Ace of Spades HQ

June 09, 2011

The Arizona Wildfires, In Pictures
— Ace

First of all, the wildfires are only five percent contained. That's out of control. But it's progress -- earlier in the day, they were at 0 percent.

With a bit of a respite from high winds, fire crews on Thursday afternoon were looking to slow the spread of the gigantic Wallow Fire which has burned 386,000 acres.
Officials reported that 5 percent containment on the fire, the first time a figure has been achieved.
...
Fire officials, however, said Thursday afternoon that fire destroyed 22 homes lost, damaged 5 others, as well as burned 24 other structures and a vehicle. Initial reports in the morning indicated only six structures were burned.

Dramatic pictures are collected at The Atlantic.

The one below isn't as dramatic as others... except it looks like a cabin on Mars.

Posted by: Ace at 07:53 PM | Comments (36)
Post contains 144 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Breaks my heart. Some one please tell me, how and when did we send firefighting aid to Mexico?

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 09, 2011 08:00 PM (UOM48)

2 I live in the Texas panhandle. The other morning the rising sun was red because of the smoke in the air from the fires in Arizona. I've seen this only one other time, when I lived in New Mexico and Arizona was on fire.

Posted by: huerfano at June 09, 2011 08:00 PM (An8Cu)

3 Did we do that, or are we just suing them?

Posted by: Comrade O at June 09, 2011 08:01 PM (FcR7P)

4 There have been seasonal wild fires in NE FL, and the smoke has been overwhelming at times where we live (on the GA coast).

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 09, 2011 08:02 PM (UOM48)

5 That picture is sad and horrifying, because that is the way victims of fires and hurricanes behave. You simply can't believe it's happening until it's on your ass. And then it's nearly too late.

Sweet jeebus. We're facing an active hurricane season here. And I'm just trying to focus on sending our kid off to war.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 09, 2011 08:08 PM (UOM48)

Posted by: Jane D'oh at June 10, 2011 12:08 AM (UOM4

well folks who are familiar w/ Hurricanes will know when to get out the way and when it's safe enough to ride it out. I remember when Katrina happend a lot of fellow Floridians wondering why so many stayed knowing a Cat 5 was headed their way.

Posted by: YRM at June 09, 2011 08:15 PM (UzBwz)

7 Well, the area around Fairbanks is once again on fire, but you don't hear about that one. My brother is there, and it burns most years, but gets no press. I guess Arizona is sexier than Alaska, but still.

At least now they won't have to worry about the lack of forestry management. There won't be any forest to care about. I would hate to see that area after one good gully-washer though--no forest means no way to save the soil, either.

Posted by: tcn at June 09, 2011 08:16 PM (QuGK2)

8 @7 Wildfires only matter if they occur in non-Red states. If they're lucky though, a week after the fires are out, Obama might stop by to hit some of the courses there. I hear they are awesome...

Posted by: catmman at June 09, 2011 08:33 PM (DTzwU)

9 @8, yes, because Arizona is such a bastion of liberalism....cmon man

Posted by: AZ Native at June 09, 2011 08:40 PM (DVYq+)

10 Libtarded enviro yoyos caused this to happen, along with our wonderful federal government. They don't really care about the enviroment, this is all about control. They want to control every aspect of every ones life.

Posted by: Killerdog at June 09, 2011 08:44 PM (+jN3O)

Those pictures from the link are beautiful, but horrific at the same time. Not one word from the deWon while he's out campaigning, but it is AZ, so why would he care?

And, I did read about the fire around Fairbanks. They're taking a beating there, too.

This country not only is taking a beating from our government, but it seems like Mother Nature has been a little pissed. Floods, tornados, and now fires with hurricane season about to unleash.

Say your prayers for folks. We sure do need them.

Posted by: Steph at June 09, 2011 08:46 PM (AkdC5)

12 @8 never mind, misread your post thought you called AZ a blue state *spits on ground*

Posted by: AZ Native at June 09, 2011 08:47 PM (DVYq+)

13 To be fair, interior Alaska tends to burn like crazy every summer, and mostly nobody cares because most of where it burns, nobody lives, but a couple of years have been really scary near Fairbanks.

When I was young (not gonna say when that was), there was a major burn on the Kenai peninsula, and you can still see signs of it today, although mostly it's over and done with. Takes a long time for nature to clean up the mess.

Posted by: tcn at June 09, 2011 08:49 PM (QuGK2)

14 Forests burn, stop fucking with them.

Posted by: Tom at June 09, 2011 08:51 PM (nQR0p)

15 I'm in ABQ, I accidentally left the cover off my pool the other night and woke the next morning to see it covered in ash.

Posted by: rockhead at June 09, 2011 08:53 PM (ZMHGo)

16 I'll see that little 18mo kid in my dreams tonight. Poor little guy.

Posted by: sifty at June 09, 2011 08:56 PM (2dbd9)

17 It's all so awful.

And the one in Flagstaff was set on purpose... according to the local news.

Posted by: soulpile is... expendable at June 09, 2011 09:06 PM (afWhQ)

18 In 2002 we had the biggest fire to date in the same part of the state, as I remember two fires came together. As a result of that fire a study was done and results indicated that a proactive plan of thinning, clearing and forestry management could reduce the chances of wild fires drastically. Nothing has been done. Why? Environmental groups filed law suits over and over to block clearing and cleaning of the forest. Yup. You can thank those treehuggers for destroying a huge swath of the largest white pine forest in the US.

Posted by: jbinnout at June 09, 2011 09:09 PM (qpe9A)

19 So, will AZ request for federal disaster relief be ignored the same way that TX's was? Tough to be on the wrong side of TheOne.

Posted by: TomJW at June 09, 2011 09:15 PM (Li2G9)

20 Picture 21 at the Atlantic - those aren't deer, they're pronghorn antelope.

Clueless city slickers.

Posted by: ThomasD at June 09, 2011 09:21 PM (i/tnP)

21 We have a cabin up in Pine/Strawberry and we check our fire insurance and say a prayer each year that our area doesn't get hit, but these fires are an annual thing in the high desert and pine forests of our state. An occasional burn is needed to keep the forests healthy. Tomorrow my wife and kids will be driving the 260 from Payson to Showlow and then on to New Mexico...they will be seeing what's in these photos first hand.

Posted by: MostlyRight at June 09, 2011 09:23 PM (ZG8Ti)

God bless the men (and women) who willingly and bravely fight forest/wildfires. What a rough job to have.

Read in the Colorado press that they expect a bad fire season. We don't know here in WA yet whether ours will be bad. But our snowpack hasn't melted so who knows what will happen later on in the summer.

Posted by: ParanoidWorkingGirlinSeattle at June 09, 2011 09:34 PM (RZ8pf)

23 17- Yeah I saw that on the news last night too, some psycho set like 7 fires near Flagstaff. Hope they catch him. I think they put those out though, or mostly contained. They think this big one was started by a camp fire. Idiots not paying attention. Obama did call Gov Brewer today and offer federal assistance. So that's something nice I guess. He probably thinks he is doing us all in Arizona a big favor by offering to help or something. Like it's his personal money and resources he's offering! Ew, he bugs me. Even when he does something right, I'm still suspicious of him. I guess that's maybe more a problem with me than him. Maybe.

Posted by: Lilikoi at June 09, 2011 09:42 PM (xsePS)

24 At least the northwest won't burn this year...so our resources are heading down south.

Posted by: garrett at June 09, 2011 09:51 PM (QcjoT)

25 @23 Brewer has started to cave on anti-Obama issues, so Teh Won is willing to acknowledge her. Perry, on the other hand, is still high up on his shit list.

Posted by: Damiano at June 09, 2011 09:57 PM (3nrx7)

26 Obama did call Gov Brewer today and offer federal assistance.

It's a trap!

Posted by: Admiral Akbar at June 09, 2011 09:59 PM (GfhFm)

27 I've seen how much damage fires like this can do. The destruction of family homes can cause havoc, but the most important thing is keeping their families safe -- homes can be rebuilt, loved ones can not.

Posted by: The Political Hat at June 09, 2011 10:25 PM (YqvDu)

28 Arizona? Never heard of it.

Posted by: That President Guy at June 10, 2011 12:23 AM (jn3w5)

29 He makes the rest of Congress look just as disgusting by his continued presence in the same room. swf to video converter
Will a wildfire be blamed? hard drives and air chillers wind down i feel the solar wind video to ipad converter
pdf to flash converter

Posted by: chaeli at June 10, 2011 01:14 AM (H6JXe)

30 The fire "currently threatens large power lines that supply electricity to three states". Would those be the lines coming from that big ass nuke plant feeding LA with electricity? This could get interesting.

Posted by: mikey at June 10, 2011 02:20 AM (GSeVd)

31 This un-contained AZ White Mountains' blaze that already blackened 400 square miles along the highway running north from Mexico was likely started by a "camper". A tossed cigarette would do it. Saying the fire was set by an "inattentive" person may or may not be true, given the terrorism that occurs in AZ from Mexico, from Obama's administration, and more distantly (less likely) from Jihadists.

Prior to Clinton's administration, the Forest Service logged to strategically have rotating non-timbered barriers against fire spread in place anticipating the event of wildfires.

For all the destructive regulations that Democrats institute, may they burn in the hell they create.

God help our brave fire fighters, and may America's Great Southwest enjoy good rains soon.

Posted by: maverick muse at June 10, 2011 02:50 AM (H+LJc)

32 I'm on the other side of Albuquerque, past the mountains there, and the smoke in the air some days is amazing. You'd swear something closer is burning and that's frightening because we are so dry.

We think about disaster preparedness and think that it's not all that likely that something really extreme will happen, but it really doesn't take something that extreme. I'll be honest and say that we don't have ready-bags, we don't have a plan, and if we had to evacuate the animals would just be SOL because we couldn't take them.

And I should know better. I got to be around for a volcano, after all.

You could have a fire, anywhere, or a tornado or a hurricane or a chemical leak from an ammonia nitrous (whatever the heck fertilizer is made of) storage thing and need to leave your home. In most cases you'll need drinking water, mostly, and next after that you need water to flush your toilets (if you don't evacuate, and maybe if you do.) Sanitation is the first thing that goes and you never think about it.

No one should feel foolish having a plan for disaster, a ready-bag for each person in the family, and emergency supplies set by.

Posted by: Synova at June 10, 2011 04:13 AM (P0X9Q)

33 My parents live in Springerville, one of the towns evacuated because of the fire. Dad said that before they left on Tuesday afternoon he could see the firefighters setting back burns less than a mile from their house.

Mom works for the forest service in the Apache Sitegreaves NF, so I'm getting regular updates. The devastation is unreal.

They give regular updates on Inciweb.org (Click on Wallow Fire) and ASNF flickr page is updating regularly with photos from firefighters on the ground.

Hopefully they'll have a home to come home to when this is all done. My prayers are with everyone in the area.

Posted by: Frank at June 10, 2011 05:14 AM (EjkX1)

34 West Texas has been burning for over a month. It's mostly grass and brush, so it's not putting out as much smoke as the forest fire in AZ.

I'm going out today from San Antonio to look at the old family ranch. We lost some pens and over 13 miles of fence in two separate fires weeks apart, but no buildings or livestock, so we're lucky. Our foreman can't leave the place for too long, and keeps his eye always on the horizon looking for smoke.

Posted by: stace at June 10, 2011 05:46 AM (8PLOi)

35
I was born and lived in Bisbee, Arizona until I was 13. I still remember the bare mountain sides were fire had done it's thing between Sierra Vista and Benson. It takes a long while for the trees to come back in an arid environment.

I want to say that fire happened back in the 60's or maybe early 70's, but I don't remember the actual fire. So it is possible the fire happened before I was born.

Posted by: I R A Darth Aggie © at June 10, 2011 06:25 AM (1hM1d)

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Posted by: urdu tutorial at June 12, 2011 07:19 AM (e4WFu)

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