Welcome to Club Hot Rod!  The premier site for everything to do with Hot Rod, Customs, Low Riders, Rat Rods, and more. 

  •  » Members from all over the US and the world!
  •  » Help from all over the world for your questions
  •  » Build logs for you and all members
  •  » Blogs
  •  » Image Gallery
  •  » Many thousands of members and hundreds of thousands of posts! 

YES! I want to register an account for free right now!  p.s.: For registered members this ad will NOT show

 
Like Tree40Likes

Thread: Northern California Fires
          
   
   

Reply To Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 20
  1. #1
    stovens's Avatar
    stovens is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Petaluma
    Car Year, Make, Model: 48 Ford F1
    Posts
    9,778

    Northern California Fires

     



    Life is changing rapidly here in Sonoma county. Every day I go to work I pray fires don't shift and head into Petaluma. The Hospital I work at is absorbing all three of Santa Rosa's Hospitals that are now evacuated, (Santa Rosa Memorial Hosp., Kaiser Santa Rosa and Sutter Santa Rosa). News about threats to surrounding area is nerve wracking. I am part of a Ham radio ems for Petaluma so I am privy to more news than most. There is virtually no containment for any of the major fires in our area, and many coworkwers are now burnt out of house and home. I was advised to have bug out bag ready which I'm carrying in my car each day and have a neighbor who can take my dog if needed while I'm at the hospital. Very scary times here, it seems the unpredictable winds change circumstances in minutes!
    For those who pray, please keep us in your prayers.
    Sunday night we were short staffed in the Neonatal ICU where I work so I stayed over until about 2 a.m. Coming home on HWY 101 winds up 45 miles and hour with ash and bits of burned paper and debrie fly into windshield 30 miles south of the nearest fire in Marin County. Turned on Ham radio, got call to activate the emergency network, went into the command center at our local Salvation Army office, by 10 a.m. moved all of their emergency cots to two local emergency centers, came home at 2:30p.m.
    took my dog out for a quick walk, bought some food, took nap for hour, then back to work until midnight.
    Been running since monday with tuesday off, only to find my truck not idling and throwing #2 cylinder misfire code, so 4 hours later new plugs and wites into the 98 tacoma v6 3..4 litre engine, runs well again(very important as this is the bug out vehicle!
    Every day at work more coworkers displaced, more patients displace and in need of medical care. Amazing how fast these kind of crisis develop.
    I'm not complaining and feel blessed to have what I have, just a quick update in case I disappear for a while which would mean either power down or relocation in place. Thanks friends here on this site!
    ted dehaan, NTFDAY, TOW'D and 7 others like this.
    " "No matter where you go, there you are!" Steve.

  2. #2
    glennsexton's Avatar
    glennsexton is offline CHR Member/Contributor Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Tigard
    Car Year, Make, Model: 63 Nova SS
    Posts
    2,572

    Prayin' for you and the folks of northern California. Fires are just plain terrifying.
    stovens and 40FordDeluxe like this.
    "Where the people fear the government you have tyranny. Where the government fears the people you have liberty." John Basil Barnhil

  3. #3
    34_40's Avatar
    34_40 is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    New Bedford
    Car Year, Make, Model: 34 Ford 3W Coupe Replica
    Posts
    14,606

    You just take care of you and come back to us safe! Will keep good thoughts and prayers for all our countrymen affected by this terror.

  4. #4
    Whiplash23T's Avatar
    Whiplash23T is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Pukekohe, New Zealand
    Car Year, Make, Model: '23 Ford T Roadster
    Posts
    2,199

    Mate, the news and pictures of the devastation really puts my minor issues into perspective so, yeah, have and will continue praying for you and everybody caught up in this natural disaster. I really feel for those that have to leave behind pets knowing that they need to get out before they are victims too. Stay safe Steve and may the good Lord watch over you all.
    stovens and 40FordDeluxe like this.
    I maybe a little crazy but it stops me going insane.

    Isaiah 48: 17,18.

    Mark.

  5. #5
    53 Chevy5's Avatar
    53 Chevy5 is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Doon, Ia
    Car Year, Make, Model: 53 Chevy 3100
    Posts
    2,709

    The world sure gets smaller on these forums.
    Seth

    God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. C.S.Lewis

  6. #6
    firebird77clone's Avatar
    firebird77clone is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Hamilton
    Car Year, Make, Model: 69 nomad, 73 charger, 74 vega
    Posts
    3,900

    The fires got within five miles of Aunt Pam's house. I called and made sure she was ok.

    I gotta ask,(and she agrees), Cali has had this problem EVERY EFFING YEAR for at least the last decade... Why?

    Too focused on liberal issues maybe, not enough focus on fire prevention.

    Stricter fire codes .. All metal, no trees within 500' of house. Metal roofs, metal siding, metal fence.

    Too bad Cali is too liberal to fix their own problems.
    ted dehaan, NTFDAY and stovens like this.
    .
    Education is expensive. Keep that in mind, and you'll never be terribly upset when a project goes awry.
    EG

  7. #7
    johnboy is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Tataraimaka NZ
    Car Year, Make, Model: `47 Ford sedan, A.C.Cobra replica.
    Posts
    2,630

    You're a good man Steve.
    We're thinking of you downunder.
    Kia kaha mate; be strong.
    NTFDAY, stovens and 40FordDeluxe like this.
    johnboy
    Mountain man. (Retired.)
    Some mistakes are too much fun to be made only once.
    I don't know everything about anything, and I don't know anything about lots of things.

    '47 Ford sedan. 350 -- 350, Jaguar irs + ifs.
    '49 Morris Minor. Datsun 1500cc, 5sp manual, Marina front axle, Nissan rear axle.
    '51 Ford school bus. Chev 400 ci Vortec 5 sp manual + Gearvendors 2sp, 2000 Chev lwb dually chassis and axles.
    '64 A.C. Cobra replica. Ford 429, C6 auto, Torana ifs, Jaguar irs.

  8. #8
    Bob Parmenter's Avatar
    Bob Parmenter is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Salado
    Car Year, Make, Model: 32, 40 Fords,
    Posts
    10,844

    Scary stuff fire. Hope you guys in the hospital can manage........those new babies and the rest need you more now than ever.
    Your Uncle Bob, Senior Geezer Curmudgeon

    It's much easier to promise someone a "free" ride on the wagon than to urge them to pull it.

    Luck occurs when preparation and opportunity converge.

  9. #9
    stovens's Avatar
    stovens is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Petaluma
    Car Year, Make, Model: 48 Ford F1
    Posts
    9,778

    Thanks everyone.
    Still no evac plans for our town. Heavy smoke in the air here
    Good news is containment is starting, up to 26% from 3% yesterday.
    Wine country is getting the worst of it as is the Town of Santa Rosa there are smaller towns I believe that have been wiped out. I get tomorrow off from work so I'll be trimming my side yard back from my neighbors overhanging trees, and other winter prep of gutter cleaning
    and leaves(combustables will get raked up and put into the greenwaste canisters.) The most frustrating is getting news of the smaller fire that threatens our city, as the scale of the other fires are massive and the center of focus for now. My Ham radio network is still manning various communication centers around this area. so so far good news, but they also feel in the dark about what is going on nearby. So many people Homeless now.
    Bob- The smoke 30 miles south coming into the hospital is a real problem for our babies, we are now running air scrubbers throughout our hospitals. So sad to have folks delivering babies and starting their new families homeless. One patient came in and asked for a gown so she could keep her only set of clothes left clean.
    My worries are minor compared to people who have true lost everything.

    Cal Fire has been running non stop since this started, with out breaks for crews for up to 4 days until their relief arrived. 4 years of continuous drought followed by a very wet winter, and now 150 days without rain, has lead to massive fuel for fires.

    Firebird77clone- -the issue with fire control is complexed. In the past we had multiple resources in remote sites (think bull dosers, back hoes, etc.) that the forest service used to manage logging and state, blm, federal multiuse areas. Over the last few decades they no longer have active logging or off road trail maintenance like they used too. So when a fire flares up, getting heavy machinery on site can take days for some of these remote locations, as a result we aren't able to rapidly suppress fires and contain them. Add to that an over taxed area, people struggling to even pay rent, and school systems that are getting worse due to lack of funding, and it only makes it worse. Politicians wanting money for whatever is forfront in the media, have to cut budgets, cal fire took big hits as well as the federal hits to the forest service. Now factor in freak low moisture windstorms in the middle of the night and this is how we end up with fires. We also have huge open space areas that are very remote that are haard to maintain.
    I know and agree that the liberal rhetoric here is frustrating, but for now I think you need to be aware that very conservative stated like Idaho and Montana have similar fires years due to the nature of the large open spaces and dry areas. In times like this is is incredible to see people from all over uniting to help and volunteer, reguardless of their political beliefs. Natural disasters seem to be plaguing the whole country right now Weather problem related disasters seem to be intensifying. The last major fire in this area I believe was 1964, under very similar weather conditions
    In all thank you all for your concerns, we have several members on this site that have been evacuated from their citys Fauxrarri in Fairfield may have been evac'd yesterday, Volksrod I believe live s in Santa Rosa, and many others that I will send my thoughts and prayers out too.
    Stay safe folks the US could use a break from disaster right about now!
    " "No matter where you go, there you are!" Steve.

  10. #10
    Whiplash23T's Avatar
    Whiplash23T is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Pukekohe, New Zealand
    Car Year, Make, Model: '23 Ford T Roadster
    Posts
    2,199

    Nice commentary Steve for us down under and in totally agreement on how mankind forget all their own personal believes and hangups to help others in need. I was amazed at the vast number of so called " rednecks in pickup trucks " that arrived in Texas to help with the flooding yet the media didn't give them much press time at all over here yet they are the sung hero's of the behind the scenes help that people just don't see. I would think it is the same in California, those that step up to the plate not for fame and glory but to help in any way possible. Am our Heavenly Father be with each and every one .
    NTFDAY, stovens and 40FordDeluxe like this.
    I maybe a little crazy but it stops me going insane.

    Isaiah 48: 17,18.

    Mark.

  11. #11
    shine's Avatar
    shine is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    bluff dale texas
    Car Year, Make, Model: 47 inderweed
    Posts
    2,109

    sad that so many people seem to be totally unprepared for this. we have bugout bags and things ready to go in a minutes notice. lock box with all important papers , food and water , clothing and such . it's heartbreaking to hear of folks loosing their lives after getting traped . hopefully these fires will get under control soon with no more lose of life.
    NTFDAY and 40FordDeluxe like this.

  12. #12
    firebird77clone's Avatar
    firebird77clone is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Hamilton
    Car Year, Make, Model: 69 nomad, 73 charger, 74 vega
    Posts
    3,900

    Stovens

    I honestly feel guilty as having put a political slant on this subject, but given that I have family in the state, it is extremely frustrating to see. It is interesting that you mentioned the lack of heavy equipment resultant of anti logging policy.

    There are solutions, but so long as the liberal majority continue to focus on social minutea, we will just see more of the same.

    But please understand one thing: you aren't in a drought. Your state is a desert, which has enjoyed a 100 year wet cycle, and is returning to a NORMAL weather pattern. Cali needs to build reservoirs NOW.

    Anyway, my heart goes out to all of you, good job on the cleanup. Prevention is the key. I hope you don't find use for your bug out kit.
    NTFDAY, johnboy and Whiplash23T like this.
    .
    Education is expensive. Keep that in mind, and you'll never be terribly upset when a project goes awry.
    EG

  13. #13
    stovens's Avatar
    stovens is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Petaluma
    Car Year, Make, Model: 48 Ford F1
    Posts
    9,778

    Quote Originally Posted by firebird77clone View Post
    Stovens

    I honestly feel guilty as having put a political slant on this subject, but given that I have family in the state, it is extremely frustrating to see. It is interesting that you mentioned the lack of heavy equipment resultant of anti logging policy.

    There are solutions, but so long as the liberal majority continue to focus on social minutea, we will just see more of the same.

    But please understand one thing: you aren't in a drought. Your state is a desert, which has enjoyed a 100 year wet cycle, and is returning to a NORMAL weather pattern. Cali needs to build reservoirs NOW.

    Anyway, my heart goes out to all of you, good job on the cleanup. Prevention is the key. I hope you don't find use for your bug out kit.
    I hear yah and took nothing personnal. In order to survive the Politicians need to understand this. On a good note it looks like safety is in site for us, rain next wednesday hopefully. You guys keep me going, Thanks
    " "No matter where you go, there you are!" Steve.

  14. #14
    Hotrod46's Avatar
    Hotrod46 is offline CHR Member Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Vidalia
    Car Year, Make, Model: 1946 Ford Coupe, 1962 Austin Healey 3000
    Posts
    1,496

    Glad to hear you a still alright. I hope it the situation gets better for you and all the others that have been affected. Prayers are on the way. It sounds like you are personally prepared, but stay vigilant. The situations can change quickly.

    We get low hanging smoke here from farmers burning fields and it can get pretty bad when the weather is just right. I can't imagine what it must be like with that much fire.

  15. #15
    mrmustang's Avatar
    mrmustang is offline Global Moderator Lifetime Contributor Visit my Photo Gallery
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Greenville
    Car Year, Make, Model: 1970 GT 350 convertible, 289 FIA
    Posts
    1,452

    Have one friend who lost his car collection, neighbor banged on the front door telling him to get out at 1-2am, they left with minutes to spare, lost the pets and the cars, but the rest of the family got out in one piece. The way he explained it to me caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand up. Scary stuff up your way. Stay safe and you are all in our prayers.


    Bill S.

Reply To Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
Links monetized by VigLink