Fire Time, again....

We kind knew this fire was not going to be over soon. It seems like they don't do that anymore. The new Cal Fire 747 flew over us last night a few times. One of the fire family lost a local guy when the fire break road he was cutting collapsed. It sent him down into the steep canyon.
If you have not had a chance to see the 747, (you are lucky) here is a link. Funny that last week we had 30 miles of visibility and now it is 300 feet
https://www.firehouse.com/tech-comm/video/12365007/watch-747-supertanker-drop-payload-on-ca-fire
If you have not had a chance to see the 747, (you are lucky) here is a link. Funny that last week we had 30 miles of visibility and now it is 300 feet

https://www.firehouse.com/tech-comm/video/12365007/watch-747-supertanker-drop-payload-on-ca-fire
"we go where power lines don't" Sierra Mountains near Mariposa/Yosemite CA
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Comments
-Bill
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,
The thing that seems different this year is the fire management team is using Drones much more. They are illuminating targets below the fixed wing assets.
http://www.goldrushcam.com/sierrasuntimes/index.php/news/local-news/14621-photos-of-ferguson-fire-near-yosemite-national-park-in-mariposa-county
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http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
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KID #51B 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
CL#29032 FW 2126/ 2073/ 2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3 x 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
Cotek ST1500W 24V Inverter,OmniCharge 3024,
2 x Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr & Bridge,
Eu3/2/1000i Gens, 1680W & E-Panel/WBjr to come, CL #647 asleep
West Chilcotin, BC, Canada
My history with wildfire is that if I do not stay and put out the spot fires around my property, the deck will probably burn and set the home on fire. I have 1/2" pin holes in it from previous fires. They are not from knots either.
When they have asked us to leave I always say I will consider it if they send an engine. They do not have enough engines, and so it goes.
Here is a link for some very good quality NIOSH masks that the fire guys gave me a few years back. They work very well for smoke. I might fit one on my cat, if he would let me
It is 1 pm and the air attack is still grounded for smokey skies....
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|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,
We have had enough of the fire thing that we are hardened for it. All deck chairs are made of metal and we only take cushions out when we are there. Nothing plastic within 200 feet. There are 3 fire pumps and only one side of the house has to be hosed down. My neighbor and I let eachother know when we go more than 30 minutes from here. The wives also can hose it down, and have...The mini-split is what makes it possible as there is no way to stay with this kind of smoke. Power is out for 700 homes now.
We pack the truck in the garage but we never leave because it is far more dangerous on the roads out of here. 200 feet of defensible space, a steel roof with cement siding and stainless covered rain gutters bring the fire guys here. Unfortunately it is after the fire has gone by. This year is the worst as they took down all the bark beetle pines and they are all over the sides of the roads. Next winter we will burn it all.
They just brought the body of the heavy fire equipment operator out of the canyon with officers of emergency service trucks. The procession went under a 75 foot flag from a ladder truck down HWY 49 to the coroner. about 300 lined the streets. The fire is getting worse and more evacs. 10,000 acres now. We keep hearing the fire command channel go to cell phones so I know that is not good news.
Happy Hour! Later!
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KID #51B 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
CL#29032 FW 2126/ 2073/ 2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3 x 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
Cotek ST1500W 24V Inverter,OmniCharge 3024,
2 x Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr & Bridge,
Eu3/2/1000i Gens, 1680W & E-Panel/WBjr to come, CL #647 asleep
West Chilcotin, BC, Canada
2.1 Kw Suntech 175 mono, Classic 200, Trace SW 4024 ( 15 years old but brand new out of sealed factory box Jan. 2015), Bogart Tri-metric, 700 ah @24 volt AGM battery bank. Plenty of Baja Sea of Cortez sunshine.
When they are properly on your face, if you cup your hands over them you should feel the mask pull in when you breath in.
300 feet of visibility again this am. No ash is a good thing though! The westerly wind pattern kicks in at noon so it is a snow day until then. We have a few people coming over to stay as their power is out. Building a place for a few dogs also and then the solar biz, if I feel like it
Pretty straightforward here on fighting a fire as wind is under 15 knots. I would never take the chance if I had Diablo or Santa Anna wind speeds like they do near the coast.
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
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|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,
Seventeen months ago I went to Lithium batteries and now at 10:30am I am at 92% full. In good conditions the bank is full at 8:30 am.
We still only use 3KWH for storage but being over 95% efficient in and out, is pretty amazing on how fast this happens. The battery itself is over 99% efficient.
Having this much solar is probably not cost efficient over a small genset. I have got to do it as I advertise it. It is only money also.
It also pays off in the winter where the design work comes in. One of my fire guest tonight is bringing his Chevy Volt over. I really like his car and always tell him that he can charge it here, or just park it here. I want one
This just came in on the cell from the Sheriff's nixle
Mariposa County Smoke Related Air Quality Index (AQI)
Smoke from the Ferguson Fire is impacting the Mariposa County Air Pollution Control District. Smoke Levels are in the HAZARDOUS range in some areas but is expected to clear by midday. AQI information shown below is based on the levels recorded this AM. Your current local conditions could vary.
PERSONS WITH HEALTH CONDITIONS THAT ARE AFFECTED BY SMOKE SHOULD CONSIDER RELOCATING TO A SMOKE FREE AREA WHEN SMOKE IS PRESENT
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KID #51B 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
CL#29032 FW 2126/ 2073/ 2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3 x 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
Cotek ST1500W 24V Inverter,OmniCharge 3024,
2 x Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr & Bridge,
Eu3/2/1000i Gens, 1680W & E-Panel/WBjr to come, CL #647 asleep
West Chilcotin, BC, Canada
Fire is still growing and thunderstorms in the forecast tomorrow.
Air attack can hardly do much as the inversion is trapping smoke most of the daylight hours. Maybe Elon and SpaceX can get us some drone tankers to take the human pilot risk down.
Eric we cut everything down within 200 feet that was not a hardwood (oaks) tree and limbed the oaks up 15 feet. The weed wacking keeps the brush from coming back.
Coffee time!
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We lived in a dense/deep forest with towering pines in the 50-70 year old range. We built a limestone-faced house with double pane tempered glass windows, specifically rated for fires. When I decided to move there, I knew that fire help was not going to come quickly.
Yep, my clear-cut area was 50’-60’ on all sides with green grass - and complete removal of all “ladder fuel” for another 200’ into the trees. Yes, that is a HUGE visual compromise in the woods, but I was raised in Northern California redwoods………..
Big concrete septic tanks make great low cost water tanks - really cheap to bury when the backhoe is already there. A simple float valve maintains water level while using the tank/pump system for regular irrigation duty keeps the water fresh. A separate gasoline powered pump (I’m a Honda fan) driving large impulse sprinklers mounted high, are incredibly effective. The enemy is fighting the instinct to deploy your water too soon. I read after the fact, that candles melt at 105F to 120F. None of our candles were deformed, and the ambient was around 100F when the fore started.
Lastly, my large welding tank of O2 is perfectly breathable if needed. Most people will argue about that, but they are factually wrong. A full sized "T" tank holds around 900 liters of oxygen. A person needs to breathe around 10 liters per minute - at about 20% O2.
Marc
Tonight will be 7 days of this fire and at 22,000 acres it is only 7% contained. Really hard on the locals without power. We have a group here.
If it was not so smokey outside I would put them to work
The screen below shows how expensive these fires are and the need for Android robots and drones for the air attack. The list below does not include it.
They did get the power on for Yosemite National park.
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Second system 1890W 3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.
5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding.
Much (50% to 100%+) of the "coastal sea level rise" (around the world) has been due to ground subsidence from local fresh water pumping (ground compaction/lack of rebuilding land from flooding in delta regions is another cause).
Not to minimize those issues... Once the groundwater has been pumped and the earth structure that held the waters collapsed, there is no good way to recharge those loss aquifers. There has been some attempts at seasonal recharge in California, but I suspect those ar efew and far between and really do not do much compared to the problem.
Short term, California has always had a pretty standard rain/drought cycle:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/11/22/worst-drought-in-california-history-not-really/
I could not find the chart I saw before... But long term (geological time frames), California has had 300 year long droughts. We are just seeing "normal" here.
California native species has evolved in the fire/rain cycles... Redwood trees have "fire resistant" bark. There are trees that only release seeds from pine cones in a fire, and some plant seeds that only germinate after a fire.
The "fire problem" was partially the long term country wide policy of putting out all fires from all causes (natural and human caused). Many of California's regions live with regular small fires that meander through the brush/dead materials on the ground. The policy of putting out all fires created these large fires that reach up into the trees that are relatively fire resistant, and burn them down too... Plus sterilize the ground from the high temperatures.
The Native Americans used burns to control their environment too... They found that game prefered the forest edge (to open meadows) vs a large forest.
But as with all government policies--They are "flexible":
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/as-western-us-smolders-forest-service-suspends-let-it-burn-policy/
Add more people moving to rural areas. And policies that prevent clearing of trees from around homes (more and more people move to forests and clear sites, then less and less forest to move to). Not any easy solutions (population limitation anyone?).
-Bill
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
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|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,
The other thing about the politics of fire in this state is that as long as an active fire is burning, Calfire does the preventative and I think that prolongs the fires. It is the only way they can do much as once the fire is under control, the resources go way down. It is Calfires way of doing the much needed preventative fire breaks and such. Just as Bill wrote, decades of putting out fire very quickly and the inevitable growth of brush that the Indians dealt with before.
Fire last night was about 4 miles out and quite beautiful except that people are really hurting at many levels.
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Second system 1890W 3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.
5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding.
The India thing was maybe something the first Europeans claimed in order to get financing for their trips? Don't think there were many Musks back then looking to finance frontier exploration just for the heck of it
Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
Second system 1890W 3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.
5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding.
Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
E-mail [email protected]
China... No, it is 中國 or Middle Kingdom/Country.
If you look at the history of just the name China, you will see that it different for different peoples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_China
I once called Taiwan Formosa once decades ago, and she got really upset. It was an insult to her (she was born and raised in Taipei).
San Francisco is called "Old Gold Mountain" in Chinese (from gold rush days).
-Bill
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