Well, it’s not like we run around telling everybody all day. Red Flag Warnings, as well as Fire Weather Watches are issued by the National Weather Service, so anybody that wants to look for one, can. Here’s an example what the Weather Service does for fire weather forecasts.
Scooby-Doo lives on the dashboard of our ambulance.
Since the OP wasn’t really a General Question which could be factually answered in the classic sense, let’s move this thread to IMHO.
The Calgary Fire Department is a non-smoking job. Recruits are cut if they smoke. Period.
Well the other half are from lightning so God must not be high on your trust list either 
Uh considering most other occupations do not reward stuipidity with death or crippling injury (as much as many of us wish it did) your average line firefighter or police officer is acutally a tad smarter than the average bear, Darwin demands it.
Would that be funded by the same comittee that handles digging holes then refilling them :rolleyes:.
Like it or not building a house of any reasonable scale for fire drills would still be a $50K process. Please videotape your meeting with the city councilmember you drop this little proposal on.
Sad as it might seem even I who has not been in the biz for over a decade would still try and pull his sorry ass out of his burning car or house if I was the first one there. The people who are drawn to this business are not in it for money, power, or personal gain, I did it because I hate to see people suffer. If I could do something about it I would. Some things are beyond help, but hundreds of FF’s and LEO’s die trying every year.
On behalf of my great grandfather, a firefighter killed in the line of duty, your welcome Happy Wanderer.
On preview, last I head over ten years ago just about every CA paid department was non smoking required.
Happy Wanderer, my Poodle, could we speak for a moment over here.
Thanks.
Thank you, alice in wonderland.
I’m not one for Pitting people myself, but he really needed it.
Well neither am I, but COME ON!!??!!
I wonder how many posters to this thread have ever been forced to evacuate their dream home and then later come to the decision to sell it because the local folks who’s job it ostensibly is to stop fires go around setting them instead. Controlled burns are a controversial procedure, of dubious benefit and of great potential harm. Some of our largest and most destructive fires have started as “controlled burns” a term that I declare nonsensical. The fire guys seem to think they are great, the evacuees not so much.
As I said before, I think they should get all the training they need, but not when there is a nonzero chance that someone else’s life may be changed forever. Rather than respond in the pit, I ask again. Would any of YOU go away on vacation and leave the family photos/dog whatever in the house while this was being done? If not, then why should the OP have to deal with this potential nightmare? If firefighting organizations can’t find a way to meet their training requirements without endangering the public, then maybe management changes are needed.
By this line of reasoning, the smartest people in the world would be… king crab fishermen. Sorry about your Grandfather. I do appreciate almost all that you folks do, but I do not appreciate it when your “controlled” fire is bearing down on me. Last year they conducted a “controlled” burn when Santa Ana (real strong) winds were in the forecast. The results were predictable. Is this the vaunted expertise at work? Didn’t anyone check the weather report?
A controlled burn of dead brush outside and a house burning are two very, very different things.
Wildland firefighting takes specialized training way beyond what I have - we get some brush fires, because we’re way out in the boondocks, but we also have enough rain and snow that it doesn’t happen that often, and never gets that far out of control.
Obviously, weather can be a factor in outdoor controlled burns, and they can get out of control.
It sounds like we’re comparing apples and oranges.
A house burning** is** controlled, down to the very last detail. There are extras crews standing by with charged lines, there are safety officers observing from every possible vantage point, and the safety of the participants is the most important thing. Like I said, they’d never do it in a development where the houses are close, 30-40 feet apart. It just wouldn’t happen.
Well, when I read KCB615’s descriptions it sounds like the safety of such burns is at best variable. When he is talking about embers going everywhere but “don’t worry we are there to put them out” it doesn’t give me a feeling of confidence.
And again, what about toxics? I don’t care how thoroughly you go through a place, there is toxic stuff everywhere in the house. Even something as mundane as plywood has toxic adhesives in it. That’s why you aren’t supposed to breathe the dust when you saw into it!
That’s why we wear facemasks and that big tank of air on our backs!
And you know, all that gear is heavy - fully geared up and on air, we’re wearing about 50-60 extra pounds, not including carrying a tool or a hoseline.
That’s why we have to be big dumb macho jock types - to carry all that extra weight.
That’s fine for you. Will you be issuing such equipment to the OP and family too?
That’s very low-bred of you, Happy. Every area of the world has its hazards ; one of California’s happens to be wildfires. Get over it. If you don’t like Burbank, move to a place with fewer natural disasters. Please don’t disrespect my kinfolk and friends who are firefighters. If you have a burr under your saddle I suggest you take it to the Pit. This was a GQ about a controlled burn; please have some respect for the OP and keep your vitriol out of it. Thanks.
I don’t think that will be necessary, since the OP has the option of moving away from the smoke and fire, unlike the firefighters who generally walk INTO burning buildings.
Bosda, I can’t let this lie. Are you seriously suggesting that you need videotape evidence that your burned down house was caused by the fire department burning the house next door? It would be just too difficult for your lawyer to draw that connection for a jury without you sitting there filming the whole thing. Maybe your lawyer should stop storing their clients crap and start learning about arguing cases.
Direct visual evidence of an event is always helpful in any legal situation.
Or–don’t tell em, show em.
Another vote for making a day of the House Burning Party and have all the neighbors get together for a potluck and welcome the new neighbors.
Relax gand take pictures of the event. It would be one to remember for along time and maybe present to the new neighbors as a housewarming present when they officially move in.
I was able to speak to the fire Chief today. I have to admit it didn’t start well when I told him I had heard that they were going to be doing a controlled burn of the house next to us and I had some questions. He asked where, and I told him the street. He said, “Oh you mean the house blah blah blah…” and proceeded to describe MY house, not the neighbors! :eek:
But after we straightened that out, he told me that they had looked into burning it, but they decided it would not be a good house to burn. I mentioned that every night I was still seeing firefighters there late at night. He said that they were bringing firefighters over every night because they were still using the house for training. They were teaching how to prepare a house for burn. What needed to be taken out, what the areas of concern would be. Teaching what would need to be done if it had been selected. But he assured me that they would just be looking at it, not burning it.
So now that the fear of something going wrong and our house or property being in danger, we are back with the still unpleasant thought of living next door to a house being torn down and then building a new one.
Now that the fire issue is solved, that will be our next call. We haven’t known about this for very long, and we had been hoping the new neighbor would approach us about the needed temporary easements first. But since that hasn’t happened, I will call the zoning guy for our area and ask if it might be appropriate to schedule a meeting for all of us that will be affected. The neighbor has talked to the other two residents on our private road that have the houses on the other side of his house. He let them know he would be bringing heavy equipment across their property. They said fine, but that he had to reseed the area he ruined when he was done. They said he was surprised that they would request that, but agreed.
His workers may have told them that they won’t need to come on our property, but in reality I don’t see how that will be possible considering our strange lot design. I have no idea what the woman who sold the house to him told him about our agreement concerning our property in front of his house. So a meeting to discuss what his plans are is needed. And hopefully that will prevent problems later once his plans are finalized.
Thanks again for all the information about controlled burns. I am glad it turned out to be a non-issue. It has been interesting to learn about the process and I appreciate everyone’s help.
I could be wrong in reading Bosda’s intent. However, in my many years as an insurance broker, I heard many different underwriters say and many publications also say that a video-taped walkthrough of your home is a good thing to have in a safe-deposit box to show that you actually own certain things.
So what controlled burn was it that you had to evacuate your house for?
Also, FYI here are the largest fires in the continental US between 1997 and 2005, with the causes: