Western Railroad Discussion > Southern Oregon Fires

Fires burning around Ashland/Medford and Chiloquin.  Appears to be more in NorCal.

Evacuations ongoing, I5 and Hwy 97 have had or have closures.  Hard to find information, could very well be railroad issues.  

sphogger

For those not aware, this website tracks all reported range fires in the U.S.:

inciweb.nwcg.gov

You can zoom in by state

I've been visiting daily because of a massive fire to the west of Ft. Collins.

They opened up I-5 at Ashland last night around 9 pm. Haven't heard anything about the RR at Chiloquin, there's been a few trains through Dunsmuir, the SB Amtrak is about 6 hours late, NB on time.

KF has a news site:
https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/local_news/8-a-m-update-two-four-two-fire-at-10-000-acres-and-still-growing/article_41f0c759-6244-5cdf-b9d9-76bedb29ce9b.html

Hiway 101 was probably closed due to the fire just north of Willits, too many fires for the Media to keep track of. Yep, theres some great websites for tracking raw data and others for tracking evacuations, many of them have been linked on the many TO posts.

+ TrainOrders has a few members in the Chiloquin area which is also where Train Mountain complex is. The news info says the fire stayed north of town, just above the Collier Logging museum for example. Apparently the campgrounds were over run but not the Museum.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/20 08:57 by TCnR.

Train Mountain is mentioned a number of times in this article, a couple of people photos:
https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/local_news/chiloquin-area-residents-flee-two-four-two-fire/article_42472a51-ce43-5bd2-ad9f-41202217ad11.html

The Medford / Ashland fire is highlighted in this article:
https://wildfiretoday.com/2020/09/09/glendowner-fire-burns-toward-medford-oregon/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/20 10:43 by TCnR.

Had friends up at Collins lake in Nor Cal get evacuated at 1am. They had to leave their boat behind.

At 11am here in the Bay Area it looks as of the sun went down half an hour ago. So weird. Best of luck to all our Oregan and Washington friends.

One of my buds has friends out near Estacada.As of yesterday they had fires all around.Apparently this guy has an extensive collection of restored classic sports cars on the property.I hope they were able to save it all.
Regards,DK

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There's a terrible beauty in those pictures. Thanks for sharing

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> There's a terrible beauty in those pictures.
> Thanks for sharing
They made it through last night,but this morning wind picked up again bad ,and Sherrif came and told em to evacuate.
DK

Railroad through and north of Chiloquin has not been effected. Fire stayed on the west side of the tracks. Fire train consisting of one unit and three cars spotted in the old Team track at Chiloquin.
Smoke generally blowing toward the west and fire now several miles west of the mainline. There may be some concern around MP VP 463 but heard nothing recently.
Fire over 10000 acres.

Steve Panzik
Chiloquin, Or

Unbelievable.  CORP runs in that corridor.   Hopefully our trainorder friends are OK.  https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2020/09/wildfire-cuts-swath-of-destruction-in-southern-oregon-phoenix-and-talent-pretty-well-devastated.html

eljay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For those not aware, this website tracks all
> reported range fires in the U.S.:
>
> inciweb.nwcg.gov
>
> You can zoom in by state
>
> I've been visiting daily because of a massive fire
> to the west of Ft. Collins.

That is not exactly true. Inciweb tracks fires that affect Federal lands or to which Federal wildland firefighting resources are assigned.  Many wildland fires that burn on private or state lands never make it to Inciweb.  Inciweb is a great resource, but it is not all-inclusive.

WW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> eljay Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > For those not aware, this website tracks all
> > reported range fires in the U.S.:
> >
> > inciweb.nwcg.gov
> >
> > You can zoom in by state
> >
> > I've been visiting daily because of a massive
> fire
> > to the west of Ft. Collins.
>
> That is not exactly true. Inciweb tracks fires
> that affect Federal lands or to which Federal
> wildland firefighting resources are assigned. 
> Many wildland fires that burn on private or state
> lands never make it to Inciweb.  Inciweb is a
> great resource, but it is not all-inclusive.
----------------------------
I concur.
There are some mid-scale events that are below the Inciweb threshhold, yet do not appear on local (official) reporting sites.

In my locale, we have neighbors on bicycles reporting to neighbors REAL-TIME actionable info, while the official info is delayed to such an extent that it is laughable.

In  a recent case, I recieved a revese 911 evacuation order  25 minutes AFTER a fire had passed its closest point of approach to my house.
I remained on my roof with significant apparatus.
Street cred = nil.

As to the mainstream media? Don't even bother.
Case in point -
"As you can see, the hill behind me is on fire" (verbatim quote).
OK sweet cheeks, exactly where are you?
What direction is the camera facing?
Absoutely devoid of actionable info.
Use your own brain!
...Lorenzo

Using your own brain to assess situations is always a good idea.  And, adjusting your plan as facts on the ground change...

CBS had a soil moisture map on the tube this morning. Most of eastern OR ID WA much of WY and CA is in extreme drought situation.  Anything could start a brush fire. A dragging chain, backfire, lightning, etc.

The best thing to use in what’s happening is common sense. I spent 3 hours one morning online trying to get a fire update but got nowhere. Around Woodburn, Oregon, where I live. If I stood on my roof with my camera I would have many smoky shots of the surrounding 3/4 mile. The news is Not the place for news. It’s either so late it’s worthless or totally out of perspective and the bit of what I get from locals can turn my thoughts around in a big hurry. Besides, the locals are doing half of the actual fighting partially because there’s not enough firefighters. But I guess it sounds like they’re firefighters.

Posted from iPhone

567Chant Wrote:
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> I remained on my roof with significant apparatus.
> Street cred = nil.

I don't live in a rural area or nestled in the woods, but it is an old suburban neighborhood (1954) with a profusion of substantial trees (after all, it is western Washington). I remember an emergency response seminar I attended, given by the Seattle fire chief. He pointed out that in the event of a major emergency like a No 9 earthquake, there are about 1,000 of them and 600,000 of us, so don't wait around for help. I'm starting to think the same of urban wildfire and considering the feasibility of buying three lengths of 2 1/2 inch hose, a nozzle, and a hydrant wrench for just in case (there's a hydrant across the street). That sounds absurd and feels absurd, but....

TAW

567Chant Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> As to the mainstream media? Don't even bother.
> Case in point -
> "As you can see, the hill behind me is on fire"
> (verbatim quote).
> OK sweet cheeks, exactly where are you?
> What direction is the camera facing?
> Absoutely devoid of actionable info.
> Use your own brain!

All they pay attention to is a dramatic scene to shoot a stand up while they blither about nothing in particular except the obvious. I came home from work one day after handling a trespasser strike fatality at Golden Gardens park in Seattle. The loction is a curve with a visibility of maybe 200 feet in a 35 mph speed limit approached from 45 mph. There was a TV news story about it, the reporter standing in the middle of Main 1 (the track they guy was on when he got hit) as was the camera man, describing how the trespasser was struck - "right on this spot!" I called the TV station and was assured 'it's ok, they weren't on the track very long!

TAW

It's said that the most likely thing to break in a big earthquake are the underground water pipes. In the outer areas the water supply is haphazard if you even have one. Often folks use low volume wells for clean water.
For emergencies, many folks are moving to their own gas powered water pumps (for fires) and generators (for the fridge), along with a pool, or decorative water feature. If you have a big pool or pond the helicopters and ground crews will use it. Web sites like ThePrepared, and many similar sites, have links to Amazon for all sorts of thoughtful equipment. YT is getting lots of similar Videos, but also lots of junk.
The problem with common sense is it's not very common.

> -----
 I'm starting to
> think the same of urban wildfire and considering
> the feasibility of buying three lengths of 2 1/2
> inch hose, a nozzle, and a hydrant wrench for just
> in case (there's a hydrant across the street).
> That sounds absurd and feels absurd, but....
>
> TAW

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Using your own brain to assess situations is
> always a good idea.  And, adjusting your plan as
> facts on the ground change...
>
> CBS had a soil moisture map on the tube this
> morning. Most of eastern OR ID WA much of WY and
> CA is in extreme drought situation.  Anything
> could start a brush fire. A dragging chain,
> backfire, lightning, etc.

Here is link to the current U.S. Drought Monitor.  Much of the west is very dry.

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

We're definitely not dry over this way, but if your area is or you'd like clean water storage, 55-gallon corn syrup drums are food-safe, cheap and don't rust. If you want to avoid "stale water" problems, you can set them up on the line to your garden hose so water flushes through continually, though you may not want to do that if your area gets a lot of boil orders. If that's the case, just fill the barrel and, when it's needed, use a small amount (SMALL! As the label directs!) of chlorine bleach if it smells off. Be sure the storage area you choose can support a fully loaded barrel because those suckers are heavy. A cheap new barrel pump will make use easier, but isn't vital.

Rebecca Morgan
Jacobsburg, OH

TCnR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's said that the most likely thing to break in a
> big earthquake are the underground water pipes.

Near me, fire won't be a huge problem after an EQ. For water supply, there is a lake about 1000 feet (and 150 feet elevation below) from me and water purification stuff on hand. The hoseline would be for urban wildfire from other (and nowadays more likely) sources. We don't have near enough fire equipment in the area to draw enough to overdraw the water supply.


> The problem with common sense is it's not very
> common.
>

...in so many areas, in so many ways.

TAW