly some kid posting from grandma's basement wants to believe "the news" is exaggerating the situation, the reality is is that the media is providing an accurate portrayal of the situation here, and I'm sure those of us who are actually living through it would agree.

Some of the wildfires are not actually "wild". They start from people doing stupid things and then the scorching temperatures spread the fires. Look how many times Californians start wildfires. Like the gender reveal party that caused it recently and some crazy guy who started a fire back in 2018.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by Parnassia

OMG OP, that disillusionment didn't take long did it? This, after forum members held your hand for months before you finally got your ducks in a row enough to make your move to CA now you can't wait to leave again? The East Coast you were so disdainful of now doesn't look so bad does it? You're dismayed because of something that was predictable about CA and that you could have discovered by yourself? Are people here going to face more months of hand holding all over again for a move to CO? Of course CO is going to have wildfires! So will OR.

.

LOL, why does this come as no surprise.

[soarswitheagles]

Definition of wildfire
1: a sweeping and destructive conflagration especially in a wilderness or a rural area

[NW4me]

What are peoples' thoughts on the Almeda fire?

It happened in a place that wasn't rugged terrain, or wilderness, or difficult for firefighters to access.
It happened in the relatively flat Rogue Valley floor, in a landscape of farms and towns,
easily reached via I-5. Yet the firefighters couldn't stop it before it destroyed much of Talent and Phoenix,
and kept on going toward Medford.

[Nell Plotts]

My father used to tell me about the Tillamook Burn where the state would grab adult males out of their cars to conscript them to fight the fire. When I was a kid you could get a day out of school to plant trees in the burned area.

Under current conditions a wild fire can start by accident: a passing train puts out a spark from its wheels, the undercarriage of a car catching dry grass are two well known causes.

The fire referenced above evidently started in the vicinity of the BMX park in Ashland. It may have been arson, a body was found nearby yesterday. All of the vegetation is very dry and combustible, if an excellarant was used the fire would have grown very fast. Perhaps a fire started to cover a murder?

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by NW4me

What are peoples' thoughts on the Almeda fire?

It happened in a place that wasn't rugged terrain, or wilderness, or difficult for firefighters to access.
It happened in the relatively flat Rogue Valley floor, in a landscape of farms and towns,
easily reached via I-5. Yet the firefighters couldn't stop it before it destroyed much of Talent and Phoenix,
and kept on going toward Medford.

They couldn't stop it because of high, hot winds, extremely dry vegetation, and limited firefighting resources.

[leastprime]

OP, you may want to throw a resume out to AMZN. It's a long shot, but they may give you some idea what technology they want. You may already be part way there.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

My father used to tell me about the Tillamook Burn where the state would grab adult males out of their cars to conscript them to fight the fire. When I was a kid you could get a day out of school to plant trees in the burned area.

Under current conditions a wild fire can start by accident: a passing train puts out a spark from its wheels, the undercarriage of a car catching dry grass are two well known causes.

The fire referenced above evidently started in the vicinity of the BMX park in Ashland. It may have been arson, a body was found nearby yesterday. All of the vegetation is very dry and combustible, if an excellarant was used the fire would have grown very fast. Perhaps a fire started to cover a murder?

The last two days has been a lot more acreage than the Tillamook burn, but the Burn had more biomass per acre, since the area had generally not been logged. The Burn was also concentrated in one area. In any case, this week has been one for the history books. Nobody younger than 80 has ever seen anything like it in Oregon. Over a quarter of a million acres has burned up the Santiam canyon to Jefferson Park. That is one of Oregon's premier recreation areas.

[leastprime]

Wow, 1700hr, 09/10/2020
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9676...g%2F11k8hp49gn
If you reference at Lyons, the burn is ~40 miles to the N, and ~50 miles to the E. That is a lot of wilderness with the old logging roads overgrown.
There's a Big BPA substation near Stayton (Santiam BPA substation) that switches a lot of power to the Valley from Eastern Oregon. There is also a Big 300KV line running down I-5 that also went by our property in Salem. With the Santiam-Marion substations is offline (conjecture), I wonder it the I-5 line has enough capacity. because it also will need to serve the coastal areas. To-the-coast BPA lines may still be of wood, and thru some really isolated mountains.

Good luck Oregon. I miss you.

[leastprime]

17:30 hr
https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/09/1...ands-doorstep/

"At least 1,400 square miles of Oregon have burned in wildfires this week, Gov. Kate Brown announced Thursday afternoon.

Winds continued to drive fires into populated areas today, especially in Clackamas County, where the towns of Molalla and Estacada have suffered damage and the cities of Canby and Oregon City are now being told to prepare to evacuate.

That total of damage—900,000 acres scorched in fires raging across the Cascades—is triple the figure the governor released Wednesday. That's in part because state officials have a fuller picture of the damage, and in part because fires continue to grow."

wow.