BC fires
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Undead_Mercenary
- Posts: 2914
- Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2002 10:01 am
- Location: Barrie, Ontario
BC fires
Just in case you haven't heard, there have been a lot of forest fires this summer in Brittish Columbia. After looking into it, I found out that it has spread to Kelowna (I think thats how you spell it). And if I'm not mistaken, thats exaclty where FGO lives. Havent really heard from him like all week now. Sorta wondering if his house got torched down. Lets hope not.
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This_name_sucks
- Posts: 539
- Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2003 10:55 am
- Location: UK, Essex, Southend
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Undead_Mercenary
- Posts: 2914
- Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2002 10:01 am
- Location: Barrie, Ontario
*pops head out of his home in the ground*
I now work 7 days a week between the jobs. That's why I haven't been too active lately.
The evacuation order is within a kilometer or so of my parents house. They live just off Hollywood North. I went to see them yesterday. When I was going into the house it was pretty bad with smoke but by the time I left 30 minutes later, it was literally twice as bad with ambers and ash the size of a human hand landing everywhere. Couldn't see 50 yards with the smoke.
My house is just north of Springfield around Burtch area. Very smokey there too. I was going to evac my pregnant fiance due to the smoke alone. I could't leave tho because of my government job in the retirement homes and hospital. They came critically close to being shutdown. That means moving around 600 residents (a lot bed ridden) in the 4 nursing homes and transferring the hospital population out of town (a very lot of people).
Basically, right now, 30,000 have been ordered out of their homes. Half of the populated area of Rutland is on 1 hour alert for evac (including my parents). 136,000 total live in and around Kelowna within 5 minutes on the highway. I don't know the population of Penticton, Okanagan Falls, Naramata and other places around the Okanagan Lake that have had evac orders.
The fire is threatening the heart of the eastern half of the developed side of the city. Ironically, they is no immediate sign of the fire exept the smoke in the mountains. This is the first time in days that we've been able to see the blue sky. the worst is probably over but the fire may whip itself up in a fury later tonight. The firefighters are expecting the fire to breach into the city proper still.
A few things about the fire:
1) It's a rating 6 fire. the rating system is from 1 to 6. The fire has traveled at speeds of 5 to 6 kph. That's almost as fast as a man can run. It was officially called a fire storm.
2) Atleast 203 homes are destroyed. That number will go up. Many of those homes were upscale homes in luxury sub divisions. Many homes were worth more than 1 million doll-hairs.
3) No one has been killed yet as a result of the fire.
4) 1100 Army soldiers will be here by monday to help fight the fire.
5) Many people working at the homes and hospital live in the evac zone. Many duty shifts are not being staffed. I'm on alert for immediate duty 24 hours a day.
6) Kelowna is on the vernon power grid. We could lose power to the city at any time due to overload. South Okanagan (Penticton, OK Falls and such) have had all 3 power lines down. 1 is mysteriously working after shutting down before. If that last line goes down, South Okanagan has no power.
7) Fire insurance policies will probably not be renewed by the companies after this. Lloyd's of London (Lloyd's of Canada) had already pulled out of the market before this fire. One guy says if his house doesn't burn down by August 29, he won't have insurance coverage. Hope his house burns down by the 29th
The devastation will take decades to repair. A fire was on the west side of the lake about 10 years ago and the forest still looks like it burnt down last year.
9) Kelowna is classified as a desert. Even tho we have many, many, many trees and shrub, we live in a desert.
10) This is the dryest period since 1929 at best (1929 may or may not of been this dry).
11) There was often 6 inches of very dry pine needles on the forest floor near the burned houses before the fire.
12) Telephone service (both land lines and cellular) is intermittant.
13) The fire was estimated to be at least 25000 hectres big. I can't remeber exactly but I think thats about 175 to 200 square kilometers big.
14) Tonight, the fire will either blow away from the city proper as hoped, or will blow directly int othe city proper by my parents home. My home is at risk if that happens. Either way, there will be high winds tonight
15) .7 millimeters of rain fell last night on the southern border of the fire. No more rain is expected. The crews can't put the fire out without rain of high winds that blow the fire back onto itself.
16) A thubder storm came in last night as predicted. No rain execpt for the .7 mm but the lightning strikes started new fires around the large fire and opposite side of the lake. Now the west side communities are at risk of total annihilation like us Kelownians.
Cheers!
I now work 7 days a week between the jobs. That's why I haven't been too active lately.
The evacuation order is within a kilometer or so of my parents house. They live just off Hollywood North. I went to see them yesterday. When I was going into the house it was pretty bad with smoke but by the time I left 30 minutes later, it was literally twice as bad with ambers and ash the size of a human hand landing everywhere. Couldn't see 50 yards with the smoke.
My house is just north of Springfield around Burtch area. Very smokey there too. I was going to evac my pregnant fiance due to the smoke alone. I could't leave tho because of my government job in the retirement homes and hospital. They came critically close to being shutdown. That means moving around 600 residents (a lot bed ridden) in the 4 nursing homes and transferring the hospital population out of town (a very lot of people).
Basically, right now, 30,000 have been ordered out of their homes. Half of the populated area of Rutland is on 1 hour alert for evac (including my parents). 136,000 total live in and around Kelowna within 5 minutes on the highway. I don't know the population of Penticton, Okanagan Falls, Naramata and other places around the Okanagan Lake that have had evac orders.
The fire is threatening the heart of the eastern half of the developed side of the city. Ironically, they is no immediate sign of the fire exept the smoke in the mountains. This is the first time in days that we've been able to see the blue sky. the worst is probably over but the fire may whip itself up in a fury later tonight. The firefighters are expecting the fire to breach into the city proper still.
A few things about the fire:
1) It's a rating 6 fire. the rating system is from 1 to 6. The fire has traveled at speeds of 5 to 6 kph. That's almost as fast as a man can run. It was officially called a fire storm.
2) Atleast 203 homes are destroyed. That number will go up. Many of those homes were upscale homes in luxury sub divisions. Many homes were worth more than 1 million doll-hairs.
3) No one has been killed yet as a result of the fire.
4) 1100 Army soldiers will be here by monday to help fight the fire.
5) Many people working at the homes and hospital live in the evac zone. Many duty shifts are not being staffed. I'm on alert for immediate duty 24 hours a day.
6) Kelowna is on the vernon power grid. We could lose power to the city at any time due to overload. South Okanagan (Penticton, OK Falls and such) have had all 3 power lines down. 1 is mysteriously working after shutting down before. If that last line goes down, South Okanagan has no power.
7) Fire insurance policies will probably not be renewed by the companies after this. Lloyd's of London (Lloyd's of Canada) had already pulled out of the market before this fire. One guy says if his house doesn't burn down by August 29, he won't have insurance coverage. Hope his house burns down by the 29th
The devastation will take decades to repair. A fire was on the west side of the lake about 10 years ago and the forest still looks like it burnt down last year.9) Kelowna is classified as a desert. Even tho we have many, many, many trees and shrub, we live in a desert.
10) This is the dryest period since 1929 at best (1929 may or may not of been this dry).
11) There was often 6 inches of very dry pine needles on the forest floor near the burned houses before the fire.
12) Telephone service (both land lines and cellular) is intermittant.
13) The fire was estimated to be at least 25000 hectres big. I can't remeber exactly but I think thats about 175 to 200 square kilometers big.
14) Tonight, the fire will either blow away from the city proper as hoped, or will blow directly int othe city proper by my parents home. My home is at risk if that happens. Either way, there will be high winds tonight
15) .7 millimeters of rain fell last night on the southern border of the fire. No more rain is expected. The crews can't put the fire out without rain of high winds that blow the fire back onto itself.
16) A thubder storm came in last night as predicted. No rain execpt for the .7 mm but the lightning strikes started new fires around the large fire and opposite side of the lake. Now the west side communities are at risk of total annihilation like us Kelownians.
Cheers!
Orc
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SephirothZero
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Archangelus
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Açieeed! style by