Wildfires

[finescalerr]

Scarlett came home last night and is willing to consider moving to another state, probably the Pacific Northwest. But maybe we should look at Star, Idaho, too. We'll have to do some careful and methodical research. Meanwhile she brought me a very cool T-shirt from Venice and chocolate bars from Belgium and Italy so now I guess I owe her a new iPhone ....

Along with those of you who posted here (and whom I want to thank yet again) I also heard from two long lost modelers. One is a friend whose work I published more than once in my books and magazines, Doug Heitkamp, from Colorado. He seems finally to have settled on modeling the Santa Fe circa 1955 in HO standard gauge after decades with the narrow gauge Colorado & Southern. Doug is an outstanding modeler.

The other rascal is the guy who designed this forum, Marc Reusser. He's burned out on modeling for a while (no surprise given the intensity he put into his work) and his business has taken off so he's quite busy. He's healthy and finds time to get on the mountain bicycle a few times a week.

The fire fighters did a remarkable job. They really are heroes and everybody around here knows it. You never would guess our neighborhood could have disintegrated in a couple of hours if you were here today ... unless you look at the charred hillsides a couple of miles away.

Russ

[Greg Hile]

I was talking to my neighbor the other day, who is from Washington, about your experience and desire to move to the PNW. I also spoke with my son in Olympia and my daughter in Portland recently, and while they have not experienced as close a call as you did, they all agreed that fire is a major threat up there, too. Both of my kids have had smoke health issues this year from all the fires up there, especially ones in British Columbia. Damn Canadiens ...

[finescalerr]

Thanks, Greg. I've heard nothing like that from my friends in Gig Harbor and east of Tacoma but you can bet I'll check it out very seriously. No sense in moving from the frying pan .... -- Russ

[shropshire lad]

Scarlett came home last night and is willing to consider moving to another state, probably the Pacific Northwest. But maybe we should look at Star, Idaho, too. We'll have to do some careful and methodical research. Meanwhile she brought me a very cool T-shirt from Venice and chocolate bars from Belgium and Italy so now I guess I owe her a new iPhone ....

Along with those of you who posted here (and whom I want to thank yet again) I also heard from two long lost modelers. One is a friend whose work I published more than once in my books and magazines, Doug Heitkamp, from Colorado. He seems finally to have settled on modeling the Santa Fe circa 1955 in HO standard gauge after decades with the narrow gauge Colorado & Southern. Doug is an outstanding modeler.

The other rascal is the guy who designed this forum, Marc Reusser. He's burned out on modeling for a while (no surprise given the intensity he put into his work) and his business has taken off so he's quite busy. He's healthy and finds time to get on the mountain bicycle a few times a week.

The fire fighters did a remarkable job. They really are heroes and everybody around here knows it. You never would guess our neighborhood could have disintegrated in a couple of hours if you were here today ... unless you look at the charred hillsides a couple of miles away.

Russ

  So , Russ, your wife buys you a T-shirt and some chocolate and you need to buy her an IPhone ? I'm glad my wife only needs a new horse every time I get a new Land Rover !

[Design-HSB]

But we didn't have fire but 3 x floodwaters in the house. No we don't even live on the coast by a river, it just rained so much that our cellar ran full of water. That didn't survive my track N model railway and since then I have all my hobby rooms on the 1 floor. Since my LGB railway was the only one that survived these floods repairable, I came to a scale of 1:22.5.  We live on a mountain with forest and also this one burned this year after months without rain, only luckily the fire was discovered very quickly and could be extinguished. Our forests serve commercial forestry and are therefore equipped with paved roads for the timber discharge, on these paths large fire engines can also drive. These paths can also be used by everyone on foot, providing a high recreational value.  Classic fire-fighting aircraft do not exist in Germany. But helicopter from the army is also used, and in the case of very large fires, fire-fighting aircraft from European neighbouring countries are used. In addition, in large forest or heathland, there are fire observation towers and aircraft that observe the situation in long periods of the season. There was a large fire this year in a large bog area within a troop training ground. Reason one had allowed Airbus to test there, firing missiles from a helicopter. Unfortunately, the only suitable fire tank was just defective and so the flames could not be extinguished and there was a huge conflagration. Yes, you think you live safely and then something like that absolutely avoidable, through official posts.
Therefore, my sympathy to all the victims and to all those who have been lucky this time, since further prepared for danger and watch how you can improve your personal situation.