Wednesday, August 10, 2022

That's a Bravo 111

Smoke descriptions are one of the most important pieces of information that I use when working the fire season in the south west of Western Australia. From my lookout, I describe what the smoke is doing. This indicates what kind of plant matter the fire is burning (colour) how the fire is behaving (standing up, drifting etc) and what the fire is about to do (heavy, billowing). Smoke behaviour is communicated, in what may seem an arcane code, back to the office, where everyone there has to decide what to do next. 'Send out a truck? Several trucks? Water bombers?' For about four months of the year I sit and watch for smokes rising suddenly from forest, farms and suburbia. 

Anyway, my new neighbour, this adventure guy in camo escaping a bad marriage and/or something something is still ensconced in Old Smokey. Tonight I drove in from the city. He'd removed the branches that fell in the last storm on the driveway and set them to one side. Careful like. I'm still feeling cranky at Struth who let him stay at Old Smokey but in the mornings I'm hearing these cheery conversations which makes me think Camo Man is now Struth's deckie.

A Bravo one one one filed from the hut's chimney. Blue. Fine. Column. A quietly smoking log. A gentle smoke.


14 comments:

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    1. No crack pipe ... just a normal chimney but yes that's interesting re the blue smoke.

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    2. I've had a bugger of a time replying to these comments. Is anyone else on blogger having the same problems?

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    3. Not me, except on my phone. Fine at home.

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  2. Even though I live in the same state, I sometimes struggle to understand what you are saying! Its as if there is a secret language down in Walpole. Just an observation, not a complaint.

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  3. Thanks Margaret, maybe the 'arcane' language is a hint. But that said, your feedback is pretty cool. I can be stuck inside my own brain sometimes.

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  4. Smoke has a language….I never thought of it that way! In New Mexico (where I live) smoke is always alarming.

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  5. Observation observation observation. Very important skill to have. Unfortunately it is lacking in many who go around with their eyes shut.

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  6. I left a comment Sarah. I am guessing it went into Spam.

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    1. Hi Rachel, I just retrieved your previous comment from spam

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  7. Interesting how you can tell so much about a fire from observing the smoke. I guess I try to do a little bit of that when I see a fire. I have a very sensitive sense of smell and I can tell the difference between bush fire and cigarette smoke 100 metres away. I get very jittery when I smell smoke. I guess it is a survival instinct, especially when you live in the bush in Australia!

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    1. I find it fascinating. For example, once I reported black smoke but couldn't work out the distance. Boss told me to look for a pine plantation on the map and there it was, right on the bead. There was a fire in the Stirlings last year and you could tell the moment it got into the pine.

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  8. Re blogger issues: I can only post a comment on my MacBook Air using Chrome. Safari won't work. Nor will any attempt from my iPhone.

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    1. I can imagine Safari and Google not talking to each other! I think I've worked it out now but it's a more convoluted process that it used to be.

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