Weather forecast: Smoke?

[Phil Thien]

Apparently Canada has really been wooting it up the past few weeks because the forecast for our weather tonight is...smoke. From Canada. Canadian smoke. Which is better than smoke from Michigan but I'm told nowhere near as good as smoke from Colorado.

Sounds pretty bad up there, anyone close to fire(s)? 2.1 million hectares of forest charred. Ugh. That is a lot of wood we could have used to make stuff. I don't usually burn things until the project is complete (and unsatisfactory).

How bad is the destruction. Any pics from users here?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

We have forest fires southwest of us......north of us.....northwest of us.

We had drought conditions this past winter with a lot of areas only getting 25% of their normal snowfall. We are experiencing our heat of the summer 4-5 weeks earlier than normal. It's going to be a long fire season, I'm afraid.

[Erik Loza]

Our forecast? "African dust". No joke. Dust all the way across the Atlantic from Africa. Allergies have been terrible for the last week.

Erik

[Don Kondra]

Two of my friends lost their cabins on Nemeiben Lake, a good five hour drive from me (Saskatoon).

Thirty plus years reduced to rubble, sigh...



A lightning storm about two weeks ago started 25 fires in this area and they continued to spread until communities including La Ronge, ten miles south of the lake, had to be evacuated.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskat...uees-1.3139554

A few days ago the smoke was so bad, I couldn't see the road 350' from my home, 250 miles south of the majority of the burns.

My condolences to all that lost homes, cabins, their livelihoods and the thousands that have been displaced.

Imagine what it would be like to be allowed to pack one bag and flee, leaving everything you own including your pets behind.

Sad days indeed...

Cheers, Don

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

I don't even imaging to leave pets.
Sorry to hear that about fire.
Ed.

[Ted Calver]

You said it well, Don. Condolences to all who suffered losses from this disaster.

[Erik Loza]

I don't even imaging to leave pets....

This ^^^^....

No way I could leave any of our pets behind. No way, ever.

Erik

[Phil Thien]

This ^^^^....

No way I could leave any of our pets behind. No way, ever.

Erik

I heard reports on the news of people getting their doors kicked in (no knocks, door just kicked in) during the middle of the night and being told to grab a bag and leave.

Might be insufficient time to corral a cat (for example).

I imagine (hope) with doors kicked-in, any pets that aren't caged would be able to escape.

The news accounts sound pretty horrific.

[Erik Loza]

I heard reports on the news of people getting their doors kicked in (no knocks, door just kicked in) during the middle of the night and being told to grab a bag and leave.

Might be insufficient time to corral a cat (for example).

I imagine (hope) with doors kicked-in, any pets that aren't caged would be able to escape.

The news accounts sound pretty horrific.

That is a nightmare-scenario, for sure. I actually have cat carriers in the house, in our spare bedroom, "just in case".

We had deadly flooding here in Central Texas during the month of May. Friends had their cat get trapped in a tree in their back yard due to the creek behind their house flash-flooding. He told me that he thought trying to wade out to the tree and climb up there to rescue it might have caused it to jump and be swept away. Their cat apparently was miserable but was staying put in the tree, so he opted to wait until morning, for the waters to subside, then went up their and got the cat. Cat was fine when we were at their house, a few days later. That is just a terrifying scenario to me.

Erik

[Don Kondra]

This case wasn't quite that bad or that rushed. There was sufficient time to register pets before boarding buses and the pets are being fed and watered !

The evacuation was originally ordered because of air quality issues. At this time, the highways were closed to private traffic.

Later, the fire did reach town limits but has been held at bay by local and volunteer firefighters from as far away as Saskatoon, the Canadian Forces arrived yesterday to lend a hand.

I am a dog owner and can't imagine leaving my Ruby behind.

Cheers, Don

[David Helm]

Map of fires in British Columbia looks like BC has gotten the measles. Something like 160 fires. There are a couple of them going on in my county. Air in Bellingham area for the past several days has been full of smoke, both from here and from BC.