wspohn4

Well I live out on the coast and watch with horror the news pictures we see of
the fires!

I am heading for Penticton in late September to do my annual wine trip, and
hope that everything is still where it should be, unsinged!

madgardener

what's the website for those pictures Jayel. I hate that this is happening,
but Nature seems to do this even if arsonists weren't around. Helps to clear
the undergrowth out in forests and allow seedlings to sprout to make room
for the younger trees. Nature isn't always kind. Tomkanpa sent me a website
to the satelite picture of the blackout over the northeast, I'd be
interested in seeing what it's looking like from up there concerning these
horrible fires. (I'm not a neck crainer, I am just curious what the pics
that the shuttle took look like)
madgardener praying that people are alright despite these wildfires up in
B.C. Canada

leslie

I live south of Penticton in Washington state and, although I'm not near the
fire, the smoke has been spreading here with all the wind lately. It's just
awful how much those fires are destroying forests and homes. I hope you and
those around you stay safe.

Leslie

françoise

I think what happen in BC, Canada is terrible. When you think that some of the
fires started through negligence. So many homes are destroyed. Apparently, these
excessive weather occurrings are due to global warming. Let us hope that all the
different countries will sign up some accords to stop global warming and soon.

Françoise.

j. lane

Hi Francoise,
Good to hear from you again. I was beginning to think you'd been swept away
by all the rain your side of the country has had. Were you blacked out? For
how long?
The weather has been wacky everywhere and if this is due to global warming,
then Maybe if the scientists can convince various govenments that this is
what is in store weatherwise ( and worse), they will sign the accord. That
or the huge amounts they will have to pay out for fixing the damage done by
the weather. Don't know what the bill is for all the fires we've been
having, but I know that it is estimated at aproximately 2millon per day just
to fight them. This doesn't include the emergency funds that all evacuees
recieve for food, clothing and shelter while they are out of their homes, or
the cost of rebuilding and replacing, nor the cost of sheltering and feeding
their animals. This puts the figures for this month in the billions.
--
Jayel


I think what happen in BC, Canada is terrible. When you think that some of
the
fires started through negligence. So many homes are destroyed. Apparently,
these
excessive weather occurrings are due to global warming. Let us hope that all
the
different countries will sign up some accords to stop global warming and
soon.

Françoise. madgardener wrote:

if only, when they rebuild they would build out of concrete, like these domes
http://www.aidomes.com/index.htm
fire proof, hurricane proof, tornado proof, earthquake proof, and they are extremely
energy efficient. Ingrid

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
http://www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endor*****ts or recommendations I make.

françoise

Jayel,

Last week we had a few days of nice weather; but today back with the rain. I
live in Montréal, Québec and the province has its own grid so we were not
affected by the blackouts. My daughter, who lives in Ottawa, lost power for the
first day and had power again at night to lose it the next day. I was not too
worried since the whole family are in good health and the baby is just over one
year old and it was not cold. I would have been worry if the baby had been just
a few months old. I know my daughter keeps enough food in the house for a few
days. Also the baby was put in the crib when it was still light; so no running
in the dark.

I have been following how the different fires in B.C. and Alberta were
developing. I was so glad when I heard that the fires were under control in
Kamloops and around. An experience like this is something that is never
forgotten. I guess that even at 80 you will have vivid memory of what you have
experienced in the last few weeks.

Good luck to you, your family and friends. Let us hope that it will not take too
long for your life to come back to a “simili” normal.

Françoise.

concrete is very good insulation. it simply doesnt burn. I am not sure about
asphyxiation either. fire fighters have emergency kits to survive a fire going over
them .... they get into these "tents" and lay down and form a breathing space for
themselves and survive for an hour or more while the fire goes over the top of them.
I would definitely think a concrete dome, properly sealed would have enough air for
the inhabitants. where the fire "isnt" is quite cool, the IR energy falls off
geometrically with distance, so the area around the dome that isnt on fire would mean
there wouldnt be that intense heat over it or right next to it either. most of
these intense fires have topped, they are racing tree top to tree top, which means on
the floor of the forest, etc. the heat isnt really that intense unless there is
enough fuel to feed a ground level fire as well. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
http://www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endor*****ts or recommendations I make.

j. lane

You're right about concrete. The only thing left of the 200 homes that
burned in Kelowna, B.C. was the concrete foundations. Even so, i have to
wonder if the intense heat didn't damage the concrete and weaken it.
The fire in Kelowna was classed as a level 6, the highest type of fire. It
was actually a fire storm. It leveled those homes in the space of 4 hours.
The fire raced from one house to the next in a matter of minutes and it only
took five minutes to burn a house completely to the ground. A few of the
firemen were racing the fire, trying to decide which house to save and which
to sacrifice to the fire. They almost lost their lives.Some lost their own
homes. Even experienced forest fire fighters had never seen a fire that
aggressive.
--
Jayel


there is

..

http://www.cfs.org.au/protect_yourself/frames2.html click on
The Anatomy Of Fire then The Elements of Fire

They made a mistake "Many materials will burn, although materials high in carbon and
hydrogen (such as paper and wood) are the most flammable." Actually, thermal
combustion only occurs in materials that contain carbon, that is, are organic. Rocks
dont burn, concrete doesnt burn.

Furthermore, only gas burns. liquid alcohol at room temp, drop in a lit match , it
wont burn. slowly heat the alcohol up ---> to gas, now the gas will ignite. the
infrared heat (IR) generated heats the rest --> gas (phase transition-
http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/arsc_fall03/part1/states_of_matter.html)
and the gas continues to burn. Alcohol is a hydrocarbon.

A candle is made of hydrocarbon material. Solid is heated by IR, wick moves the
liquid up into flame where converts to gas and finally burns. Put a piece of tin
foil at the base of flame to reflect IR waves and candle goes out.

Wood needs to be heated ---> liquid---> gas before it burns. takes a LOT more heat
to make phase transition from solid to liquid than alcohol or wax.

Concrete wont make transition to liquid or gas. It wont burn. Now. When a wood
house is over the concrete foundation the wood does burn and expose the concrete to
high levels of IR energy which "****s" the residual water out of the concrete. This
can lead to spawling or weaken the concrete. But in an all concrete house there is
no flammable material ON TOP of the concrete (well as long as the trees arent right
up against the concrete) so nothing burns ON the concrete. It is exposed to heat
from the side as the fire sweeps by. But the heat drops off very fast with distance.
Concrete is slow to heat up, slow to release heat. Those kinds of fires sweep thru
fast and wouldnt heat the concrete up that much either. As long as something isnt
burning on top of it, unlikely there is going to be enough damage to make the house
unlivable.

What I really dont understand is why people in S. Cal. which routinely has burns
continue to put 100% organic wood shake on their roofs rather than 100% inorganic
metal. Metal not only doesnt burn, it reflects IR very well. At least it would be a
step in the right direction. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
http://www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endor*****ts or recommendations I make.