12 destructive hours of wildfire exposed Oregon's resource crisis
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- Oregon’s Almeda Fire started as a brush fire on the morning of Sept. 8 and quickly became an urban fire. Strong winds from the east pushed the flames into the cities of Talent and Phoenix, destroying 3,000 structures. The small force of firefighters from the Rogue Valley quickly engaged the blaze, but in a state where more than 10 large fires were already burning, they were on their own. Read more: wapo.st/34czjAz. Subscribe to The Washington Post on UA-cam: wapo.st/2QOdcqK
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I'm on the Oregon Coast and I smelled smoke so strong one night that I called my fire department to ask if I should be worried. There was no answer. Let that sink in a minute. I called the police station and they said the fire department was all volunteer. I don't know if you've ever been to Oregon, but it's all trees here. The fire didn't reach my area. It's only a matter of time though. Time is now to beef up our fire departments before it's too late.
mrsme1234 Have you noticed that these fires are only breaking out in Democratic states? California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii. I keep telling people something strange is going on. I think you just explained it.
@@sistersister8679 I mean considering southern Oregon is the ONLY republican district and that’s exactly where this fire was (I know, I actually live here) I would have to say your hypothesis is total bullshit. Trust me, it’s very republican down here...
@@CantStayAwake so is eastern oregon
@@sistersister8679 there’s more fires in places like florida then oregon
@@CantStayAwake Oregon is still a Democratic State dumbass
I lost my home . Fire fighters saved me and others . Got us out of two four two fire
I’m glad you’re safe🙏
I lost everything to.Almost jumped off the freeway overpass in pheonix.Its been hard but things are slowly getting better for me.
Where was that fire ?
@@tedhibbard6320 Are you still in Phoenix? Do you have housing in Phoenix? Most survivors I know of have relocated to talent where there is new housing. I'm glad that you are doing better.
@@tammyeacret6014 oregon .n. of Klamath falls
I lived in Phoenix. I had to leave. I'm in Maine now
You are better off there, Phoenix has still not built back. Everyone that has been without housing has moved to talent. They spent the first 3 years buily 6+ Apartment buildings and talent also accepted fema trailers after they had to be moved out of Phoenix. I'm glad that you were able to get away from here, happy growth.
Wow this is so devastating. Fire just destroys everything, so sad to see. Hope everyone is looking out for everyone. Thanks to emergency services and May god be you. Stay safe.
Here are some facts that the county, city, and state try to keep quiet:
*******
The most important thing is that the inspector told the city, county, and state 3 years in a row that a greenway fire WOULD HAPPEN if the overgrown dry grass was not maintained. The three different govt agencies each wanted the other to pay for it to be maintained, and they each refused. This fire was predicted and was 100% preventable.
1) NO ALERTS were sent to the residents of Phoenix and Talent. An administrator decided that using the emergency notification was not necessary for those residents (90% low income) but notification WERE sent to Medford, Central Point & surrounding cities residents.
2) There was NO news coverage, no radio coverage, nothing. Total media blackout.
3) Residents had no idea that the fire was racing towards them until a sheriff drove by yelling over his bullhorn that they were being emergency evacuated and didn’t have time to pack, they only had time to grab kids & pets and race to their cars.
4) Residents were given no warning whatsoever, so most lost everything besides the clothes on their backs. They weren’t even given time to pack pictures or mementos. They lost literally everything but their lives. Every photo, heirloom, document, and precious memory was destroyed, leaving many in utter hopelessness and financial devastation.
The city/county knew that the Almeda wildfire would eventually happen, and some people believe that they sat back and allowed it to occur. The majority of the homes that were destroyed were low income to poverty level. It was old trailer parks and ramshackle housing that took the brunt of the damage and were total losses. The parks were converted to manufactured home parks (only new homes over $250k) or park land owners are leaving area vacant, waiting for rezoning on the land. Then they will sell it to a developer who will build $400k track homes. They city managed to find a way to clear out their unsightly poor residents to make way for more money to enter the area.
It sounds like a conspiracy theory, right?
Well, rent in the County increased 70% overnight and 2 years later it is even higher. Southern Oregon is now California Jr, and 90% of the homeowners that lost their homes are now renting or moved to a different city. They simply were priced out of the area.
Three years later…they still are not maintaining the greenway, and the deficient system of resources is exactly the same.
This is why I moved I was upset that wen thay started over populating Medford tablet Phoenix and this dident work the first time maybe this will teach about over growing not ever enough resources keep it small keep it safe
I worked dist 5 as a 24 yr old volunteer out of talent. Im glad i wasnt there during this fire. It burned down family homes of mine, we know dozens of ppl that lost everything. Such a tragedy. Thank you to my fellow ff brothers and sisters for your dedication and for putting your lives at risk for others.
I grew up in Ashland..then Talent. This makes me sad. I'm going back to visit family tomorrow.(8/21/22)This was hard to watch....those poor firefighters...and families.
Amazing how the Impala at 10:44 didn't burn
The fire started across from our farm on Eagle Mill Road. My daughter sent me a facetme when the smoke was one fingers width across Bear Creek. We lost our farm. I believe our neighbor's house was the first to go. Then the fire did a 180 an got our 110 year old Craftsman farmhouse. She ran down the middle of Eagle Mill leading one horse with about 9 others loose, just following.
We can all start by voting for someone that does not put a oil lobbyist as the head of the epa
I think you should stop using wood as building materail its just more fuel , basicly the whole house is another dry bushes .
4:16 was down the street of my home thats gone now. My friends and I made a hideout exactly where its showing over the railing what the smokes covering was a nice slight woody area I tried to make our base. We forgot about it 6 months before the fire. Didn't get to say goodbye to there either.
I was in the fire 🔥 and it was really bad and I live in talent avenue
I watched the entire video. I payed attention to every road or street building he viewed over. I recognize every one of em and can still remember how they looked before getting burned. They covered the footage of last and right of my street but not of my street. The park across from it is chuck Robert's untouched. And behind my house. Torched to black. No where else I can say this all but on a video about the scariest hellt I've gone through with peace at the end. Comments probably, but no harsher than things in person.
#5 firefighters...you are my boys... you guys held the fire at Talent avenue...I literally live in apts across the street...although you felt like you didn't do anything, that's not true...you kept the rest of talent from burning...
It doesn't seem like it's been two years ago...you guys rock!!❤❤
Turns out building subdivisions in the wildland interface is a terrible idea. Welcome to 30 years ago.
11:00 Its weird how these mega fires skip over trees and retail locations.
I live in Medford and the destruction was like a war zone. They are still recovering from it the FEMA housing did come until this year 3 years later. I housed a couple who were evacuated. My friend was in Talent the fires were behind her complex but fortunately her subdivision was spared. It moved like a tornado jumping houses and businesses. I knew all these places the whole town of Talent and Phoenix was changed. Many mobile homes were burned down and many people did not have insurance and lost so much.
i live in Medford Oregon they never told us why the fire hydrants ran out of water
All of the Talent and Phoenix water was used to put out the fire in Ashland. The system refills through the Medford water cistern, but it is an archaic system that requires power to refill. Once the power went out, there was no water coming back into the hydrants. Firefighters had to refill the trucks in Medford and then drive back to Phoenix/Talent to fight the fire.
Obviously, they knew that couldn’t work so the decision was made at a higher level to determine a Fireline in Medford. They sacrificed everything between that line and Ashland between Hwy 99 and I5.
Does anyone find it surprising that the line in Medford was just south of the New Housing Development containing high priced homes. It was also conveniently just north of ALL the older manufactured home and trailer parks. Weird, huh?
It's not about resources..... it's about global warming... that's the real battle!
To be Honest, My house Also Burned In the Slater Fire In Happy Camp.
9:27 the street hes driving past RIGHT THEN is my street. That red car is still there when I visit my rubble. That white and red car that didn't burn for some reason.
is it Talent Avenue? I'm so sorry for your loss. I have pictures of the creek on my instagram. I lived on Talent Ave., but in Phoenix now. I think my sons best friend lived very near you and lost his place too. I hope things get better for you.
CONSPIRA site goes into why -- blue things did not burn in lahaina. apparently blue, green, red bold colors repel the energy beam
It is strange watching this and seeing a clip of where my home was, but seeing just ash there. We never got a warning, what we got was our neighbor beating on the door and us just having enough time to get everyone in the cars and go. Ten minutes later we were informed everything was gone.
Dang not good . I live in California and we have had a lot of wildfires and there was one just 45 minutes away from me and there was a lot of smoke but luckily my town was not under evacuation which is good but it was so devastating god bless these firemen
God bless these firemen & women!
Someone needs to sue the city of Ashland. Bear Creek was a known fire hazard for over half a decade. It was an unmitigated disaster that could've been prevented if it hadn't been for the complete lack city management competence. If there's a lawer in here hit me up. There are many who suffer from ptsd that don't need to. *edit* Especially the amazing fire fighters and the one officer who came up our road to get us put safely. The damage could have been mitigated and a class action is over due. (I WAS VERY LUCKY AND DID NOT LOSE MY HOME, THIS IF FOR THOSE THAT DID.)
This is the best comment ever. Started by homeless they allowed to camp ⛺️ pandemic 2020
I lost literally everything in that fire. The city, county & state did ZERO to help us. They sent no alerts to Phoenix/Talent residents on the first day of the fire, when all the low income homes were destroyed. If it would have happened after dark, we’d all be dead. I’d join a class action lawsuit, as the response after the fire by our local and state government was abysmal. Fire victims were screwed over really badly and since it was at the height of Covid, FEMA was way understaffed. There was a literal 4 month turnaround on any phone calls/emails to FEMA, ensuring we would not get aid. Most Fire victims (including me), who were not already on government assistance, were cheated out of the federal aid that we so drastically needed, qualified for, and deserved. The whole Alameda Fire was a travesty of mismanagement and again, since it was mid-Covid, the community couldn’t help as they normally would. Every time I smell smoke I feel panic, because that smell triggered 2 years of utter hell on earth for my children and me. I will never financially recover and I lost every momento, treasure, and picture. We escaped with my 1998 vehicle and the clothes on our backs. Insurance companies valued our homes at the price before the fire, meaning homeowners suddenly lost half their equity. Even thinking about it makes me want to cry/scream.
It Happened On the Same Day September, 8 2020 It Was Just A Powerline That Fell On a tree i Believe It was, And i thought "Oh, the firefighter's are gonna fix it, No worries!"
But, No The Firefighters Were Fighting Another Fire Somewhere Or something Like That, That Day I had to get Picked Up from School Just to go Pack Up And Leave My Home Town.
And In no Time After One Night or Two, My dad walked into Our Trailer And Sat down, And Said While Crying "Our House Is gone.." After I heard That I Couldn't So i Bursted Out with Tears, That Fire, Ruined My House Completely With No mercy, I begged, And begged God While Packing up "Please God don't let my house burn!" But... It burned, It wouldn't of if it Didn't Go down the hill to my house, And awh Man, Does That Make Me mad that it went down That Hill...
Just Imagine You're Liveing In ur House And Wake up With A small Fire going On No problem you Think You head to School For Like Nearly two Hours And Alert! You're Getting Picked Up And Getting Told That You need to Pack Up Because Of The Fire Thats Happening.
When I went Outside I saw This Huge And Like huge Smokey Black Cloud The fire Was Just On The Hill To About to Make it Over The Hill And Than I get Picked up, Getting Told That i need to pack, But Little did i know That Was The last time i ever Saw my Nice, Little, Cozy House
My Teacher Even Said That She thought Everything Was Alright!
All Tho Don't Worry Everyones Okay ,Only 3/2 People Died Sadly ,But Stay Safe Out There Everyone!
So heartbreaking 💔
Fire fighters don't even have N95's given to them for wildfires. I have a hot shot with carbon filter I boutght for myself. I was with Structure Protection as a volunteer for a Trinity County FD in California. I had noticed with my folks living up in Oregon something was wrong. Everything was contracted out to very small companies with limited resources.
The N95 is not effective against smoke or gases produced by fire. SCBAs are required but not practical for wildland firefighting due to weight & limited air supply.
The fire follows the highway, as if clearing out the trees had created a wind tunnel.
The fire followed the highway because that was the route the arsonist/arsonists took.
Cut the power grid during red flag warnings. I would hope the power providers have learned that lesson though obviously Hawaiian Electric Co. has no freakin' clue. How many more towns will be sacrificed?
I remember my home I lost everything ☹️ my kittens my memories the house my parents raised my 3 sibling and I
I don’t understand why firefighters don’t wear lung masks protectors.
Man made started these fires ! Homeless who were allowed to camp ⛺️ on greenway because 2020 pandemic
Three little pigs say.. You build in all the wrong places. You use the wrong materials. You have infastructure to accommodate.
It looks like Oregon needs to invest in air support like California does.
The tanker had been loaned to California to fight fire and the governor didn’t send a tanker down to the Rogue Valley until nearly dark (9 hours from the start of the fire). It did 3 dumps and had to land for the night that first day, and it was out of control by then. After that, they dumped to prevent losing surrounding towns. It was a nightmare of epic destruction.
@@emilycarter2492 Yeah, not sure where you got your info but it's entirely wrong. Five fixed-wing air tankers made up to 10 retardant drops each on day 1. The extreme winds made many of these drops difficult and/or ineffective. Please check your facts before spreading rumors & falsehoods. Every reasonable effort was made to save these communities but the exceptionally dry & windy conditions created a conflagration which was nearly impossible to stop until conditions improved.
@@dbyers3897I was very confused by your comment until I realized you were speaking about through the entirety of the fire. I was speaking about the day the fire started, which is the day that most residential homes were destroyed. The tankers dropped quite a bit from the morning of the 9th on. That was after our homes and most of Phoenix/Talent was destroyed. The tankers prevented Medford and CP from being leveled. I was only referring to the first day, when was the only time they could have prevented the massive destruction that occurred & stopped the fire completely. I adjust my comment to reflect that more clearly.
And there is a big fire in talent right now
Some things to keep in mind after watching this video & reading the many criticisms: There is no place in this nation which is safe from natural disaster. Western states have always been highly vulnerable to wildland fires. Dry climates covered with conifer forest &/or tall grass frequently ignited by lightening from storms which often produce little or no rain creates ideal conditions for frequent & severe fires. Just as every state experiences t-storms, floods & tornadoes, so do they all experience wildfires. Fires like Alameda can & will occur again. There are ever increasing chances for similar disasters given the huge increase in the population of western states as well as the climatic changes we are all aware of, even if they are not fully appreciated. Water has always been a precious & scarce commodity in the west & this is only likely to get worse with time. I can not forget the horror I experienced the first time I overflew the Phoenix Arizona area & witnessed so many golf courses, green lawns & backyard pools. Mass insanity.
Oh man oh man that's sad
My and my Neighbors were playing and boom fire we were so scared
My friends lost their homes and animals to this fire. Whomever responsible has a special place in hell.
Hello, I am a resident of Ashland, Oregon recording a podcast about this event in our county. I would like to request permission to use 20 seconds of audio from this video in my piece. Please let me know if I have your permission.
heartbreaking stuff you're showing thogh.
Сочувстрвую людям.
was there natural gas pipelines to these buildings?
its really sad that these firemen werent equipped for an event that has literally happened numerous times in the history of Ashland/Talent. Heroes for saving at least part of the town.
The GOP says it's not a real problem.
@Robert Resch What do you mean? Do you think your uneducated opinion has the same credibility as NASAs?
@Robert Resch What does science have to do with climate change? 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I can't believe they can build lot of weapon but don't have enough firetruck and water hourse
Вот они ребята дома каркасники, с крышами из мягкой черепицы.
Weather control
Arson and *something else... so sad
No resource because- our dozers and other fire 🔥 fighting people went to California fires 🔥
My cousin is fire fighter
Oh yeah...my girl was fighting stupidity
If they do not prepare for the next time, shame on them. If it can happen once, it can happen again, and likely will.
so essentially oregon has a need of better fire services, and water services. the best solution to this problem is to switch to paid fire depts. no offense to the volunteers, but to have a 24hr fire service means around the clock coverage, and better fire safety. as it is the area featured probably doesn't have a great fire insurance rating or reliable response time, not to mention a lack of personnel just because some may be not available. what the area must do is to get their county/municipality to pay for it, and from the looks of the area, seems like they really could afford it. volunteer departments don't really work when they are in urban areas or very fire prone areas, and as it stands jackson county's fire districts are clearly inadequate as presently assembled. the people should have not allowed the rogue valley to develop as it did and ignore the fire service. gotta write senators, gotta push mayors and city councils, gotta make it urgent enough and be vocal enough that they have to act. cannot wait till the whole valley has burned down. there's no other solution but to press jackson county to pay it's fire department, and do it this year or next, but don't wait...and don't cry if they cannot save your town. you have the choice oregonians, you can be smart about this like san diego was, or choose to be stuck in a dangerous situtation. please don't waste whats left of your time being distracted by other things, act now.
Our state is controlled by the Politicians. There is a special place in Hell for Kate Brown.
It happen before it can happen again I hope there is an evaluation plan in place...
Exposed attack on US soil. How is it that the trees are left standing but all the builds are gone structures vanish. Rims on trucks melting. Wildfires burn at a maximum of 1100 degrees with a low of around 800. Its takes 1600 to 1800 degrees or so to melt aluminum rims. Something fishy is going on for sure..
Remove anyone to put out spots and everything burns. Buildings in parking lots? Just takes one ember.
You have no earthly idea what you are talking about.
Have you always been insane or is this a recent development?
You're fishy.
You are right. It's not an accident in Europe happens the same houses completely flat fire doesn't do that
nd, Please Go look At My step-Sisters Dad Kirk Eadie Go Show Him Some Love and Also He Has some Vidoes On The Fire That Burned My house Go Check Him out!
I live in Medford Oregon and this still brings me to tears. Just horrible
It's called ARSON .
No
Maybe stop geo engineering. Ever think of that ?
Stop believing it, boom, solved.
Why are trees still standing? Very suspect.
The wood from the buildings has been cut years prior. A live tree doesn't burn as easy as a 2 by 4 would. Q is fake, that's Steve Bannon keeping the base interested
**DON'T BUILD OR BUY WOODEN HOUSES ANYMORE!!!! ... SO EXPENSIVES AND DANGEROUS**
...
@Robert Resch I've never heard of this. I'm building a cabin in the woods on some rural property we acquired last year.
Fire hasn't been a big problem in eastern oklahoma but I'm setting up the majority of 13 acres around the house as if we had wildfire issues. I'm going to look for the kit you mentioned. Thanks for the info.
@Robert Resch I will ,thanks again.
Why should the fire hydrants be dry they are mains fed surely a separate feed and pump Underground or the tender can suck the water if no pressure is there. The infrastructure is not really there and not up to today's problem a lack of Government Finance.
I don't understand that either!! why should there be breathing in any smoke or particulates they have respirators..? have all firefighters got respirators they should have.
You have to use foam much better than just water and can be used as a preventative measure not just on the fire there's natural foam can be used why they're not I don't know cross probably.
If you have a container about size a bit bigger of a large fire extinguisher filled with pressurized Liquid foam, households can cover their properties and relieving a lot of pressure from the firefighters, and preventing outbreaks. why is nobody doing this they can be bought from fire stations and the money can go to the fire crews and station provisions. A two-way special nozzle what's connected to your garden hose with the pressurised foam is released with the water to cover your property the spaying of the foam can be a long time days. Why is nobody implementing this? Manufacturing it at no profit. Most of these outbreaks wouldn't even start if this was implemented to 30% of households give or take area. An average sized home and near grounds will take no more than half an hour to cover can be done well before any risk to the household or residence.
Even covering your house with a fireproof blanket could be done or a standard wool blanket sprayed with water would give massive protection a lot of house fires are started by embers this would be eliminated if you could cover the roof as I say with wool fleece soaked in water what is a natural fire retardant and very absorbent to water if you have a like a roller blind on the side of the house then a cords can pull it over the roof and be tucked in at the base of the property that would work also very effectively.
Wool can be sprayed by special machines for insulation of walls and rooves cavities so theoretically you could spray whole house with wool fibre then drenched in water
@Robert Resch well valve is closed of course it won't be able to suck water but why have water Towers it has to be pumped into the Towers anyway ? why not just fed underground to hydrogens people's homes any cut off electricity there should be emergency diesel generators or solar battery arrays water plant should have this facility already surely there is no reason for the water to not flow, and what about people's Wells lots of people have wells is there no map for firefighters to access people's Wells.
We are in a drought here right now. There has been very little rainfall and several of our lakes are completely dry. The main water supply was low already and then this happened.
Yes that does complicate the situation it is a problem, what about underground water, I know it's getting depleted lot lower than it used to be years ago because of climate change.
You are absolutely clueless as to fire behavior, especially wind driven fires, and fire protection.
@@kentcarter835 yes probably so educate me, what do you not agree with in what I say!
Oregon taxpayer outrage brought me here.
time is running out pleaseeeee repent and turn to Christ Jesus before it’s too late !!