Off topic- fires in France and elsewhere overseas

[belindalore]

We have had many terrible fires here in the USA. But I see on the news that you overseas are also having terrible fires. Saw a fire in France in the rural area on news this morning. I know Auriculaire is in the rural area of France. I'm praying that it is not where she is and that she is safe. Same for anyone else here who may be in France or any of the other countries suffering from these tragic fires. Please stay safe. 🙏

[Hidden]

Yeah Belinda, I was thinking about Auriculaire this morning and wondering about her/ her family safety 😥. I lived in Sydney for many years and did get caught up in a bush fire 🔥🔥🔥- terrible experience! I now realize just how under equipped and in experienced Britain and Europe are.

I'm thinking of aircraft equipped for water bombing of inaccessible places. Where I am in Cornwall on the west coast of UK ideal right alongside the North Atlantic, plenty of water to draw upon.

John

[belindalore in reply to Hidden]

I can't imagine being in a fire like that. Glad you made it out. Yes along the coast there's plenty of water for the firefighting planes. Hopefully we will hear soon that everyone is okay overseas.

You take care.

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Hidden]

Just think of all the roasted skin divers you would get in Cornwall John. There I was minding my own business exploring the sea around Newquay and some idiot scooped me up and dumped me on a burning hay field. lol 😁

[Hidden in reply to BobD]

Yikes Bob,

......my imagination is running rife .....BobD the mermaid or BobD the Boardmaster or BobD wrong place, wrong time 😂😂😂😂😂

[Cat04 in reply to BobD]

🤣🤣🤣 50000+ at Boardmasters just now probably in need of a wash!

[Lupaal in reply to Hidden]

When we were visiting Italy once we saw a water bombing plane but apparently if you use sea water and drop it on farmland, it can mean you can't grow crops for ages because of the salt. So, I am guessing in rural England, using sea water may not be a good idea but I don't know, maybe it depends on the crops.

[Hidden in reply to Lupaal]

You may well be right .... I don't know. I have only seen it used in and around Sydney on coastal bushland bordering residential areas and also in more inland bushland with similar threats. Even so, the authorities here in Cornwall should give eternal thanks that there have been no high powered off ocean winds .... the destruction then would be unimaginable. There have been many areas along the Atlantic coast of Cornwall which foot the Sydney description where it could have been used effectively. We live and learn - hopefully.

John

[Ppiman]

We are hoping that this heatwave is a one off. It's been so uncomfortable and, in some case, dangerous. France and Spain do seem to have been especially badly affected but even the UK with its generally mild maritime climate has seen 40C / 104F and we've had some bad fires.

Steve

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Ppiman]

About 10 30 last evening I had the doors in the sitting room open and suddenly smelled bonfire smoke. I went out and started working my way round the bungalow checking in all directions across the valley etc and met Paul (no 1 son) coming the other way from his suite. We couldn't see any smoke or fires and he checked up on our hillside behind the house but nothing. You could still get an occasional wiff even at 3 am. WHY ffs?

[Ppiman in reply to BobD]

Goodness, that must have been frightening. We had a large fire quite nearby last night and I read that the smoke was visible for many miles around.

Steve

[belindalore in reply to BobD]

Smoke can travel for miles. I worry about anyone breathing too much. Even a little bit can be dangerous. Take care.

[belindalore in reply to Ppiman]

Stay safe.

[wilsond]

I live right next to a huge area of woodland. Yesterday part of it went on fire right in the middle,where fire hoses couldn't reach. Farmers went in with water bowsers( used to water crops) under control now but our house is full of smoke. Stay safe all x

[belindalore in reply to wilsond]

Oh my. That's not good. Do you have any fans to put in the windows to blow the air out of the house? Might help.Stay safe.

[wilsond in reply to belindalore]

Good idea thank you xx

[Auriculaire]

Thanks Belinda and John for your kind thoughts . We are a long way from the Gironde fires 150 + km but in July when they were raging we did have one day when we could smell them . The wind had changed direction and was blowing the smoke our way. Apparently it even got to Paris! The smell was horrid - at first I thought some idiot in the village was burning plastic- and there was a slight haze of smoke. It lasted a day but by late evening we were able to open the windows. I do worry because the Limousin where we live is a heavily wooded area and our department is now on crisis alert for drought. Some communes are having to be supplied by water tank. It is supposed to rain tonight. Storms are forecast but the worse would be lightening without rain as that could set off fires with everything so tinder dry. This used to be a very rainy area . We chose it for that as I wanted an English style country garden and disliked the dried up gardens of further south in France . Even whenever other parts of France were suffering drought the Limousin was green. No more. For the last 4/5 years we have been getting progressively longer periods without rain. This year with the blistering heat is the worst. Crossed fingers that the forecast is correct!

[belindalore in reply to Auriculaire]

So glad to hear that you are alright. Breathing smoke is not healthy. Especially for those of us with our health problems. Seems the earth is going through major weather changes. It's not raining here in Florida like it used to. Years ago you could expect rain between 2 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It would rain for awhile and those doing work outside would just take a break and go back to work as soon as it was over. The Western USA has been in a drought the last few years. Farmers are in dire straits. California is mostly semi arid and parts of the state depend on the water from the snow that melts from the mountains. No snow means less water. A major lake is almost dry there. There have been many bad fires out west. It's like it is where you are. Just parched. Florida is also called the capital of lightning strikes. So when it's dry it's a worry. It seems when we have a thunderstorm now the thunder is much more ominous. Like some say--the heavens are angry. It gets dry fast here as we are "closer to the Sun" and the soil is mostly sand and doesn't keep the moisture in. We did have a good rain last night. But the state is far below normal. Things change. They never stay the same. 😕

After all that. I am happy you are safe and hope you and everyone continues to be safe. Keeping my fingers crossed you get your rain and NO lightning strikes. 🙏👍

[Sustainedvtach270]

I was just traveling in France the last 2 weeks. Auriculaire, I was visiting my dad in Poitiers not far from Limousin and went to the beach in St Palais. In St Palais, I witnessed the Palmyre fire in 1976, one of the worst fire in french history, The air tankers were filling up water on our beach and thousands had to be evacuated by boat. This time we were lucky to only experience the heat wave for a few days at my dad's house His house is very old with thick walls, with better insulation than many american houses. My heart did well, no palpitation, no afib during the trip. I also like the wide variety of nuts in the french food stores. We flew by Toronto, from where we drove back to the US on Sunday. Monday night as I was going back to work on Tuesday, AFIB came back for a short time and my heart was in the 120s.... Was it the stress of going back to work? Or breaking my strict afib diet in Toronto? Or cutting my beta blocker sotalol to 1 dose?

[belindalore in reply to Sustainedvtach270]

Probably the stress of going back to work after such a nice visit. 😞😌 Strange isn't it that after all your traveling the Afib kicks in when you get back home?? The human body is such a mystery. Take care and hope the Afib behaves now.

[Sustainedvtach270]

Thank you! Try to stay cool, probably close to 40 where you are My heart is back to normal. I was digging out the weed in my vegetable garden, here 13 c last night and 25 max today, we got too much rain. That climate change is particularly hitting western Europe!