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pais alto

me encanta el país alto
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There are others here who may be able to answer better, but I believe @pais alto explained that, when air support is halted, quite often the ground crews can't do much.
Called me out, eh?

Unauthorized drones don’t shut down ground operations, just air ops. But that means these things are halted: aerial reconnaissance and intelligence (you just can’t see nearly as much or as far out ahead of the fire from the ground which affects prioritizing and planning), logistical support (helicopter personnel transportation and resupply of equipment, food, and water), and of course tactical support of retardant and water drops from helicopters and air tankers.

So, safety, effectiveness, and efficiency are all affected. Ground forces can of course get by without air support, but as a rule of thumb if there are drones around that means the fire is near development and people, and by definition that’s high-risk and high-priority for fast and effective firefighting.
 

SBrown

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firerecap-atd-071418.jpg


Paper published aerial photograph of how close fire was to wiping out this neighborhood -- and possibly the town of El Jebel.
 

Ken_R

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firerecap-atd-071418.jpg


Paper published aerial photograph of how close fire was to wiping out this neighborhood -- and possibly the town of El Jebel.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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@SBrown Wow!!
That's too close for comfort.
 

Monique

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Lots of rain yesterday afternoon in Summit and I70 east of there. I hope it helped.
 

SBrown

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Is that from the fire itself or a backfire?

I know that backfires were set, and I know that the main fire was knocking at the doorstep of many homes, but I don't know about that particular photo.
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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A friend posted this on FB Tuesday:
Chinook helicopters getting water out of The Water Ski Lake in El Jebel to fight the fire on Basalt Mountain. I see at least 4 helicopters working non stop.
 

SkiNurse

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I'm a little skittish to say, but I think our monsoon season is finally here. It has been raining a lot in the Evergreen area and last night there were several storms that rolled through. You have no idea how much this 2 inches, since yesterday evening, means to my little town.
IMG_20180726_072453579.jpg
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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I'm a little skittish to say, but I think our monsoon season is finally here. It has been raining a lot in the Evergreen area and last night there were several storms that rolled through. You have no idea how much this 2 inches, since yesterday evening, means to my little town. View attachment 49747
Does this mean that you'll be able to shower soon? ;)
 

Don in Morrison

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How much rain has fallen in the areas with the fires? It seems like Denver has gotten enough rain in the past week to put out the sun. Three times this week I've been driving somewhere that even with the wipers going full speed the rain was coming down so hard that visibility was so bad I had to slow to a crawl. If something like that had fallen in the fire areas, they'd all be out now.
 
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Tricia

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So, California has been on fire for several months now, with a predicted record breaking "acres burned in a season"
I feel a need to post this because it riled me up so bad I was visibly fuming and it took a bit for me to calm down.
I was mountain biking with two friends, one of whom was camping in an area that has designated fire pits but not in a paid/reserved camping area. They had 4 large 5th wheel trailers in their circle with a camp fire pit that had this flag, as all campsites had.
NO CAMPFIRES!
39500592_10160501681815018_3455121385121120256_n.jpg


After we got done with our mountain bike ride, we saw a familiar PT Cruiser convertible leave a campsite that was between the main road and the campsite our friends were using.
The guy in the PT Cruiser smiled and waved as he passed us on our bikes. (friendly enough)
When we passed his campsite I noticed some smoldering coming from the fire pit, but that can't be right, there is a burn ban because California is on fire, right???
I rode my bike to his fire pit and sent my friends to get shovels and water.
This is what I/we found.
39665487_10160500093780018_5411385336687230976_n.jpg

Not just smoldering, but actual flame in his "burn ban" fire pit!
I'm thankful that we found it and put it out, but damn!!!!
If I had enough phone signal to call 911, or the Tahoe National Forest, I would have described the car and told them to hunt him down.
 

Eleeski

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I don't know if this will calm @Tricia down but I was pleasantly surprised by the conditions in Tahoe. Not much smoke from "all" the fires. Beautiful scenery as far as I could see. No lasting damage visible from past year's fires. We aren't burning up.

It was pretty smoky making the Cessna flight up the valley interesting (actually boring because no sightseeing). The fires and their effects are real. But not ruining everything.

To quote Monty Python, "always look on the bright side".

Eric
 

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