Fires

[gja1000]

Goodness, I hadn't heard about the fires! That is so scary! It is so easy to get one started on days like yesterday and when it is so dry. Texas in general, but especially central/south Texas are in a severe drought and we are likely to have more fires in more areas. Yesterday was unusual due to the high winds. They were fierce all day long. It is still a bit windy for us, but not like yesterday.

Gary just tried to stay inside yesterday - we think it was the wind/dust blowing in Oklahoma (where the wind blows everyday) that kicked up his bronchospasms in Dec/Jan. So when the dust was blowing yesterday, he just stayed inside. He would not have been able to get out of the house with smoke like that!!!

Stay safe, Marilyn

[Blueyes]

I saw a report on the news about the fires. You guys be careful

[gja1000]

Well, this shows how much I am NOT paying attention to the new these days. There was a fire in the county (Bastrop) next to the county where I live and several homes were burned. This may all be just the tip of the iceburg - concerning dry brush and fires this year. I don't think we are predicted to have much rain again this year and we are already so dry. When the wind blows, it is going to be back.

[donna1990]

We had fires also and I could not go outside because I am allergic to smoke.
We had a lot of rain today, Thank God.

[DianaB]

We've been dry too and very windy this winter. On the site where I check my weather we've been in a severe warning most of the winter for fire. This time of year the farmers start burning off their pastures and we have fires around a lot.

We got a call one Sunday while we were at church (services were over) and we were told that we had a fire close to our house so we drove like crazy, even passing a police car, to get home. By the time we got here the fire was in the yard about 30 feet from the house. My FIL and a neighbor were out there spraying it down with a hose. A neighbor had burned off his pasture and the fire jumped the road and got away from him. We really worry about fires where our house is located.

I really hope that we all get some rain. This has been a really dry winter for us too.

[Marilyn]

I don't believe our home would be in danger from a brush fire. There is a brushy field across the street from our subdivision, but there are two streets between us and the field, no homes, but the fire would have to jump both streets. The golf course behind us is dry, but they do run the sprinklers some, so all we get is the smoke from fires in the area.

There are farmers and ranchers who do controlled burns every year, but we've been under a burn ban for months, and unless we get some rain, they won't be able to burn this year. They do it on a not so windy day, so the smoke goes pretty much straight up. With the winds we are having, if there is a brush fire, whoever is down wind is gonna get the smoke. The city was downwind from both the fires on Saturday, so we all got a good dose.

This is nothing like the fires in California. Since we are on relatively flat land, you don't get the same wind effects that they do in California to start the huge raging fires, thank goodness!!

[DianaB]

This is from the National Weather Service for our area......

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KANSAS...
SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THE GRASSLAND FIRE DANGER INDEX WILL CLIMB INTO THE HIGH CATEGORY
THIS AFTERNOON...FROM THE FLINT HILLS WESTWARD ACROSS MOST OF
CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS. VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER IS
EXPECTED FOR AREAS TO THE WEST OF HIGHWAY 14...OR GENERALLY WEST
OF A LINCOLN TO LYONS TO ANTHONY LINE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER IS EXPECTED ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON...FROM THE
FLINT HILLS WESTWARD ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL
KANSAS. HIGH FIRE DANGER IS EXPECTED ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS
SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

HIGH FIRE DANGER IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA ON WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON...WITH HIGH TO VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER EXPECTED ACROSS
MUCH OF THE AREA ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.

Hopefully we won't have someone go and burn their trash or burn off a pasture, or worse yet, just start a fire for the fun of it, which unfortunately does happen. We've had these warnings all winter which is really unusual.