Burning Ring of Fire

It was like riding through a thick fog. A thick fog that smelled like a campfire and that stretched out for several hundred miles. I spent the better part of today carving my way through the drifting smoke from the massive fires in Washington State. My clothes smell of it. My throat is a bit raw. Luckily, I travelled through areas where the the danger posed to the public by the smoke was “low risk” for the majority of the population. If you’ve heard of the fires, the news coverage doesn’t do them justice. If you haven’t heard of them, I’m not surprised. The news coverage doesn’t do them justice. Here are some fun facts about the infernos raging out here (as of August 24th):

  • More than 27,000 firefighters and support personnel are assigned to wildfires across the country
  • Number of firefighter fatalities reported in 2015 so far: 57
  • States currently reporting large fires: Arizona (2), California (13), Florida (1), Idaho (17), Louisiana (1), Montana (12), New Mexico (1), Oregon (11), Texas (2), Washington (12)
  • Number of active large fires: 72
  • Acres from active fires: 1,641,777

One million, six hundred and forty one thousand, seven hundred and seventy seven acres. Let’s make that number a bit more real:

  • That’s about 1,641,777 football (soccer) pitches
  • That’s about 1,641,777 football (AMURICA!) fields (minus the end zones)
  • That’s about 26,268,432 tennis courts
  • That’s almost half the size of Belize

Primary sources of data:

There are a lot more out there. Find them and read them.

i don’t have much to say today other than that. Thank you for all those working hard and risking (and in some cases losing) their lives to fight the blaze.