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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 1d

Hey neighbor! Prescribed fires occasionally don't go as planned, but in general, they are much shorter events than large wildfires. I'll take two days of smoke in early Nov instead of 5 weeks of smoke in Summer every time.

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 1d

Every new smoke study is nothing but bad news.

We'll soon need to use different strategies and tactics that limit firefighter exposure. But can you do that and reduce community smoke exposure too, or will it mean more fire on the landscape longer--and thus more deaths? Another climate quandary.

Mongabay @mongabay.com · 1d

A new Nature study projects wildfire smoke will cause 71,000 excess deaths annually in the U.S. by 2050, representing $608 billion in damages that exceed all other estimated climate costs combined.

Wildfire smoke could kill 71,000 people per year in the US by 2050, study warns

When wildfire smoke from Canada turned New York City’s sky an eerie orange in June 2023, millions of Americans who’d never experienced such pollution got a glimpse of what has become routine for…

news.mongabay.com

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 3d

This was a murder case a decade ago in SW Oregon: Local woman pig farmer murdered two handymen and then fed them to the hogs.
fox17.com/news/local/o...

Oregon 'Cold-Blooded' Farmer Susan Monica Found Guilty

Jurors spent only about an hour deliberating Tuesday before convicting an Oregon woman of killing two handymen and feeding their corpses to her pigs

fox17.com

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Reposted by Jim Whittington🔥

Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 4d

What can we realistically expect from water systems during urban wildfire conflagrations? We held a recent workshop with on-the-ground experts and have written up some initial takeaways ucanr.edu/blog/conflue...

Water Systems and Wildfire: Understanding Capacities and Limitations | UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Image

ucanr.edu

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 5d

By the way, if you're interested in anything related to emergency management and response, you should be following @samlmontano.bsky.social and reading her monthly newsletter: disasterology.substack.com/archive. She'd be the first person I'd call to work on such a project.

Archive - Disasterology

Full archive of all the posts from Disasterology .

disasterology.substack.com

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 5d

Sengun, Amen, and the Rockets play basketball today, and boy, do I need the escape that good hoops brings. Oh, that Slim Reaper guy is also playing.

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 6d

Need to build capacity first. A buddy & I were chatting & figured it would take 5-6 smart people at least 6 months just to come up with the details needed for emergency management (including wildland fire). There are so many other areas where the infrastructure is just not there for such a project.

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 6d

Turned on the heat for the first time this morning. There was enough of a chill in the house that these old bones did not want to get out from under the covers. Thus marks my official start of Fall.

Scene from Willy Wonka showing Grandpa Joe in bed.

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 7d

Happy 71st Birthday SRV! Still the coolest cat ever.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLC3...

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Rude Mood

YouTube video by Marcel Besselink

www.youtube.com

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 9d

Well, if they go along with it, no more Public Ivy for UT, that's for sure. I would expect a faculty exodus.

Related, I wish Oregon would get their act together and start a large recruiting effort aimed at profs and grad students that no longer feel welcome in their current institutions.

Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 9d

I'm just a dumb wildland fire guy in SW Oregon, but even I can see this will increase uncertainty & raise risks for my structural brothers & sisters in FDNY-as well as NYPD, State Police, & responders in nearby jurisdictions. Not to mention everyone living in the area, which I'm told is quite a few.

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 10d

Department of Homeland Security is cutting over $187 million or 86% of homeland security funding to New York State which will radically defund NYPD, FDNY, and NY State Police terrorism programs, according to a letter from New York Governor Kathy Hochul to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 10d

This cool air and rain feels like a season-ending event for wildland fire in the PNW, at least for areas west of the Cascades. My scientific findings support this and by that, I mean I wore jeans instead of shorts yesterday.

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Reposted by Jim Whittington🔥

Alex Steffen @alexsteffen.bsky.social · Nov 20

Climate chaos is coming for us.

Some places face bigger risks than others, but no matter where we live, we're gonna struggle to adapt to events like nothing we've seen before.

I'm a climate futurist.

Let me level with you about what this means.
🧵
(Img:OldMarshallJailHotel)

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 12d

I'd like to point out there are still 7,500 wildland firefighters working 19 uncontained large fires and yesterday, initial attack actions were carried out on 236 new starts.

A shutdown adds to the stress, reduces capacity, and creates additional uncertainties in a massively complex environment.

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 12d

What about BLM, USFWS, and BIA? All the NOAA agencies?

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 12d

I was a late arriver, usually working 9-6. All the guys that got to the office at 0530 would always tell me they had already put in hours before I got out of bed. However, when I did need to go in early for something, they were sipping coffee and swapping stories in the break room for 2+ hours.

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 12d

You can work 110-115 for short bursts (say, a two-week fire assignment), but you will burn out quickly if you keep it up. 90 is better but still not enough sleep & down time. 60 is do-able but is not sustainable long-term for anyone except those who really hate their family & don't want to go home.

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 12d

Injuries, free agency, & time finally caught up with my childhood team. I'm not sure any team could overcome more than 2,000 games lost to injury but still, the #Astros were in it until the end.

2017-2024 was a hell of an 8-year run & the little kid in me really enjoyed it.

Now, let's go Rockets.

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 13d

In war ravaged Portland, Fort Powell still stands.

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 15d

Excellent thread about performing during an incident of compressed time and high stress. There are few times in history where the conditions were so intense and the decisions were so critical for all of us.

Good job Lt. Col. Petrov.

Per Axbom @axbom.com · 15d

Happy Petrov Day to those who celebrate. On September 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov made the correct decision to not trust a computer.

I've attached a short clip from a reenactment of the situation in the documentary The Man Who Saved the World.

1/11

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 16d

Infuriating. So many feds have such specialized knowledge that it will be near impossible for them to find a decent-paying private sector job. The worst part is that this was totally predictable and yet nothing was ever put in place to help. We just left public servants to fend for themselves.

makena kelly @makenakelly.bsky.social · 16d

The History of DOGE, as told by the people who lived it.

www.wired.com/story/oral-h...

The Story of DOGE, as Told by Federal Workers

WIRED spoke with more than 200 federal workers in dozens of agencies to learn what happened as the Department of Government Efficiency tore through their offices.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Jim Whittington🔥

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · 16d

Truly impressive number of birds migrating tonight. More than 800 MILLION birds up in the air right now❗ #BirdMigration

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Reposted by Jim Whittington🔥

OPB @opb.org · 16d

ICE has released Oregon firefighter Rigoberto Hernandez Hernandez from federal custody. Hernandez was arrested while working the Bear Gulch Fire in Washington, and his release came as a surprise Wednesday morning.

ICE releases Oregon firefighter arrested last month during Bear Gulch Fire

Rigoberto Hernandez Hernandez’s release came suddenly Wednesday morning without a court order.

www.opb.org

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 22d

Also, "Leader" is a title given, not one that is appropriated or conveyed with a position. Work towards your best vision of leadership hourly.

Complacency is a killer. Fight it with everything you've got.

And yes, we're definitely in the middle of a disaster, so start thinking that way. Plan! 8/8

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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 22d

Enjoy your work and appreciate your mission. If it becomes drudgery or starts to seem routine, it's time to step aside and let someone else try their hand at leadership. Speaking of, you should always be encouraging your replacements. It's not about you, Chief. It's about the mission. 7/

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