The Wildfires Thread

[PokerPacker]

19 minutes ago, Bang said:

Heading for the Poconos tomorrow. I'm expecting it to be ugly.

 

~Bang

Survey says: Hazardous Air Quality (On a scale from Good to Hazardous).

Oh, looks like Princeton has also been upgraded to Hazardous.  Last I saw it was at Unhealthy.  I missed the Very Unhealthy stage.

[ixcuincle]

[PokerPacker]

Is it time to remove the "Western" from the thread title?

[spjunkies]

Brian Mitchell is on the radio right now sounding very stupid saying that people are using the smoke as an excuse to stay in. I just don't get what kind of weird **** floats around in folks mind sometimes. 

[China]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Fox News is advocating for it's viewers to subject themselves to unhealthy activities to own the libs, as they did with COVID:

 

Amazing that their moronic viewers continue to watch a network that repeatedly advocates for them to put themselves in harm's way.

[China]

UFOs, Lasers, and Antifa Arsonists: Wildfires Spark New Conspiracy Theories

 

Wildfire smoke from Canada is now blanketing the East Coast, creating some of the worst air quality in the world. The official explanation for these strange conflagrations — lightning strikes across unusually dry forests, igniting more than 100 out-of-control blazes in Quebec alone — hits many smooth-brained denizens of the internet as a LiTTle. tOo. CoNVenIEnT.

 

Indeed, the tinfoil-hat brigade has already ginned up myriad conspiracy theories to cast this disaster, not as an act of God, but part of a nefarious plot — or two, or three. So what really caused those fires? Was it space lasers? Antifa arsonists? The deep-state cabal? Aliens?!

 

Below we break down the latest FUBAR theories about why Canadian forests are ablaze, Americans are hunkered down in their houses, and the smoke has blotted out the sun.

 

The “Directed Energy Weapons” Theory
Why buy into lightning strikes when you can believe in “directed energy weapons?” Stew Peters is a far-right media host and conspiracy monger, infamous for his unhinged film claiming Covid-19 is caused by synthetic snake venom. Peters used his Telegram account on June 5 to blame the wildfires on government weaponry.

 

“Watch ALL of SE Quebec catch on fire at the EXACT SAME TIME,” Peters wrote, linking to a viral TikTok video of satellite imagery. “Statistically impossible to happen by accident,” Peters claimed without evidence. “Clearly our governments are targeting us with Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs).”

 

The “Flame Thrower Drone” Theory
Consistency is the hobgoblin of little conspiracy theorists, but big players like Peters are ever eager to embrace the newest insanity. On June 6, Peters posted a new video, of what looks like a remote-controlled helicopter drizzling napalm on a forest. “It seems Canada isn’t sophisticated enough to use Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs),” Peters wrote. “Looks like they opted for a drone with a flamethrower instead.”

 

The “Antifa Arsonist” Theory
Probably the laziest misinformation collected here holds that antifascists are setting the fires. Why? Because they’re antifa, stupid. Anything can be blamed on those who would oppose militant far-right ideology, so may as well try it. “Antifa pyromaniacs are getting started early this year,” one user commented as the fires started to burn in May, in a typical post on the QAnon forum Great Awakening.

 

The “Wildfires Are the New Covid” Theory
A variety of conspiracy theorists see the fires as part of a plot to limit freedom anew, now that the restrictions of the Covid pandemic have been largely eliminated. A Telegram account calling itself “GreatAwakening.World – Q + Trump” posted conspiratorially that: “They sets [sic] the Quebec and Ontario on fire” as part of a “globalist climate change scam.” The account warned: “Climate change lockdowns are starting.”

 

The “We Are About to Be Hit on Several Fronts” Theory
If there’s not a UFO angle, is it really even a conspiracy?

 

For some on the fringes of the internet, the notion that climate lockdowns are the new Covid lockdowns is directionally correct — but misses the big picture. A Gab user known as RusticMan thinks he’s got the real intel, that the fires are just the beginning of a cascade of unnatural disasters. “We are about to be hit on several fronts. Anther plandemic [sic], climate emergency, illegal invasion, and UFO invasion,” he wrote. “Sound crazy? Get ready. It’s coming. It’s happening NOW!”

 

The “Forced Migration to 15-Minute Cities” Theory
Urban planners trying to improve quality of life with “15-minute city” designs — reducing car use by ensuring people are just 15 minutes’ walking or biking distance to anything they might need — have been bedeviled by conspiracy theorists who claim they want to imprison people in tiny residential districts. Now it appears that a few of those alarmists are drawing baseless connections between the concept and the Canadian fires, suggesting that they are a pretext for forced migration to (where else!) these dystopian citadels.

 

The “Blotting Out the Sun” Theory
Fans of The Simpsons will never forget the time Mr. Burns built a giant mechanical shade that plunged the town of Springfield into eternal darkness, making the citizenry all the more dependent on electricity from his nuclear power plant. It was a pretty convoluted plan when you consider that he could have simply set fire to a nearby national forest so that smoke blanketed the town, achieving the same effect.

 

Yes, a solar blackout is the goal of whichever nefarious organization kicked off this disaster, according to a handful of true wackos. “Does anyone else have a sneaking suspicion that these Canadian fires are meant to blot out the sun and kill crops?” asked a QAnon believer who shared an air quality map on the Telegram QAnon channel, “Great Awakening.” This fear was of course immediately confirmed by a fellow traveler: “The main thing that comes to mind is cloud seeding with smoke particles,” the commenter wrote. “It could possibly keep people from planting or make seeds too wet to germinate. So yes same goal, kill the crop production.”

 

Click on the link for the full article

[TheGreatBuzz]

All of the people walking by our house are wearing masks while Buzzette and I are on the porch smoking cigarettes and doing bong hits just feels like two different worlds.

[Renegade7]

Drove in to DC today for work, by time I was crossing the river I could barely see the Monument.  I've kinda seen that with fog, but this was so obviously not fog it was eerie. 

 

Division Chief told us we could go home early because DC was Code Purple, so times they are a changin.  I agree with a thread title change if more then a quarter of our country's population is getting some kinda air quality warning because of wildfires in another country and on the east coast.

[PokerPacker]

Air here in Princeton was much better today than the last couple days.  Looks like @Bang actually picked the right time to head out to the Poconos, as the data I'm looking at shows it getting almost moderate over there while DC is worse off.

[skinsmarydu]

Well, we've finally been invaded by O Canada.  

*checking Bingo card*  

[Simmsy]

20 hours ago, spjunkies said:

Brian Mitchell is on the radio right now sounding very stupid saying that people are using the smoke as an excuse to stay in. I just don't get what kind of weird **** floats around in folks mind sometimes. 

 

Everytime some kind of hazardous weather happens there is always some idiot that tries to convince everyone that its ok. Doesn't matter if its a hurricane, snow, heat, smoke, etc. My boss tried to do the same thing yesterday, I was hoping he would have some common sense and stay home so we wouldn't have to work out in it, but alas...

 

I made him work harder and faster than usual, I think I wore his ass out.

 

 

[PleaseBlitz]

It”s a good idea for me to hike the Old Rag tomorrow, right?

[tshile]

We’re heading south to spend the weekend on the boat and get away from this ****

 

they canceled all the outdoor portions of the summer camp stuff my kids are in so that sucks for them 😕 

[Fan since a Fetus]

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Fan since a Fetus

[Ball Security]

Why hasn’t Biden attacked Canada for not sweeping the forest floors? A failure in leadership.

[Bang]

14 hours ago, PokerPacker said:

Air here in Princeton was much better today than the last couple days.  Looks like @Bang actually picked the right time to head out to the Poconos, as the data I'm looking at shows it getting almost moderate over there while DC is worse off.

It's right nice up here. The air is pretty much clear. No haze to speak of, barely a whiff of the odor and you need to concentrate to know it's there. 

Whew!

 

~Bang

[China]

 

[China]

Evacuation order issued for western Canadian town as wildfire crosses over from US

 

An evacuation order for the Canadian town of Osoyoos and its surrounding district in the province of British Columbia had been issued late Saturday night due to an out-of-control wildfire that has crossed the border from the U.S. state of Washington.

 

The wildfire, called Eagle Bluff, is approximately 4 kilometres (2.49 miles) from Osoyoos and is currently estimated to be 885 hectares (2,200 acres) in size on the Canadian side of the border, according to the British Columbia Wildfire Service.

 

It was estimated to be around 2,000 hectares in size on the U.S. side by the BC Wildfire Service.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Huge wildfire explodes in southern California and spreads into Nevada

 

A huge wildfire burning out of control in California’s Mojave national preserve is spreading rapidly amid erratic winds and high temperatures.

 

The York Fire erupted on Friday near the remote Caruthers Canyon area of the wildland preserve. It crossed the state line into Nevada on Sunday and sent smoke further east into the Las Vegas Valley.

 

The fire is one of two major blazes burning in California as the region faces hot and dry weather. Firefighters said they had made progress battling the other blaze, the Bonny fire in Riverside county.

 

The York Fire was mapped at roughly 120 sq miles (284 sq km) on Monday with no containment.

 

Back in the Mojave desert, wind-driven flames that reached as high as 20ft (6m) in some spots charred tens of thousands of acres of desert scrub, juniper and Joshua tree woodland. The fire had scorched 120 sq miles by Monday and was at zero containment.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Preserving world famous Joshua Trees complicates fight to contain 80,000-acre York Fire

 

Firefighters battling a massive blaze in California's Mojave National Preserve on Tuesday faced the difficult task of stopping the fire without bulldozers and other heavy equipment that could damage the region's famous Joshua trees and other sensitive plants.

 

Crews are using a "light hand on the land" approach to fight the York Fire, California's largest wildfire so far this year. The goal is to reduce the impact of firefighting on the federally-protected landscape.

 

"You bring a bunch of bulldozers in there, you may or may not stop the fire, but you'll put a scar on the landscape that'll last generations," said Tim Chavez, an assistant chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

 

The blaze erupted on Friday near the remote Caruthers Canyon area of the vast wildland preserve, crossed the state line into Nevada on Sunday and sent smoke further east into the Las Vegas Valley. Flames scorched 125 square miles (323.7 square kilometers), though firefighters had contained 23% of the wildfire as of Tuesday afternoon.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Sourdough Fire reassessed to 1,440 acres after affected area surveyed

 

The Whatcom County fire had expanded significantly, growing from 30 acres to 2,993 acres, in just three days. But on Sunday, the fire was reduced to 1,440 acres.

Firefighters said they got a better look at the fire on infrared helicopters and were able to re-adjust the size.

 

On Saturday, firefighters were using helicopters to dump water on the fire but minimal progress was being made in containing the blaze. First responders and locals prepared the nearby town of Diablo for the fire by wrapping buildings in fire-proof sheeting.

 

The lack of substantial rainfall along with the steep terrain are the most pressing challenges for firefighters. The dry brush provides fuel for the flames while the steep hills make it difficult to dig fire lines.

 

According to Washington Weather Chasers, a large pyrocumulus cloud has grown over the site, which is near Diablo Lake in the Cascades.

 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

In California, wildfires are prevented by crews of unlikely firefighters: goats

 

The end of a quiet residential street in Glendale, Calif., is just one of many battlegrounds in the state's annual fight against wildfire season. And it's being waged by goats.

 

About 300 of them are spread out along the foothills and steep ridges of the Verdugo Mountains, which loom over multi-million dollar homes at the end of a cul de sac. The goats are busy chomping away on the dried-out vegetation that's exploded after this year's drought-busting rains.

 

Seemingly oblivious to the 94 F heat, the animals are hard at work devouring several acres of dead, yellowed grasses, scrubby bushes and cactus, as well as some of southern California's most invasive plants, including star thistle and black mustard.

 

"There's very little they won't eat. Even things that seem impossible. I don't know how their digestive systems deal with it, but they do," Michael Choi told NPR, squinting out at his herd from under a brown felt cowboy hat.

 

Choi, 30, is the owner of Fire Grazers Inc., a service that uses its herds of goats to clear brush from hillsides, flatlands and other hard-to-climb terrain. It's a family business that he took over from his father a few years ago and now runs with two other brothers.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

[China]

 

[China]