Damn Boomer! Glad you’re prepped and ready and keeping a close eye on things. Yes serious and they can jump quick. Keep you and Mrs. Boomer safe buddy. Thoughts are with you and yours
Dam not good
Boomer; Wishing you the best of luck. Keep Mrs Boomer and the kitties safe, and yourself, too. Caveman doesn’t look good toasted.
Ben
Can you set a sprinkler and give the layout a good dousing. Maybe even leave it on if you have to abandon ship.
Devon Sinsley said:
Can you set a sprinkler and give the layout a good dousing. Maybe even leave it on if you have to abandon ship.
if it is a real wildfire, the wetness of some hours worth of sprinkling evaporates in seconds. then the sprinkler heads melt.
imagine every neighbour opens his sprinklers… … and the melted heads leave the pipes open.
worst case - the firefighters have to find ponds and creeks for recharging. loosing much time on the fireline.
Boomer, you keep you and the family safe. Looks like you’ve planned about as well for this situation as you can. The railroad can be rebuilt. You are in our prayers.
Be careful Boomer and keep you eyes open. Fires in that location have jumped I-40 before. Will be thinking about you.
Friday Morning.
The Dog Head fire is now 16K acres. It is still 0% contained. Twenty four homes have been destroyed along with twenty one other structures. There are no injuries reported and the missing ranchers have been located and evacuated thanks to the Torrance county Sheriffs Department. The Governor has put the National Guard on standby with one unit (40 personnel) activated to assist in evacuations. The fire has been upgraded to a Type 1 Incident. FEMA funding was approved and Hot Shot crews along with other assets from Colorado, Arizona and North and South Dakota arrived late yesterday.
Overnight winds moved the fire easterly keeping it about the same distance from us. This morning it is once again creeping north. Evacuations now include the housing areas of Mercid and Ponderosa Pines as far north as the intersection of 217 and 337 (3 miles from Juan Thomas road). This includes the southern tip of Bernalilo county. The fire has overrun the village of Chilili, damage is unknown.
Wind forecasts are expected to improve by this afternoon as it shifts from west to east over to north west to south east. This will give us some relief from the smoke and push the fire back on itself along the western edge. Temperatures are expected to rise into the 90+ range with humidity in the single digits through the weekend. Air quality alerts cover most of central New Mexico.
If you watched the train videos I posted yesterday the guy in the black shirt (triple head video) is a NMGRR member. He lives in the Ponderosa Pine area. I have not heard from him as to if he has evacuated.
The sky is clear this morning with just a little haze as light wind and a slight inversion dispersed the smoke more to the south. It is now returning. I was able to open the house up and get some fresh air from about 5:00 am until almost 8:00. Here is the plume yesterday evening about 7:00 pm…
Here it is how it looked this morning about 8:00 am. If it weren’t for the slight haze and the smell of smoke you wouldn’t even know there was anything happening.
God Bless our wild-land fire fighters and keep them safe.
That’s a good point Korm. I hadn’t thought about that. I know that many homes are saved by watering the roof but that is a much different thing than watering the layout and really is only prevent sparks from igniting the the roof and would do noting for the main fire itself. While I would not call myself a fire fighter by no means I did get the opportunity to fight a few in my Forest Service days. Two were pretty large fires. And Your right a sprinkler would not stop them. I guess my thinking was more to prevent spot fires. But your point is valid. As a water guy I should have understood that.
Yikes! Scary stuff. I’m glad you seem to be in the clear, at least for now.
As of noon we have received some encouraging news. The 24 homes destroyed were on the outskirts of Chilili and that the fire has not reached the village itself. Fire fighters are holding the fire at HWY 337 on the East side but it is extending north to Escobosa. That puts it almost straight south of Edgewood about 10 miles away. If the fire fighters can hold it there through tonight they could get significant containment by tomorrow. God Bless the country that has heroes.
Spread of the fire has slowed gaining less than 1K acres since early morning. Winds are picking up and the plume is heading back our way. Still hoping for the wind shift out of the north west later today.
The kitties have been agitated for the last two days but seem to be relaxing with the decreased smoke this morning. As you can see from the pic below they are not worried, especially Topaz. Not surprising given that she is Hell spawn and in league with the devil.
hope they put it out with no more building or structures loast. Keep us updated
Saturday evening.
Just got back from evacuating NMGRR member’s belongings in the Ponderosa Pines / Estates area. Trains were the first load of course. He is still there awaiting the mandatory order to leave and watching the skyline. Could come tonight or tomorrow unless something changes.
Two more Hotshot crews have arrived and more national guard has been activated to prevent looting (because some people are dirt-bags).
The fire has grown to 17,600 acres along a 29 mile front. Fire fighters have worked the western edge by hand-line all day with dozers and graders on the south end. They are claiming 5% containment. North and east edges are still creeping forward in light winds. Hot spots have crossed HWY 337 and are being worked as they appear.
Winds are expected to increase tomorrow along with some humidity moving in from the south. Smokey and hazy again this evening.
God Bless the boys and girls who grew up dreaming of being firefighters.
Where is your place and the friends place on this map, Still moving kinda away from you? Hoping for good news! on your friend place too!
Pete Lassen said:
Where is your place and the friends place on this map, Still moving kinda away from you? Hoping for good news! on your friend place too!
Sunday morning
The fire is still under 18K acres and is now 9% contained. Firefighters have reinforced lines on the north and southeast sides over night. Winds are low but are expected to increase out of the east pushing the fire away from us but into the Manzano mountains. This is giving us some relief from the smoke.
A closure order has been issued for the Sandia Ranger District of the Cibola national Forest. This is the area along HWY 337 from junction 217 to the south side of I-40.
Using the first map. We are currently 10.5 miles from the leading north eastern edge. Joe is 7.3 miles from the leading northern edge and in the expected line of movement today.
God Bless our wild-land firefighters.
Boomer - I hope the winds stay in your favor and the firefighters can continue to gain control. My sons live just south of Denver and they can see and smell smoke from this and other fires.
Just in case; you should ready the fire train (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)
Boomer - sending good thoughts and prayers your way. Praying for the firefighters who have a very tough job. Stay safe!!
Richard
Looks like they got a rope on this goat!!!
Containment is at 46% with little growth over the last two days. The fire has spread to 17,900 acres with no injuries or deaths. Twenty four homes have been lost along with some livestock. It is believed to have been human started. No word as to if it was intentional or simple carelessness.
Its closest approach to Joe was 7 miles and to me 10.4. Guess I won’t be holding a fire sale on damaged railroad equipment.
God bless all of those that rush in while everybody else is rushing out!!!
Thanks for the good news! I’m glad you and your friends are safe.
John
great news Boomer!
Thanks to all the firefighters who are working that fire!!