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Better Prepared — Why Now?
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Better Prepared

by Bryan

Jack, the Grumpy Forester, heard them flying South over his place, meaning California was bringing in aircraft on Monday in anticipation of Santa Anas winds this week.

Unfortunately they are needed as CNN is reporting that Malibu is again in flames. Four dozen houses have already been lost and the fire is only 25% contained as hot, dry Santa Anas blow through the canyons at hurricane speeds.

There has also been fires in New Mexico and near Ramona in San Diego county. Rain is the only answer, and that isn’t looking good.

6 comments

1 Cookie Jill { 11.25.07 at 1:59 am }

I think the locusts are coming before any precipitation. Most of the State is one dry lump of fire food.

2 Jack K { 11.25.07 at 9:15 am }

…bringing the whole thing full circle, I was watching CNN coverage yesterday afternoon instead of enduring the Dixon-less self-destruction of my Orygun Ducks. During one segment of the live feed, there was an aerial shot of Tanker 62 making a run. Tanker 62 is a converted DC-6 air tanker owned by Butler Aviation in Redmond (that place 60 miles to the north) and was probably the aircraft I heard winging south the other day…

3 Bryan { 11.25.07 at 2:52 pm }

They still have smoke in a lot of the canyons around San Diego, Jill, but you can’t get in to do anything about it. The Santa Anas can blow thing back to life at any time.

I guess it isn’t cost effective to swap out the radials for turbos on them, Jack. I’ve flown on a couple as they were not only in airline service, the military used them [C-118] through the Vietnam era gradually replacing them with C-130s and DC-9s [C-9].

4 Cookie Jill { 11.25.07 at 8:23 pm }

We got smokey air today. Yummy….not.

5 Steve Bates { 11.25.07 at 9:13 pm }

Jill, you have my genuine sympathies. A few years back, actually, several years running, Houston got the smoke from Mexican and other South American land-clearing fires; for weeks, I could not breathe because of the smoke in the air. And I was in no real danger that the fires would show up on my doorstep. Hang in there; we’re thinking of you…

6 Bryan { 11.25.07 at 10:37 pm }

The worst is the smoke gets pushed offshore by the Santa Anas, and then, when the wind shifts, it gets blown back on shore. Without rain to scrub the air, breathing is going to be difficult for a very long time.