Texas Fires!

skipglo said:
There's a fireproof State? Haven't heard of that one..... unless it's just got TORNADOES!
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Didn't say that there was. Learn to read. :(

I got tired of the cost of trying to avoid drought and massive fires. That's all. It got to the point that there wasn't even any hay with 5 states to buy. It was actually somewhat less expensive and more expedient to just move the horses to another state where there was rain and hay available.
 
I'm
sable tireur said:
Didn't say that there was. Learn to read. :(

I got tired of the cost of trying to avoid drought and massive fires. That's all. It got to the point that there wasn't even any hay with 5 states to buy. It was actually somewhat less expensive and more expedient to just move the horses to another state where there was rain and hay available.
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what state would that be? The cost of hay just keeps going up. When I started ranching in 87 you could buy coastal hay for 12/15 a round bale (heavy bales) and sack feed at 2.00 dollars. Last year coastal was at 160 and sack feed at 13 if you could get any local hay. It's been like this for the last 4 years.
 
Man these fires are always hard to see. In 2020 my area got hit by the Alameda fire, and we learned how brutal the right conditions can be. 1-2% humidity and winds up to 40mph were blowing hot fire hot spots for miles. It took out 2800 houses in half a days time. When it gets to cooking like that, there's not much you can do. And if you have a lot of dry fuel for the fire, even catching it minutes from start can be too late. In 2 hours, our fire had moved 5 miles down the freeway, and in 4 hours post ignition it was 9 miles long.

I hope everyone gets out of this one, and that weather turns soon to help the firefighters. Sometimes that's the only thing that changes the course of a fire like this.
 
SW OK has burned three times in my lifetime that I recall. Nowhere near 1 million acres though. Those fires become a weather event of their own. The speed and temperatures are unbelievable. At one point we had wind speeds over 70 mph. If you have never seen dry ceders go up, it is like watching a gasoline explosion 1,000s of times. The birds and rabbits spread the fire. I have seen burning rabbits and birds streak across fire breaks. Massive granite rocks split in half from intense the heat. At night it looks like someone spread charcoal across the landscape. With each gust, the coals glow red hot. I have seen the wheels fire spoken of in the Bible. The large wheels of sparks rotate vertically and horizontally in the air like wheels burning everything in their path. The fire is so hot things like mulch in flower beds start to combust 30 yds ahead of the actual fire. It is a devastating and horrifying sight. My thoughts and prayers to those that have been affected.
 
With the cost of NG going up (at the time) which makes liquid fertilizer go up, plastic costing more and in turn makes net wrap more. Then the cost of red diesel outrageous it doesn't take long for base cost to be 15-20 $ a round bale. That usually gets trippled? I base price on production. The more I produce, the lower the cost per bale. On a normal year I can make 12 (63×60") bales per acre (sudan). 220 acres equates to 2,640 bales. When I did alfalfa I could make 50-60 (14×18×36") bales per acre and sold them for $5/per. It takes an immense amount of time for alfalfa (swath, rake, turn, bale and stack both ways). A long time alfalfa producer told "it's for people that don't have a family, because it takes too much time away from being with them". I've had 60 hour work days snd ate once during that time. Doing 120 acres by myself gets exhausting. I'd do anything to get to work like that again! Pain rules my life.
 
Old Rooster said:
As someone else said,a power pole possibly caused the fire.If that is true does the power company have insurance to pay for things like that?
Of does the power company have to pay for it?
Home/land owners lost in the deal no matter what happens money wise.
I heard there were deaths.
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2 as far as I know. 1 in Canadian and 1 in Stinnett. The 1 in Canadian might be suspicious? The Texas Rangers were called in to investigate.
 
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M1A1ABRAMS said:
Perhaps now. But what if they would have been out earlier is my point. Could they have made a difference ?
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Only a smoke jumper or a rural VFD fireman can explain the helplessness of the situation, all the equipment and training in the world is useless when a fire sucks every ounce of oxygen out of the air, you are simply a spectator in the way at that point.

Plenty of evidence of trained firefighters dying simply because of a shift in the wind.

I had a close friend who was part of a large municipal fire department but was also in charge of the rural VFD. He took coworkers to the big fire northwest of Fort Worth back in February of 1996. He said everyone of them told him he was nuts afterwards and they were all scared because of how on the edge of chaos a wildfire really is.

It's not enough to donate to these rural VFDs, a slap on the back isn't enough, they literally put their lives on the line everytime they head out to a brush or grass fire. They definitely have my respect and admiration!

Praying for everyone involved and if there is anything I can do to help , I am literally 4 - 5hrs away.
 
ARlife4me said:
With the cost of NG going up (at the time) which makes liquid fertilizer go up, plastic costing more and in turn makes net wrap more. Then the cost of red diesel outrageous it doesn't take long for base cost to be 15-20 $ a round bale. That usually gets trippled? I base price on production. The more I produce, the lower the cost per bale. On a normal year I can make 12 (63×60") bales per acre (sudan). 220 acres equates to 2,640 bales. When I did alfalfa I could make 50-60 (14×18×36") bales per acre and sold them for $5/per. It takes an immense amount of time for alfalfa (swath, rake, turn, bale and stack both ways). A long time alfalfa producer told "it's for people that don't have a family, because it takes too much time away from being with them". I've had 60 hour work days snd ate once during that time. Doing 120 acres by myself gets exhausting. I'd do anything to get to work like that again! Pain rules my life.
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6' bales sold here this year at 180.00/200.00 per BALE 200.00 ALFALFA
 
sable tireur said:
Didn't say that there was. Learn to read. :(

I got tired of the cost of trying to avoid drought and massive fires. That's all. It got to the point that there wasn't even any hay with 5 states to buy. It was actually somewhat less expensive and more expedient to just move the horses to another state where there was rain and hay available.
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You said and I quote...: Little to NO CHANCE OF FIRES".....Learn how to type Brother....I know how to read!
 
skipglo said:
6' bales sold here this year at 180.00/200.00 per BALE 200.00 ALFALFA
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When shipping and retail cost added, that's probably about right? I don't make 6' bales as they weigh more than most ranchers want to load their vehicle with (especially 2 bales). The 5' bales of alfalfa I made weighed 1,300 and 6' would be about 1,700+. Last time I bough seed it was $250/bag (50#) and fertilizer $150-200 acre applied (potash, phosphate and trace minerals). Now add hired labor and price can be an extra $10/per bale if you bale your own (someone else hauls). Custom balers will be a ton of the cost. My 1,300# bales cost $80 (horse quality). Todays pricing around $95-110.
 

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