West Coast Fire Situation & 80s Movie Trivia

[Jim]

Is anyone paying attention to the flaming mess currently going on, on the west coast? No, not the radical leftists, the fire situation.

Seriously, it's nuts.

[chumley]

@Jim_H
These late afternoon live satellite photos are impressive due to the shadows that the setting sun provides.

The Cascades of Washington and Oregon look almost as if all the volcanoes have erupted!

[chumley]

Lake Tahoe is recognizable ... the plumes in the Sierra are impressive, but the overall size of the "coastal" fires are mind boggling.

edit: that's Pyramid Lake ... Tahoe is in darker terrain southwest of there.

[Jim]

It's absolutely nuts. Something like 2 million acres, I have been told, today.

[trekkin_gecko]

inciweb does not have current maps for creek fire
better info here: https://wildfiretoday.com/2020/09/08/10 ... 000-acres/

[chumley]

@trekkin_gecko

In normal times if there was not competition for firefighting resources nationally due to numerous fires burning at the same time, there would be between 3,000 and 5,000 personnel on a fire this size.

This quote struck me as a bit extreme. I don't recall any fire in Arizona (Wallow and Rodeo-Chediski among them) ever having more than 1,200 or so.

[trekkin_gecko]

the fresno bee has some good info, too

the creek fire is just one of many
i was interested in the proximity to yosemite

[wildwesthikes]

I tell you looking at GOES/MODIS/VIIRS maps on the west coast right now does feel a little bit like watching the big Norad Map in the hit 1983 Matthew Broderick blockbuster vehicle 'War Games', which has an approval rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

My approval rating for this year's fire season is substantially below that.

[Jim]

Smoked in here now, but it should clear overnight with the front's passage. The resulting down slope winds along the coastal ranges and Sierra will hopefully calm. On the guy who does the CA Weather Blog's twitter, he has a gif of the smoke plumes for the west coast as it moved during the day. It looks like one giant mass of storm clouds typically seen in winter, except for the sources from fires.

[Jim]

@wildwesthikes
War Games was a hit? I thought just mildly successful.

[LosDosSloFolks]

@wildwesthikes
I remember that movie... "Do you want to play a game?"

[wildwesthikes]

@Jim_H
Dude, read the wikipedia article on it. Don't you know everything there is facts.

[Jim]

@wildwesthikes
Ironically, I was correct, as the page says,

The film was a box-office success, costing $12 million and grossing $79 million, after five months

In truth I have only the vaguest recollection of that movie, and I think I am probably confusing Weird Science for part of it. Unless a missile did emerge from under the ground and into the main character's bedroom.


The fire situation is still pretty weird and perhaps unprecedented. Hopefully we do not have any ignitions, as I can't imagine we have many resources hanging around.

[chumley]

I can't imagine we have many resources hanging around.

Coco posted something social the other day about their <still ongoing> fire restrictions being supportive of firefighting crews elsewhere. Because conditions on the ground across that forest do not remotely call for restrictions based on fuels and whatnot.

[Jim]

@chumley
An exciting Beijing approved Tik Tok!?!

I might think that if things are as moist as they are, then a fire could be had if done extremely safely and stealthily. No? It isn't like detectives are out combing the woods at 9 PM looking for rouge campers.

[wildwesthikes]

@Jim_H
Yeah that one with the missile in the bedroom was Weird Science, which has a charm all its own.

[AZClaimjumper]

@Jim_H
Here is a link that shows the number of power outages in California at this time is 165,000 customers:
https://poweroutage.us/area/state/california
The website can be switched to show you the number of power outages in any State.

[SpiderLegs]

One interesting twist to this is the pool of firefighters has been diminished. Guess California prisons has a work release program for prisoners to join a fire crew. With Covid, that program was suspended this year.

[ALMAL]

War Games was a hit? I thought just mildly successful.

Wasn't that the movie where Ally Sheedy walks up out of the pool and her bikini top falls off while Judge Reinhold is... wait that's a different movie.

[chumley]

@ALMAL Phoebe Cates!!! Know your movie boobs!