[Harp-L] Harp-L Digest, Vol 194, Issue 5

[Greg Heumann]

> Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2019 09:17:29 -0400
> From: Tin Lizzie <TrackHarpL at xxxxx <mailto:TrackHarpL at xxxxx>>
> To: Harp-l <harp-l at xxxxx <mailto:harp-l at xxxxx>>
> Subject: [Harp-L] California Fires
> 
> I read that the Kincade fire has forced the evacuation of the small California town of Geyserville.
> 
> Greg Heumann, are you okay?  We are thinking of you!!!
> 
> Tin Lizzie

Thanks for the concern, Liz

(Warning - NO harmonica content in this post!)

We are OK! It has been quite an ordeal, but not half as bad as for those who lost homes or were traumatized more directly by the fires here in 2017. We were under mandatory evacuation and were very lucky to have friends about 25 miles north with a room for us (and our cat.) We packed up the pickup and a car and drove up there. Our house (and the BlowsMeAway shop) are on the west side of Hwy 101 at the north end of Geyserville - if you’ve seen the maps we were never closely threatened. The unpredictable winds were simply in our favor - the fire spread south and east but not west. All it takes is one ember though - and they can travel on the wind for miles. But we were able to visit the house every day, which made it possible for me to run the generator for several hours to keep the fridge cold and take care of other business - like using my desktop computer, using my iPhone as a hotspot. We were LUCKY that our cell service remained in service the entire time. 

Our evacuation status changed from “mandatory” to “warning” to “no restriction”once the Tuesday night/Wed Am wind event had passed. We returned home last night and slept in our own beds, although we still don’t have power. We expect power tonight. Charlie Musselwhite and I have been in constant contact. He was also evacuated, of course, but also was able to return home last night (still under “warning” status as he is just on the east side of 101), and he has power now. The worst has passed, though of course the fires aren’t out yet. The wind is scheduled to remain calm for several days which will help.

I have to tell you - it is a very strange feeling - and quite stressful to be in this situation. Every time you leave your house, you wonder if you’ll ever see it again.

One thing we didn’t expect and will be better prepared for next time is that with power out for a VERY large area, none of the gas stations could pump gas! I watched the truck’s gas gauge get lower and lower with each round trip AND we were lucky to be able to get an extra 5 gallons of gas for our generator from some neighbors - we traded them 50 gallons of water. OUR well pumps up to storage tanks and we have gravity feed; theirs (like many others) has to actually run to supply water to the house. 

There was a huge difference in emergency services preparedness this time compared to 2017. They had many more resources available right from the start and many more in a hurry - there were over 4000 firefighters working this fire yesterday. Couple with the wide evacuations that allowed them to focus on fighting the fire and protecting property. Strike teams were stationed all over the place to jump on “spot fires” starting by blowing embers. Although roughly 100 homes have been lost so far, it is much less devastating than 2017. And (knock wood) ZERO loss of life reported so far. 

The bad news? In general, the winds have been stronger, the humidity lower, and temps higher than ever before. This IS Global Warming at work. So this is going to happen again and again. Hopefully everyone gets better and better prepared to deal with it - but it will happen again. Gong through the “PSPS” (Public Safety Power Shutoffs) is the price we have to pay for PG&E’s negligence over the last 20 years to maintain their lines - but they can’t fix that overnight, or even in a year. The fact that, thought they cut wide swaths of residential power, they had left a high tension system up in the hills where it was blowing over 60mph with gusts to 90(!!!) energized - and a failure there is what started this fire - shows they are still caught between shareholders and sense. 

OK - enough for now - I needed to get this out so there it is. Looks like I might be able to get back to building microphones today!



/Greg

http://blowsmeaway.com
http://facebook.com/blowsmeawayproductions

"You’re going to like the way you sound. I guarantee it."

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