Largest wild fire in Texas history

03 March 2024, 03:40

jdollar

quote:
Originally posted by Jefffive:
The Governor was too busy auditioning to be Trump's VP, surrounded by the Texas National Guard, to worry about such trifles.

It would be hard to fight a fire from a wheelchair…And I seriously doubt he has the training to direct the effort. But feel free to make stupid, inane comments.

03 March 2024, 03:45

Jefffive

quote:
Originally posted by jdollar:
quote:
Originally posted by Jefffive:
The Governor was too busy auditioning to be Trump's VP, surrounded by the Texas National Guard, to worry about such trifles.

It would be hard to fight a fire from a wheelchair…And I seriously doubt he has the training to direct the effort. But feel free to make stupid, inane comments.

And most of the Texas National Guard, who do have the training and equipment, are at the border for a dog-and-pony show over a non-existent "crisis".

Including the Adjutant who was pictured standing behind Trump in an Air Force uniform.

03 March 2024, 16:48

jdollar

So what’s happening at the Texas border isn’t a crisis? Then why did Senate Democrats vote for a new border security bill? Why are thousands of illegals poring across daily in an unchecked migrant flow? Good thing Tennessee isn’t a border state…….

03 March 2024, 19:48

Jefffive

quote:
Originally posted by jdollar:
So what’s happening at the Texas border isn’t a crisis? Then why did Senate Democrats vote for a new border security bill? Why are thousands of illegals poring across daily in an unchecked migrant flow? Good thing Tennessee isn’t a border state…….

It's certainly an issue that needs to be addressed, and the remaining adults in D.C. made a good faith effort to address it, but it's only a "crisis" in the minds of those determined to save it as a campaign issue for the Orange Mussolini, because he has nothing else to run on. The economy is far better by every metric, his attempt to destroy NATO for Putin failed miserably, his SCOTUS picks overturning Roe v Wade is backfiring, without a "crisis" at the border he has nothing.

03 March 2024, 22:23

Scott King

What is the cause of this fire? Drought, poor land management?

I know you guys have seen that now on some urban public lands the local governments are paying grazers to reduce fuel load since they stop letting grazers pay to let their livestock out on public land decades ago.

03 March 2024, 22:24

Jefffive

quote:
Originally posted by Scott King:
What is the cause of this fire? Drought, poor land management?

I know you guys have seen that now on some urban public lands the local governments are paying grazers to reduce fuel load since they stop letting grazers pay to let their livestock out on public land decades ago.

Obviously, Texas didn't rake their grasslands...

03 March 2024, 22:27

bluefish

quote:
Originally posted by Jefffive:
quote:
Originally posted by jdollar:
So what’s happening at the Texas border isn’t a crisis? Then why did Senate Democrats vote for a new border security bill? Why are thousands of illegals poring across daily in an unchecked migrant flow? Good thing Tennessee isn’t a border state…….

It's certainly an issue that needs to be addressed, and the remaining adults in D.C. made a good faith effort to address it, but it's only a "crisis" in the minds of those determined to save it as a campaign issue for the Orange Mussolini, because he has nothing else to run on. The economy is far better by every metric, his attempt to destroy NATO for Putin failed miserably, his SCOTUS picks overturning Roe v Wade is backfiring, without a "crisis" at the border he has nothing.

Jeez having a secure house is no biggie got it. Douche.

03 March 2024, 22:40

Jefffive

quote:
Originally posted by bluefish:
quote:
Originally posted by Jefffive:
quote:
Originally posted by jdollar:
So what’s happening at the Texas border isn’t a crisis? Then why did Senate Democrats vote for a new border security bill? Why are thousands of illegals poring across daily in an unchecked migrant flow? Good thing Tennessee isn’t a border state…….

It's certainly an issue that needs to be addressed, and the remaining adults in D.C. made a good faith effort to address it, but it's only a "crisis" in the minds of those determined to save it as a campaign issue for the Orange Mussolini, because he has nothing else to run on. The economy is far better by every metric, his attempt to destroy NATO for Putin failed miserably, his SCOTUS picks overturning Roe v Wade is backfiring, without a "crisis" at the border he has nothing.

Jeez having a secure house is no biggie got it. Douche.

Undocumented immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than American Citizens, so their presence actually reduces the overall crime rate.

The Boebert family in Colorado has a much higher per capita crime rate than undocumented immigrants.

03 March 2024, 22:43

jdollar

Numbers matter. There are only a few Boeberts but millions of illegals.Simple math for simple minds, I guess….

03 March 2024, 22:47

Jefffive

quote:
Originally posted by jdollar:
Numbers matter. There are only a few Boeberts but millions of illegals.Simple math for simple minds, I guess….

I thought my use of simple words like "per capita" would help folks but I guess it wasn't simple enough.

03 March 2024, 23:05

Bill/Oregon

Scott, range fires are a natural and important part of the prairie/plains ecosystem, but this one started in a perfect storm of weather conditions with unusually high winds, unusually high temperatures and unusually low humidity. The average temperature for Amarillo on Feb. 26 is 58, but it was 81 with winds gusting beyond 60 the day of the ignitions. The cause is still under investigation but the Panhandle is under yet another day of Red Flag conditions and has the Smokehouse Creek Fire has the potential to grow by 1500 acres PER HOUR today, according to incident command.

04 March 2024, 00:42

jdollar

quote:
Originally posted by Jefffive:
quote:
Originally posted by jdollar:
Numbers matter. There are only a few Boeberts but millions of illegals.Simple math for simple minds, I guess….

I thought my use of simple words like "per capita" would help folks but I guess it wasn't simple enough.

If one person out of a 2 person group commits a crime, that’s a 50% occurrence rate. Is that simple enough for you? It’s simply stupid to compare 1 family to hundreds of thousand of people. Overall numbers matter, simpleton..

04 March 2024, 01:17

Mike Mitchell

Again....Undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than US citizens.

https://www.cato.org/blog/ille...ht-illegal-immigrant

https://www.usatoday.com/story...-higher/72788637007/

https://www.washingtonpost.com...l-immigration-crime/

There are literally dozens of studies that support this conclusion.

04 March 2024, 01:34

Jefffive

quote:
Originally posted by jdollar:
quote:
Originally posted by Jefffive:
quote:
Originally posted by jdollar:
Numbers matter. There are only a few Boeberts but millions of illegals.Simple math for simple minds, I guess….

I thought my use of simple words like "per capita" would help folks but I guess it wasn't simple enough.

If one person out of a 2 person group commits a crime, that’s a 50% occurrence rate. Is that simple enough for you? It’s simply stupid to compare 1 family to hundreds of thousand of people. Overall numbers matter, simpleton..

One?

Every known Boebert old enough to be charged as an adult has been.

04 March 2024, 01:37

jdollar

I don’t doubt that a bit. But if there were far fewer of them, there would be a proportionately far fewer crimes….

04 March 2024, 01:39

jdollar

quote:
Originally posted by Jefffive:
quote:
Originally posted by jdollar:
quote:
Originally posted by Jefffive:
quote:
Originally posted by jdollar:
Numbers matter. There are only a few Boeberts but millions of illegals.Simple math for simple minds, I guess….

I thought my use of simple words like "per capita" would help folks but I guess it wasn't simple enough.

If one person out of a 2 person group commits a crime, that’s a 50% occurrence rate. Is that simple enough for you? It’s simply stupid to compare 1 family to hundreds of thousand of people. Overall numbers matter, simpleton..

One?

Every known Boebert old enough to be charged as an adult has been.

You are simply too stupid to see a simple fact. How can you compare a single family to thousands of people? Truly hopeless.

04 March 2024, 02:17

Scott King

quote:
Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Scott, range fires are a natural and important part of the prairie/plains ecosystem, but this one started in a perfect storm of weather conditions with unusually high winds, unusually high temperatures and unusually low humidity. The average temperature for Amarillo on Feb. 26 is 58, but it was 81 with winds gusting beyond 60 the day of the ignitions. The cause is still under investigation but the Panhandle is under yet another day of Red Flag conditions and has the Smokehouse Creek Fire has the potential to grow by 1500 acres PER HOUR today, according to incident command.

Bill I moved out of California back in the 90's, so I have some history with wildfires as an observer.

The logging industry in California was killed in the 70's and80's I suppose. While driving to hunt somewhere rural it was very normal to pass sawmills along rural California highways. By the 90's most of those mills were shuttered.

By the late 90's the fire- fuel load left around was eye popping. My family kept their properties clean, not so much by raking,

but with management that could include grazing, control burning and logging. There was a large wildfire recently that started on some of my family's property. When it went through their place it smoked the grass, scorched the oak trees, burned the used tire pile and got an old pole barn abandoned for two or three decades. That fire didn't turn into an inferno til it got to the government ground that hadn't been managed in a century.

It still surprises me after all this time and lessons that could be learned to see land not practically managed in an effort to avoid disasterous fires.

04 March 2024, 04:51

Jefffive

I'll bet a lot of ranchers are pissed when they realize the USDA Livestock Loss program expired with the last Farm Bill and the Republican House didn't get around to reauthorizing it.

Probably be Biden's fault...

04 March 2024, 05:26

jdollar

Piss poor deflection/misdirection. Is that the best you can do??

04 March 2024, 06:56

rabbithabit

The Texas National Guard doesn't have the equipment or training to fight grass fires. Neither do a lot of big city fire departments. Sometimes we have as many law enforcement people at our grass fires as there are firefighters

04 March 2024, 08:13

Aspen Hill Adventures

Every single illegal has broken the law. They should not be here and do not belong here.

Immigrate legally. The path is there. Lots of people do it.

05 March 2024, 06:44

gsganzer

I was just in Borger the other week doing some work at the Phillips 66 refinery. These fires started the day after I left.

I always feel for the ranchers. Miles and miles of fencing to be repaired on top of all the other issues.

05 March 2024, 18:14

Bill/Oregon

Scott, I am an Oregonian who went to high school in Humboldt County in the late 60s, early 70s. Dad was a forestry professor, so I grew up not just in the woods, but around the timber industry and remember all the family wage jobs associated with every little mill and wigwam burner.
When the industry began its death spiral and the mills and dry kilns and wigwams went quiet, you are right that it did not take long at all for the fuel loadings to get out of control. A recipe for total disaster if there ever was one. When I lived in south-central New Mexico a few years back, I did a lot of hiking in the Lincoln National Forest -- famous for the fire that gave us the real Smokey Bear -- and the fuel loads and ladder fuels buildup made it just plain creepy to be in those forests once the weather began to warm. (It is just a matter of time before communities such as Cloudcroft and Ruidoso are left in ashes.)
Decades as an Oregon newspaper editor gave me a front-row seat for the wildfires we struggled through -- and the ongoing effort to educate "wildland interface" residents that they simply MUST practice brush and fuel management -- and build defensive perimeters around their homes. Sometimes the lessons soaked in, but there were always the damned idiots who turned a deaf ear and continue to put themselves and their neighbors at risk.

05 March 2024, 18:25

ledvm

In the scope of cattle numbers in the Panhandle…the numbers of cattle lost are pretty negligible.

There will be a forage shortage and ranchers will have to scramble to supplement but due to the time of the year…these pastures will replenish quickly. Many ranches actually do controlled burns in February/March for pasture improvement.

Of course fencing and equipment losses are huge for some but insurance will help with that.

With the common use of steel T-posts (actually invented for this reason) and steel-pipe corners…fencing holds up pretty well to grass fires.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Lane Easter, DVM

A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House

No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991.

05 March 2024, 21:38

Scott King

quote:
Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Scott, I am an Oregonian who went to high school in Humboldt County in the late 60s, early 70s. Dad was a forestry professor, so I grew up not just in the woods, but around the timber industry and remember all the family wage jobs associated with every little mill and wigwam burner.
When the industry began its death spiral and the mills and dry kilns and wigwams went quiet, you are right that it did not take long at all for the fuel loadings to get out of control. A recipe for total disaster if there ever was one. When I lived in south-central New Mexico a few years back, I did a lot of hiking in the Lincoln National Forest -- famous for the fire that gave us the real Smokey Bear -- and the fuel loads and ladder fuels buildup made it just plain creepy to be in those forests once the weather began to warm. (It is just a matter of time before communities such as Cloudcroft and Ruidoso are left in ashes.)
Decades as an Oregon newspaper editor gave me a front-row seat for the wildfires we struggled through -- and the ongoing effort to educate "wildland interface" residents that they simply MUST practice brush and fuel management -- and build defensive perimeters around their homes. Sometimes the lessons soaked in, but there were always the damned idiots who turned a deaf ear and continue to put themselves and their neighbors at risk.

"Wigwam Burner"

I am looking right at it in my minds eye.