I’ve lived in Nevada 2 1/2 years and twice I stood out in the street in front of my house and watched aircraft bombard a fire.
it’s not just a fact of life in some places, it’s getting more common.
Sorry for your (near) sad personal experience, but that doesn’t necessitate an equivalent expectation for someone viewing the eclipse on 8/21/17, somewhere in the continental US.
I will comment that wool and leather [cough welders coat and gauntlets cough] tend to not melt, and smoulder rather than burst into flame. Cotton will char, and the char can get embedded in the skin but woolens tend to be a bit thicker and provide a few moments to take the garment off if it does get more than a few smouldering areas. Something like a Navy Pea Coat [or similar weight woolen] can take quite a fair amount of sparks and embers before getting dangerous. Last time I did deal with a camp fire log exploding and sending embers around, I was able to safely brush the solids off before anything more than a hot spot occurred. And there is a reason welders coats and gauntlets are made of leather.
From the o.p.:
Here are active fires in Oregon. With all of the inexperienced and illegitimate campers trying to find a place to camp, concerns about incidence of accidental fire are hardly misplaced, as are worries about congestion preventing egress from an active fire zone.
Stranger
If so, then best to stay home.:rolleyes:
AP breaking news
“So far fire crews have not been able to contain any part of the wildfire, which is burning in the so-called “zone of totality” for Monday’s solar eclipse. The region is considered a top eclipse-viewing location, but heavy smoke and the rapidly growing fire has prompted officials to close nearby campsites, recreational areas and roads.
The McKenzie Pass Highway 242 has been closed between Highway 126 and Sisters.
Heisey says the closures will likely have a big impact on people traveling through the region for the eclipse.”
Yes that is an amazingly unlikely scenario.
Beeeezil, have you left for your trip yet?
This info was not mentioned in the OP, nor is it the top news story here in Ohio. Sorry, I was unaware that Oregon was presently ablaze.
This being the case: I can definitely state that one’s car is the best defense against the possibility of being burned alive… Leave it (and yourselves) parked at the house.
Not around here in Ohio, USA.
What design parameters are you referring to, down under?
It’s INCREDIBLY amazing how many quasi-experts that manage to pop up and feed this misapprehension with their ignorance.
Stranger
No.
The fire on the Warm Springs Reservation is called the Nena Springs Fire. That fire has nothing to do with the fire neat Mt Jefferson on the Willamette National Forest called the Whitewater and Little Devil Fire.
I have a forestry degree from Washington State University, 15 years experience as a forester in eastern Washington and Alaska and have fought fire in Washington, Alaska, California and Oregon. I will be teaching a class on fire ecology in ponderosa pine forests in Spokane this fall if your interested.
While its wise not to drive through a fire front, if you are trapped in some area with a wild fire approaching , and you have a vehicle, you might protect yourself in the vehicle as you drive through. You might do this only at a point in the road when you know the road is reasonably straight and safe.
I don’t think a vehicle is safe for any length of time, eg the temperature inside can become too hot in the sun inside 10 minutes, the 5 minutes of a wildfire can cook it through !
A far better solution would be underground, any well, drainage tunnel, cave, even fox holes or just creeks or springs. Cover yourself with wet clothes , blankets, wet seat covers, anything to protect yourself from the heat smoke and embers.