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Either way just did my panic

Either way just did my panic buy of MTL couplers,   We all know in operations we normally get one broken each session.  

Just got copied on this text

Just got copied on this text ...

There is a video where a guy

There is a video where a guy drives through the area and you the MT factory is visible and ok.  

MTL Facility is OK

I will also confirm Jim and Joe's posts.   Fortunately Micro Trains Line's neighborhood was not directly affected by the fire. I watched the video Jim referred to and they drove right past MTL which it was fine and no evidence of fire around that area. 

I have not seen anything official from MTL and expect, having met Eric Smith, he and his team are more concerned about their employees than posting updates on websites or Facebook.  Much of Talent sustained major damage, especially downtown and the power and utilities are shut off. 

I don't know the status of Kadee in White City, just north of Medford. There has been fire activity in that area but I have not seen any updates. 

Lou in California.

Oregon fires

Many large fires in Oregon and Nor Cal too. Smoke from Oregon is going out into the pacific about 500 miles then swinging around to mix with nor. cal smoke and create very dark skies in central cal. It got night time dark here at santa cruz about 4:30 pm( photo of my driveway), good thing was no smoke smell, apparently the smoke is very high. Is a good example of how a volcano, meteor strike, or nuclear war could cause a global winter....DaveB

MTL posted on their FB page.

MTL posted on their FB page. Business pages are visible to non FB users.

https://www.facebook.com/MicroTrains/posts/4478025748906629

To say their neighborhood wasn't effected is a bit inaccurate as homes I'd guess were about 3-400' away from the building burned to the ground. As MTL says, just across the two lane street.

WOW!

So sad to hear this.  I was listening to something on the news that the majority of the fires across the western US (from Colorado to California and up to Oregon) have been man started?  In Colorado we have had a fire ban for a few weeks and still have fires popping up.  People just can't seem to understand how dry things are.

Fire sources

It's a mixed bag. The two fires nearest us were started by lightning a week ago in the mountains way east of us and were being kept contained until the 50MPH westerly winds whipped them up and blew them down the mountains into civilization. Westerly winds are rare this time of year, especially high westerly winds, so it was a freak event.

Another fire in the area was caused by a downed powerline from the wind.

Another was caused by a person evacuating in their RV and it overheated and the car caught on fire, then the wind blew sparks into the trees and up she went. So man-caused, yes, but not arson!

A lot of the fires are a mixed bag like this, and very few if any seem to be deliberate arson.

Outside right now

Here's what it looks like out my front door at 10:30am this morning. Very smokey and darker than normal, everything is an eerie yellow-orange -- feels like we're living on Mars. Very strong smokey smell, enough to burn the throat. We're 30 miles south of Portland, OR on I-5.

The nearest fires are currently 20 miles east of us. We're on level 1 alert -- watch the news and be ready to pack up if they give the word. There are two more levels yet: level 2: Pack up now, and level 3: Get out now!

Deliberate or not

I know this isn't the place to rant about this, but it is vexing to see so many people lose their lives and their homes every single year because someone thought it was a good idea to light explosives during a party or someone was too lazy to fix that exhaust leak on their mobile death trap, or someone willfully ignored the rules of a campground and decided to light a fire.  And then, to top it all off, people don't want controlled burns in their area which would prevent most of these fires from getting out of control.  Whether the fires themselves were purposeful or accidental is irrelevant, the decisions individual people make which result in fires are intentional.  While everyone does stupid things now and then, for some people it's their default setting.

Anyways, I'm glad MTL made it out of the scrape and I hope their unlucky neighbors will be able to get insurance payouts or relief aid to rebuild.  And for the love of all that is holy Joe, if it gets to level 2 just leave.  By level 3 everyone will be in a panic.

Sometimes I miss the west

Sometimes I miss the west coast, but at times like this, not so much.  I'd hate to live under threat of fire each summer.  In the 80s we were aware of fire danger in the Sacramento area but things seem to have gotten much worse in the last 20 years.  Crazy.  On the east coast we are having a lot of rain which can also be a problem but fire seems to be more damaging.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Joe left off his list one that was widely reported, that somebody setting off fireworks as a part of their 'gender reveal' party started one of the fires. Shooting off fireworks with all that tinder around was really asking for it. 

+1 for wide avenues that function as fire-breaks.

Kadee is also OK

I just saw Kadee's FB post and their facility is also unharmed although some of their employees lost their home.  Kadee is located in White City, just north of Medford.   Here's the link https://www.facebook.com/kadeepro/

Lou in California

For those who live in Oregon...

Has your state invested in keeping up the Power Grid, or has it like CA invested in "alternative energy" at the expense of neglecting the Grid, which has in some cases, contributed to starting some of these wild fires in CA.  Just wondering if any of these were as a result of the lack of maintaining the Power Grid.

Ken L. 

Mostly Natural Cause in Oregon--Not Power Grid

Ken L., Our Oregon fire problem is mostly natural causes.  Sustained dry and hot conditions have produced a tinderbox.  Throw in a dry lightning storm (similar to what hit the Santa Clara Valley area--both coast and toward central CA sides--a week earlier.  Fires started in remote, rugged terrain.  Then we got three days of strong East winds.  Sustained winds of more than twenty knots with gusts to forty or fifty.  That was in the Willamette Valley.  Up in  the Cascades where the big fires are (Second, Third and Fourth of all time!) I expect it was higher, especially in the Santa Pass (east of Salem and near me, Joe)  Report has MRH Staffer Jeff Schultz evacuated as he resides near the base of the big fire.

The pattern of earlier in the year fires mostly having human sources and the later (now!) fires having natural causes is pretty common.  The "natural" fires result from the typically dry conditions of the summer producing lots of fuel.  Add a weather event like lightening that strikes deep into remote, rugged areas and you have a prescription for a major conflagration.

Fortunately, our utilities have done a good job of keeping their lines clear.

Bill Decker, McMinnville, Oregon

Evacuations?

How is Jeff Schultz doing?

What about Charlie Comstock?

  "Has your state invested

Alternate energy refers to the generation of power. It has nothing to do with maintaining the grid. Alternate energy is delived by the same grid as any other power. The main problem in Ca. is too many people living in hard to defend fire areas. They choose to ignore the problem till it comes and bites them.Compounding the problem this year was our inmate fire fighters were mostly furloughed due to the Covid virus so there were not enough crews to stay ahead of the fires.....DaveB

So without a prison

So without a prison population to exploit, California has no way to put out the fires?

Agreed.I fail to see how a

Agreed.

I fail to see how a few people taking advantage of state incentives to make their homes more efficient are to blame for the incompetence and stupidity of corporate leadership.  California power companies are privately owned and operated just like everywhere else in the country.  PG&E just pleaded guilty to killing 84 people in the Camp Fire.  It was their decisions that got people killed and wasted millions of dollars of state resources.

The problem is California deregulated its utilities in the 90's and the grid has been a mess ever since.  If people would invest in generating their own electricity, there would be no need for these mid-size transmission lines crossing through rough terrain. A solar array went up in Bozeman not long ago and the city has yet to spontaneously combust.

California power lines look like the Milwaukee Road ROW through Montana in the 70's.  Poorly maintained and overgrown with weeds.  Companies like PG&E are going the same way as the Milwaukee.

  "So without a prison

No, we have very competent professional fire fighters. The problem is the fire season is short and intense so the inmates are an important supplement. They volunteer for training and deployment and get a lot of valuable experience in team work and self confidence. We've had furloughed inmate fire fighters even show up on their own to help homeowners defend their property. In normal years the fires are more spaced out in time so the fire crews can control them better. We have reciprocal agreements with other states but it takes time to move crews in so the fire get bigger and harder to fight. Recently the crews have been focused on just saving lives, getting people out of the path of the fires as there are too many fires and not enough crews.....DaveB

Crazy year

In the beginning of the year we were watching record Australian fires.  Now we’re watching record US west coast fires.  Crazy year.

I hope all you guys who live out there get through unscathed.

No inmate is exploited. No

No inmate is exploited. No inmate is forced into that detail. That is a job they chose to do if they are allowed. It is offered. I work with them a couple of times a year on vegetation maintenance at a closed landfill I administer. They work hard and earning a valuable experience. They can leave incarceration with many different certifications related to forestry and obtain gainful employment upon release. 

My family has been hit hard by the Slater Fire. Tuesday, my wife lost her childhood home and her father lost 3 of his 4 properties in Happy Camp. We lost our 115 year old cabin. The fire grew to 22,000 acres in under 8 hours making it the fastest growing fire in state history. Poor little Happy Camp CA has been devastated. Basically the western portion of Siskiyou County north of the Klamath River is burned. 

Well, said, Dave. Barry

Well, said, Dave.

Barry