Wildfires and smoke

[Gardnr]

We're livin' in smoke. Can't see the foothills just 2m away. Pray for early snow to put out the big fires!

[Gardenarian]

The hoped for clearing of the smoke only lasted hours - there is a NEW fire. And lightning (no rain) expected today.
Greeting from Mordor 👹

[Teacher Terry]

Where is the new fire? My asthma has been bad lately. Ugh!

[Gardenarian]

There's a whole posse of fires near Grants Pass. I believe the Klondike fire is putting out the most smoke right now. I was up coughing till 2am last night, and I'm wearing a mask whenever I'm outside.

Anyone know the actual collective noun for "fires?" (Murder of crows, exultation of larks, etc.)

[Teacher Terry]

It is really getting old and we are not suffering as much as you are.

[Tiam]

There's a whole posse of fires near Grants Pass. I believe the Klondike fire is putting out the most smoke right now. I was up coughing till 2am last night, and I'm wearing a mask whenever I'm outside.

Anyone know the actual collective noun for "fires?" (Murder of crows, exultation of larks, etc.)

Good one! I don't think there is one. I'm wearing a mask in the day. At home I stay and almost never go out. Last night was highest number on the AQI yet. Right now it's at 245. It's toxic. It's sad.

[Tiam]

My dogs woke me at 2am, barking in the backyard. I got out my flashlight and the smoke was so thick that the light could only penetrate about 10 feet.

I'm in southern Oregon and we had a lightning storm that set off hundreds of wildfires nearby. The smoke wasn't bad when I went to bed, so I was really scared to see it so thick. I already had the windows closed, but I had the house fan running. I had to turn the fan off because the filter wasn't catching the smoke and the house is reeking.

I called our local hotline and they said no fire danger, so, whew. Our air quality is currently Unhealthy, inching towards Very Unhealthy. Because there are so many different fires, it's hard to know where the smoke is coming from or how long it will last.

Although we are not in imminent danger, I do have a Go Bag ready by the front door (food, dog food, journal, tablet, chargers, essential papers) and my car is stocked with water.

I tried, but was unable to fall back asleep. Usually there are mountain views from our windows; today it's just gray. I get very antsy not being able to walk or bike or swim. My plan was to take the dogs and drive to the coast but my hip is hurting - no way I can drive the 3 hours, and there is no closer place to get out of this smoke. DH is gigging out of state, so I'm on my own.

I need to get a better furnace filter, and I'll go to the gym to work off some of my jitters. I'll probably spend some time at the library, just to get out of the house. The dogs get crazy too; I'll have to strap on the smoke mask and walk them at some point.

We had over a month of this last summer, and I'm feeling anxiety that I'll be trapped like that again.

Thank you for listening. I think lack of sleep is making me feel particularly frantic and helpless in this situation.

Same location. A month later. It's really awful. It gets to you psychologically as well physically. No hope of reprieve till late September or October.

[Tiam]

I have friends spending the day in Newport--not too far from Brookings. They didn't mention air quality.

Newport is doing pretty good.

[dado potato]

I like "posse"...

"rash" is used a lot.

[Tybee]

Conflagratia?