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View of Nash fire from Mt Bachelor webcan tonight

eok

Slopefossil
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Lots of wild fires active in Oregon. One fire that is getting lots of attention right now is the Nash fire. It's been burning for weeks and slowly tracking towards the Elk Lake and Mt Bachelor resort areas. Depressing. Keeping my fingers crossed.

The webcam is here: http://www.mtbachelor.com/webcams/sparkslake.jpg?0

Info on the Nash fire: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5580/

The webcam shows the "Sparks Lake" view. I think South Sister is the mountain that forms the ridge in front of the distant fire.

nash_fire_from_bach_4sep17.jpg
 

Jwrags

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The amount of smoke from all of the wildfires is amazing. It is even smoky out here on the coast in Seaside.
 
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eok

eok

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The amount of smoke from all of the wildfires is amazing. It is even smoky out here on the coast in Seaside.

God, it's been just awful in Bend. We've been like housebound hermits due to all the smoke. Today it was better.

The Nash fire is about 9mi from Mt Bachelor now.

Cool tool to monitor Oregon wild fires. It also lets you measure distances between the fire and arbitrary locations.

https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=ed0a7dad32fe4848b20c6f91c74c79ea
 

markojp

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The PNW (OR,WA,MT...don't know what's going on in ID) is a mess. The WA side of the gorge is in flames near Cascade locks, there's a large fire raging on the side of snoqualmie pass near Cle Elum, and Crystal Mountain is just slightly upwind from a large fire and the area has been evacuated. A wind shift the wrong direction and it's lights out:

https://www.crystalmountainresort.com/2017/09/04/norse-peak-fire/

http://www.king5.com/news/local/wil...fire-prompts-new-evacuation-notices/470305351
 
Last edited:

Philpug

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Welcome to California/Nevada, it is every summer since we have been here. Some fire, somewhere near.
 

Bad Bob

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Crystal Mountain is burning NOW. It will be a different place hope they don't loose too much of their infrastructure.
The following is off their facebook page.

Crystal Mountain Resort shared Paul Sowers's post.
7 hrs ·


The fire has crossed into the ski area and is burning between East Peak and Norse Peak. Everyone has been evacuated. Fire crews have pulled out for the night due to risk of fire closing off the road. Firefighters will re-evaluate the situation in the morning. It has not reached any buildings or ski lifts at this time. The wind is blowing out of the southeast and the fire is still on the move. It's out of our hands at this point, hoping for the best. Stay tuned for updates...

.
crystal.jpg
 

Core2

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Smokey sunrise from Hood River yesterday. I've never seen it "snow" ash before but it was for the last two days.

IMG_4498.JPG
 

Jerez

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Smoke from the west coast fires visible here in New Mexico. Can barely see across the Rio Grande Valley.
 

markojp

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Crystal Mountain is burning NOW. It will be a different place hope they don't loose too much of their infrastructure.
The following is off their facebook page.

Crystal Mountain Resort shared Paul Sowers's post.
7 hrs ·


The fire has crossed into the ski area and is burning between East Peak and Norse Peak. Everyone has been evacuated. Fire crews have pulled out for the night due to risk of fire closing off the road. Firefighters will re-evaluate the situation in the morning. It has not reached any buildings or ski lifts at this time. The wind is blowing out of the southeast and the fire is still on the move. It's out of our hands at this point, hoping for the best. Stay tuned for updates...

. View attachment 29164

Bob, the mountain across from F lot is burning. The ski area that is lift served IS NOT burning yet. The fire crews left because they could be cut off if the fire moves down the ridge and down the valley and down Crystal Mtn Blvd, and NORTH. It's possible that the Northway area could be effected at some point given current wind conditions, etc... but we just don't know... yet.

As of this morning:

On 4th September 2017 / By Tiana Anderson / In Blog - Summer, Blog - Winter, News

Update 9/5/17 5:10am: A few firefighters have returned to the ski area and good news is it doesn’t appear the fire reached any buildings or lifts overnight. The fire is still active so we will continue to monitor this closely. Alta Crystal Resort and Silver Springs cabins were evacuated overnight.

Sites to follow for more information:

Greenwater Firefighters Association on Facebook

Crystal Mountain on Facebook

Incident Information System Updates

Norse Peak Fire Information on Facebook
 

Tricia

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Many news reports say that Crystal Mountain (the mountain) is on fire, while some of the Crystal Mountain Resort reports that they are "okay" at the moment but ready for what *could* happen

From Kim Kircher's Wall at 6 AM
It's first light at the summit of Crystal. It appears there's been no structural damage overnight. The fires burned down East Peak. Gold Hills looks okay. The lodges look okay. Everyone is out and safe.
21272563_10155049784922705_5338176755362208764_n.jpg


Kim's wall 10 minutes ago (Around 9:30 AM)
The fire is slowly smoldering above the Mine to Market Road. Fingers crossed that the smoke clears enough for the helicopters to fly and drop water. The fire department is deploying sprinklers at Gold Hills and the Clubs. — at Crystal Mountain Resort.
21369504_10155050150597705_6888108265140409736_n.jpg


From AP News:
TROUTDALE, Ore. (AP) — The Latest on wildfires burning in the Northwest (all times local):

8:55 a.m.

A wildfire burning near Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state has grown to more than 29 square miles (75 square kilometers), and heavy smoke is blanketing many cities in Washington.

Mandatory evacuations were announced for the fire near Mount Rainier, including for the Crystal Mountain ski resort. The resort shut down Monday because of smoke.

Meanwhile, heavy smoke is damaging air quality from Seattle to Spokane on Tuesday.

The air quality in Spokane was rated as hazardous on Tuesday morning. The National Weather Service says it is likely to get worse as wind shifts bring in smoke from fires in Canada, Montana, Oregon and Washington. People in the Spokane region are being advised they should remain indoors if they can.

7:49 a.m.

Miles of interstate highway east of Portland, Oregon, remained closed as crews battled a growing wildfire that has caused evacuations and sparked blazes across the Columbia River in Washington state

Hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate because of a seven-square mile fire that started Saturday. The blaze, which officials think may have been caused by fireworks, forced the shutdown of more than 30 miles of Interstate 84 east of Portland through the scenic Columbia River Gorge.

Authorities said Tuesday embers from the fire caused a new blaze across the Columbia River in Washington state.

Evacuation orders remained in place in and around Cascade Locks, Oregon, for dozens of structures and businesses.
 

markojp

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And we haven't even talked about Montana yet... flew over it a couple weeks ago. Looked like the Air Force was using it for napalm practice. If North Korea/Harvey/Mueller/DACA, etc... weren't dominating the news cycle, this would be national front page.
 

crgildart

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At least with a flood you can swim or float on something to survive. With fire you are stuck to die a miserable, painful death or wish you had died if burned severely.. Do people up in that area clear the land around their homes to mitigate fire around them or is that not possible in most instances??
 

Core2

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At least with a flood you can swim or float on something to survive. With fire you are stuck to die a miserable, painful death or wish you had died if burned severely.. Do people up in that area clear the land around their homes to mitigate fire around them or is that not possible in most instances??

Was remarking to my fiancee yesterday about how there appeared to be NO thinning around homes or public areas along I-84. The forest there would be considered unhealthy by our standards. In AZ and NM there are active fire mitigation efforts and cities make ordinances that require home owners to have a defensible area around their homes. Curious what the locals have to say about this in OR/WA.
 

Posaune

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People west of the Cascade crest don't hear about clearing out around the house very much. It's mostly an east side thing. Generally, while the forest lands on the west side of the mountains have much more thick vegetation, therefore more fuel, there are less fires due to the average moist weather and higher humidity. It quits raining in the summer every year, but even then it takes a real long spell to make the forests tinder dry. This year is very unusual in that things are completely dried up.
 

markojp

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Norse Peak Fire


On 4th September 2017 / By Tiana Anderson / In Blog - Summer, Blog - Winter, News

Update 9/5/17 11:10am: The fire has become less active but fire crews are still monitoring it very closely. We are waiting for the thick smoke to clear enough for the Forest Service to launch helicopter water drops. Sprinklers have been placed around the Gold Hills community.
 

markojp

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From the Gorge:

 

Jwrags

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@markojp, that video is just frightening. That fire started from a couple of teenagers lighting off fireworks and now has burned over 10,000 acres and is threatening lots of homes as well as spread across the river to light fires on the Washington side. The amount of smoke here in Portland is amazing. The kids after school activities have all been cancelled or moved indoors.
 

Tom K.

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I'm 30 miles east of that shitstorm. So sad. Closed freeways, closed State Highways, closed RR lines, etc..

One teenager, some fireworks, and apparently, no brain.

There should be at least a mild "back blow" tonight through the next few days, which may help the efforts of the hundreds of fire fighters.
 

Tricia

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Just a little over an hour ago Kim posted this update on her wall. Makes me wonder if they're out of the woods (so to speak) yet.
The USFS Red Team arrived at Crystal today. They are currently removing brush and limbs around the cabins at the base of the Blvd. The wind shifted to NW, which they fear puts the cabins in danger. While they know these structures are indefensible, they are doing all they can to mitigate. They are also taking the same measures at the clubs. There will be a public meeting at the Greenwater Fire Station at 6pm tonight.
 

Bad Bob

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About 1910 +/- there was a fire year that surpassed this and a book and video that tell about it. "The Big Burn", which is available on Netflix (or was) is worth spending an hour with. It shows the devastation of fires in the PNW. If you are a history buff and the fires terrify you, and they should, watch it.

If you don't like it turn it off.
 

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