Jerry Thomas' home burns in wildland fire
JT called me yesterday to say that his rural home in Baker City, Oregon had burned to the ground in the rapid onslaught of a wildland fire. Jerry says his home and property is a complete loss, but that he and his wife are safe and living in a condo down in Baker City town proper. Apparently, the fire was stopped just short of the city line.
Jerry says that he lost all of his DB Cooper notes, files and memorabilia. He also lost all of his collectible cars, plus a Taurus and a 4x. However, some of his gold mining equipment is salvageable.
Update:
The Baker City Herald says the fire threatening the town is currently at 20 square miles! Over a hundred homes are at a Level 3 evacuation alert, which is the highest level and means they should be ready to rock and roll at a moment's notice.
Baker City is along the I-84 corridor in the Blue Mountain section of eastern Oregon. It is about 200 miles southeast of Portland. The fire that is threatening Bake City is called the Dry Gulch fire, and the fuels seem to be a mixture of grasslands and scrub, with forests in the higher elevations. The area is what I call, "High Desert."
The newspaper's use of square miles versus acreage is a new dimension this summer in reporting wildland fires, due, I believe, to the great number of fires and their huge size. I have been covering the local situation in Pierce County, Washington, focusing mostly on smoke issues, and we have nearly 1,000 square miles burning throughout the state, currently. That's a lot of fire, and a LOT of smoke. An average of 140 people die annually in WA due to chronic exposure to smoke, mostly from wood and brush fires, and wood stoves. Plus, In Pierce County we have the added effects of diesel exhaust. Here, wood stove smoke and diesels are a double whammy, and the UW Med Center has a unit established just for cardiac patients whose heart conditions were triggered by chronic diesel exposure.
Speaking of fires, I understand that the Napa Valley has had a bunch of big ones. I wonder how Sheridan Peterson is fairing in Santa Rosa, which is at the western edge of wine country.
As for Jerry, he sounded okay when I spoke with him.
