Forest Managment

Yesterday the AQI was good enough to ride, so we did.  We were hoping that the trail would be open to the lake, but it's not.  We snuck down the road that vehicles towing boats take to the lake, but the trail was still closed.  Then we were busted by a park ranger who was really nice.  He said they're working hard, but people just can't be there, it is not safe.  We apologized and departed the area.  

Forests need to be managed.  In Spokane we just can't have those thick, luxuriant forests in places where it rains a lot, they'll burn.  Ponderosa pines can have their branches trimmed up 20 feet with no ill effects.  The last time DNR did cutting and thinning, our project was limited to trees less than 8 inches in diameter.  Apparently there was a thought that the big trees would be logged for profit.  Not bloody likely given the terrain.  Anyway, a new Ponderosa study says to limb them 20 feet up and have 30 feet of separation.  The trees' bark is fairly resistant to fire.  The president of the HOA is adept at working the DNR grant system, so we're going to try for more money to get more tree removal and limbing done.  Tree removal is incredibly expensive.  We're small neighborhood, 23 houses.

Here is thinning.  I'm having to readjust my thinking on what a healthy forest looks like.

More thinning.  

In 2003 the B&B fire burned 91,000 acres in Oregon.  Here is a really good article on the fire and how it changed forest management.

As you may have noticed, I'm a lot more interested in forest management now than I was. 

This is from Facebook, posted by The Other 98%.  I can't just link to it, so I'm pasting it in its entirety.  It's emblematic of the current administration.

The chief of the U.S. Forest Service told Congress in July, under oath, that his firefighting force is "stronger than at any point in recent years" and "fully staffed and equipped to respond aggressively to every unplanned ignition."

Last week, in one 72-hour stretch, more than 600 requests for crews, aircraft, and equipment went unfilled. Aircraft and crew requests alone were turned down 265 times in three days. Most of it came from the Pacific Northwest, where fire had just torn through neighborhoods in Spokane, Washington's second-largest city.

That is the gap between what the Forest Service says in Washington and what its firefighters are living. Nine of them told the Guardian the agency is nowhere near staffed for the fires the country now gets, and that they are barred from saying so in public.

One fire captain explained it with a number anyone can hold. A soccer team puts 11 players on the field and keeps a roster of 30 for substitutions. In the Forest Service, he said, there are no substitutes. "Showing up to a game with 13 people is insane. Playing a whole season with 13 people is abuse. That's how we fight fire, and nobody gets to take a day off."

The country has sat at "preparedness level 5," the top of the scale, since July 18. More than 49,200 fires have burned over 7.2 million acres this year, past the ten-year average, in a fourth straight year of drought, with the worst months still ahead. This is the fire season the climate now hands the West every year, and the federal force built to meet it is getting smaller.

The break is at the management level. The specialized bosses who run large fires take decades to train and cannot be replaced in a season. The teams that coordinate major disasters numbered 46 in 2023.

There are 38 now. In Oregon, during a year that has burned more acres than any on record there, private contract crews sat idle because there were not enough qualified managers to run them, said state senator Mike McLane.

The Trump administration cut roughly a fifth of the Forest Service in 2025. The firings did not target firefighters, but they hollowed out the support roles crews now cannot fill, as the fire seasons keep getting worse.

The chief keeps telling the public the force is stronger than ever. His firefighters have a blunter word for it.

"How are we supposed to feel," one fire captain asked, "when our leaders, the same people who get up and speak to the mourning families when firefighters die, are lying about our capacity?

So, that's it.  47 continues to run the country in to a ditch, but at least has has his security blanket, AKA the binkie.  The press is finally covering Natalie and I now understand why she's giving Secret Service the willies. 

 

Life in These United States

Greetings and salutations.  

Currently there are two major issues with the food supply.  Taylor Farms has received the most attention here.  The recall of contaminated bagged salad was withdrawn after the owner gave 47 a bunch of money.  Taylor Farms is everywhere.   

Taylor Farms operates under these names:
Earthbound Farms, Eat Smart, 
Walmart: Marketside, 
Target: Good & Gather, 
Kroger: Simple Truth, Simple Truth Organic, 
Aldi: Little Salad Bar and Simply Nature, 
Whole Foods Market: 365 by Whole Foods , 
Safeway / Albertsons: O Organics and Signature Select, 
Publix: GreenWise, 
Costco: Kirkland Signature (select packaged salad and produce items)
They also sell under their own label, and there is a lot of it on the shelves.

Federal data reveals U.S. foodborne illness cases are up nearly 400% this year compared with the recent annual average.

The FDA also released a warning about salmonella tainted eggs that have the potential to be fatal if not cooked sufficiently. Eggs should be cooked until firm, 160F. The 2026 Salmonella egg recall by Midwest Poultry Services involves plant/identifying codes P1950 or 084962, and best-by dates from July 20 to August 17, 2026.

Screw worms are also with us, as well.

Last Friday we went out to the alternate trail head we're using until the bridge replacement completes.  We were hoping to make it to the lake.  Alas, alack, that was not to be.

We talked to a park employee who told us the recreation area was fine, it burned right up to the fence and was stopped there. However, the trail is damaged with debris.  They're working on it.  The park on the other side of the river, that previously burned, is burned once again.  That will take some time to recover.

That burn was the Aubrey White fire.

The Aubrey White Fire broke out on July 6, 2025, burning roughly 40 acres along the Centennial Trail in Riverside State Park near the Bowl and Pitcher area. The fire triggered local evacuations, road closures, and minor structural damage. In August 2026, court records revealed that a suspect named Aaron Farinacci confessed to setting the Aubrey White Fire as part of a series of arson fires in the Spokane area.

That's the sociopath who set the recent fires.  He had been in jail in Arizona, served 10 years of a 12 year sentence for killing his father.  His father asked him to do the dishes and he killed him for it.  Some people just should not be out in society.

During the evacuation, I threw our helmets into a large bag, knocking my helmet mirror off in the process.  The mirror does not stay on this helmet very well, my last helmet was much better.  Anyway, it took more time than it should have to get it back on the visor.  This is what is should look like, please make a note of it.  It tends to defeat my spatial relations.

The insurance people were out in large numbers.  I took this on August 13.  Not sure when they got here, or how long they are staying.

Finally, there is this, a robot lawn mower.  It's like a roomba with blades.

That's about all I want to say.  47 is back to being a demented threat to the planet.   Everyday it just gets worse.  And yet, the republicans are just fine with it.  

A Ride in the Car

We had trash pickup today.  The city sent out a message that they would get to as many recently downgraded Level 3 areas as possible, but that it wouldn't be all of the houses.  We put the wheelie bin out with hope, and they did show up.  So, now we can stop fly tipping, which makes me feel like a villain.

This was the sunset last night.  Notice the number of contrails we can see.  There was also some blue in the sky.  This was an improvement from what we've been seeing.

Today we took a ride to see what we would see.  One thing we saw is that we can get to our primary grocery store.  That was good.

There is so much misery left by the fire.  This was a fire set by one sociopath.  One guy started the Old Trails fire.  This is up the hill on the bluff.  Spokane has many vinyl fences, they're cheaper than wood, and faster to put up.  They also melt when confronted by fire.  The hill side burned right up to the fence.

There are many staging areas for fire vehicles.

Fire retardant on the road and an apartment.  It's an amazing chemical, there is a hill side that was sprayed, you can see the burned grass stop exactly at the retardant line.

Here is the apartment that got covered.  Apparently it is very difficult to remove from structures.  Look at the signs, they're pink.

There were four duplexes on Indian Trail Road.  Now there is one.  The other three burned.

 

This is the road that vehicles used to take their boats down to the docks at Nine Mile Recreation Area.  It's closed at the moment.  There is a strong smell of camp fire in the woods.  According to the internet, Nine Mile recreation area was not damaged.  
 

This was a huge church, Riverside Real Life it was called.  It burned to the ground.  Happily the memory care facility next door was spared.
 

That's what we saw.  Sorry about photo quality, all were taken from a moving car, so they're not great.  I think my cell phone camera struggles with bright sunshine and trees.  

That's it.  That's all I have to say.

Level One at Last

We've been downgraded to Level One, which is Get Ready.  We can't go to sleep on this yet, but there will be mail and trash collection, and I can order drugs from Amazon.  I think I'm going to hold on Amazon until I see if the mail is getting through.  Our post office is often erratic.  I can't remember how they ship, USPS or Amazon drivers.  Update:  Drugs came UPS, which is good.

Anyway, air quality is still awful, but we can leave the neighborhood without worrying about not getting back in.  AQI is at 209.   

This is an excellent article about what the fire fighters were up against.  The fire fighters were in the left most clump of houses during the time frame of the article.  Red dots are houses that were destroyed.  We are not on the map, we're a little north and east, and about two miles (as the crow flies) from where it happened.  It gives one pause to contemplate the distance.

There have been a couple of essays (what do you call people who write long form on Facebook?) on Facebook about the level of development along Indian Trail.  The Spokane City Council has approved a multi family development that will house 300 families just below my neighborhood.  That's 600 more cars that will be on a two lane road.  Indian Trail was our evacuation route, and for many others.  The first time we tried to leave it was gridlocked, we went home and tried again later.  If that fire had come up the hill towards Indian Trail, we all would have been incinerated.  The over arching theme of what people have been writing about is infrastructure.  It does not appear that any thought is being given to moving the traffic that is being caused by untrammeled growth along Indian Trail.  

Yesterday we saw fire trucks from California going up our street, Menlo Park and Half Moon Bay.  They were up checking for hot spots.  They drove all the way up here for this.  Fire fighters are good.

That's it!  That's all I've got.

Lessons Learned and Greenland

We've spent the last two days awaiting the forecasted high winds and high temperatures.   It's hot, but there's been no wind.  At the moment, it's eerily still.  AQI is bad with the lack of air movement.  The clothing go bag is packed.  I can do toiletries in about 10 to 15 minutes.  So, this time it should be a calmer evacuation, if required.  Current wind flow is out of the south, heading north and away from us.  Leaving the house gives me a little angst in case the go now comes while we're away.  They will not let you back in for love or money.

Here are the lessons learned thus far. 

In general, during fire season:
    Keep the car gas tanks full.
    Top off the medication bottles so there is enough for an extended stay.  We transfer pills 
    from the big bottles to small bottles that live in a drawer, so that is why I'm saying this.

When you get a text from emergency management using the phrase "particularly dangerous situation", start packing immediately.  Don't deny, equivocate, or engage in magical thinking, start packing.  Be ready to start the car and leave.

When you get the "go now" text, go.  

Don't even think about taking two vehicles.  It's bad enough being in one car with a loved one, taking two cars is not good.

Get the car out of the garage before power is cut.  It's so much easier than taking the garage door off the trolley, and raising it manually.

There is almost always a power outage.  The power company does not want live wires on the ground sparking more fire

Empty the ice maker and turn it off.  We didn't do this, and some of our neighbors did not either.  That was truly an aw shit moment.  After 48 hours of no power, enough free water will run out of the ice maker and on to your floor.  Actually, do this as soon as the "go now" text arrives, so you don't forget as your brain is being overwhelmed by stress chemicals.

Decide ahead of time which documents you need to take.  I have staged our passports, birth certificates, and social security cards to go if we leave.  Everything else, I think, is electronic.  I've decided there is nothing in this house that is worth dying for.

In news of the world, a US oil drilling company is off the shores of Greenland, planning to come ashore and start drilling for oil.  Greenland and Denmark have not been involved in this decision.  Greenland is being nice about it, I think they should repel all boarders.  I guess this is part of 47's plans to capture the territory.

 

Life in the Zone

Our neighborhood is still in Evacuation Level 3, that's the get out now designation.  Being here means there is no Amazon delivery, trash pickup, and no mail.  Last night one of the neighbors took the contents of his garage freezer out to a dumpster he has access to.  He graciously took our bag of spoiled meat.  So, our current plan for waste management is to put the small stinky stuff in plastic grocery bags, and stuff them in the trash cans in front of businesses.  Technically that's fly tipping.  Civilization is breaking down.

We are so close to being in Level 2.  They get trash pickup, don't know about mail.  We are where the question mark is.  The yellow is Level 2.  That's a block and a half separating us.

This morning we walked up the big hill to see what we would see. We saw just how close we came to disaster.  Two houses built up there had fire up to their perimeters.  They're a different development, but are close to us.  There was a beautiful house to the left of this house burned to the ground.  It was deep into the trees, and was lost.

There are some tiny hot spots, but they're all surrounded by ash.  There is not a lot of fuel left up there.  

This is a fire break.  They dig these by hand.  The sheer physical labor involved with putting out fires is staggering.  When the fire hits the bare dirt, it goes out.  This works less well if it's really windy, and embers are being blown up the hill.

We went grocery shopping today, during the time we were in Spokane Valley, prices went up.  Of course they did.