Napa, Anaheim. Yikes!
Napa, Anaheim. Yikes!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
We had a fire yesterday afternoon above town...about 25 acres. There were 5 or 6 aircraft in the air making water drops. They hit it hard while it was daylight and finished up after dark with ground crews. Impressive flying.
Much worse just down south...fires started in the early morning hours...over 1500 homes and/or structures already lost. Highway closed, hospitals evacuated.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
Vaughn, IIRC about this time of year the State owned tankers would be thinking about heading in for seasonal maintenance while the contract and Federal tankers would be fixing to be ferried to the Southeast for their fire season.
But I could be mistaken.
Preston would know.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
As if the fires in the north bay weren't enough a 4.1 magnitude earthquake occurred on the Cadaverous Fault in San Jose just before 6pm: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/0...les-south-bay/. At the time I was photographing a fiery sunset at Ocean Beach with the big Pentax on Porta 160 in San Francisco but never felt it.
Fires, earthquakes, mass shootings, North Korea, Isis, Iran, Russia...something is going to happen.
Thomas
These were all California planes. Two of these sweet 'little' 4-engine jets, and a C-130, a couple smaller planes and a helicopter with a bucket. And the spotter.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
The smoke here around the Bay is a bit annoying; but further north in the wine country, it's a real tragedy. A lot of those outlying burb structures like utility sheds, prop-up barns, and mobile home parks, contain highly flammable plastic components and aluminum siding, which burns very hot. And apparently, brush clearances aren't well enforced in that area. Of course, the predictable strong dry Oct winds were the main factor. I don't know what the death toll is so far; but last night ten were reported.
The tide was outgoing for about 2 hours but still running at about 4 foot with good wave action. I shot it with the 200mm lens in landscape orientation. The perfectly spherical red sun shining through the smoke was ~ 1/3d down from the top of the frame and didn't require any exposure adjustment. Reflecting from the calmer water was a band of deep red light straight towards the camera which terminated in the wet sand at the bottom of the frame.
Thomas
I just listened to the daily report and there is now 11 confirmed deaths with zero containment. New evacuation orders were issued for some localities and the fire officials said that they were concentrating on evacuations rather than containment which they said was "zero." Winds in that area were down but still offshore but forecast to continue to decrease. Air temperature is cooling and humidity rising.
Thomas
Resources are stretched thin. I'd imagine the priority at the moment is first on human life, then on saving concentrations of homes. Thousands of structures have already burnt, and some of those neighborhoods were very pricey. But what is really sickening is that a lot of cops from here are being sent up there to restrict looting in the aftermath.
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