HELL FIRES

Note by Hunter Bear  (July 3 2012)

A couple of days ago, Sam Friedman asked on Redbadbear discussion how our fire situation was doing and I posted, among other things, the following two messages.  These will serve to inform interested and concerned family and friends -- some of whom have called or written from far away. And they should deepen the fire awareness of others.  While the local fire and its damage are much smaller than, say, that of Colorado Springs, Pocatello is a very small Idaho city and the effects of this fire assault have been catastrophic.  Other fires are going in Idaho and the general situation is super dangerous

Fires of many sizes, some major by any yardsticks, are raging in adjoining states.  The East certainly has its own versions of Hell.  At the time we were conversing via posts, Sam's spouse, temporarily in Ohio, was threatened by swirling tornadoes but they passed her by.  I commented to Sam that there was a time that, "These weather and related gauntlets used to be the exception."

I have now heard a number of "authorities" via national media attribute the scope and intensity of these Western fires to "over-protection" of the timberlands for many decades and the consequent accumulation of brush of various kinds.  I have been hearing about that problem since my first fire at 16 in 1950 in Northern Arizona and, while there is certainly something much to that, it falls, in my opinion, 'way short of fullness.  Brush and lumbering slash do accumulate and very problematically so but much timberland with fire potential is in high snow areas which, over time, return slash and dead brush into the Earth.  And a great many fires travel by "crownfire" -- traveling from tree top to tree top faster than a person can run.

As I've noted in earlier writings, until the beginning of this new century, most forest fires rarely exceeded nine or ten thousand acres, and were usually much, much smaller.  What's happened in the West is that we've now been having extremely prolonged super hot periods, often prolonged drought, and extremely strong and intensive  and very prolonged winds.  This has been the prevailing pattern for the past more than a decade -- with a sharp increase in truly huge mega-fires.

I personally have heard nothing in these mainline media discussions of fires about the contributing role of global warming/climate change -- an increasingly inescapable conclusion.

Anyway, here is our local report:


Post #1)  The one here at Poky -- that took 66 homes plus various other buildings and burned around 1200 acres -- is essentially controlled though there are still some breakouts.   The wind situation has been helpful -- pretty moderate but picking up again.  There are other fires in the general region that are not yet fully controlled -- but they're in far less "inhabited" areas.  But, of course, all fires are tragedies.

People in the burned area had been advised at several points over the years to clear brush from around their homes which were scattered out in timbered [mostly juniper] slopes.  Some did, some didn't.  Didn't make any difference in this situation as the fire, propelled by extremely high and strong winds, swept up the slopes "crowning out" (traveling fast from treetop to treetop).  The hot weather has made everything super dry and pulled much pitch-sap out in the open on all coniferous trees -- yellow pines, spruce, fir, junipers -- and that's created an explosive potential in the gasoline sense.

Lots of heart-breaking stories.  Plenty of relief agencies and churches involved.  But, in the last analysis, a lot of dreams have probably died for good.  Many pets died or are scattered to the four directions -- and the animal groups and agencies are busy.  Lots of livestock killed.

We ourselves have worked out some basic plans -- should something develop up here in our immediate bailiwick.  We've always had exit plans, much of this involving possible earthquakes, but now we've done a little finessing.  

I hope you all in the East are essentially OK.  Looks like another kind of Hell has ripped through your broad region.

Our best to you all!  Solidarity,  Hunter

Post #2)  Our little family decided a couple of days ago that, should fire be heading toward us, we won't be evacuating quickly.  I've lined up some "resistance" tools -- shovel, axe, etc -- in our garage.  This is a rather rugged group of folks up here and I much imagine some neighbors are doing the same.  And there is good road access for fire control vehicles and men and, should fire come here, we'll all join forces.  If we have no alternative but to leave, we have determined what we'll take in addition to ourselves and the pets, including the turtle.  I lined up cat boxes for quick use and the dogs can reside in the Jeep's rear area.  We could probably wind up with daughter Josie and her Cameron and the Babies who all reside 'way down below -- out of any fire danger.

I do feel that, tallying up our geographical factors, probable wind currents, likely neighborhood solidarity, expected fast response from firefighters, etc, we're fairly safe from home-burnings up here..  But we might well have to fight, and we will.

This is, of course, an increasingly dangerous situation all across the Mountain West and, I'm sure, in the some of the West Coast areas.  The number and nature of these fires and the attendant climate factors all bespeak of something 'way beyond the "norm" [awful as that can be.]  I have to see global warming/climate change as a significant factor.  And I also think that National Guardsmen and Federal troops are needed in some of these situations.

Best, Hunter   http://hunterbear.org/forest_fires_in_the_west.htm


HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq /St. Francis 
Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk 
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´ 
and Ohkwari' 
Member, National Writers Union AFL-CIO
www.hunterbear.org 
(much social justice material)
 
See the Stormy Adoption of an Indian Child [My Father]:
http://hunterbear.org/James%20and%20Salter%20and%20Dad.htm
(Expanded and with more photos in June, 2012.)
 
For the new, just out (11/2011) and expanded/updated
edition of my "Organizer's Book," JACKSON MISSISSIPPI -- 
with a new and substantial introduction by me.  We are now at 
the 50th Anniversary of the massive Jackson Movement of
1962-63.
http://hunterbear.org/jackson.htm
 
And see My Community Organizing Mini-Course -- with much 
down to earth how-to material and updated into 2012:
http://hunterbear.org/my_combined_community_organizing.htm