Fire, now it's our turn. "Wildfire smoke billows into Seattle area..."

MaeZe · Sep 8, 2020

Relatively thick. The Moon is blood red. I've lived here more than 30 years and I've never experienced the smell of smoke like this. I actually went outside to see if there was a fire nearby and until I saw the Moon I wasn't sure.

Last year (or the year before, I lose track) there was smoke from the fires north of here in Canada. I seem to remember there was a bit of noticeable ash fall. Still it wasn't like this.

I knew this was coming with global warming. Some states are getting droughts or floods. The whole west coast is getting fires. Like Australia, and there must be many areas on the planet that have had or will get massive fires like this.

NPR: Wildfire smoke billows into Seattle area with flurry of 911 calls

They had to announce not to call 911 unless you could see flames. Apparently the smoke literally billowed across the Snoqualmie pass.

On the Washington Smoke Information blog, readers were reporting smoke rolling across Snoqualmie Pass and into Puyallup and Maple Valley about 7 p.m.

An experimental forecast from NOAA showed near-surface smoke flowing over the mountains....

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency's air monitoring system showed a spike in fine particulates in North Bend and nearby areas in the evening.
It forced authorities to issue Level 3 evacuation notices to the town of Bridgeport and to close highways in the area, including US 97 between Brewster and Omak and US 2 in several spots....

Like Paradise CA, a couple of towns have burned down already.

Conrad Adamson · Sep 8, 2020

I live in Pierce County, it smells like a campfire outside.

ChaseJxyz · Sep 8, 2020

Here's a page that has AQIs for different places in Washington. It's red in Seattle right now which is rough. If you have an N95 mask then you should wear that when you go out. If you don't already have some, they're probably already sold out (so try to get some and hold on to them the next time there's smoke like this). If you have asthma or other issues with your lungs be extra careful. If you have a HEPA filter that's really good to run full-blast in your house (and keep your windows closed! especially if you have pet birds).

MaeZe · Sep 8, 2020

Portland and Bellingham were also affected. And some of the fires were on this side of the Cascades, burned some houses down in Graham last night.

8 homes destroyed in Graham as several brush fires burn amid South Sound windstorm

Eight homes were destroyed in Graham Monday night as multiple brush fires exploded around the South Sound amid a rare September wind storm that also knocked out power to tens of thousands.

Luckily there have been no reports of injuries.

In Graham, firefighters were busy Monday evening responding to several brush fires in the area in windy conditions that had knocked over multiple power lines. As they headed to one particular brush fire at 240th Street and Bath Road, the fire exploded in size, according to Assistant Fire Chief Steve Richards with Graham Fire.

The fire destroyed at least eight homes and caused 100 people to be evacuated, Richards said. Another dozen homes remain threatened.

Many of those who fled the scene were at a Safeway in Graham. Cecil Bellamy says his daughter came to his house at midnight to make sure he got out.

"I was in bed when they woke me up!" he said. "I’d just gotten to sleep.

Firefighters say battling the blaze has been extra challenging due to total blackout conditions and heavy smoke in the area.

Other large brush fires are burning in Sumner and Bonney Lake. One fire dubbed the "Meyers Road" Fire is burning a hillside along SR [state route] 410.

That fire is near but separate from another large brush fire that broke out Monday evening along SR-167 near the SR 410 interchange, according to WSP. Video from the scene showed flames burning on both sides of the highway and in the median:

That's right in the city of Tacoma.

In addition to the fires, tens of thousands are without power as strong east winds knocked over trees and power lines while flooding the region with thick smoke from several new large wildfires that began burning in Eastern Washington on Sunday night and Monday.

Nearly 80,000 customers with Puget Sound Energy were in the dark Tuesday morning — almost all of them in Pierce and southern King County. Wind gusts reached 40-45 mph along the gaps in the Cascade foothills with Enumclaw registering a gust of 45 mph. Wind Advisories were in effect until 11 a.m. for the foothill areas for continued gusts to 40-50 mph.

The lack of power and internet caused both the Sumner-Bonney Lake and Federal Way school districts to cancel classes on Tuesday.

For many others, the greatest impact Tuesday will be the thick smoke and degraded air quality. Several air monitoring sites in the Puget Sound area had air quality readings that were in the "unhealthy for all" category including some in Seattle and Everett.

Fortunately my power and internet are still on.

Kat M · Sep 8, 2020

My school district encompasses Graham. Did we cancel today? Nope. Thoughts and prayers and let's all do distance learning. For which, you know, wi-fi and power AND A ROOF are required. Thankfully my school's zone is farther away from the fire and my students seem fine. Some of the teachers had to drive in to school to use the school wi-fi. I was lucky, but I live in the opposite direction of most teachers.

I can feel the ash on my skin and am considering packing an evacuation bag. Just in case.

Be safe, everyone. :Hug2:

- - - Updated - - -

My school district encompasses Graham. Did we cancel today? Nope. Thoughts and prayers and let's all do distance learning. For which, you know, wi-fi and power AND A ROOF are required. Thankfully my school's zone is farther away from the fire and my students seem fine. Some of the teachers had to drive in to school to use the school wi-fi. I was lucky, but I live in the opposite direction of most teachers.

I can feel the ash on my skin and am considering packing an evacuation bag. Just in case.

Be safe, everyone. :Hug2:

Roxxsmom · Sep 8, 2020

I'm sorry to hear this. It is utterly horrible all over the west right now--CA, CO, OR, WA, NV etc. I'm so tired of my chest hurting and my eyes and throat being scratchy and of only being able to take my poor dogs on the shortest of walks. We're getting a breeze now that should be bringing some relatively cooler air, but it also seems to be blowing more smoke our way. Sigh.

I read this story about a fire in Eastern Washington that burned most of a small town, and it's so sad.

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/08/9105...-80-of-small-town-in-eastern-washington-state

Stay safe everyone, and I'm hoping we get some cooler fall weather soon. And a bit of rain (without lightning, please) wouldn't be amiss either.

:Hug2:

mccardey · Sep 8, 2020

You lot take care, won't you? This is grim stuff.

Introversion · Sep 8, 2020

Kat M said:
I can feel the ash on my skin and am considering packing an evacuation bag. Just in case.

Be safe, everyone.

Amen, I hope everyone in fire zones is safe and their housing too!

DW and I live in the woods in Massachusetts. We’ve been lucky so far, getting rains when most needed, but we can’t be lucky forever so have been assembling bug-out bags this month. I highly recommend everyone do it before they’re needed. Ours will have at least:

* important papers (birth certificates, passports, etc)
* some cash
* several days’ worth of clean underwear & socks
* water bottles
* cheap flashlights and snap & shake emergency lights
* phone & tablet chargers & cables
* light medical supplies (bandaids, pain-killers, etc)

You can pack a lot into a duffel bag. Easy to grab, toss in any extras (laptops, cat food, etc), fill the water bottles, and run.

In our case, our two cats will be the hardest to grab — they’re well-trained to run & hide when the hard-sided cat carriers come up from the basement for vet appointments. :ROFL:

So, we’ve bought a pair of cheap, collapsible soft-sided carriers that, with any luck, they will never see until it’s needed, so won’t run.

MaeZe · Sep 8, 2020

'Please leave now:' Level 3 fire evacuations underway for parts of Bonney LakeIf you drive to Bonny Lake, you don't leave Tacoma city proper. I've been through there many times, Hwy 410 goes through miles of suburbs. Some of the houses are on large lots, like an acre or more. And some of those acres have been developed into regular old tract houses.

State officials said more than 330,000 acres burned Monday.

Apparently that was more than all of last year.

And the sad part, most of these fires were human-carelessness caused. No lightning occurred in the areas.

mccardey · Sep 8, 2020

MaeZe said:
'Please leave now:' Level 3 fire evacuations underway for parts of Bonney LakeIf you drive to Bonny Lake, you don't leave Tacoma city proper. I've been through there many times, Hwy 410 goes through miles of suburbs. Some of the houses are on large lots, like an acre or more. And some of those acres have been developed into regular old tract houses.

Apparently that was more than all of last year.

And the sad part, most of these fires were human-carelessness caused. No lightning occurred in the areas.

If you get a Please Leave Now - please leave now. Your fireys and our fireys train together, and after Please Leave Now comes Too Late To Leave - Shelter In Place.

That's a terrible thing to hear.

Please take care.

MaeZe · Sep 8, 2020

mccardey said:
If you get a Please Leave Now - please leave now. Your fireys and our fireys train together, and after Please Leave Now comes Too Late To Leave - Shelter In Place.

That's a terrible thing to hear.

Please take care.

I'm not near Bonnie Lake. I have driven past that community many times on my way to do some contract work further down the highway.

Roxxsmom · Sep 8, 2020

So sorry guys. Stay safe.

Fires are terrifying.

Alpha Echo · Sep 9, 2020

I'm so sorry. Keep us posted, and stay safe. <3

mrsmig · Sep 9, 2020

I have a niece who lives east of Seattle (in the Maple Valley area) and was poised to evacuate last night. Apparently a wildfire broke out in Covington, about five miles to her west. I think the fire was extinguished later that evening, but it's still frightening, as her husband hadn't gotten home from work and she was alone with a toddler, in addition to being about seven months' pregnant.

Roxxsmom · Sep 9, 2020

Introversion said:
Amen, I hope everyone in fire zones is safe and their housing too!

DW and I live in the woods in Massachusetts. We’ve been lucky so far, getting rains when most needed, but we can’t be lucky forever so have been assembling bug-out bags this month. I highly recommend everyone do it before they’re needed. Ours will have at least:

* important papers (birth certificates, passports, etc)
* some cash
* several days’ worth of clean underwear & socks
* water bottles
* cheap flashlights and snap & shake emergency lights
* phone & tablet chargers & cables
* light medical supplies (bandaids, pain-killers, etc)

You can pack a lot into a duffel bag. Easy to grab, toss in any extras (laptops, cat food, etc), fill the water bottles, and run.

In our case, our two cats will be the hardest to grab — they’re well-trained to run & hide when the hard-sided cat carriers come up from the basement for vet appointments. So, we’ve bought a pair of cheap, collapsible soft-sided carriers that, with any luck, they will never see until it’s needed, so won’t run.

Hopefully that does the trick with the cats. They can be incredibly clever.

I'm fortunate that ours are pretty mellow as cats go. They ignore their carriers when they are out, and sometimes will even go and sleep in one if I leave it open. And pills? Just toss them in the back of their mouths they way you do with dogs, and they usually swallow them. However Merlin does freak out at the smell of smoke and hide in the kitchen cabinets. It happens when I burn dinner (which is not an entirely rare event. I get bored and go to check e-mail or AW while waiting for stuff to brown, see). So I worry that if we ever have a house fire we might not get him out

Cobalt Jade · Sep 9, 2020

Hazy yesterday in Seattle, but still not as bad as the years when wildfire smoke was blowing down from Canada. Not as smelly this morning.

Kat M · Sep 9, 2020

Air quality today in the South Sound is definitely better, but I've still developed a nice layer of grime. Right now I consider that a blessing.

@all, hope you're doing OK.

@mrsmig that's AWFUL. I hope your niece is doing OK. Haven't heard much about Covington/Maple Valley on this news cycle.

Rainy Day Boo · Sep 9, 2020

I'm starting to compile data points for worst year ever.

be safe y'all. Seriously, all the best.

mrsmig · Sep 10, 2020

Kat M said:
@mrsmig that's AWFUL. I hope your niece is doing OK. Haven't heard much about Covington/Maple Valley on this news cycle.

Thank you. Fortunately that fire was brought under control fairly quickly, although my niece took the precaution of loading valuables into their vehicle in case they had to make a quick getaway. Right now she's concerned about the continuing Enumclaw fire, since that's her school district (she's a teacher).

Brightdreamer · Sep 10, 2020

Air's a bit less smoky today, but still plenty hazy enough...

Today I saw a bird - western scrub-jay - that I've never seen in this area in the forty-plus years I've lived here. Usually they're higher up in the mountains, further south, or east of the Cascades. (Saw it at fairly close range, less than a car-length away, so the ID is clear - definitely not our usual Steller's jay.) This is the first time I've seen displaced birds from wildfires... and we've had some fiery seasons before.

MaeZe · Sep 10, 2020

I've been watching all the cities in Oregon that are listed as having hazardous air and thinking how bad it's been in the Willamette Valley.

Then today's public service announcement says this:

There is super massive cloud of smoke outside of California and Oregon. The wind is changing direction and it’s coming your way tomorrow. You have today to prepare. Let your family and friends know.

I don't know what they think I can do to prepare.

frimble3 · Sep 10, 2020

By making this post, you have warned your friends on the other side of the border (a line that the smoke will not respect) that the smoke is coming.
Thank you!

MaeZe · Sep 10, 2020

Western Scrub Jays look gorgeous. I'll keep my eye out.

MaeZe · Sep 10, 2020

I guess we're all supposed to rush out and by box fans and large hepa filters to recirculate our air through the filter.

Roxxsmom · Sep 10, 2020

MaeZe said:
I guess we're all supposed to rush out and by box fans and large hepa filters to recirculate our air through the filter.

Pretty much, and to conclude any necessary outside activities before the smoke comes, if possible.

Fire, now it's our turn. "Wildfire smoke billows into Seattle area..."

MaeZe

Conrad Adamson

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