ARLINGTON, Wash. — Pam Sanford (click here) was waiting for news about her brother, Joseph
Miller, among the missing since Saturday in the Oso landslide, when a
police detective called asking for his dental records.
Had he been found? The detective would not say.
And
so she waited some more — along with scores of other relatives and
friends of the people missing in what is turning into one of the worst
landslides in the nation’s history. They wait for the telephone call. Or
for the possessions found by volunteers. Or just to know the scale of
this catastrophe — whether the final death toll will be closer to the 16
bodies recovered by Wednesday evening, or the more than 100 people
still unaccounted for...
Boston was having hurricane strength gusts and it was nearly impossible to fight the fire.
Wind Map today (click here)
By Maria Cramer, Kevin Cullen, Akilah Johnson, Evan Allen, John R. Ellement, Travis Andersen, Martin Finucane, Jacqueline Tempera and Catalina Gaitan
Globe Staff and GlobeCorrespondents
March 26, 2014
Two Boston firefighters died (click here) today while battling a wind-whipped nine-alarm blaze that raced through a brownstone in the city’s fashionable Back Bay neighborhood, city officials said.
Boston was having hurricane strength gusts and it was nearly impossible to fight the fire. Wind Map today (click here)
By Maria Cramer, Kevin Cullen, Akilah Johnson, Evan Allen, John R. Ellement, Travis Andersen, Martin Finucane, Jacqueline Tempera and Catalina Gaitan
Globe Staff and GlobeCorrespondents
March 26, 2014
Two Boston firefighters died (click here) today while battling a wind-whipped nine-alarm blaze that raced through a brownstone in the city’s fashionable Back Bay neighborhood, city officials said.
Lt. Edward J. Walsh, 43, of West Roxbury, and Firefighter Michael R.
Kennedy, 33, of Hyde Park were killed in the ferocious blaze, officials
said this evening at a news conference....
Does the storm system look a little familiar?
UNISYS Water Vapor GOES East Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)
March 27, 2014
0030.19z
Frigid air mixed with Equatorial water vapor.
UNYSIS Water Vapor North and West Hemisphere Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)
March 27, 2014
0030.19z
This country can't operate without people that accept danger into their lives to benefit others. It is rather amazing to realize the country we are and how we care. My deepest sympathies to the families and friends that have lost dear people in their lives.
This was the rather incredible reporting by The Boston Globe. I have only one thought about the deaths in Boston. I am not an expert to firefighting. But, I know how completely terrible the winds are when a very violent fire exists. Firefighters in wildfires know the incredible dangers trying to fight fire fueled by wind.
The Firefighter Managers and Supervisors need to be sure they are not fighting these fires on old standards. I do not blame anyone for the deaths in Boston. They were tragic. But, I do believe if this was one building and contained to be one building with a inferno inside; perhaps the fire responders should accept the fate of that building rather than risking the fate of their responders. That is my only thought.
The fire happened, the response happened, the wind was not part of the normal response pattern. It was not a 'normal storm' from the references of the past. Perhaps consulting with wildfire fighters can provide some insight to wind and how best to protect from such infernos.
Even in the city and perhaps especially in the city, high rises and the streets within them become wind tunnels. I know everyone in Boston worked very hard to contain this fire and I know why. I am only stating perhaps this response should be evaluated. The firefighters not only had normal wind found in the city, but, also the added wind from the storm. There is no wind map to measure that I can show you.
Just how big is the storm? (click here)
When we evaluate storms, one of the ways we note the strength of a low pressure center is by its pressure. Storms exist to balance the atmosphere.
Their purpose is to mix cold and warm air and try to achieve equilibrium. When a large difference in temperature exists and energy from the jet stream rides over this contrast storms often develop....
UNISYS Water Vapor GOES East Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)
March 27, 2014
0030.19z
Frigid air mixed with Equatorial water vapor.
March 27, 2014
0030.19z
This country can't operate without people that accept danger into their lives to benefit others. It is rather amazing to realize the country we are and how we care. My deepest sympathies to the families and friends that have lost dear people in their lives.
This was the rather incredible reporting by The Boston Globe. I have only one thought about the deaths in Boston. I am not an expert to firefighting. But, I know how completely terrible the winds are when a very violent fire exists. Firefighters in wildfires know the incredible dangers trying to fight fire fueled by wind.
The Firefighter Managers and Supervisors need to be sure they are not fighting these fires on old standards. I do not blame anyone for the deaths in Boston. They were tragic. But, I do believe if this was one building and contained to be one building with a inferno inside; perhaps the fire responders should accept the fate of that building rather than risking the fate of their responders. That is my only thought.
The fire happened, the response happened, the wind was not part of the normal response pattern. It was not a 'normal storm' from the references of the past. Perhaps consulting with wildfire fighters can provide some insight to wind and how best to protect from such infernos.
Even in the city and perhaps especially in the city, high rises and the streets within them become wind tunnels. I know everyone in Boston worked very hard to contain this fire and I know why. I am only stating perhaps this response should be evaluated. The firefighters not only had normal wind found in the city, but, also the added wind from the storm. There is no wind map to measure that I can show you.
Just how big is the storm? (click here)
When we evaluate storms, one of the ways we note the strength of a low pressure center is by its pressure. Storms exist to balance the atmosphere.
Their purpose is to mix cold and warm air and try to achieve equilibrium. When a large difference in temperature exists and energy from the jet stream rides over this contrast storms often develop....
