Naked Fire, Fire, Everywhere.

[Greenbare Woods]

So far it's been good week for naked. 

Monday I did a naked bike ride on the Cheney Wetlands Trail.  It was hot and I didn't see anyone else. 

Tuesday I met a couple of on-line friends from Reddit and MeWe at People's Park in Spokane.  First time I've been there.  We spent a couple house naked by Hangman Creek in the park. 

Wednesday morning I rode my bike on the Columbia Plateau Trail near Cheney.  Passed about 6 clothists who returned my "good morning."   Wednesday temperatures were 90s, almost 100, with wind. 

Wednesday afternoon I bought a new tire for my pickup.  $300.  Somehow the sidewall got cut driving through brush and rocks to load firewood when I cut up a dead tree on my property last week.  Good thing I got it fixed and movable as it turned out.  There was a column of smoke west of my home which I could see coming home from the tire shop in my older van. I followed a couple of fire trucks on my way home.

Late Wednesday afternoon, about 5 PM, a deputy Sheriff knocked and told us that the column of smoke had been moving our direction. They advised evacuation.  My wife packed up and went into town.  I stayed and moved the pickup into our gravel parking area,  I watered all the lawn again.  I have 40 feet of "Fire Break" lawn around my house.  I wanted it soggy or muddy. 
. 
By 6 PM a wall of fire swept over our land surrounding our house.  It was hot, very smoky, and quite scary.  I got our portable generator hooked up and running to keep the well pump going, and sprinklers.  My automatic sprinklers have 4 zones which I cycled manually.  I also put out a hand line sprinkler to the south by my BBQ and lawn furniture.  I got another hose and started beating back flames within reach.  I didn't take any pictures during the main fire.  I was otherwise busy. 

At 10 PM I was out naked in the heat and smoke watering a clump of trees and brush to the east of my house, between the house and my driveway.  I wanted to save the oak tree I planted more than 10 years ago, and by visibility screen trees.  Some firefighter dude drove in with a pickup, not a fire engine.  He looked around, pronounced my fire safety measures effective, and said that an engine company would eventually get here. Nope. He said that it would take all night but it appeared I was going to save my house.  Then he drove off.  He didn't say anything about my nudity.   

At 2:30 AM Thursday I talked to a dude from the Electric company.  He was out inspecting their lines before turning electricity back on.  They have to make sure that they have disconnected sections that no longer have poles or no longer have houses.  The electricity came back on about 3:30,   I got a couple hours sleep Thursday morning about 4:30 AM.

Thursday, I watered again.  I wore a sweatshirt because the morning was cool and smoky.  Fires still burned around my house in every direction I looked.  Another electric company dude drove in.  He wanted the acres to my south and got the wrong driveway.  He said they were going to need to replace 4 poles that had burned on that section of power line.  They made a lot of noise because it takes a rock drill to make a hole for a power pole here.  We live with only about 5 inches of dirt most places. They shut off the electricity again Thursday afternoon while they wired their new poles.  I spend most of the afternoon naked running a hose putting out hot spots within range of my hose.  Thursday high temp was only about 89 F.  Still very windy.   Another fireman drove in to look, and went away.  I never did see any firemen putting out fires.   

Here it is Friday morning.  Looking out my windows I can't see any flames.  It's burned everything that will burn. My wife is still in town.  Their "evacuation" plan has the road blocked.   Good thing I had enough gas for my generator.  Good thing my truck was fixed.  The wood post for my mailbox burned entirely.  I can't go into town for a replacement post because they wouldn't let me come home again. 

Well we survived without much damage.  Had a lot of naked time this week.  But, I'm getting too old to be doing this firefighting and such.  I'm "pushing 80" this year.  (77). 

I posted pictures on Facebook.  https://www.facebook.com/brad.kemp.71















. 

[jbeegoode]

Five inches of soil on bedrock! Sounds precious, yet ornamental trees still grow to good size?

Glad that you and your stuff are all alright.

It sounds like your area gets periodic fire, good, but all of that organic material getting singed can't be so good. Those fields of black looked disappointing. It will be interesting to see what happens as your natural forest recovers. It looks pretty level in the pictures. Any chance of erosion when the rains come back?
 
Any estimate of percentage of trees burned to death at your place?

Did you fight the fire barefoot, too? Naked firefighting is such an original concept. The closest that I think that I have come to that is just burning invasive weeds out back, carefully. How was the heat? Did you ever feel broiled from it?

Record breaking excessive heat with drought. A perfect storm.

Nude the whole time, trough fire, activity, visitors, fear and uncertainty, sounds dedicated. Did it always feel, or seem practical under the circumstances?

Just trying to wrap my head around this story.What a trip!
Jbee

[Greenbare Woods]

So many questions. 

Five inches of soil on bedrock! Sounds precious, yet ornamental trees still grow to good size?

The dirt is not uniform depth.  Wind moves it around. Bedrock has channels that fill up with dust and become rows of trees.  Dust collects on flat areas that grow grasses, slow the wind, and gather more dust.  They become mema mounds, which over time will create the Palouse hills. typical of eastern Washington state.   Sage brush, and then trees grow on the mema mounds. The whole area is called "Channeled scablands."  It's less expensive because it can't be farmed.  There were Ice Age floods https://iafi.org/about-the-ice-age-floods/introduction/ that washed away all the Palouse hills right down to basalt bedrock, and even washed away some of that.  Most places we can't put in a "T" fence post without a rock drill. 

It sounds like your area gets periodic fire, good, but all of that organic material getting singed can't be so good. Those fields of black looked disappointing. It will be interesting to see what happens as your natural forest recovers. It looks pretty level in the pictures. Any chance of erosion when the rains come back?

We are on top of the high spot.   There probably will be erosion in some areas. Wind drifting is more likely here.. 

Any estimate of percentage of trees burned to death at your place?

No estimate.  Some of the trees that look green are actually dead at their base.  Some are burned completely and gone.  Some will survive.  If someone guessed 50/50 they wouldn't be out of range.

Did you fight the fire barefoot, too? Naked firefighting is such an original concept. The closest that I think that I have come to that is just burning invasive weeds out back, carefully. How was the heat? Did you ever feel broiled from it?

Yes, barefoot and naked.   If I needed to walk on a burned area I carefully soaked it with water ahead of where I was walking.  Mostly I stayed on the lawn or the bare gravel driveway.   Since then I've been wearing my huarache sandals.

The heat got intense Wednesday night when the "wall of fire" came though.  At one point I went around a corner of my building and was hit by a blast of heat and smoke.  Winds were over 20 mph too with higher gusts.  I got hit with a hot gust.  I waited until the gust died down and tried it again. 

Naked meant I could spray myself when needed without getting filthy soggy clothing when not needed.  Sometimes I wore a baseball cap to keep hair out of my eyes. 

Record breaking excessive heat with drought. A perfect storm.

WE actually had record breaking RAIN all spring.  Double or triple our average rain every month through June.   That cause the normally ankle high grasses to grow waist high.  I had trouble walking my land because it meant fighting through waist high grasses that I walk over in normal years.  When the waist high grass dried out in July it was a huge fire waiting to happen.

Nude the whole time, trough fire, activity, visitors, fear and uncertainty, sounds dedicated. Did it always feel, or seem practical under the circumstances?

I started out wearing shorts and a shirt but my lawn sprinklers were watering all the time and I kept getting hit.  I have those impulse type sprinklers with a 40 foot range. You're standing there and it comes past, and SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT.  So I took off my wet clothes and hung them up to dry.   It was a "hot August night" even without the fire.  . 

Just trying to wrap my head around this story.What a trip!  Jbee

We've been having frequent firemen crews from DNR and local Fire Departments, and other visitors since the Wednesday night fire.  Today (Saturday) A DNR fire crew drove in at 4:30 AM.  Looked around, and left. Another at 5:30.   There are still some stumps burning here and there, but everything else is already burned so it won't spread.   I'm still outside naked all afternoon, but it's only 55F this morning. 

I see (Saturday) on the local Fire Department web site that their "mandatory" evacuation has been reduced to "level 2" which means "be ready to evacuate."  I may be able to get into town today to buy some supplies and start repairs.  The level 3 meant that if I left, I couldn't return.  At least now I'm not stranded here.    My mailbox is laying on the ground because it's wooden post burned away entirely.  I wonder if they sell metal posts for large mail boxes.  Probably do. Off to home depot or lowes later today,

Yea, it was scary when the flames came.  My years of fire safe precautions worked as expected.   It was also a lot of hard work for a man pushing 80.  At least today I can stand up and start walking without my back hurting.  Recovery from my efforts. 

Thanks for your concern. 

[Peter S]

We get some pretty dramatic newsreel footage on the TV over here of the wildfires chewing up bits of the US, Canada and Europe, happily we rarely have anything to equal them here (though the other week there was one that took out several houses in a village east of London). Reading your account of saving your home from the flames brings it a lot closer to home. Glad you were successful and survived it all, Bob, must have been pretty scary. Respect.

[jbeegoode]

My mailbox it connected to two steel pipes welded to a platform for the box.
Stone looks nice.
I thought of building a platform of strawbales stuccoed. That wouldn't burn and it'd give a New Mexico look about it, if shaped out of square with a chainsaw or claw hammer.
Jbee

[jbeegoode]

Hey there Nuduke! We're on here together today.
Jbee

[nuduke]

Oh, Bob! ...Sending my sincerest sympathy for all you've had to go through and for the loss of so much of your wonderful, woodland estate.
Your description belies a heroic and happily successful effort on your part to save your house.  Obviously your forethought and preparation ahead for that terrible day and night of conflagration, has paid off in being able to separate the fire path from your house area. 

It was also a lot of hard work for a man pushing 80

The trauma is evident in your very unusual reference to your age and the toll the effort extracted.  Your usual narrative always sounds so robust and capable! 
Sending strength and light at this difficult time.
As I'm a bit late to post on this event, I hope your wife has been able to return by now and the mailbox is resurrected on refractory foundations and proudly standing firmly and defiantly posted (pun intended) to show that normality is returning.
John

[nuduke]

Hi Jbee!!

[Greenbare Woods]

It's been almost a month since our fire.   I've been out and walked the burned land but it's not as much fun as it was before.   My feet and legs get all black from walking through ash.   Mother nature will restore the green but it will take time.  Some of the trees are still green even with blackened trunks.  Other trees didn't burn all the way to the top, but have all brown needles. 

I find that I don't go out walking our land much since the fire.  It's not as nice, and I have to wash in my outdoor shower before coming into the house. 

Walking through the ashes.

 

[Safebare]

Wow! Bob, this was a difficult thread to read. Congratulations on successfully protecting your property, singed though it is.

Stay Safe, Stay Bare!

[nuduke]

Oh my! What devastation, Bob.  Since ever you sent me a link to your Glenconey website I have been in admiration of your enterprise to build the house and infrastructure from nothing to a most impressive property, and to develop the land and also been envious of your wonderful expanse of land, all green and forested.
I am so, so sorry, my friend, that you have had this trauma visited upon you and I can, I think, but through a glass darkly, understand something of what sadness it must have brought.   I feel your unhappiness from the words in your last post.  Our thoughts go out to you.
But at least the house survived and you can now watch the recovery of the land and the vegetation.  Bottle a bit of the ash and keep it on a shelf 'lest we forget' and in the hope that in just a few years you will need to look at that bottle to remember what it was like because the green has returned and is blossoming forth and the picture in your post is unrecognisable.  At least we will all have the interest of seeing what returns when if you care to post occasional observations.
Is there any pleasure at all walking on the ash?  Is it soft and fluffy and nice underfoot (given that it makes you black!) or just horrible to walk on?  Maybe you might find a pair of rubber boots useful ?  Not 100% naked but then, you usually wear your hat!
John

[Greenbare Woods]

Oh my! What devastation, Bob.  Since ever you sent me a link to your Glenconey website I have been in admiration of your enterprise to build the house and infrastructure from nothing to a most impressive property, and to develop the land and also been envious of your wonderful expanse of land, all green and forested.
I am so, so sorry, my friend, that you have had this trauma visited upon you and I can, I think, but through a glass darkly, understand something of what sadness it must have brought.   I feel your unhappiness from the words in your last post.  Our thoughts go out to you.

Thanks for the concern John.  It has been something of a traumatic event that didn't just end the next day.

Bottle a bit of the ash and keep it on a shelf 'lest we forget' and in the hope that in just a few years you will need to look at that bottle to remember what it was like

Good idea.  I hadn't thought of that. Going to do it.

Is there any pleasure at all walking on the ash?  Is it soft and fluffy and nice underfoot (given that it makes you black!) or just horrible to walk on?  Maybe you might find a pair of rubber boots useful ?  Not 100% naked but then, you usually wear your hat!  John 

The ash is soft, but there are hazards.  One is that a lot of brush is gone, but their woody stems didn't burn entirely.  Some are left with 2 inch spikes sticking out to hurt bare feet.  Have to watch where I step.  The other problem is that the ash is all very basic, I think, and seems to be somewhat corrosive to bare feet.  The dirt is all clay that was dried into a powder under the ash.  Some places it's ankle deep in ash and clay powder.  Perhaps rubber boots would be useful. 

I have been using my outdoor shower to wash before coming into the house.  It's been warm enough that an outdoor shower is comfortable and nice.  Since it's now September that will likely change.  I have to disassemble and drain outdoor plumbing before winter. . 

I have gotten started cutting up trees that fire fighters cut down.  Its messy.  They are charred on the outside, but still mostly wood in the center.  I will have more available dead tree firewood than I can cut for the next several years.  I'm not getting any younger so a couple of hours per day cutting wood tires me out. 

Stay safe my friend.  Happy nudeing.   

[nuduke]

The other problem is that the ash is all very basic, I think, and seems to be somewhat corrosive to bare feet.  The dirt is all clay that was dried into a powder under the ash.  Some places it's ankle deep in ash and clay powder.

Sounds very yukky if wet!  Yes, speaking as a chemist (well, a biochemist!) wood ash yields alkaline solution when wetted - in the old days, lye (a caustic) was made from wood ash and then used to make soap.  Alkaline ash/soil will tend to soften your skin, which then hydrates and makes it more vulnerable to cuts.  Also, a caustic bias to what your feet contact will tend to strip the oil off the skin (turns to soap!) and thus make the skin prone to irritation, rashes etc (contact dermatitis).  It depends how alkaline the mixture is.  Obviously, the way forward is trial and hopefully not error, but being aware that the stuff you are walking in could indeed cause skin irritation.  If it looks that way, then your best bet is rubber wellington boots!

I will have more available dead tree firewood than I can cut for the next several years.

oh well, it's an ill wind....
I for one am interested in the process of recovery both for yourselves and for nature as time goes on.  Keep us updated on what you find in the ash forest as the weeks and months progress. 
By the way, did the fire consume the trees and ground across your whole property or is there some woodland that survived?  And what news of the gnomes and rabbit at the gate?
Errmm...I seem to recall you have/had an old bulldozer? (Or was that Reuben?) If I remember right and the 'dozer survived the blaze, maybe that's a way you could clear an area or a patch and advance the natural recovery.  Maybe you could make a new garden with vegetables and fruits?  There's more light for them, I guess, whilst you await the recovery of the trees.
Once again sending supportive vibes and maybe a little hope that this may turn into some sort of adventure as time passes. 
John

[Greenbare Woods]

By the way, did the fire consume the trees and ground across your whole property or is there some woodland that survived? 

Many trees are still standing but all their needles turned brown and they look dead.  Some trees are standing and still have green needles. It will take a year to see which trees actually survived.  My whole 20 acres burned.   It was some of the most burned land in the whole 2,000 acre fire. 

And what news of the gnomes and rabbit at the gate?

My 15 year old garden gnome vanished entirely, leaving fine white ash.  My driveway entrance bunny was on top of straw bales that burned, leaving the cast metal bunny buried but intact.  I repainted it.  Next week I will get some new straw bales and put it back.

Errmm...I seem to recall you have/had an old bulldozer?

Good memory.  That was some years ago.  Sold it.

maybe that's a way you could clear an area or a patch and advance the natural recovery.  Maybe you could make a new garden with vegetables and fruits?  There's more light for them, I guess, whilst you await the recovery of the trees.
Once again sending supportive vibes and maybe a little hope that this may turn into some sort of adventure as time passes. 
John

I'm not a vegetable gardener.  My oak tree and mugwort survived.  My wood splitter and yard tractor survived because I moved them up to the house on the grass area before the fire.  My neighbor next door lost his. 

The land badly needs rain.  We haven't gotten any actual rain since the fire in early August.  It's been a month and a half.  There isn't any significant chance of rain predicted for the next two weeks either.  This is our dry time of year.  We had an unusually wet spring, which caused much more grass growth than usual, and when that dried out in July it was a big fire hazard.  Some places the ground didn't get hot enough to kill roots, so we need rain for roots to grow. 

Thanks for your concern. 

[jbeegoode]

The mountains here burn on top of granite. Depending on the soil content, more bushy shrubbery grow up where the trees once shaded. In the White Mountains, around Alpine, there was fear of flooding erosion on the hilltops around the town, so special seed blend was cast out in the hills around towns. It gave a quick erosion control, created a green area with "concealing" bushes, and will eventually help the soil to nurture. You might look into some of that to mitigate any further destruction. It also looked better quicker for the tourists.
Jbee