On Sat, 1 Feb 2025 18:55:28 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701 <
[email protected]>
wrote:
In our neck of the woods when they're really strapped they'll use
water bombers which scoop from rivers and fresh water lakes. Obviously
boaters are banned during these critical times.
Then there's the urban myth of a man in scuba gear who was found dead in the >burn area of a wildfire. The implication being that he was scuba diving in the >lake (or ocean) when one of those planes came along to scoop up water and >accidentally caught him at the same time, then flew over to the fire and >dumped him into the inferno.
Which of course is why they ban boaters and water skiers from the lake
during forest fire emergencies.
I live across the street from the edge of a major forest which back in
2003 had a major forest fire (though it never came within 20 miles of
our home). I was at a local municipal council meeting around that time
and the Mayor said that it was not at all rare for hot embers to fly 1
1/2 to 2 miles through the air during a major forest fire (I sought
him out after the meeting to confirm his info and he wasn't surprised
since he knew where I lived) Around that time we were going to have
our roof resurfaced and (flammable) cedar shakes were the usual
roofing material so I check out steel roofs and found the difference
in cost was at most $100 - so I told my wife that we had a very easy
decision to make ("think of it as cheap insurance honey") though we
even made money on it since it got us a rebate on our home insurance
between $25-50 per year. We've have them back to refinish the rubber
sealant above the steel but I am confident that I will expire before
my roof does.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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