to those in SoCal:
 

be safe out there. i've had the top down all week and i just couldn't take it anymore... my nasal cavity is all inflamed and my throat is completely flummuxed.

its horrible weather...I cant stand it. 24/7 my AC is on windows closed.

i like to attach a hose to my tail pipe and plumb it back into my window.

Not sure what it's like up in LA right now, but this morning in Carlsbad the air has cleared somewhat. There's still a fair amount of ash raining down, but the sky is no longer solid black like it was on Monday- more of an orange haze. I've run the A/C in my apartment in fan-only mode for a while- I hate using A/C on general principle, the temperature is just too damn perfect here.

In the Miata it's a different story. Top and windows up, plus no A/C = the suck.

What's the deal with the air? Is the weather just stagnant and smog is building up?

1/2 the state is on fire :gay:

some asshole started a bunch of fires down there and they've been BEYOND out of control... check the news, homie. :tu:

Oh...

Now I feel really stupid. I should probably read some news sites once in a while.

its sucked up in sb also we had the zaca fires bout a month and a half ago and we are still getting fine ash from that blowing around plus methinks we are getting a little residual from the current fires, ash in air = no fun top up :sadwavey:

Think about the thousands of firemen out there who have no choice.

We offered to send the world's biggest water bomber out(it's stationed about a few hundred miles from where I live)to help you guys out,but Arnie said it was not needed.

I guess the terminator has too much pride.

Nah, we just can't afford it now that the Looney has surpassed the Greenback. :td:

Seriously however, I'd thought that said aircraft was on the way, in addition to the MH-60S helicopters out of NAS North Island and the other support aircraft already in service. To make matters wierder however, we've now got Predator-B and Global Hawk UAVs flying overhead as well, to provide thermal imaging data. This airspace has gotta be a bundle of joy for the controllers right now.

^ The aircraft is on it's way(my mistake),but it will sit idle in CA until they decide if or when they need it.

We have a DC-10 dropping pink on areas now, are you saying that the 747 is coming?

No it's not a 747.I forgot what it's called,but it's a huge monster of a float plane and it's job is to specifically fight forest fires.

oh man. all that air support is awesome. kinda reminds me of all the airforce jets air-dropping food and water on New Orleans and all the military helicopters dropping dirt into the levies to keep the city from flooding after Katrina.

oh wait........

Bitterness aside, I'm glad Cali is getting the support it needs. Natural disasters suck. I hope everyone gets out of the way. :(

Trent, granted, it's a bit of a different situation here. The basic infrastructures are still operational, and the destruction, while intense in places, is not total. I imagine it's easier to coordinate things when the roads are not underwater and the power is still on in most places.

There's been a surreal atmosphere the last few days. Although the sky is orange and the ground is covered in ash, I'm sitting comfortably in my den surfing the web. Went to work today as usual, even though five miles to the east they were under mandatory evacuation and a few more miles to the south the Witch Creek fire is very much active.


Spike, here we are... It's a Martin Mars operated by Coulsen Flying Tankers out of Vancouver, BC. Originally built for the US Navy as a long-range bomber, now converted for fire service usage. The world's largest at 7,200 gallons per load. Impressive.

Aircraft and support crew arrived this afternoon, and are operating out of Lake Elsinore.

They have, thousands upon thousands of people have been evacuated. It's a reaping of what we've sewn over hte years. Goddamn treehuggers and AQMD won't let the forest service do prescribed burns and all that shit piles up. Forget that certain foliage REQUIRES fire to propagate and that new, fresh, healthy growth replaces old gnarly growth and that fire can stop the destructive beetles. Fuck.

ive noticed every time cali has a bad fire.that makes the news,its always some dumbass that started it.

Not every time, some of these going on right now were started by a downed power line. I've been on a few of those and my last major campaign fire I was on was started by a bird that decided it would try it's luck at landing one foot at a time on a powerline.