Sedona AZ Fire: How are you, Montequest?

pup55 · Expert Joined: May 26, 2004 Posts: 3679

Sedona Fires

Monte: Give us a heads up if you are Okay out there.

gnm

argh. Even if they get this one under control the dry lightning season is just beginning. Everything around here is crispy dry and I feel as if I am sitting in a pack of matches. 70 years of fire suppresion have created the most hideously overgrown and now drought ravaged tinderbox you can imagine. We have already moved our things to safehavens. I hope Monte had a chance to as well. We are seeing some of the downwind smoke here in NM already.

-G
5hot

gnm outside Tijeras, NM (where some areas have 80% standing dead pine.)
_________________
All right, you primitive screw-heads, listen up!

jato

I was threatened in the 2003 "Paradise Fire".

Fire sucks!

Stay safe out there!

Keep us posted.
_________________
"Peak oil isn't more than an interesting industry factoid and doesn't have anything to do with the hysterics speculated on ad nauseum around here!" ReserveGrowthRulz

pup55 · Expert Joined: May 26, 2004 Posts: 3679

Sedona via Wikipedia

Here it is. I was out there a few years ago. Most of the structures are in kind of a low-lying area, with lots of flammable material in it.

It's really quite a nice place.

There are differences of opinion about this whole issue of fires out west. Ecologically, every few years these places are supposed to burn out so the area can be cleansed of its flammable undergrowth, makes the forest healthier, etc. But, this is pretty inconvenient for the people who have chosen to live there since the last big fire.

So, some of the locals, mainly the real estate developers, and chamber of commerce types, try to resist nature and keep these fires to a minimum. The Forest Service tends to favor letting it burn, like they did in Yellowstone a few years ago.

It would be interesting to get Monte's take on this, since he is a former ranger, etc. and also may be directly involved in a hands-on way.

MonteQuest

PeakOiler

Glad to hear you're dodging the flames out there.

Can you feel the love from your fellow PO'lers?

Nice pics in the Sedona gallery btw, MQ.

Reminds me a little of Big Bend Nat. Park.

Interesting place to camp out for PO however.

Is the population growing out there?

Are your neighbors PO friendly/neutral or informed?

MonteQuest

Kingcoal

Beautiful website Monte!
_________________
"That's the problem with mercy, kid... It just ain't professional" - Fast Eddie, The Color of Money

MonteQuest

MonteQuest

The Brins Fire is now 1,100 acres and only 5% contained. It has moved down into Oak Creek Canyon into heavy fuel. This was our worse fear.
_________________
A Saudi saying, "My father rode a camel. I drive a car. My son flies a jet-plane. His son will ride a camel."
Live in Arizona? Check out: http://sustainablearizona.org and read my blog.

pup55 · Expert Joined: May 26, 2004 Posts: 3679

gnm

Great. So after looking into it I don't think a lot of the smoke here is from AZ but instead from the 10 or so fires burning thoughout NM. Most are fairly small or in unpopulated areas but that seems to be whats contributing most to the brown pall over the state. I found this site which is good for updates. Maybe there is one for AZ?

NM fire info

Thunderstorms moving in the weekend maybe. While we REALLY need the rain it will put us at high risk for more fiires. It will take a whole lot of rain to keep things from lighting up out here...

5hot

Good luck in Sedona Monte...

-G
_________________
All right, you primitive screw-heads, listen up!

eric_b · Last edited by eric_b on Wed Jun 21, 2006 1:47 pm; edited 1 time in total

{edit, edit]

Choosing the evening time frame and visible
satellite imagery is the best way to hunt for
smoke from large forest fires. The oblique sun
angle helps to make the smoke more noticeable.

Indeed, here are a few shots from yesterday (june 21).

I've added red arrows beneath the smoke plume.

First image. There is indeed a large fire or
group of fires burning in New Mexico. Plume
moving to the northeast.

Next, couple of closeups of the above image.
Below you can see the heavy smoke plume from
NM crossing the Texas panhandle.

Yet further downstream the plume approaches
my neck of the woods - wisconsin.

gnm

I hate to break it to you but that isn't Arizona, its New Mexico... The smoke is largely coming from the reserve complex fires in SW New Mexico.

-G Laughing

_________________
All right, you primitive screw-heads, listen up!

eric_b