Nevada Fires - 1,000 evacuations in Reno

[Canoe]

wtf
I missed this.

More than 1,000 people in Reno, Nevada, were forced to evacuate on Tuesday when a wind-whipped wildfire roared through a neighborhood. And while rains overnight helped tamp down the flames in both places, crews in Reno feared a forecast that called for another lashing of strong winds that could revive the fire, which damaged 15 other structures on the edge of the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Extremely dry conditions helped fuel the blaze in rugged, hard-to-reach canyons that run between homes in the densely populated neighborhood, said David Cochran, Reno fire chief. “Even though there was literally snow on the ground in some areas, a wind-driven fire like that is almost impossible to stop,” Cochran said.

Winkelman said it started about 200 yards (183 meters) from the origin point of a November 2011 fire that destroyed 27 homes. That blaze was ignited by arcing power lines at a substation in strong winds, he said. Investigators from the state and Reno fire marshal’s office, as well as the utility NV Energy, were trying to find the cause of the fire.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... eturn-home

[^Rhino!]

This wouldn’t have happened had the lines coming off the substation had been buried. It’s got to be more prevalent in California and Nevada due to aridity, Thepower companies have always put lines on poles due to cost,about two dollars per linear foot in labor. Only in the last ten years has directional drilling been able to compete with that cost. Going back and burying all of the existing lines begins to make sense when the liability involved in not replacing old lines becomes greater than the costs of installing new ones.

[Canoe]

They said it was in the same place as a 2011 fire. I think that's the "canyon" area in the hills to the SW, so I'm not sure there's a normally viable trenching solution that is economical. Then again, how economical are fires... ask a certain utility in California.

Where I am, I've heard some people are facing a trenching line cost equal to the cost of their house. Not happening. Besides, the poles let you easily gauge how deep the snow is.

[lucky420]

They said it was in the same place as a 2011 fire. I think that's the "canyon" area in the hills to the SW, so I'm not sure there's a normally viable trenching solution that is economical. Then again, how economical are fires... ask a certain utility in California.

Where I am, I've heard some people are facing a trenching line cost equal to the cost of their house. Not happening. Besides, the poles let you easily gauge how deep the snow is.

Yes our canyons are big, flatlanders probably call them mountains

2011 was a great year for Reno. We had the big fire in November. We had the big air race tragedy (that was huge). Earlier that year out near Fallon a trucker crossed the train tracks in front of an Amtrak train, people died.

[^Rhino!]

I don't know how many times I've heard the excuse that because of the steep slope trenching wasn't a solution. Even with horizontal directional drilling the inexperienced have sidestepped the issue with the same excuse. With appropriate planning, layout, and choice of machine, you can use a vibratory plow on a sixty degree slope, and up to an 85-degree slope with a directional drill. I saw a 36-inch natural gas pipeline installation that began on a ridgeline overlooking the Missouri River which started at a downwards angle of 24 degrees that emerged in the Missouri River bottoms nearly a mile away that actually decreased in elevation over 300 feet. The majority of the elevation drop occurred in the first quarter mile because the pipeline went under a vertical cliff 200 feet tall.

The same pipeline went under the Missouri River, over 80 feet below the maximum scour depth, and emerged within 3 inches of the planned exit location. The equipment used had a capacity of about 250,000 foot pounds of forward thrust (the largest rig made for the application tops out at about 2 million foot-pounds of forward thrust), and used gyroscopic locating to insure the position of the drilling head.

The myriad assortment of tools available to the experienced contractor makes what was thought to be impossible a commonplace occurence in today's contracting field. Distance and diameter records are set on a yearly basis.So, in Reno, if there's a will, there may be a solution that's safe and economical.

[^Rhino!]

I don't know how many times I've heard the excuse that because of the steep slope trenching wasn't a solution. Even with horizontal directional drilling the inexperienced have sidestepped the issue with the same excuse. With appropriate planning, layout, and choice of machine, you can use a vibratory plow on a sixty degree slope, and up to an 85-degree slope with a directional drill. I saw a 36-inch natural gas pipeline installation that began on a ridgeline overlooking the Missouri River which started at a downwards angle of 24 degrees that emerged in the Missouri River bottoms nearly a mile away that actually decreased in elevation over 300 feet. The majority of the elevation drop occurred in the first quarter mile because the pipeline went under a vertical cliff 200 feet tall.

The same pipeline went under the Missouri River, over 80 feet below the maximum scour depth, and emerged within 3 inches of the planned exit location. The equipment used had a capacity of about 250,000 foot pounds of forward thrust (the largest rig made for the application tops out at about 2 million foot-pounds of forward thrust), and used gyroscopic locating to insure the position of the drilling head.

The myriad assortment of tools available to the experienced contractor makes what was thought to be impossible a commonplace occurence in today's contracting field. Distance and diameter records are set on a yearly basis.So, in Reno, if there's a will, there may be a solution that's safe and economical.

[lucky420]

I don’t really know.

Our hills look like mountains to flatlanders

That is all I know

[^Rhino!]

lucky, I apologize for not having made my perspective clear.

I grew up in the southern Appalachians, in East Tennessee, and have done field work there and in the Wyoming Rockies, specifically the Wind River Range near Lander. Steep terrain in both. I am still amazed by the slopes that van be conquered by experienced operators with the right equipment.

And, if you're into speed there are people who play with equipment constantly, stretching the capabilities of what's possible. about 6 years ago, the folks ay Charles Machine Works out of Perry Oklahoma came up with a trencher that can cut a utility trench four feet deep and a hundred feet long in a little under a minute.

It's called the Super Witch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_89jTNFLc4


It can also do wheelies (see the video), This was built with a turbocharged 850 hp Chevy engine. Truly a one of a kind rig.