Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Fires: How's The View From Whitney?

I can see by the Whitney Webcam smoke is spoiling the east side view. Can anyone tell me what's going on on the west side? Anyone know when these fires will be brought under control?

Big Meadow Fire...August 26, 2009...Prescribed burn gone awry.

Why a prescribed burn during extremely high fire danger conditions and with air quality in the San Joaquin Valley at "unhealthful" levels and with Labor Day approaching? I don't want to know the scientific answer. Best left unanswered.

My other question is: Why can't we just leave things be? This prescribed burn was done in an area already burnt by a 1990 fire. Again, best left unanswered.

I am sure there are questions from the residents affected by the Big Meadow fire as noted by bsmith's posting that follows at the end of this thread. Props to Kurt Wedberg for posting the pictures of the smoke blanketing Owens Valley. We hope the smoke dissipates very soon.

Our Labor Day plans were to go to Aspen Grove through the fire areas to do some camping and fishing. Pilot car during the day. Closed during the night. These plans are still in effect. Gotta maintain that "positvie attitude."

We pray for the safety of the crews battling the blazes here and in Southern California. We pray that our good friends BruinDave and BruinJane are out of harms's way, but I have a feeling they are either closely monitoring the day's events and possibly battling the falling embers in order to preserve their home. We hope that all of you in SoCal near these wildfires are also safe. Our condolescences to the two firefighters who lost their lives battling the SoCal fires.

what you said.

controlled burn = oxymoron

The view this morning from Lower Boyscout Lake.

Uh, no. You have it backwards.

An oxymoron isn't a seemingly-opposed pairing that is false (which is what you imply) but one that is true.

If the joined words "controlled" and "burn" form an oxymoron (and they don't, actually, because they are not in a contradictory or paradoxical relationship), then the combined meaning (that a burn indeed is controlled) is true.

The fact that this particular controlled burn is out of control is immaterial.

Looks like Truckee Meadows except a little prettier. GAG

thank you very much for your explanation of your understanding of oxymoron.

My use of oxymoron was based on the original Greek usage of the word as found here in the Merriam-Webster dictionary: oxymoron

Etymology: Late Greek oxymōron, from neuter of oxymōros “pointedly foolish”, from Greek oxys sharp, keen + mōros foolish
Date: 1657
: a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (as cruel kindness); broadly : something (as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements

my usage in this situation implies that one cannot control a burn and that a burn cannot be controlled. these words are ‘pointedly foolish’ – contradictory, in fact. in a forest setting there is no such thing as a controlled burn.

As evidence of my implication that in a forest setting a burn cannot be controlled, a community meeting was held in El Portal last evening (week) with Yosemite National Park Acting Superintendent Dave Uberuaga and other Incident leaders. A number of important questions were asked by employees and residents. Following are four (only one is cited here) of the most frequently asked questions and answers:

What went wrong then
The development of the prescription window and its review and signoff are processes that agencies have carefully developed to minimize the risk of a fire escape. However, when dealing with all the complexities that can affect a fire, it is nearly impossible to reduce risk to zero. The National Park Service will conduct a careful review once the fire is extinguished.

emphasis mine. as i read it, according to the people who should know, there's no such thing as a 100% controlled burn.

citation here: community meeting

thank you again for your efforts.

Controlled burns = job security!

" Ya I got a good idea, lets start a fire the week before labor Day in Yosemite when its been 100 degrees. It will burn for weeks and keep our fire fighting brothers with A JOB!

IDIOTS!!!!!!

On Santa Cruz Island they are excavating Pygmy Mammoths. My favorite oxymoron.

San Miguel Island is so infested with non-native plant species (from running sheep on the island for a century) that it should be clear-burned end-to-end. I spoke with the Ranger - they wanted to do it but couldn't get permission. And this is an island!

So I guess that if they did, or will ever burn, it would be controlled, unless the ocean burns.