Who could have imagined there’d be raging wild fires after the summer drought? And, during fire season too.
I hope he doesn’t make the mistake of doing a fly over. Or if he does, he should not be photographed. On the other hand….

I hoped you would post on this today. Thanks BT.

Meanwhile, new coworker advises that his friend, the Asst Fire Chief of Bastrop TX lost his house last night. “Nothing but a slab” was the report at 10:00 this morning. It is heartbreaking down here.

Maybe he should call Cantor the petulant idiot boy and see if he can cut in line in front of the hurricane folks.

BT, thanks for this as we have several Pups living in the area.

Also, sort of off topic but not really as Perry is being bankrolled by these evil folks; you must read this:

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8728

It’s getting really ugly. Kristen and I dropped off some donations in Round Rock about an hour ago. Blankets, bottled water, shampoo, contact solution…

Thousands displaced and no end in sight. This fire is still completely out of control.

I really wish someone would make Perry say publically that he NEEDS the federal government and he DOESN’T think that disaster aid should be offset before he gets a dime.

Then I realize I’m not a sociopath and that people need that help regardless of Gov. Goodhair’s hypocracy.

Boxturtle (I can’t hold his feet to the fire, my ethics keep getting in the way)

ZERO Containment in Bastrop as of 5 mins ago

from downtown Austin yesterday

I am letting the politics of the sitch go for now — just douse this monster

Forest Service showed up last night and told Bastrop FD, who were on the east side, to stand down. Moved all remaining crews to the west side of the fire. Guys wife, also a firefighter, went home to check on things. Had time to grab 1 change of clothes and dogs.

There is still, as far as I know, zero containment on the Bastrp fire with well over 500 homes already gone.

Typical two faced republiclown.

Not to mention Perry and the GOP legislature cut the fire fighting budget by something like 60 percent.

Guess those fires were going to put out themselves. Or that a private company would do it. Or citizens would come together to do it after a 16 hour work day. Or some lame stuff like that.

I get so incensed by these dumbass, macho morans (Perry isn’t the only one) who constantly diss the federal government then take, in their words, a “handout” every time.

Ron Paul does not approve.

Are any of your local papers holding Goodhairs feet to the fire about his underfunding of firefighting efforts?

Boxturtle (Or pointing out that to be true to his principles, he should return federal aid?)

Bless you, Kristen and all the others who are taking care of each other. That includes your mom and dad. I read where cbl used facebook to help rescue a herd of goats.
We awoke to a faint smell of wild fire and looked it up on line. It’s about 45 miles away. Fortunately, it’s not windy season yet, so we/they may luck out.

I wonder how Ron Paul’s district is doing in Texas. Is it burning to the ground, and will he be the one who will tell them “the hell with you guys, I got mine”?

x2

BT, great title, tweeted.

Yep. Plenty of time to dog Perry and his pay-for-play bullshit later. The lack of resources on hand to fight these fires is abhorrent and can be blamed on budget issues.

For now, folks need to understand the enormity of this. We’re in the middle of a heavily populated tinderbox without the resources to stop a fire of this size.

Please, Firedogs, donate anything you can. There are thousands displaced, their homes are lost, there’s no end in sight.

I’m sorry for the peoples’ losses. Bastrop/Smithville is part of the vast East Texas piney woods, a place that Austin unsuccessfully once tried to annex illegally and home of U of TX MD Anderson Cancer Center‘s “Science Park.” Can’t believe MD Anderson will allow the place (UT Austin-based researchers are down there all the time) to go up in smoke.

That shot just brought back the fear and terror of what we went through 3 years ago.
I’m so sorry.

Folks, it aint rocket science;

What we so badly need, is for BARACK OBAMA to be talking about these Mt. Rushmore-sized inconsistencies.

As in a Rooseveltian Fireside Chat:

“Good evening, my fellow americans! I am pleased to point out that Texas Governor Rick Perry has tabled the motion-to-secede-from-the-Union which he had sent to the Texas Legislature, juuuust long enough to ask for several billion dollars in federal aid with which help Texans suffering from the devastating wildfires now raging down there.
I am only too glad to help with this, and I understand the personal shame and humiliation which the Governor (and the people of Texas) must feel at making this request for federal help.

(On the other hand, I believe I’m being fair in expecting that Governor Perry’s request means that neither the Texas National Guard, nor any citizen’s militia units, will be opening hostilities by firing on Fort Hood in the foreseeable future…)

The question that needs to be asked given the severe weather what was done before hand to limit damage by these fires. The fires were going to happen, but was deadwood etc cleared? were homes etc doused with water/ were clearing made to stop fires in their track?

Was nothing done and here we are?

Well, you can’t exactly clear a forest.
After the wild fires we had here three years ago, there’s been a huge push to keep the areas surrounding neighborhoods and houses clear, but when you have huge forests of piney woods, that’s a different story. And, I bet the fire fighters are doing all the right things.

Thanks for that mz. The area was beautifull and so rare in central Texas. CBL and I rode through the Bastrop State Park just a few weeks ago.

from my reading, a HUGE part of the problem is 80% of rural Texas is covered by volunteer Fire Departments (what in bloody hell?) – the 40% slashed from the Budget in effect since 9/2 was for Rural FF Equipt., they left Rural FF Training alone

Ron Paul’s district TX–14 is unaffected. However, the Waller County fire (near Houston) they thought they had put out late last night has roared back late this morning – Gaia help us

What we so badly need, is for BARACK OBAMA to be talking about these Mt. Rushmore-sized inconsistencies.

Yep, I’m sure he’s working on that right now. Problem he has is that he supports the kind of cuts and federal domestic disengagement that cause the inconsistancies himself.

Boxturtle (Yeah, Yeah, I know he’s calling for aid. Watch what he does, not what he says)

I’m cold-hearted, I guess. Every time I’ve heard:

“Don’t mess with Texas!”

and now, with Perry’s playing to the worst of the peckerheads, the milk of human kindness flows a little less freely.

No. We should help…but I can’t let go of “the fierce independence of the Lone Star State.”

Box, thasssit. He’ll send the money and say nothing about Perry’s campaign bullshit.

Dennis of Aimee and Dennis, is busily dispatching crews to Central Tex. thought he was done late last night, but was back at it early this am

and Blue Texan – I take zero exception to your post, he’s got it comin’ and then some — bring it !

Excellent point, but that would be so mean and partisan! [/Barack]

For all…..Bastrop in not in the pinmey woods of East Texas. It is a heavily wooded are in central Texas, SE of Austin. But same dry forests as in East Texas.

Fact is, I’ve lived here all my llife and we just don’t have many wild/forest fires very often in Texas like they do annually in California. We are not equipped to handle this. Also see comment #23 above.

You’re painting with a pretty broad stroke there tanbark. The Texans we are fortunate enough to have here are some of the best commenters, imho.
On edit: when people are hungry, you feed them. When they are thirsty, you give them something to drink. You don’t ask for their ID.

“Don’t Mess With Texas” is an old anti litter campaign.

Fact is, Perry protests AGAINST federal government until he NEEDS some money from them. Just like all republcans. He has already done that earlier in the year when we had wild fires in north Texas. Hypocrite to the third power.

Trust me! You guys do NOT want Perry elected POTUS. Vote in the republican primaries when you can. VOte early and often for anybody else.

:o)

Maxine’s – that delightful little cafe we stopped in is fine — all fire is to the east of them – sadly, they are closed today because apparently over half their staff lost their homes

Well said.

New coworker was on the line all week end. Said the local gas stations were making firefighters paay on the spot for fuel to fill up equipment and trucks. There is more than a little wrong here.

It really is! There are signs all up and down the highways that say “Don’t Mess With Texas” and then details the fines for littering.

that actually worked !- playing on our tribalism can sometimes be a good thang

There are so many negative affects of wild fires. Even when it’s over. Wait for the fire insurance rates to go up, up, up.

where are you ? – just in general, don’t need to know your address :D — there are tons of Central Texas firedogs

Thanks CBL.

Gods, we spend so much on the damn military……isn’t there something that they can do to help? Can’t those billion dollar helicopters carry some water or something?

Nightmare proportions.

InciWeb: Texas Forest Service Photographs (there appear to be no Bastrop photos available right now)

InciWeb: Texas Fires 2011 News Release

InciWeb: Fact Sheet for Texas Fires, 9/1/11

InciWeb: Bastrop County Complex

Trying to pull up any imagery via NOAA …

Our 2 local Life Flight helicoptes flew over 500 drops Sunday and Monday.

In Houston since ’56.

Are those medivacs OnS?

Finally it all comes together. The day we have been waiting for. The FEMA camps will now go active. Soon millions of Texans will be enslaved, herding free range chickens as their daughters are impregnated by gay Negroes.

That’s any easy leap to make, isn’t it? With every natural disaster, with every report of how many Americans are poor or homeless, it’s amazing Not to question the amount of money we spend on Foreign Wars or Military Actions.

Gods, we spend so much on the damn military……isn’t there something that they can do to help?

If the fire was in the Middle East, sure!

Can’t those billion dollar helicopters carry some water or something?

If they weren’t in the middle east, sure!

That’s the problem with firefighters, you can’t just deploy them to Iraq or AshCanistan. So we don’t send much money their way. And if there’s not actually a fire, we don’t really NEED the firefighters. Preparedness is expensive, especially when you only use it a few times a year.

Boxturtle (remember, the tax cuts and deregulation are used EVERY day. Soldiers too, dammit)

thanks ! lots of updates/links/info as well on the twitter hashtag #txfire

No, water!

thanks! somehow had you out near Smithville

just getting started.

wait till ten years from now.

Sorry, pardner; it’s a pretty broad-stroking state…as evidenced by the current governor they elected to public office…repeatedly.

And i DID say that we ought to help, despite that.

If that’s not good enough for you, then we’ll both have to deal with it. :o)

As David asked…fairly, I think:

“More Federal aid? Can’t Texas take care of itself?”

and I’m sure that he, too, would end by saying that we ought to help, despite the outrageous hypocrisy.

Thought maybe they were at the point of having to divert them from medical emergency use to firefighting choppers.

BT, if this wasn’t such a serious matter I would enjoy a laugh at AshCanistan

Perry seceding from the debate? Inquiring minds want to know.

Cut-n-run Rick doesn’t have the courage to step into the ring…just catcalling from the peanut gallery.

Shows just how much koolaide the country has consumed.

That is what they were doing. Dropping water on the fire. For 2 days. Maybe they still are. At a reported cost of 10K per hr to operate.

Baaad rapier… :o)

No, but I can “see the smoke from here”…..

Just kiddin’, Sarah Palin joke.

That fire is eating up a magnitude of $$ greater, per hour, I imagine.

Several.

FYI, Perry did very wel in the Texas REPUBLICAN gubernatorial debates but he was against a PTA president from Refugio and Kay Bailey Hutchison who forgot what day it was.

He DID NOT debate the democratic candidate in the general election. He manufactured a phony reason.

A-Men !

just read this diary this morning

Are there at least bodies of water they can scoop from? Fortunately, we had several lakes and dams here. Still, and yes the cost of operation is enormous.

It won’t be good enough for me until everyone loves each other and that means unconditional, no judgements.

They got a water fountain at the Phillips 66 station in Smithville and two toilets in the restrooms.

No actually, the have a lake in Bastrop.

Good to hear. That should at least give them a source.

oldnslow and others yesterday were wondering why ‘they’ don’t open the dams, raising water levels on the Colorado – thereby making it easier for both planes and choppers to scoop up

There is a lake in the middle of the fire.

First: all the best to the good citizens of TX. Live pt in SoCal, so I know what it’s like to contend with raging wildfires. :-(

Secondly: Rick Perry’s unabashed hypocrisy will go down very well with the IOKIYAR crowd. What’s not to love? @ssclown Perry fomenting about seceeding from the Union OTOH, whilst having the other hand stuck waaaaay far out with a “Gimme the Money” sign on it. So typical.

At this point: why even bother to *try* to point out the radical inconsistency, amoral double-standard, and bald-faced hypocrisy of it to conservatives of various stripes & voting records. Those citizens are so far gone in terms of embracing such contradictory thoughts that they’ll never come up for air, nor see the light of day.

For such citizens & politicians, it’s all about MEEEEEEE. Gimme gimmeeeee, but for heaven’s sake, don’t you dare give it to that dusky hued person over *there,* because I *know* that they are a slacker only out for “free stuff.” Oink oink oink… lather rinse repeat.

Then you’re stuck with sitting on your sanctimonious pony.

BTW, as I noted, David asked essentially the same question. You’ll have to deal with that, too. :o)

The hypocrisy is what the thread is about. We are “judging” that, not all Texans. If you don’t want to judge that, then you don’t have to, but like most of the posters on here, I’m enjoying David’s good thread about the elected governor of Texas being as two-faced as Janus.

You sure you wouldn’t like to help us judge that? :o)

At this point: why even bother to *try* to point out the radical inconsistency, amoral double-standard, and bald-faced hypocrisy of it to conservatives of various stripes & voting records. Those citizens are so far gone in terms of embracing such contradictory thoughts that they’ll never come up for air, nor see the light of day.

Yes, probably 50+ percent of them. But others are like the general population, they need small group or one-on-one interaction. They may not learn as quickly, or in the same way, but they can and do learn. We need additional and different forms of outreach.

same ol’, same ol’…hey, why not play from the same ol’ playbook….

Whoa, tanbark, I may have misunderstood, and in that case forgive me. But demi doesn’t ride that kind of horse.

Best I can find at the moment …

NOAA Satellite and Information Service: Fire and Smoke Products: Operational Products

Drilling down, down, down …

You can see the fires on Real-Time Satellite Imagery Loops: South Central – IR2 Fire Enhancement Loop

Aggie Texas Wildfire Map (direct link and it works!)

Agree re different forms of outreach & teaching & reaching out to some who perhaps can be reached & taught different points of view.

I do my best to “teach” on a personal one-on-one basis as much as I can, and not only with conservatives. I find a lot of traditional Democratic voters have pretty much drunk similar Kool Aid and tend to be as closed-minded and authoritarian as many conservatives. However, most trad-Dem voters don’t agree with such notions as secession whilst also vigorously demanding federal aid. Therein lies a critical distinction…

I’m out

ohmmmm

Om, she’s riding him on this one.

Again, Texas has elected, repeatedly, a politician and a governor who is trying to win the presidency of the United States, based in part on his cute little “Texas is a law unto itself” exceptionalism. He is one of a string of governors who have taken a cynical pride in executing a LOT of people, most of them poor, and many of them minorities.

He, like his predecessors, has cut government spending to the bone. It’s his big mantra.

As Boxturtle asked, with perception and eminent fairness:

“Are any of your local papers holding Goodhairs’ feet to the fire about his underfunding of firefighting efforts?”

I think the time to point out his hypocrisy is now, at the time when he’s asking for federal help. And getting it. That double standard is what this thread is about. If that bothers some of our Texans, I’m sorry, but I also think that we should help, however we may.

True. Like most everything, it is a matter of degree, isn’t it?

I have been thinking a lot about it, though, how to reach more people. I wish I was good at doing what you are, on a personal basis.

It would be good to have a speakers’ bureau that communities could draw from, and host small-venue talks, with questions afterwards. Good progressive educators who could cut through and negate the bullshit that permeates the very atmosphere now, it seems.

tan, I agree with everything you have said. My concern was the first sentence in your prior comment. It was sharp. I felt it, and it hurt.

I would love to see Obama grab this low-hanging fruit and make Perry EAT IT! :)

meant this for tanbark on edit

And speaking of eat, there is a mango in the kitchen with OmAli written all over it.

really out, this time :)

ohmmm

Wow. Sending all those folks my best vibes. About all I can do. Sad.

I thought that was a well done diary.

From “Texas cut fire department funding by 75 percent this year” (RawStory.Com, Sept. 6, 2011):

Under Gov. Rick Perry (R) this year, Texas slashed state funding for the volunteer fire departments that protect most of the state from wildfires like the ones that have recently destroyed more than 700 homes.

From “Texas wildfires destroy hundreds of homes” (RawStory.Com, Sept. 6, 2011):

Since the beginning of the wildfire season, Texas has dealt with over 20,900 fires that have destroyed more than 1,000 homes and burned 3.6 million acres, according to local and state officials.

lol, Perry is a moran

http://skydancingblog.com/2011/09/05/rice-university-marching-band-makes-fun-of-governor-goodhair/

Only hypocrits voted for Perry. A majority of the South is god fearing hypocrits. I live there but I didn’t vote for this piece of useless shite.

“Let the Yankees freeze in the dark.” Remember that most-popular Texas bumper sticker from the oil-crisis days? I’ll never forget it.

A beautiful vision, which I share in my dreams and my idealistic reveries. Unfortunately, I can’t hold my breath as long as you can. I’m stuck with the moral question: Do the truly innocent deserve help more than the perennial perpetrators? I’m further stuck with the answer being, “Yes.”

You are a good person. I like you.

Excellent point, ‘checker.

I had forgotten that. Thanks for the memory jog. :o)

Thank you, that means quite a lot to me, coming from you. I have missed you.

Did you read Wind in the Willows? I remember someone, maybe Badger saying, that animal etiquette forbade commenting on the sudden disappearance of one’s friends.

I am just glad you are back.

That’s me, perpetual enemy of the memory hole lol.

I was just visiting my peeps up in New York, darlin’. I’ll always be here. Never fear. ;-)

*G*

Where do you send donations that will do the most good.

Amen to that. Aren’t we all in this together?

Does anyone know whether Texas Nat’l Guard units that could be used for the fires are deployed overseas?

I’m truly sorry for everyone who is in harm’s way in Texas.