Check-in with Spination

[Azuleja]

Just making sure you're okay? I woke up to read there are fire evacuations and structure losses in Sonoma and Napa around the 101.

[Spination]

Thank you for your kind consideration. Power just restored, but it's chaos all around. Here's a photo I took with my camera circa 9 AM. That red ball is all you can see of the sun, through the smoke in every direction.

2017 10 09 North Bay on fire.jpg (31.32 KiB) Viewed 1951 times

Roads are closed, so we couldn't get out of here if we wanted. There's fires burning east, west, north, and south... yet we are spared. Prayers to so many who are evacuated, displaced and finding out their homes are gone... as in Santa Rosa, a mere 10 miles or so north. The winds wreaked havoc, sending burning embers scattering and starting new fires miles away. The news is plastered with nothing but this story. Lake County, Napa, Sonoma, Solano counties... they don't have the resources to fight the fires, they're just trying to save lives. Kaiser hospital in Santa Rosa completely evacuated... it's surreal.

Ironically, my dad is home now for one week after 2 months in Kaiser hospitals for care and rehab. I was supposed to bring him for an appointment @ Kaiser this AM... obviously that's not happening today. Just finished taking care of him this AM (breakfast, meds, etc), now he's taking another nap.

Just staying inside. The air outside is really bad...

Good luck to all those who are dealing with much worse. Very lucky here...

[Azuleja]

Thank you for checking in and I'm glad you're safe. Prayers for the safety of emergency personnel and everyone affected. Watch out for those Embers. They travel far when the wind gets going. I also read they can smell the smoke in SF.

[Spination]

Thank you.
I was trying to do some clean up from the wind's "work" overnight (what a mess!), but after 1/2 hour, just started coughing... very smoky air. Keeping a watch on the hills to the immediate west. 5 miles south, "Sears Point" (home of Sonoma International Raceway) is supposed to be burning (according to the news on TV). According to an online news source, fire in Schellville, but I don't see it. That's exactly where we are, but not sure how close it would have to be to see it through the smoke. A blessing is there's no appreciable wind right now (here), so hopefully emergency and fire resources can get a handle on the disaster(s) in progress.

[Stone Jaguar]

Hi, Tom.

Missed this entirely until I just saw Azuleja's post. Whoof! Had no idea there was a fire ragin up your parts. Scary stuff. Keep safe.

Jay

[Azuleja]

I can't fathom how quickly this blew up, I guess because it started in the middle of the night? News is reporting 1,500 structures destroyed, people literally running for their lives and some who are unaccounted for. The fires (multiple) are jumping and spotting all over because of the wind. Do you have a particle mask and goggles? It's impossible to breathe or think when the smoke gets thick like that. If you can, spray down your roof and cover your attic vents to keep embers from flying in and please be ready to leave. It reminds me of the Lake Co. fire two years ago which is really hard to imagine.

For those out of the area here is the LA Times coverage.

[Jkwinston]

Very sorry to hear about the fire Tom. I have just seen a video report from the area on Yahoo, and it looks very very bad, absolutely destructive. Keep the faith. Jkw

[AgaveMad]

Just seen this Tom. Fingers crossed you are ok and the fire keeps away

[Spination]

Thanks. Very fortunate here. No problem at all by comparison to what's on the news.

I feel great empathy for those much more affected than I. The local TV stations are non-stop coverage of this declared state of emergency. I'm spending most of my time indoors, as the air is too smoky to spend more than 1/2 hour at a time outside. To only have to deal with the smoke is pretty lucky when knowing what others are facing not far away at all.
Nothing much to do but stay put and try not to focus too much on it. I've got a lot of watering going on outside in back, so areas are nice and wet just in case. Not much more I can do otherwise.

So, a larger pot for this seemed like a good distraction... old pot was bulging and now there's more room for the pups developing

2017 10 09 Agave photos g.jpg (106.64 KiB) Viewed 1922 times

Snapped a few other photos while I was at it. Note the eerie lighting from the yellow light filtering down on this plant through the smoke-filled sky

2017 10 09 Agave photos e.jpg (101.74 KiB) Viewed 1922 times

Not sure if this image really shows it very well, but this is the view (the smoky skies) from any direction. Those hills are very close, and the smoke makes them look very distant.

IMG_5178.JPG (65.91 KiB) Viewed 1922 times

More distractions to help avoid thinking about the situations surrounding.

2017 10 09 Agave photos a.jpg (98.52 KiB) Viewed 1922 times

2017 10 09 Agave photos b.jpg (98.96 KiB) Viewed 1922 times

2017 10 09 Agave photos c.jpg (227.04 KiB) Viewed 1922 times

2017 10 09 Agave photos d.jpg (89.22 KiB) Viewed 1922 times

2017 10 09 Agave photos f.jpg (107.77 KiB) Viewed 1922 times

[Azuleja]

All beautiful, every one and the opuntias too. Grass in the surrounding fields looks cut down to dirt, excellent. I especially like the A. asperrima. Not something you see often at all and the Blue Glow is stunning. I fear it was an arsonist. Can't see what else. I can't even verbalize how I feel about them. There aren't even words. We had one 4 yrs ago and one of his fires came literally within 30 feet of our yard. He has a hearing this week and I just can't believe they're consider releasing him back into the community he tried to destroy.

[Stone Jaguar]

Tom, glad to read that you feel like you're good. I am watching TV news for first time in ages...what a nightmare. When I was driving to Woodside this morning at 530 hrs, was surprised to see a huge convoy of emergency vehicles with sirens on, ripping north on the 101. Had no idea what it was about until I checked the forum and saw the thread. It looks like every fire department in the region are battling this fire.

Azuleja. Tragically, I fear you are right. What a coincidence that multiple spot fires ripped out of nowhere up into the wind storms.

J

[Spination]

Thanks all.

Azul, I feel the same way about anyone who would wreak havoc on others, in the many and myriad ways we are seeing these days all too often.

At 6 am, the phone rang...I got out of bed wondering who the heck had no concept of waking/sleeping hours, only to discover a well-meaning friend was thoughtfully calling to warn of the situation surrounding. TV went on, news mentioned 20 or so fires burning concurrently, and the immediate thought that popped into my mind was... "that has to be arson". How can so many fires all at once not be? Although there's no official word, it looks as if the high winds caused downed power wires, which started fires, and wind and airborne embers did the rest. According to the just recent news, there's no containment, homes are still burning, but hopefully the worst is over. I have no clue, but it's not like this thing is now sneaking up on anyone in the middle of the night. Massive efforts are underway and likely to continue for who knows how long.

Also on the live news coverage in the last hour, a reporter stopped to interview young men who were saving a house from approaching fire. Apparently, they just lived in the neighborhood, didn't know who owned the house, but felt compelled to stop, grab hoses, and stop that fire from devouring the house imperiled. Pretty amazing! I've seen it again and again over the years, but the worst often seems to bring out the best in people, when push comes to shove.

The good news for us right exactly here, is the wind is picking up, and now coming in from the ocean, and has pushed all the smoke just east of us. To the west, those hills pictured previously are clear - to the east, there's a wall of gray. Nice to go outside and breathe some fresh, clean air.

The bad news is that very same wind which seems to be picking up is going to make it hell for fire-fighting efforts under way...

Azul - that Blue Flame at the end is a sister plant to yours - both came from the same original cored specimen.

[Gee.S]

Good luck! We encounter wild files and recent wild fire damage all the time out in habitat, but have never had it threaten my home.

[Stan]

Takes more then that to bring down an Agaveville member- humph!
We were in Fremont and the haze reached there..

[Steph115]

Glad you're okay Spiny. Eerie is definitely the right way to describe the lighting in those photos.

[Viegener]

We're rooting for you.

Don't exert yourself in the smoky air...

[Spination]

We had a brief respite from the acrid smoky air, thanks to a breeze that kicked up this afternoon and cleared out the smoke and just barely pushed it a bit to our east. At that moment, on this strangest of days, it was a juxtaposition of two realities, depending on whether one was facing east or west. In one direction, a relatively clear sky, and in the opposite, a wall of smoke. Not long after, the breeze died and the air surrounding once again resumed it's permeating, smoky stink, which is how things stand at this hour. Doors and windows have been shut all day, but the stale air inside is far better than the stench of smoke outdoors. Still, very lucky our immediate area escaped harm. In a matter of time, the smoke will completely clear out... but the scars of damage and loss left behind on those less fortunate will last a great deal longer.

[Azuleja]

If you want to see what you're breathing, which you probably don't, shine a flashlight into the air outside. Southern California, Orange County, is getting hit too. Santa Ana and Diablo winds. I didn't realize you guys got those too.

[Spination]

So, just tried that. Yikes! I guess another clue is the odd coloration of the moon...

[mickthecactus]

I'm on holiday in Spain so a bit out of touch.

Really hope all goes well for you Spiny.

Mick.

[Spination]

I was thinking things would clarify a bit today - yikes! Don't know how it could be worse, but it is... by a long shot. I was outside for 10 minutes, and my clothes smell like they've been in a fire.
That telephone pole almost in the middle of the photo is near, but it's almost invisible. Was going to drive into town; I think I'll just skip it for today.

2017 10 10 Smoke City a.jpg (40.12 KiB) Viewed 1862 times

[Agave_fan]

That is a lot of smoke so avoiding the drive into town and staying indoors might be best.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and everyone dealing with this horrible situation. Be safe

[Spination]

So, it still stinks outside. Home has been sealed up to keep that smell on the outside. Looking forward to being able to air it out in a few days, with any luck. Got some ocean inland-headed air from the west to clear it out a little late today, and I just saw the following scene outside to really depict how bad it is not far away and where some of that smoke is coming from. If it's still smoky here, and it looks like that there... I just can't imagine how bad that is right in the middle of it! I mentioned it repeatedly, but I'll say it again. We are so lucky. What a difference a couple of miles in pretty much any direction makes. I drove up to the corner to get past the trees in the way, and those hills are just on the other side of downtown Sonoma itself, roughly northeast of where we are. That giant plume is being fed by fires currently burning on those hills. When the breeze dies down, that stuff is going to be wafting back our way, and the AM tomorrow will probably be just like the one today.

2017 10 10 Smoke City evening Sonoma Hills.jpg (12.77 KiB) Viewed 1845 times

[Stan]

Today at 4:30..like twilight.

[Spination]

Worst smoke day yet.
1 PM in the afternoon. I can't recall ever being able to look right at the sun in the middle of the day.

IMG_5213.JPG (12.24 KiB) Viewed 1821 times

north, south, east, west... no difference. Smoke, smoke, smoke, and more smoke.

IMG_5215.JPG (57.44 KiB) Viewed 1821 times