There have been quite a lot of fires in the Western states of the USA and Canada again this year. Smoke has been pretty unhealthy here in Eastern Washington.
I had to stop using my A/C because the smoke comes in with the intake.
I purchased a new Honeywell room air filter machine from WalMart. It is very much worth the cost so I can breathe and use the air conditioner.
Aug 20, 2018 AQI 365 was the AQI was the highest AQI so far for Spokane in 2018
According to The Spokesman-Review article: "the air quality index stood at 307 as of Sunday evening, August 19, 2018 according to the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency. " This article also has information about the most days with a high AQI from 1999 to 2018.
In 2018 we had at least 12 days in a row of very unhealthy AQI.
The record is 16 days in 2016 for Spokane.
This is a minor inconvenience compared to what has devastated California, Western USA and Canada with fire and smoke. There are even fires in the Southern States of the USA.
I have written other blog posts about the fires in Lake county because my family lives here.
Start of the fire blog posts for 2015 here:
https://butterflyof4.blogspot.com/2015/08/out-of-oven-but-still-in-kitchen-aug-2.html
For Lake county only once did the kids have to evacuate because of the Clayton fire in Lower Lake city. The kids live 3 blocks from the edge of the fire. I did rent a home in Lower Lake in 2011 to 2012. The fire came with in 1 block of the fire on Bonham road. My friends lost their home a block from that house I rented. I had moved from Bonham to Dam Road in 2012, I moved from Dam Road to Spokane a week before the fire.
California Fires
I think I did not post about the fire in Santa Rosa of October of 2017. My daughter had to evacuate from Santa Rosa. She was with in a mile of the fire that devastated the area. My ex husband lost his home in Kenwood. I know others - friends and a cousin of my cousin also who lost their homes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tubbs_Fire
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2017_Northern_California_wildfires
Fires 2012 to 2018
The fires are fierce in California since last October 2017.
My son and some cousins live in Lake county in Northern California. They have had significant fires since 2013.
Here is a map of the fires from 2012
Press Democrat photo
About mid August 2018
Size comparisons of the city limits of San Francisco compared to fires. This is before the Ranch fire had got to nearly 400.000 acres by the end of August 2018
Lake County border in Purple and the fires around the area
2018 Fire season
The Pawnee fire was the one of the first in Lake county. Spring Valley has had fires in this area before.
Pawnee fire
Pawnee Fire Incident Information:
Last Updated: July 09, 2018 11:57 am FINAL
Date/Time Started: June 23, 2018 5:21 pm
Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit
County: Lake County
Location: Pawnee Rd & New Long Valley Rd, northeast of Clearlake Oaks
Acres Burned - Containment: 15,185 acres - 100% contained
Structures Destroyed: 22
The Mendocino Fire Complex
Wikipedia has the current stats on this ongoing fire which they hope to have 100% containment by September 1, 2018.
"The Mendocino Complex Fire is the largest recorded fire complex in California history.[5] It is a large complex of two wildfires, the River Fire and Ranch Fire, currently burning in Mendocino, Lake, Colusa and Glenn Counties in the U.S. State of California. The Ranch Fire is currently burning eight miles northeast of Ukiah and the River Fire is currently burning six miles north of Hopland. First reported on July 27, 2018, both fires have burned a combined total of 427,693 acres (1,731 km2) and are collectively 78% contained, while the Ranch Fire has burned 378,773 acres (1,533 km2), surpassing the Thomas Fire to become single-largest modern California wildfire.[3] The Ranch Fire has also surpassed the size of the 315,577-acre Rush Fire, which burned across California and Nevada,[6] as well as the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889, which was believed to have been California's all-time largest wildfire.[7][8] The city of Lakeport, communities of Kelseyville, Lucerne, Upper Lake, Nice, Saratoga Springs, Witter Springs, Potter Valley, and Finley, parts of Hopland, and the tribal communities of Hopland Rancheria and Big Valley Rancheria were evacuated."
There is quite a lot more to the article.
CAL FIRE Map of the fire plans for containment July 31, 2018
Map of the beginnings of the River Fire and the Ranch Fire Aug 2, 2018
The beginnings of the Mendocino Complex fire
Press Democrat Alex Schenek uses buckets to gather water to save his home
in Lake County Aug 4, 2018
Smoke drifts around the West to the East from BC Canada fires
Heartwarming rescue of a baby doe by CHP Officer
Meanwhile my little inconvenience in Spokane.
Smoke when the AQI was AQI 240 at my town of Spokane
Aug 19, 2018 AQI 240 https://www.airnow.gov/
Black Carbon from the Fires
From CBC Black Carbon in the smoke
There are a ton of photos and information about the Mendocino Complex fire. I wanted to do a brief summary update. So I choose not to have all the incident reports and maps from CAL FIRE.
As of Aug 26, 2018 a summary:
Acreage: 377,257 acres
Containment:67%
Deaths:1
Injuries:2
Damage:157 residences and 120 other structures destroyed (Mendocino Complex total)
Fire began:12:03 p.m. July 27, 2018
River Fire (Mendocino Complex)
Acreage:48,920 acres
Containment:100%
Fire began:1:01 p.m. July 27, 2018
The Mendocino fire has surpassed the Thomas fire from last winter: Number (2) on the list - The Thomas Fire, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, Started 4 December 2017 [The Thomas Fire]
Size: 281,893 acres, 440 square miles. Contained January 12, 2018.
Buildings destroyed 1,063 buildings[4][7].
Fatalities 1 firefighter, 1 civilian directly[8][9]
21 civilians indirectly (mud/debris flows in 2018)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CARR FIRE
I still need to find out about my cousin who lives near the Carr fire, which has its' own devastation! Yikes! Also I did not cover the other fires in California, they too have been devastating.
AQI at the top
What is scary is that the AQI got off the charts last November in Delhi, India with an AQI of 1,010 !!!!!
"On November 8, pollution surged so high that some monitoring stations reported an Air Quality Index of 999, way above the upper limit of the worst category, Hazardous. (An extra-sensitive air quality instrument at the US embassy got a reading of 1,010, as you can see in the chart below)"
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/11/22/16666808/india-air-pollution-new-delhi
Now that is just catastrophic!
I will add updates of the Mendocino Complex fire until it is 100% contained.
~~~~~~~~~~
August 29, 2018 From SFChronicle.com
Ranch Fire (of the Mendocino Complex)
Acreage: 410,182 acres
Containment:93%
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Be Safe out there!
