Northern California Fire

I called a Friend of mine,who lives near Santa Rosa,
after hearing that they were doing evacuations in his area.
He told me that they're in a shelter,along with their Daughter's
horse,so they were able to sleep in they hay,rather than a crowded
building.
I found that it gets personal,& hits you harder,when you know
people who are affected by things like this.
Back in the Eureka area,they were going to shut down power for
about four days,to keep from possibly starting more fires from power lines -
winds were expected to be about 60 mph.
My Friend explained that they need to inspect every power line affected
by the shutdown,before re-energizing it.

I had one roll past two years ago. SDG&E shut our power off....I am one well water! So nice of them!

Does California do any thinning their forests of dead trees, brush, etc?

Basil said:

Does California do any thinning their forests of dead trees, brush, etc?

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Yes, but it has been somewhat erratic. Much of it is considered "wilderness preserve", meaning its supposed to be left in it's natural state.

Recently (like 15 or 20 years), they've been letting the smaller fires do the clearing, as it happened before man got involved. Some CA native trees, like the giant Sequoias, don't release their seeds until the cones get scorched. Fire is an essential part of their life cycle.

Fire went through here two years ago and all of the dead burned trees are still standing.
Ca doesn’t believe in forest management. Sad really, as trees depend on harvesting.

Basil said:

Does California do any thinning their forests of dead trees, brush, etc?

Click to expand...

One of our major local fires on the Orange/Riverside Counties border was caused by a controlled burn that wasn't as controlled as they thought it was.

A lot of the problem around here is the prevalence of invasive non-native brush species. The native plants hold water better and propagate less densely. Some invasives (like tumbleweeds) grow dense fast and dry out severely in our climate. They burn more readily and hotter. Then they regrow quickly and do it all over again.

The day before yesterday, we watched from our back yard as air assets (multiple rotor lift, one fixed wing bomber and a fixed wing spotter) attacked a hillside that has burned several times in the last ten years.