Survival Items You Should Carry With You

Do you spend time in the outdoors? Most of us do. Anymore we leave our home and we have our cell phone. Maybe a bit of water and a snack. Out we go! Ready for a day in the outdoors.

Remember the day when we went out without a phone. We didn't worry a bit. Maybe the world was safer then, or we were smarter, or maybe our trucks were more reliable. Whatever the case we can't go anywhere without our cell phones. We would be lost without them. We are weak, soft, and to be frank kinda pathetic. Okay maybe that is a bit harsh. But if we forget our cell phone, guess what? We are going back for it. Right?  You know it.

We need that phone in case of whatever happens. It s our security blanket. It will save us. We rely on it like a trusted friend. However there is something to think about. Is the cell phone you take really going to save you? Is that all you need to take care of you in the event of an emergency?

Think about this. A cell phone is a great thing but it can't feed you or keep you warm. You need to have some basic survival items that are not your cell phone. What are they?

When you leave you need a few basic items. Matches can fail. So take a backup plan. Something you can light in any kind of weather. Warm, cold, or wet, etc. What some of us carry is a cotton ball that is soaked in WD-40. It will light with just a spark and it will burn like a candle for five to ten minutes. Also buy a MRE (mael ready to eat) and keep one for each person in the car. This will cost you several bucks each but the shelf life is long. There is several food items to keep you going. My bud's and I also take a ziplock bag of wood tender. We take wood shavings that are dry ready to burn. These items are very basic but can go along ways in keeping you warm and fed until rescue can find you. Or you can find your way home.

I didn't cover all the items you could or should have when you leave the house. These are just a couple of basics. Be creative and take other items that you would like to have in a survival situation. However what I have listed is reasonably small and fits in a fanny pack or a backpack.

So don't  just take your cell phone. But don't forget it either. Don't mislead yourself. Go prepared and have a contingency plan in place. Don't think you will not break down or get lost. I know it sounds funny, but you know what they say, "stuff happens".  Head out to the outdoors have fun and go prepared. Oh and be careful with your matches. You could put some of us to work.......

Oregon Wildfire News

Lightning in Oregon has started many fires with more likely on the way. Check the current news:  http://wildfireoregondeptofforestry.blogspot.com/2013/07/odf-partners-fighting-70-new-lightning.html

Update on the Mile Marker 28 Fire

http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3557/

Is wildfire a good thing or a bad thing?

In the last decade or so the west coast has seen many destructive wildfires. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed as well as personal property. Some of us see it first hand, however most of us see the destruction on the news. Wildfire has caused thousands untold heartache.

It begs the question: Is fire a good thing or a bad thing?

On the surface it would seem that the answer is emphatically NO! The evidence says that it isn't a good thing. After all look at the evidence. The California and Colorado fires have burned hundreds of homes. Last year the forest fires were some of the largest in history. On some days fire growth was as large as 30-40,000 acres, in one day. That happened numerous times last year. Based on this and much more evidence it seems open and shut case that fire is bad.

But is it?

Consider this: There are fires out there that do not destroy property, home, or the outdoors we all like to play in. These fires are "managed". What that means is that they let the fire burn to "accomplish management resources". The fire is allowed to burn, but in a controlled way. The fire consumes all the timber litter, such as down rotting tree's, grass, stumps, and other surface debris. When done properly it leaves a nice clean burn. And it is actually good for the forest. The Soot and ash from the fire puts needed nutrients back into the ground. The next spring the forest floor is so beautiful.

So the answer to the above question is yes and no. Most of the fires we see in the news are bad. On the other hand fire in the right environment it can be a very good thing.

Is Every Firefighter a Pyromaniac?

Fire season has begun on much of the western half of the United States. For those of us in the Northwest it has been slow. Some area's are really bad and others not as much. Very soon we will get our dispatch to who knows where.

There are two camps out there. The firefighters and the rest of the public. If you ask the public (and that is most of you reading this) fire is a bad thing. I wont argue that point one bit, to a point. Fire can be good if it is a good clean burn. But that's another article for another day.

 If you ask a firefighter fire is a good thing. I have yet to find a firefighter that doesn't like fire. However, most I talk to don't like a destructive fire. Well sort of. Fire fighters LOVE to work on a fire and they LOVE fire. The bigger the better. It's exciting and amazing to watch. We see some amazing things out there.

I have talked to many firefighters on the line and they (and myself included) love the work. But if you pin them down they don't want to see the woods burn any more then you the public do. Not only do they love the fires but they love the outdoors. They hunt, fish, hike, camp, and, many other outdoor activities.

So unlike many of you they don't want to see the woods burn to the ground. However, if you see a wildfire fighter and ask him or her about fire they will light up and probably tell you some kind of story. They will likely show you pictures that they have taken on a fire. They will be very excited. So to answer the question of whether or not a firefighter is a pyromaniac, the answer is very simple. The answer is YES!  

An Interesting tidbit about lightning

Lightning is something that is amazing. It mesmerizes us, scares us, amazes us, and on a rare occasion it hits us or something close to us. Then there is cloud to cloud lightning, cloud to ground, and ground to cloud lightning. But there is an interesting fact that science has learned those in the weather community. They have in turn forwarded the knowledge to us.

When lightning hits the ground does it always start a fire? If not why not? For a fact not all lightning starts fire. How so? It is because there is positive and negative lightning. The positive lightning is from cloud to ground. This kind of lightning does start fires. On the flip side the ground to cloud lightning is negative and therefore does not start fires.

The Aftermath

The results of the Red Flag Warning is as follows: http://www.nwccweb.us/content/products/intelligence/MORNINGBRIEF.pdf

At this point there is no dispatch. However there may be holdovers that could flame up today. There is always sleepers. We will see how the next several days go. The forecast is for it to get really hot by the weekend. By the weekend we will know if there are any new starts. Stay Tuned....

On the flip side we had a really good storm last night with some awesome lightning.

Fire Weather Update

The fire weather watch has been changed to a Red Flag Warning. Check it out here:
http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=ORZ049&warncounty=ORC061&firewxzone=ORZ633&local_place1=&product1=Red+Flag+Warning#.UeRwxo3VCcE

Fire Weather Watch

The fire season looks like it is about to begin. The national weather service has issued a fire weather watch. You can see the forecast here:http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=ORZ049&warncounty=ORC061&firewxzone=ORZ633&local_place1=&product1=Fire+Weather+Watch

We will be on alert. We are packed and ready for the call. As always I will post to the blog as I have cell service. I will give you the inside scoop on the fire, and its events

Owyhee Fire

We were on the Owyhee fire for five days. Our first day it was extremely hot. We saw temperatures as high as 113 degrees. There was also a couple of T-storms. After we received our assignment we went out to the line and then say a crop duster doing retardant drops on a slop over. Then we helped the Union hot shots mop it up.

Our second day was much cooler. It was only in the 90's. The fire for the most part went out on it's own. There was some interior burning. So the last shift we were on patrol watching to make sure nothing took off.

The country was desert and had some really nice landscape.

Below is some of the scenes we saw enjoy.....

July desert wildfire

We have been sent to the Owyhee fire. As it now stands it is 50,000 acres and counting. We are told it is running wild. As I have signal I will post pictures. Stay tuned....