The Rim Fire wildfire is burning on the edge of Yosemite now. It started west of Yosemite but exploded in size Thursday night to spread into the western edge of the park. Seems like something so far away from me, but I just read that it could directly affect us right here.

Yosemite is a couple hundred miles from us in San Francisco, but I was just reading that the fire is threatening both the electricity and water supply of San Francisco. The fire has already damaged power lines, prompting a shutdown of some lines but no blackouts so far.

And the fire is only 4 miles from Hetch Hetchy, which is the primary water source for San Francisco. Not sure exactly how it might affect the water quality, but it can't be good if the fire reaches the reservoir.

Anyway, it's been sort of a wake up call. It's not just big earthquakes that we have to worry about here in San Francisco and prep for.

really hope they get that fire under control. that's some beautiful country going up in flames right there - some of the finest in the lower 48 states.

did they say what caused it?

Pete2

I have not heard any official reports, but I read one report by someone out hiking that suggests it was a lightning strike, perhaps a double lightning strike. He reported that the peaks on both sides of a deep valley were burning at the same time while the fire was still small.

I just read that even the City of San Francisco is part of the governor's declaration of a state of emergency due to the risk to the electrical and water supplies to the city.

You will be surprised by how fast the forest will recover. I was in Yellowstone a few years after their big fire in '88. IIRC you could tell where it had burned but it had recovered a lot. About ten years later, you would have had to know where to look and what to look for to tell it had ever burned. Some species of pines only release seeds from the cones when triggered by the heat of a fire.

normally I am a believer in the recovery of forests after fire. and you are right that some trees release seeds as a result of being burned.

but I am more concerned with the next 20 years than in past history. I do believe that the general set of data showing that CO2 content in the Earth's atmosphere is steadily rising. there is no disputing that data - it is rising and so far is not leveling off. I do also believe this will result in increasing amounts of "climate change". I am not panicking about the change. but a combination of factors, including rising air pollution, changes in precipitation and moisture cycles, habitat encroachment by people, and warmer temperatures - these combined affects are putting pressures on the wilderness.

therefore, what I'm saying is that the overall environmental "change" can overwhelm the ability of nature to respond in the short term. hence ... long-lasting permanent damage can occur. it's worthwhile for us to become actively involved in restoration of the Earth's environment ... if we sit back now - we may fall behind in the ability to preserve what we've got.

Pete2

The following link will always display the most perimeter of the Rim Fire straight from the GeoMAC server. This is the same server that also provides data to the crews on the fire line. Sometimes the data on the InciWeb site is not as current as the data that comes from the GeoMAC server. (The InciWeb site gets its data from GeoMAC.)

For more information about this map, you can follow the “About” link in the upper left corner of the map.

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/fires/2013_rim_fire_map.html

Joseph, the Gmap4 guy

Post fire erosion is a large factor in a decline in water quality.

Actually, I am counting on technology to solve the problem artificially.

We are nowhere close to being able to control our environment, yet. But I think by the end of the 21st century, we will be forced to do develop and implement CO2 atmospheric scrubbers that will remove and sequester CO2 on a HUGE scale.

IIRC, that was prophesied in Seaquest, DSV, after we had killed the oceans.

Ok practical question - is there a place where I can donate money to help the 2800 firefighters who are working on the Rim Fire. I'm thinking of donations that help them with food, drinks, and basic necessities.

Pete2

Benjamin ... again another very good call. I agree with you. By the end of 2100 the world may need giant facilities that effectively purify the atmosphere for the planet. I have to say that it seems unthinkable to attempt something on that scale - but we may not have a choice. Essentially we will be "terraforming" our own planet. We will probably need to make adjustments to the oceans as well.

cheers,
Pete2

Although I know nothing of the Rim fire specifically, fire fighting operations have good logistical support and the basics are pretty well handled. Keep paying taxes - they will be used effectively.

I added the current hot spot data to the online map link that I posted earlier. This likely shows the areas where the fire is trying to expand.

See the "About" link in the upper left corner of the map for more information.

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/fires/2013_rim_fire_map.html

Joseph, the Gmap4 guy

Apparently the federal budget for fighting wildfires has already been depleted--again. I'm not sure how much state agencies like CalFire depend on Federal support. Anyway, that means funds from other US Forest Service programs have to be diverted to support fire fighting activities. Almost a billion dollars have been spent by the Feds for fire fighting and the season is not over yet.

Since the consensus seems to be that wildfires will continue to be bigger and more frequent for the foreseeable future, the budget shortfall will continue to be an issue. The population will continue to expand and push further into wildland areas going forward, increasing the situations were fire suppression will be called upon.

SOCAL has all of September and October to go. The Cedar Fire in San Diego was late October 2003. The fuel conditions are very similar now as then...

As I understand it, the US Forest Service budget has been depleted already. Other agencies (NPS, BLM, and others) apparently still have funds, although they are probably close to depletion.

Congress could appropriate more money, but that would require action.

According to this article, authorities are rapidly trying to fill up reservoirs away from the wildfire region with water from Hetch Hetchy before it becomes more contaminated by ash from the Rim Fire. The intake valves are down about 300 feet from the surface, and ash has not really reached that level yet.

Not an immediate threat of impatcting the city's water supply in any way since these outlying reservoirs already store many months of water for San Francisco. At some point, the water coming from Hetch Hetchy might require some additional filtering for ash and later on, from post-fire sediment.

Will also need some clever pH rebalancing, ash pulls way alkaline.

There's nothing quite so shocking as seeing the massive amount of deadly chemicals needed to make water safe to drink at mass scale.

http://www.valleywater.org/services/TheWaterTreatmentProcess.aspx

Cool stuff.

This is the first article I have seen suggesting a cause for the massive Rim Fire. In this case, possibly an illegal marijuana grow operation in the rugged terrain west of Yosemite.

Also, winds have finally shifted to push smoke towards the heavily visited Yosemite Valley area.

Wow that's tough if that fire was caused by an illegal drug operation. I wonder if the authorities should pay a bounty for info leading to the illegal growers or the locations of their sites..

I was up in the southern Sierras about 3 weeks ago. I was thinking that there is a LOT of dead brush and old dry pine branches in those forests. The amount of combustible dry stuff is a lot. There are not many campers and not many people gathering the dead branches for firewood. The danger is high.

Pete2

Just reading that the Rim Fire is now 75% contained. It has burned 369 square miles so far, and even in such a remote region, burned 111 structures (but "only" 11 homes).

Good job to everyone involved with the suppression effort! Feels like the end is in sight.

Doesn't appear that San Francisco water quality will be affected, at least now. Ash has been falling onto Hetch Hetchy reservoir but I assume that the bulk of the water supply to the city during the fire has been coming from alternate reservoirs, away from the ashfall.

The US Forest Service has officially announced that the cause of the Rim Fire is a hunter's campfire, and that there was no evidence of any illegal marijuana grow operations near the source of the fire. As far as I know, the identity of the individual hasn't been named yet.

Considering how dry much of the West and Southwest has become over the years lately, not only fire starting skills, but also fire safety awareness is more critical than ever.

Yep, when the brush is bone dry starting a fire anywhere near that brush is probably a bad idea. 2003's Cedar Fire had a similar beginning -- poor head-work in both cases.

"cause of the Rim Fire is a hunter's campfire"

not good - i doubt that they had a campfire permit. in many places no open fires, or even charcoal, were allowed at that time.

Pete2

Although the Rim Fire is not totally contained yet, now authorities have to worry about how to deal with the erosion problem as the winter rainy season approaches. That whole area is part of the watershed that supplies San Francisco with its drinking water.