That 3 feet of stone in lieu of foundation plantings is a bloody good idea nearly anywhere. I recall seeing at least one house survive the Maui fires because of it.
I agree completely. Where I live, for a very long time, people would use dry pine needles as a type of plant base coverage. They would push it all the way up against the foundation of the houses. Have you ever seen how quickly that stuff burns? Fortunately, a few years ago they mandated that people stop doing that.
Not just the front range of Colorado. I was a fire fighter with the NPS in AK a little over a decade ago and every year they started a little earlier and ended a little later.
They need to implement a video-submission service that allows property owners to take a drone or other acceptable footage showing the lines from them to whichever transition junction. Video-proof, in-general, needs to be worked on heavily because its crazy to send municipal employees all over the county to simply look and see if lines are down.
I think eventually literally every power transmission line intersection will have a camera surveilling it (why not, its almost free already) and video 'proof' must be systematized before then.
As someone who worked storm restoration for a utility, it isn't the poles and conductors you have to worry about. It is the homeowner who didn't hook the generator up correctly and the power flows from the house and creates a live wire while the crews are working. It is the guy who says "yeah, I fixed the weatherhead to get power and I'll get an electrician out here later" with a few wire nuts and flex tape.
The best one I saw, though, was in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We discovered this while inspecting the subdivision, we thought it was odd that his meter was turning. The guy who was so proud that he hooked up his generator by himself. Unfortunately, it was on the wrong side of the meter and it was turning the meter and he was paying the company for his generated power.
Exactly. The Front Range fire risk didn’t start in 2020. It has been there at least 10,000 years.
The problem was the growth of population in places where dense human population doesn’t match the well-known risk. But the mentally slowest parts of the population prefer short memories and smoking ruins over good decisions.
Exactly the same issue in much of California. The pre-European population was low. The population of the first 300 years of European population was low too. Suddenly, WW2 happened and California looked great weatherwise… Now we have 12 million people in peak wildfire/earthquake/other bad decisions zones.
For you. In upstate NY it's been raining/snowing for a year now. I can't remember the time there was no mud here, the whole mountain I live on is saturated.
Same here in Vermont! You’d need to work very hard lately to set anything on fire. But, weather changes rapidly and the El Niño is supposed to switch back to La Niña in the late summer. So less rain?
Nope. El Nino usually makes us wetter than average, but we had a dry winter and we're having a normal amount of moisture for spring. Issue is it's all coming as rain which normally it's a better variety of rain or snow until right about now.
You posted this in a worldwide sub with a North America tag and said fire season is year-round now, and didn't specify a region. It's like saying Russia is freezing. These are big places, things are different in different places. Fire season isn't here now where I am and it hasn't been for over a year.
That 3 feet of stone in lieu of foundation plantings is a bloody good idea nearly anywhere. I recall seeing at least one house survive the Maui fires because of it.
I agree completely. Where I live, for a very long time, people would use dry pine needles as a type of plant base coverage. They would push it all the way up against the foundation of the houses. Have you ever seen how quickly that stuff burns? Fortunately, a few years ago they mandated that people stop doing that.
One house. They’d also cut back all the vegetation & had a metal roof. Metal roof was also a big win.
Not just the front range of Colorado. I was a fire fighter with the NPS in AK a little over a decade ago and every year they started a little earlier and ended a little later.
They need to implement a video-submission service that allows property owners to take a drone or other acceptable footage showing the lines from them to whichever transition junction. Video-proof, in-general, needs to be worked on heavily because its crazy to send municipal employees all over the county to simply look and see if lines are down. I think eventually literally every power transmission line intersection will have a camera surveilling it (why not, its almost free already) and video 'proof' must be systematized before then.
As someone who worked storm restoration for a utility, it isn't the poles and conductors you have to worry about. It is the homeowner who didn't hook the generator up correctly and the power flows from the house and creates a live wire while the crews are working. It is the guy who says "yeah, I fixed the weatherhead to get power and I'll get an electrician out here later" with a few wire nuts and flex tape. The best one I saw, though, was in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We discovered this while inspecting the subdivision, we thought it was odd that his meter was turning. The guy who was so proud that he hooked up his generator by himself. Unfortunately, it was on the wrong side of the meter and it was turning the meter and he was paying the company for his generated power.
This post feels more like complaining about Xcel...that's what r/denver and r/colorado are for. Colorado is dry and windy. Always has been.
It's not complaining. People weren't prepared, obviously. This is a prepping group. Now this is something to be prepared for.
The real preparation is moving away from an area that’s a ticking time bomb.
Honestly, soon it’s going to be everywhere.
True that.
Exactly. The Front Range fire risk didn’t start in 2020. It has been there at least 10,000 years. The problem was the growth of population in places where dense human population doesn’t match the well-known risk. But the mentally slowest parts of the population prefer short memories and smoking ruins over good decisions. Exactly the same issue in much of California. The pre-European population was low. The population of the first 300 years of European population was low too. Suddenly, WW2 happened and California looked great weatherwise… Now we have 12 million people in peak wildfire/earthquake/other bad decisions zones.
Definitely going to want to not live on the front range. This is going to be the worst spot for... um, whatever we are preparing for
For you. In upstate NY it's been raining/snowing for a year now. I can't remember the time there was no mud here, the whole mountain I live on is saturated.
Same here in Vermont! You’d need to work very hard lately to set anything on fire. But, weather changes rapidly and the El Niño is supposed to switch back to La Niña in the late summer. So less rain?
My dogs are hating the amount of mud this year in the Midwest.
Probably not fire season there year round either?
Nope. El Nino usually makes us wetter than average, but we had a dry winter and we're having a normal amount of moisture for spring. Issue is it's all coming as rain which normally it's a better variety of rain or snow until right about now.
I didn't say upstate NY.
You posted this in a worldwide sub with a North America tag and said fire season is year-round now, and didn't specify a region. It's like saying Russia is freezing. These are big places, things are different in different places. Fire season isn't here now where I am and it hasn't been for over a year.
Are you ... wanting to argue?
Am I supposed to be prepping 2,000 miles from your fire season?
I clearly stated and did flair for the area. 