jmohme Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 In 2011 we lost our home to the wildfires in Bastrop Texas, so we tend to take fire warning pretty seriously. For the past few days, there have been text warning coming over our phones telling us that due to winds and dry conditions, not to burn anything. Well the folks that do prescribed burns in the state park apparently either didn't get the memo, or figured that they were professionals and it didn't apply to them. Yes, they did their scheduled burn, yes, there were winds, and yes they lost control of the fire. The next text messages and phone calls were telling us to evacuate. I have an event schedule for this Thursday through Sunday, so I already had my RV loaded. We made arrangements to relocate our horses to safe location and then proceeded to load some valuables into the now crowded RV. By the time the horses were relocated, it was getting dark. I couldn't see any sky glow from the fire and the sky seemed clear, but we headed out anyway. We got a spot at an RV Park and had just about got evertyhing set up when we got another automated call giving us the all clear. I know **** happens, but whoever the fool was that gave the go ahead to proceed with the "controlled burn" need to lose his or her job! All this said, I am back home now enjoying a nice 21 year old scotch while ranting about the days events on an Internet forum. It could be worse! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostinTexas Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 All in all, a good day. Yea, who ever the mental giant was that started that fire in the wind today needs new employment. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batesmotel Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Fry the idiot. We had a fire at Camp Williams called the Machine Gun fire. Guess how it started. 5000 acres burned. 16,000 evacuated. Homes, outbuildings, fences and cars burned. All off base. Not counting damage on base. During an extreme fire danger warning (Red Flag on base). 12% humidity. High winds. Some overly Gung Ho National Guard commander wasn’t going to let a little thing like a Red Flag alert stop him from seeing his boys shoot up the sagebrush. They should have roasted him in his own mess. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
railfancwb Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Unfortunately rank often does not relate to competence - at least not competence beyond getting promoted. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batesmotel Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 22 minutes ago, railfancwb said: Unfortunately rank often does not relate to competence - at least not competence beyond getting promoted. Sucks how that works. Idiot screws up. Everyone else pays for it. Idiot gets promoted by other idiots like him. All about playing politics. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Evacuate? Oh, I thought you said "Ejaculate" 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmohme Posted January 26, 2022 Author Share Posted January 26, 2022 The day after we were asked to evacuate, I had to head out to a job for a week. I got home Monday evening and went into town for the first time since the runaway fire yesterday. I hear that there is a full investigation into what happened, but any idiot knows that you don't light the woods on fire on a dry windy day. Texas Parks and Wildlife just plain fucked up and should be held accountable. But that is not why I Brought this thread back to life. I wanted to call out the outstanding fire fighters that worked through the night and into the next day. Their work ensured that not a single family lost their homes. On my trip into town on highway 21, I saw a lot of burned pines and grassy areas. many burned within a few feet of peoples homes, but were held back by the work of these brave firefighters. Just amazing work and they should be recognized for what they did. In fact, I would be thrilled if the funding Texas Parks and Wildlife folks in this county would just be relocated to all of the fire departments that saved these homes. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 56 minutes ago, jmohme said: The day after we were asked to evacuate, I had to head out to a job for a week. I got home Monday evening and went into town for the first time since the runaway fire yesterday. I hear that there is a full investigation into what happened, but any idiot knows that you don't light the woods on fire on a dry windy day. Texas Parks and Wildlife just plain fucked up and should be held accountable. But that is not why I Brought this thread back to life. I wanted to call out the outstanding fire fighters that worked through the night and into the next day. Their work ensured that not a single family lost their homes. On my trip into town on highway 21, I saw a lot of burned pines and grassy areas. many burned within a few feet of peoples homes, but were held back by the work of these brave firefighters. Just amazing work and they should be recognized for what they did. In fact, I would be thrilled if the funding Texas Parks and Wildlife folks in this county would just be relocated to all of the fire departments that saved these homes. In my youth I was a Forest Fire Fighter for the state of Wa. We stayed on fires 24/7 until they were out. Sleep wherever you could. eating very old C-Rations. Fun times for a youth of 16 or 17. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aomagrat Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 On 1/18/2022 at 11:24 PM, Batesmotel said: Fry the idiot. We had a fire at Camp Williams called the Machine Gun fire. Guess how it started. 5000 acres burned. 16,000 evacuated. Homes, outbuildings, fences and cars burned. All off base. Not counting damage on base. During an extreme fire danger warning (Red Flag on base). 12% humidity. High winds. Some overly Gung Ho National Guard commander wasn’t going to let a little thing like a Red Flag alert stop him from seeing his boys shoot up the sagebrush. They should have roasted him in his own mess. If he was the commander, he should have ordered the fire to stand down. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 Back in 84 at my remote Alaska cabin, an Air Force Captain and his wife were building a cabin nearby. It was late April and no spring rain yet. Last years 6' tall grass was brown and dry as a bone. She decided to build a small fire and cook some hotdogs. Yeah, it didn't stay small for long. My buddy and I were out hiking when all this started. The first thing we saw was a column of smoke and then the fire fighting chopper showed up. We RAN back towards the cabin. By the time we got there we could see flames in the woods near my property line. I was clearing a fire trail around my cabin. The chopper flying over was dumping buckets of water. In my youth I was a member of the first Helitack Crew in western Wa. I started giving the pilot signals that I wanted a water drop around my place. He circled, banking, looking down at me from low elevation. He signaled me to get out of the way. I ducked under the eaves and he gave me the drop I so badly wanted, all the way around the cabin. They had a crew in the woods stringing hose from a creek a quarter mile away. Thankfully they got the fire under control. The chopper landed in the pipeline corridor near my cabin, and I went over to talk with them. The pilot asked me where I, a civilian, learned chopper signals. I told him about my previous experience. It was a stressful experience, thinking for a while I was going to lose my cabin. Stupid Captain, and his even stupider old lady. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batesmotel Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 48 minutes ago, aomagrat said: If he was the commander, he should have ordered the fire to stand down. I see you have had dealing with Officers. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 2 minutes ago, Batesmotel said: I see you have had dealing with Officers. The biggest ass kissers and brown nosers are the ones that get promoted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minervadoe Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 On 1/18/2022 at 7:42 PM, jmohme said: I know **** happens, but whoever the fool was that gave the go ahead to proceed with the "controlled burn" need to lose his or her job! I was riding my bike at a local park once as they were doing a controlled burn. I thought nothing of it as I rode past the fire-people who were engrossed in socializing while they were supposed to be keeping the trail closed. As I rode, I could see that a prescribed burn had taken place and the surrounding grass lands were smoldering. As I rode out the other side, the group of fire-people closing the other end of the trail looked astonished that someone had ridden through the burn zone. Doh. I thought they were there because they had put out the fire, not because they were closing the trail. Maybe some of the people that let me ride into a controlled burn were transferred to Texas. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 16 minutes ago, minervadoe said: I was riding my bike at a local park once as they were doing a controlled burn. I thought nothing of it as I rode past the fire-people who were engrossed in socializing while they were supposed to be keeping the trail closed. As I rode, I could see that a prescribed burn had taken place and the surrounding grass lands were smoldering. As I rode out the other side, the group of fire-people closing the other end of the trail looked astonished that someone had ridden through the burn zone. Doh. I thought they were there because they had put out the fire, not because they were closing the trail. Maybe some of the people that let me ride into a controlled burn were transferred to Texas. They were Bucking Foneheads apparently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 My dad drove me through a forest fire when I was about 9-10 years old. It was burning on both sides of the road and was maybe a half mile from our house. He was going in to check on a sled for a yarder he had loaned a guy. Here is what they look like. Tons of work to build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 The fire was so hot it blistered the paint on the truck we were in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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