Texas wildfires...many photos..it's horrific!

[shraby]

They have big time problems.

<http://m.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/04/texas-wildfires/100050/>

[Skidmore]

1. I've been wondering how much of this freaky weather we've been experiencing

derives from the particulates in the air from those fires.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[supernova]

3. Cousin lives in Richardson, TX

She told me yesterday on FB that the smoke was bothering her asthma. :-(

[PBS Poll-435]

11. The air is disgusting.

I swear it is like having a sinus infection without the infection.

[justabob]

25. rain yesterday and a bit of wind today has improved things a bit, but

Monday, or Tuesday(?), downtown Dallas was almost invisible through the smoke and red dust. It was like a shroud over the city.... as if our regular air quality isn't bad enough.

[shraby]

4. If I were there and had fires near I'd take a tiller and plow up as

much land as I could between me and the fire...make one huge fire break around my place.

[pacalo]

5. Good luck in recovery, Gov. Perry, without federal funds. And hurricane season seems to be

starting up several months early this year, too.

States can't do it all on their own. It's one thing to drive oneself over the cliff, but to take your constituents along with you is another.

[tammywammy]

8. Perry's requested federal assistance

http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/16010/

[pacalo]

13. Not surprised, because the absolute truth is: states CANNOT stand alone.

It's times like this that shine a light on how vital the federal government is, & how shortsighted the GOP's "state's rights" can be. No man is an island, just as no state can stand alone. This governor was entertaining the thought of having his state secede from the U.S.

[kestrel91316]

29. Federal assistance = SOCIALISM. Somebody needs to remind Perry

so he can change his mind and lift TX by its own bootstraps.

[WatsonT]

39. Only if we get back the money we paid in to those federal programs

you can't tax someone for some service then complain when they use it.

Either cut them off and don't tax them or tax them and make it available. Not both.

And before you say anything: yes Texas does give more to the federal government then it gets back.

[kestrel91316]

41. You seem to have mistaken me for a Repuke, lol.

I shouldn't need the sarcasm thing for EVERY SINGLE POST.

[MedleyMisty]

10. Yeah

On one hand, obviously, I don't want anyone to get hurt and I want the people to be okay.

On the other hand - these Republicans need to stop being bailed out of the massive messes caused by their insanity and they need to face some consequences.

[pacalo]

14. The GOP decries the federal government helping those in need, but when *they* need help,

they're not too proud to show their hypocrisy.

[tammywammy]

15. How is a wildfire part "of the massive messes caused by their insanity"? n/t

[bainz]

22. not sure if serious

After re-reading your post, I still cant make sense of it. Are you saying that republicans started the fire? I have a buddy who is worried about his home. We didn't discuss politics, but rather his family and future. Should I have asked him who he voted for in the last election (or if he voted a all) and then made a decision on whether I gave a crap about him and his family if they were suddenly found homeless?

[Ishoutandscream2]

34. It's Texas bashing, a popular past time here

Lives are at stake, yet these kind of comments are made. There are quite a few DUers, I'm sure, who would like the whole state and its citizens to perish in the process.

[WatsonT]

36. No doubt many of the same people

who would look at freerepublic with disgust if they were to make similar comments regarding whatever natural disaster happens to be hitting California at the moment (they do get a lot).

[Ishoutandscream2]

38. I already alerted the mods, and they took quick action (thank you)

Two threads here were removed. One talked about karma. Disgusting, but not surprising.

[WatsonT]

35. Other states have wildfires

like California.

How is it bad politics that we didn't get much rain this year?

[Warpy]

6. We're all holding our collective breaths here in NM

where last winter was exceptionally dry and the spring has been exceptionally windy. So far, our fire season hasn't been bad. It's got another couple of months to go, though, and anything can happen.

[a la izquierda]

7. We've had the driest spring since the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma...

fingers crossed for a rainy weekend, as the weather folk are predicting. It's 92 and muggy as all get-out here.

[jwirr]

26. That is interesting. I would not have thought that it could be muggy

in a drought area. Especially when it is that hot. We have some really crazy weather patterns.

[a la izquierda]

30. There are storms just east...

bleh, I hate this weather so early in the year.

[WatsonT]

37. A cheap way to wring water out of the air would be a boon for much of Texas

we have the humidity but rarely enough rain.

[theophilus]

9. These things are tragic and devastating. We need to come away from

this sort of thing with the knowledge that we need MORE government not less. With peak oil, climate, change, etc. the people must have GOOD, FUNCTIONAL government to survive. If we go the cut cut cut route we will all (99%?) be sorry. IMO

[ceile]

12. unreal...

we've had fires before but not like this...

[Scuba]

16. It's Gawd punishin' tham fer Willie Gohmert.

[HereSince1628]

17. Some of the photos are fascinating in a horrible sort of way

that reminds me of Shiva the Destroyer...

[shireen]

18. thanks for posting.

i used to work at McDonald Obs.. Those fires are really scary.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. That first pic, implies that HUGE fire is a controlled burn...

don't think that is what they meant to imply.....

[Dappleganger]

20. Let's hope they get rain soon.

[murielm99]

21. Horrifying but beautiful.

Especially the first and the next to last pictures.

[robdogbucky]

23. Causes?

I haven't been following this story and do not know how all these fires got started. I used to fight wildfires for the USFS and am curious. The photos don't show much heavy fuel like we have in mountain fires of forest, but these "chapparal," fires move so quick and are so hot that they make in speed and intensity what they lack in size or heavy sustained fuels.

SoCal has fires like these in their canyons, we have big timber fires at altitude elsewhere. That's what is so interesting about DemoTex's gig up in Dechutes NF, that location has a big mix of all kinds of terrain from high desert and chapparal like we see in Texas but he also has heavy fuel fires to contend with in the forests at altitude nearby as well.

Good luck to those Texans fighting to save their lives and property. They may have to rely on lots of outside resources in a mutual aid situation with lots of entities like the USFS and the various state agencies. Here in Cal we have a mix of USFS and Cal Dept of Forestry (CDF). The west has and will continue to come to the aid of these Texans I'm sure. When it comes to fire we are all on one side.

Back to my original question, where these caused by lightning strikes, arson, or some other human cause like accidents? Spontaneous combustion is rare but it does happen. Just curious, I would rather continue reading DU now that I have a window of time this afternoon and don't want to go poking around Texas news sites to find out the causes, if anyone here knows or has read.

Thanks in advance for any info on the cause of these fires.

[MrMickeysMom]

40. Drought

Really bad drought conditions, I've understood.

[Thumper79]

24. These pictures are devastating

I can only imagine how scared people are about their homes and herds of cattle, etc. I don't live in Texas but I think it's, as you say, horrific what these people are going through. The loss of life are indeed tragic.

[girl gone mad]

27. Wow.. I was just out at McDonald Observatory a few weeks ago.

Crazy to see how bad it is around there.

[somone]

28. Great pics

[SheilaT]

31. Those are probably the most amazing fire

photos I have ever seen.

And it would be nice if the idiots who think Texas should secede and that the federal government is useless will finally understand that there is a point to a federal government.

[Lorien]

32. Lighting backfires seems insane in this situation

Many of the worst wildfires that Florida has experienced were started by "controlled burns". Sorry, but we really have little control over mother nature.

[DemoTex]

33. Awesome wildland fire photos (and I should know!)

The Frank Cianciolo photos of the McDonald Observatory will, I predict, win awards. But all of these photos are spectacular.


By Frank Cianciolo