Wildfire

[Clueless Morgan]

They should be in big civil trouble - they literally have destroyed a nationally renowned park area, have endangered historic buildings and cost people their homes. The should be made to pay for damages and get court-appointed community service rebuilding homes or something.

No doubt there will be people who say things like "oh, don't ruin their lives, they're just kids after all!" but I implore those people to talk to someone whose house was burnt to the ground by that irresponsible fuckwit kid. How are these "just kids" supposed to learn some responsibility and grasp that their actions have consequences if their lives aren't irrevocably changed in a way that merely approaches how they irrevocably changed the lives of others?

[Jackalope]

...not to mention the impact this is going to have on tourism in an area that is very, very dependent on tourism to survive, which has serious implications for individuals living in and businesses located in and near the affected area.

The kid mentioned in the article linked in the previous post was billed $14,000 for the costs of putting out a 1.6 acre fire.

I wonder what the final bill is going to be for fighting a fire that is currently 20,000 times that big.

[Jackalope]

http://www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/inde...ed_ha.html

The raging Eagle Creek fire forced Oregon fish officials to release more than 600,000 hatchery salmon on Tuesday, some were dumped six months earlier than expected.

These fish are going to end up competing with native wild fry, unfortunately.

[Clueless Morgan]

OPB was talking this morning about Herman, the 70+ year old, 11 foot long white sturgeon at the Bonneville Dam hatchery. They say he's doing okay and isn't threatened by ash in his water because he gets well water.

Fun fact: Herman has survived being stabbed and being fishnapped.

http://kuow.org/post/herman-sturgeon-sur...wildfire-0

[Jackalope]

Local news is reporting the fire is 5% contained, however, weather conditions are expected to worsen with high winds predicted which will push the fire to the east.

News is also reporting that it has reached the border of the Bull Run watershed. The Bull Run reservoir provides water for much of the Portland metro area.

[Jackalope]

The most current map I could find....

[Jackalope]

Portland air quality index at 130 down from 156 yesterday. The smoke haze is noticeably improved, I imagine due to the wind shifting east.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Local news is reporting the fire is 5% contained, however, weather conditions are expected to worsen with high winds predicted which will push the fire to the east.

News is also reporting that it has reached the border of the Bull Run watershed.  The Bull Run reservoir provides water for much of the Portland metro area.

Will that render it unusable?

[Jackalope]

Local news is reporting the fire is 5% contained, however, weather conditions are expected to worsen with high winds predicted which will push the fire to the east.

News is also reporting that it has reached the border of the Bull Run watershed.  The Bull Run reservoir provides water for much of the Portland metro area.

Will that render it unusable?

I don't know, the fire hasn't reached the reservoir itself, I expect that the only way to know for sure is when the water coming from the reservoir is tested by the Portland Water Bureau.

It's my understanding that ash + water isn't a great combination for human consumption.

I certainly hope not, as about a million people drink that water. I personally live outside the area served by Bull Run (we get our water from wells operated by the local public utility district, not reservoirs).

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm thinking it's probably filtered pretty well anyway, but wondering whether that filtration system would make it potable. If not it seems it could be a serious issue.