Click the Link: http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2012/8/full-committee-field-hearing
Based on the photographs released today, the nature of the constituency of the grassland fires are somewhat different than the fires that blazed through Colorado earlier this summer, like the High Park Fire.
It is very important to understand, no matter how peaceful or calm a fire may appear, especially compared to another one, a fire is still a fire, a fire is dangerous. Fires can be deceptive. The fires in Cle Elum testify to that fact.
When you look at the pictures provided here, some could reach the conclusion that the fire is only a few feet tall, and feeding off of low lying grass, there are barely any trees around, so we don't have to worry about a huge forest fire breaking loose that towers hundreds of feet into the sky.
That is the wrong conclusion.
The facts are, the fire right now in Cle Elum, about 75 miles east of Seattle Washington, is associated with, has destroyed 70 houses.
Atmospheric/climatic conditions:
"CLE ELUM, Wash. — The extreme fire conditions across the West came to bear in a rural part of Washington state when three separate blazes were sparked in just 90 minutes."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/hundreds-evacuated-winds-fan-fires-western-states-article-1.1136641#ixzz23d9v8w4d
Fire names as of August 15, 2012:
Taylor Bridge :How big is it, the fire? About 40 square miles; it might not be a perfect square however, reports say it is about 17 miles long.
Where:
- Cle Elum, Washington State
- in and, or around Kittitas County
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/15/us/western-wildfires/index.html
Holloway Fire
Where:
- along the Nevada/Oregon border
- near Humboldt County, Nevada; August 2012
The fire names can be highlighted and click the Google Search option for more stories.
The blog post is just an intoduction of a few angles on these fires, ETIS International is on the east coast developing blog posts, not at the scene with equipment fighting fires.
Quick roundup August 15, 2012: "In all, 62 fires, including 16 new large fires, were burning as of Tuesday, the U.S. Forest Service reported. They have destroyed dozens of homes and are threatening many more."
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/15/us/western-wildfires/index.html
Very important: What the men in the photographs above are doing, DO NOT DO, unless you have a high degree of training in fighting fires. They have no protective gear on. DO NOT DO WHAT THEY ARE DOING in fighting fires up close with no fire protective clothing, save extreme circumstances, AT ALL, upon blazes like the High park Fire in Colorado, and even some city fires, such what has taken place in Washington DC apartment complexes, and in New York, reference high-rises and residential buildings, even in the last 2 decades. These city, urban area fires were only, or lasted about a day, howbeit, this was long enough for the heat to become intense enough to start melting the fire trucks. EVEN IF THE FIRE IS NOT PHYSICALLY TOUCHING YOU, CLOSE ENOUGH TO IT, YOU CAN STILL ENDANGER, HARM, OR INJURE YOURSELF.
Even most highly trained firefighters with years of experience have the emergency pod they can activate, that is constructed of fire resistant material, when fighting raging wildfires.
See http://www.firehouse.com/news/10759173/firefighter-battling-wildfire-forced-to-deploy-shelter on the subject of other major fires burning and deploying shelter.
Lessons learned about the Colorado fires from earlier this summer is about to get started at 12pm, if not started already. 12 pm Colorado.
LIVE WEBCAST OF HEARING:
Click the Link: http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2012/8/full-committee-field-hearing
See story here:
http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings-and-business-meetings?ID=ca150be0-10e2-453c-b74f-2e0c761020a7
'Full Committee Field Hearing: Colorado Wildfires'
Among those that will be on the Witness panel, is Mr. Mike King, Executive Director, Colorado DNR; and, Mr. Jim Hubbard, Deputy Chief, USDA Forest Service, Washington DC.
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