Author Topic: Texas on fire  (Read 6682 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

charlesoakwood

  • Guest
Texas on fire
« on: April 20, 2011, 11:27:10 AM »

Texas burning 'from border to border'
 
->"These are not normal days, this is not a spring that comes around often, we haven't seen conditions like these since 1917," Mary-Kay Hicks, Texas Forest Service, said.
195 counties are under burn bans in Texas, the only ones without in the area are Falls, Freestone, and Leon.

->Forest Service spokeswoman C.J. Norvell in Midland
The same fire threatens three small communities just north of San Angelo -- Robert Lee, Bronte and Tennyson, she said.



->Authorities have responded to 7,807 fires across more than 1.5 million acres since this year's wildfire season began, Gov. Rick Perry wrote over the weekend in a letter to President Barack Obama. Perry requested that the federal government declare Texas a disaster area. Fires have affected all but two of the state's 254 counties.

Perry noted that one firefighter has died and 18 others have been injured, while 244 homes have been destroyed and another 8,514 threatened residences "saved."

->In the Possum Kingdom complex west of Fort Worth, approximately 90 head of cattle were killed by the fire, said Webb.

->Flying over Stonewall, Knox and King counties with Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, Perry got a firsthand look at the more than 103,000 acres of rangelandburned by the fire, which ignited last Wednesday.


http://www.kxxv.com/story/14478447/central-texas-prepped-for-wildfire-danger
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/04/18/texas.forest.fires/
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/apr/12/governor-gets-aerial-tour-of-west-texas-fires/?partner=popular
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-texas-fires-20110420,0,1130313.story?track=rss
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/04/18/texas.forest.fires/



Offline Libertas

  • Conservative Superhero
  • *****
  • Posts: 63663
  • Alea iacta est! Libertatem aut mori!
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2011, 11:39:29 AM »
Good God!  Looks like hell on earth!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1378816/Texas-burning-border-border-Million-acres-scorched-wildfires-blaze-week.html

And the angry-inch back in the WH has not granted Perry's request to declare disaster areas?

 ::facepalm::
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.

Offline Predator Don

  • Conservative Superhero
  • *****
  • Posts: 4576
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2011, 11:51:57 AM »
The President isn't too fast moving for red states.
I'm not always engulfed in scandals, but when I am, I make sure I blame others.

charlesoakwood

  • Guest
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2011, 11:53:07 AM »

Hell, it's only 1.5 million acres and 244 homes.  

It's going to get hot come summer.

He told Perry, whiz on it\




Offline Libertas

  • Conservative Superhero
  • *****
  • Posts: 63663
  • Alea iacta est! Libertatem aut mori!
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2011, 11:54:00 AM »
Blow it toward meh-hico and maybe he'll give a damn...
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.

Offline Sectionhand

  • Conservative Hero
  • ****
  • Posts: 2520
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #5 on: April 20, 2011, 12:09:28 PM »
Damned Wetbacks playin' with matches again !

Offline Libertas

  • Conservative Superhero
  • *****
  • Posts: 63663
  • Alea iacta est! Libertatem aut mori!
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #6 on: April 20, 2011, 12:22:00 PM »
Who gave 'em waterproof matches?!

 ::facepalm::
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.


Offline Sectionhand

  • Conservative Hero
  • ****
  • Posts: 2520
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #8 on: April 20, 2011, 12:44:44 PM »
Who gave 'em waterproof matches?!

 ::facepalm::

Sure as hell didn't come from an old box of C RATS ... Those damned things NEVER worked !

Offline Sectionhand

  • Conservative Hero
  • ****
  • Posts: 2520
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #9 on: April 20, 2011, 12:46:34 PM »
Who gave 'em waterproof matches?!

 ::facepalm::

Rub two Wetbacks together ?  ;D

Online Pandora

  • Administrator
  • Conservative Superhero
  • *****
  • Posts: 19529
  • I iz also makin a list. U on it pal.
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #10 on: April 20, 2011, 12:58:32 PM »
From 4/19/11:

Quote
Aero Union, the aerial firefighting company that has been working missions in the area, grounded its planes voluntarily because of a dispute with the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Forest Service over safety inspections.

Company officials said Aero Union's fleet of eight air tankers, three of which are in Abilene, were grounded because of issues with the company's certification, calling the dispute a "paperwork issue."

"During a recent audit of Aero Union Corp.'s repair station, FAA inspectors raised concerns about whether certain required safety inspections had been performed on some of the company's aircraft," said Lynn Lunsford, a spokesman for the FAA in Fort Worth. "Aero Union voluntarily removed its airplanes from service pending a resolution of the issue. We are working on a solution with Aero Union that would allow the company to safely return its planes to service in a timely manner."

Aero Union officials are concerned over the matter.

"Our deepest sympathy goes out to the people of Texas," said Britt Gourley, CEO of Aero Union based in California. "Our pilots and mechanics are literally sick about this situation as they take firefighting very seriously."

On Tuesday, Aero Union officials held emergency meetings with the U.S. Forest Service and the FAA in Washington and Los Angeles, urging the agencies to grant a variance to allow the planes to go up and fight the fires.

The planes were grounded on April 13, after flying fire eradication missions over the Swenson Fire in Stonewall and Kent counties that has burned more than 122,000 acres.

"Safety is not an issue," Gourley said, adding that the company's independent FAA representative has "represented that conclusion to the FAA."

Aero Union has a five-year firefighting contract from the federal government that was approved in 2008.

Gourley contacted Gov. Rick Perry's office Tuesday in an effort to resolve the issue on a state level.

"We can fly for the feds or we can fly for Texas," Gourley said. "We want to fly for Texas. If the governor says get this done we will. In the meantime — you folks are suffering."

Once they get the OK, pilots and crews can be in the air in 15 minutes. Each aircraft can carry up to 3,000 gallons of fire retardant.

"Before the "paperwork" stand-down, we were flying each of the three aircraft approximately eight hours per day," Gourley said.

Gourley is hoping to have the matter resolved quickly.

"We prefer to fight fires, not bureaucracies," Gourley said. "We hope to be back flying soon."
"Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." - Mark Twain

"Let us assume for the moment everything you say about me is true. That just makes your problem bigger, doesn't it?"

charlesoakwood

  • Guest
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #11 on: April 20, 2011, 01:59:28 PM »

He said, 'we can fly for Texas or we can fly for the fed', what does that mean?  The argument is with the fed.  So far there is no follow up.


Online Pandora

  • Administrator
  • Conservative Superhero
  • *****
  • Posts: 19529
  • I iz also makin a list. U on it pal.
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #12 on: April 20, 2011, 02:05:27 PM »
Nothing that I can readily find. 
"Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." - Mark Twain

"Let us assume for the moment everything you say about me is true. That just makes your problem bigger, doesn't it?"

charlesoakwood

  • Guest
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #13 on: September 05, 2011, 03:59:34 PM »

Quote

3 million acres burned _6/21/11
Blazes raging across the state are forcing evacuations and breaking records as flames rampage through dry grasses and parched pines.


Quote

Two dead in Texas wildfires, Perry to return
3.6 million acres burned _9/5/11
...
The winds sent ash from the fires flying around the state. Residents thirty miles away from Austin woke up on Monday morning to find ashes on their cars parked in their driveways.

The fires are adding to the toll of record-setting fire miseries in parched Texas this year.

More than 3.6 million acres in the state have been scorched since the wildfire season began in November, fed by a continuing drought which has caused more than $5 billion in damage to the state's agricultural industry and shows no sign of easing any time soon.



charlesoakwood

  • Guest
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #14 on: September 07, 2011, 12:39:07 AM »

Excellent images if the fires


A wildfire burns out of control in Bastrop State Park near Bastrop on Sept. 5.


View of the Lost Pines from the Scenic Overlook at Bastrop State Park as it once was.

Quote
Tue Sep 6, 2011 8:35am EDT   
.reuters.com
"I'm still seeing no containment," said April Saginor, public information officer for the Texas Forest Service, who confirmed that the Bastrop County Complex Fire has scorched more than 25,000 acres and burned 476 residences so far.

Huffington Post
According to local officials in Bastrop County Texas, the fire is swallowing "One home every four minutes".  ...


Images and video




charlesoakwood

  • Guest
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #15 on: September 07, 2011, 11:42:16 AM »

Some of the fires are moving so fast that ranchers and firefighters are breaking down fences to allow the livestock to run free.
They do not have time to load or move the stock.


Offline Libertas

  • Conservative Superhero
  • *****
  • Posts: 63663
  • Alea iacta est! Libertatem aut mori!
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #16 on: September 07, 2011, 11:46:43 AM »
Is the fire keeping illegals out, or as I fear, they are pouring across like never before exploiting the situation...
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.

Online Pandora

  • Administrator
  • Conservative Superhero
  • *****
  • Posts: 19529
  • I iz also makin a list. U on it pal.
Re: Texas on fire
« Reply #17 on: September 07, 2011, 02:06:35 PM »

He said, 'we can fly for Texas or we can fly for the fed', what does that mean?  The argument is with the fed.  So far there is no follow up.



Here's the follow-up:

Quote
Nearly half of the federal government’s firefighting air tankers are siting idle at a California airport, grounded by the Obama administration in a contract dispute just weeks before wildfires swept through Texas killing a mother and her child, and destroying 100,000 acres.
 
The massive blazes forced Texas Gov. and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry to abruptly call off a campaign appearance in South Carolina earlier this week to respond to the crisis, and may force him to cancel his first debate appearance Wednesday night.
 
The U.S. Forest Service terminated the contract with Aero Union five weeks ago to operate seven P-3 Orions that are critical to the agency’s firefighting mission, leaving the federal government with 11 tankers under contract to help battle more than 50 large uncontained wildfires now burning nationwide.
 
That’s down from 40 tankers used by the Forest Service just a decade ago ...

Furthermore, the Feds showed up just recently and they're now turning away the volunteers who have been driving from all over the state to help.
"Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." - Mark Twain

"Let us assume for the moment everything you say about me is true. That just makes your problem bigger, doesn't it?"