keep your fingers crossed from me please

[atr]

Guys,
the Conconully WA. wildfire is only 5 miles from my cabin....
keep your fingers crossed for me please.
if it heads any further west the cabin burns
atr

[Harter66]

Sorry to hear it .

Will you be able to rebuild "bigger better and stronger" if you lose it ?

[atr]

rebuilding will most likely not be an option...

[Artful]

Praying for good results for you.

[blackthorn]

You are in my thoughts. I was in basically the same position last week. Fortunately for me they got the fire out.

[jcren]

Prayers for all those threatened by the fires. Grass/prairie fires are a common thing here and you have my sympathies.

[lightman]

Good Luck Brother, Wishing you the best!

[MrWolf]

In our prayers, good luck.

[Hawks Feather]

Sorry to read this. I hope that they get it under control or it changes direction.

[bullet maker 57]

Good luck. I hope they get it out soon.

[azrednek]

rebuilding will most likely not be an option...

My brother had similar dilemma. He has good insurance and if the fire hadn't been stopped. He could have rebuilt spending little or none of his own money. He ruled out rebuilding because his cabin would have been in the middle of a burned out forest. Not in the middle of the huge pine forest that he paid a premium price for.

Don't be afraid to question fire fighting authorities or go to the media if necessary. If it appears as though they put more resources into protecting government property or the property of the politically well connected.

[dilly]

I'm not much for finger crossing but I will appeal to God for you that He will spare your cabin or deal mercifully with you in other ways if He chooses to take your cabin.

[Bzcraig]

Praying for you and yours and the safety of your cabin!

[bayjoe]

Hoping the best for ya

[BNE]

Praying for you.

[trails4u]

atr,

I am a firefighter with a federal agency, and I will assure you, we are doing all we can right now. I know I may catch some flak for admitting my fed affiliation, but I don't really care, as we are in a fire season like many of us have never seen. For perspective, there are over 25,000 of us dispatched on fires in the US today. I am home today from a 10 day assignment, and will be leaving my family again Friday for another 14-21 day assignment, likely in ID or WA. I pray for you, as I do every family threatened by wildfire, and I will make a personal promise to you that I will do all I can to protect you, your family and your property. EVERY firefighter worth his own salt will promise you the same.

God speed you and yours.

Trails.

[Mtnfolk75]

[QUOTE=azrednek;3349858]My brother had similar dilemma. He has good insurance and if the fire hadn't been stopped. He could have rebuilt spending little or none of his own money. He ruled out rebuilding because his cabin would have been in the middle of a burned out forest. Not in the middle of the huge pine forest that he paid a premium price for.

We are in the same boat as your brother, had to evacuate in June of 2014 for a fire that came within 1 mile of the cabin. We also have Great Insurance & could rebuild with no out of pocket money, but it just wouldn't be the same. Our cabin has been our full-time residence for the last 15+ and if it burns it would time to relocate and move on with out retirement years. FWIW, SWMBO was activated today and is enroute to the Rough Fire near Kings Canyon National Park. It really blew up over the last 36 hours & they are building a second base camp, 1141 Personnel assigned over 32k acres and 3% containment. I keep the OP in my prayers. Everybody be fire safe.

[Mtnfolk75]

atr,

I am a firefighter with a federal agency, and I will assure you, we are doing all we can right now. I know I may catch some flak for admitting my fed affiliation, but I don't really care, as we are in a fire season like many of us have never seen. For perspective, there are over 25,000 of us dispatched on fires in the US today. I am home today from a 10 day assignment, and will be leaving my family again Friday for another 14-21 day assignment, likely in ID or WA. I pray for you, as I do every family threatened by wildfire, and I will make a personal promise to you that I will do all I can to protect you, your family and your property. EVERY firefighter worth his own salt will promise you the same.

God speed you and yours.

Trails.

Prayers are up for your continued safety, be careful out there.

[trails4u]

Thank you Mtn... I don't want to hijack this thread.....atr's situation is very real, as you know personally, and we should be all be thinking of and praying for him, and many others in his situation right now.

I just felt compelled to tell a little bit about the human side of what we're doing as firefighters, in response to seeing some discussion about how the bureaucracy might work. We care, and I just wanted to make that point.

Thank you for your well wishes....it TRULY means a lot to all of us out there in it.

God Speed.

Trails.

[Mtnfolk75]

trails4u,

SWMBO is on her 14th season of Fire Camp work, started with a Laundry Unit & is now with the same company in a Mobile Base Camp ( Camp in the Box ). I was one of the originals in setting up that concept in 2004, that was enough for me. They sold the Laundry Unit in 2005 after Katrina & she went ove rto the Camp in the Box. I did some contract work in 2007 & 2008 as a Driver in Ground Support, after a career as an LEO it didn't take long for my body to decide it no longer enjoyed sleeping on then ground .... ;o)

[trails4u]

Good on you and your wife, Mtn! In all likelihood...we've crossed paths and not known it. :)

Now back to atr.... Prayers your way, my friend! I promise you....good people are in that fight.

[waksupi]

Bad news from the fire lines in Washington state today. Three killed, thousands evacuated.


http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/aug/19/three-firefighters-dead-near-twisp/

[trails4u]

God save their souls.... These are men/women deserving of the greatest honor. I have no words.....just tears.

[MaryB]

Prayers for all involved... not good...

[longranger]

Don't be afraid to question fire fighting authorities or go to the media if necessary. If it appears as though they put more resources into protecting government property or the property of the politically well connected.

Pure ignorance, and I resent that comment.How much firefighting have you done and for who ? I assure no such thing happens,what does happen is resources are applied to properties that have done their due diligence by providing something worth saving,clear space around buildings,good access,egress,water supply.If you have the forest growing up to your building,wood roof,big eaves,big windows,poor access/egress were not stopping or putting a single resource on that building it will deemed a "loser".Not any more complicated than that,we have no idea who owns what.You have city,county,state and federal firefighters on these fires and they perform marvelously with their given task.

[Teddy (punchie)]

GOD BLESS ALL INVOLVED !! As a firefighter many years ago Volunteer Dept. Most people have no idea the time it sucks up, responding to calls, training, money out of pocket (just for gasoline), not counting lost wages. I use to average 10-17 hours a week, if there was a class that was once a week and some lasted 6-8 weeks add up to 21 hours average.

We always looked out for one thing outstanding to govern which was protected "" LIFE "" Human first, then others (animals).
Next was personal property, House, pictures, guns. House is someones "" HOME "" . May not have enough insurance etc.
As for larger building (commercial) Most are metal framed and if no-one inside, we use the trim surround and drowned. Aver low temp. fire can easily get to 1200 deg. Metal starts to go as low as 400, by 800 is getting bad, 1200 it is asking for trouble STAY OUT!!

We called them brush fires, not forest fires. Any way Forest fire can be the worst. A house or structure as a basic construction, most houses have rooms of some basic plan. Now outside FOREST , Fuel amount ?? Wind ?? up hill - down hill?? Size ?? can and do change sometimes in a short distance or in a second. Even the size of a Forest fire make it own wind or draft.

BE Careful !! God Bless !! Teddy

[Harter66]

See here is the arrogant notion of typical late 20 something adrenaline junky .

I assure no such thing happens,what does happen is resources are applied to properties that have done their due diligence by providing something worth saving,clear space around buildings,good access,egress,water supply.

I did 10 yr as a Volunteer FF .I stomped brush ,cut up cars ,shoveled Haz-Mat,put out crawl spaces,water rescue and took an elderly couple home after a 9 volt battery took their home . I did it for free on on my time 24/7 for 10 yr.

It's not up to the command to decide what is worth saving. In forest lands I can assure that the 60 yo 3 room 800 Sq ft cabin with picture windows and a fire ring with 3 log benches on a bad road is infinitely more valuable to 4 generations starting a 5th there than the million dollar manor on a mile of asphalt .

Fact
People
Yourself/buddy
Pets without risk
Property without risk
Risk to personnel is only exceptible to save people and prevent catastrophic ranging damages.

That is the protocol list ,it is occasionally superceded by human nature.

[atr]

trails4u......

I care less for my cabin then I do for the safety of the crews fighting the fires.
Be careful out there
atr

[Mtnfolk75]

trails4u......

I care less for my cabin then I do for the safety of the crews fighting the fires.
Be careful out there
atr

I agree 100% ATR, we can always find another place to live. My prayers are up for the USFS Firefighters who perished yesterday in WA, I hope the remaining members of that crew heal well. I will keep the safety of your cabin in my prayers also.

[longranger]

See here is the arrogant notion of typical late 20 something adrenaline junky .

32 years of professional firefighting experience hardly makes me a "20 something adrenaline junkie" What I said happens all the time and is how it's done,like it or not that's the facts.

[Harter66]

Thank you for reading the whole post . It means the world to me .........

[DR Owl Creek]

Prayers sent for you!

Dave

[Harter66]

If it is lost it would be a shame not to rebuild . Not for yourself but for the next generation. This is an opportunity to cut out the dead wood and build in the fire break wall with tight stacked cord wood . To plant a few fast growing firs and some slower mast oaks for high canopies. If desired to make the cabin a really comfortable retreat of "High value and ease of protection" to show" it is worth saving".
The burn out won't last forever the trees that survive will be in foliage in the spring those that don't pose a threat to life and property remove them and cord row them for the kids to burn in 10 yr (or sell it to buy saplings to replant). Dig out that low spot and line it for the wildlife to water expand the cabin put the metal roof on and the wood boiler hot floor in it . Make the driveway 30 ft wide since the trees are gone or dead there's nothing to keep you from it .

Psst now it is a valuable place because it has a fire res. and you have spent the time to clear all the land for lawns instead of habitat which will be more quickly restored because of your efforts. In 5 years from the porch it will only be noted through the tree gaps and by the short trees in 10 yr you can think about removing the fast growing trees for the slower trees that are almost as big as the 5 yr firs in 15 the place won't hardly know there was a fire .

[trails4u]

Well spoken Harter.... The forest is a marvelous thing, and resilient....much more so than many of us. I would beg anyone suffering such a loss to rebuild if they can, as Harter said, if for no other reason than to keep the legacy alive. Far too many children experience 'the woods' these days, and every one of these cabins represents an opportunity to keep another generation of kids/grandkids/friends of kids, etc. in the woods. Harter is right...it will look different, but in just a few short years you will have the chance to teach your youngsters about fire-dependent ecosystems, about how a forest rebuilds itself, and about how man's past actions have changed the relationship between man/woods over the last couple hundred years. Great lessons for our youth....they're sure not learning that in schools these days!

Thank you all for your kind words. And atr, I apologize for distracting from your post. I really didn't want to hijack this, I just got a bit miffed at a few of the comments. I'll behave now. :)

God Speed.

Trails.

[Duckiller]

trails4u: don't apologize for your job. You are one of the few government employees that must do your job. About 20 years ago I worked for the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. Big builders got to the Board of Supervisors and merged us with the County Road Dept and the County Engineer. Firemen gave us their deepest sympathy. Flood Contrl and Forester and Fire Warden (fire dept) had been the two county departments that gave taxpayers value for taxes paid. With the merger Fire Dept was the last efficient County department.

[trails4u]

Thanks, Duck.....and to you all for your kind and supportive words. It's an uneasy thing admitting federal employment in some crowds these days, but as usual....the folks of this forum have shown their class and deeply, truly respectful nature. What a great place!

I'm likely ordered tomorrow to WA or ID....won't know which 'til I have the papers in hand. I'll be out of pocket for a couple of weeks...but just might stumble into atr. :) If I do....first beer's on me.

God Speed!

Trails.

[Harter66]

How's the cabin ?

[Pee Wee]

God bless the fire fighters

[atr]

so far as I can determine the cabin in still standing...I am heading over there next week for a 2-3 weeks to work on the place
will report when I return
thanks all
atr