What is iso? It stands for insurance services office, they go around rating fire departments for insurance companies.
List of items to keep iso rating.
If our iso rating drops
What happens if we don't do what they say.
Basically, if we don't meet these standards, insurance companies will hike their homeowner's rates.James Lee and others have been studying this and he sent an email which proposes instead of buying a big type 1 truck for $30-40K, which won't go where it needs to in Walker when it's wet (or even when it's dry), to out fit one of the smaller type 6 'dodge ram pickup truck' fire engines. You can mail him for his report at link below. I'd send it to everyone in Walker, they are going to be paying/not paying for whatever is decided.
mailto:jamesjmlee@email.com
yes, it says 'email.com', not gmail.com'
I finally found the key to all those maps at aria, here's a 5.7MB one of the Poland Junction and Groom Creek quadrangles 12 miles by 6 I think. They don't have any color pictures of this area, and a lot of the digital elevation files, the actual terrain models, are missing. The resolution of the hi-res looks about the same as Google maps, says they're from 2002 I think. I couldn't get some of the pieces to line up, scaling them vertically would make errors horizontally, and vice versa.
hi-res Poland-groom
Dec. 26, 2011, it's winter and an old man's thoughts turn to
Ice cleats!
The second ones are $42, I'm just looking at making my own at those prices. There's one on instructables.com 'cleats' he welds sheet metal screws to a t-shaped plate, then runs a strap through it.
Made from a 4x4 joist hanger, just ran some small screws through the bottom, one size fits all.
Francis, 'Red Leader' of the chickens, usually jumps right out when I open the door, but she wanted no part of that white stuff.
There's a machine coming around on december 3 (but see updates below) to grind up your logs
Here is what you must do:
1. Gather and stack your material in a location accessible by a large loader.
2. Contact Walker Firewise to get on the list to be picked up. Walkerfirewise@gmail.com or simply reply to this announcement with your name, address, phone number and where your material will be found on your property.
3. No rocks, no dirt, no trash and sorry, no pine needles or leaves, either bagged or loose. Only wood materials such as limbs, logs, branches, etc. This material will eventually be used for bio-mass fuel so it must be pure.
4. If you know of anyone, a neighbor, an acquaintance or a friend who could benefit from this service, please share this announcement with them. We don't want anybody to miss this opportunity!
END WCAA MESSAGE
Not sure what they mean by pure.
Update Dec.1, you have to bring the logs to the fire station, they've been running it this week, pretty gnarly, too bad the weather might be snowy tomorrow. The chips are going to the cement plant in Paulden, to be burned to dry out the limestone.
Update Dec 26, the chipper is broken, Walker's encased in ice, so not much log hauling going on. I had a brilliant idea, I've been collecting plastic mattress bags and covering my firewood, they're super thick, 4 times thicker than the pay-for 4 mil stuff from Wal-Mart.
Why not just cover the slash around my house with it, then after it snows, it'll be dry and I can drag it to a open area and burn it? I have no plastic left and all the slash is wet or I'd probably do it now.
Still be better to drop it off at the FD and be done with it.
The chipper in action on youtube
About the cement plant
Old timers, how many of these people do you recognize? I was there and 2 I don't remember
It's from when we took the kink out of the pink car intersection with Walker road, 1998?
Time's up, from left to right-Jim Folds, Ray Rowe, Dan Pace, Claude Savage, Chet Funk, Bob Currie (tall guy in red shirt with suspenders), ?, Marc Delany, yours truly, Phil Zink, and I think that's Nino, owns the house closest to the pink car.
first aid resources, didn't seem to load anything
A first aid chart (522K)
October 22, 2011, Pig Roast pix
Found a rich vein of flat rocks for the incinerator, see if these are any more fireproof than concrete blocks. Tip: look for black widows and brown recluses, I think they may have large tan butts, anyway, I leave these rocks where they lay, and any other rocks with large insect populations under them, you'd be surprised what's going on under rocks.
Found this by Googling my phone number.
Walker community action alliance
Date and time to be determined:
Walkers second "Chipper Day" in coordination with the Walker Fire Protection Association. Details will be announced and posted as soon as they are available.
I thought this was firm on July 23, but I guess not.
Rummage Sale July 2, 2011
Theresa
She collected a lot of stuff for the rummage sale July 2.
In case you missed it, Yavapai County has a fire ban in place May 6, 2011.
The county ban prohibits open fires. Open fires are defined as those that produce an ash. Other types of outdoor fires banned are those that produce open flames such as lamp oil in tiki lamps.
The ban also prohibits the outdoor use of equipment that generates open flames or a spark.
This would restrict the use of welding equipment and chain saws. Variances for businesses however, can be requested.
The county ban allows cooking on charcoal barbecue grills as long as they are covered, and it will allow the use of store-bought fire pits if they also have screened covers that don't allow sparks to pass through. Propane stoves and lamps are permissible.
Source: Verde Independent, couldn't find the actual law on the county site.All their files are called 'showcontent.aspx' which Firefox has never heard of.
I don't think atv's are banned, every non-diesel internal combustion machine makes a spark.
These are the Prescott National Forest fire restrictions:
* Use of explosives is prohibited.
* Smoking is prohibited, except within an enclosed vehicle or building.
* Possessing, discharging or using any kind of fireworks or other
* Operating a chainsaw or other equipment powered by an internal combustion engine will not be allowed between the hours of 11:00 am to 8:00 pm. During acceptable hours, please have 5-10 ft. clearance around your generators and other internal combustible engines.
* Welding or operating acetylene or other torch with open flame is prohibited.
* Discharging a firearm, air rifle, or gas gun is prohibited.
The use of petroleum-fueled stoves, lanterns or heating devices is allowed, providing such devices meet the fire underwriter's specifications for safety.
The public is reminded that fireworks are always prohibited on all national forest lands. They are also reminded that all of the Prescott National Forest is closed to OHV use except for the two areas that will continue to remain open to OHV use - the Hayfield Draw and Alto Pit OHV areas.
End fire restrictions, an OHV is an 'off highway vehicle' I guess. I don't know if that includes ATV's or not, if so, that law gets broken a lot.
I was reading the fireline handbook, and I realized there's no way to keep fire trucks (or any other vehicles) from driving over our septic tank, this is a possibility, especially on a night fire, have to put some boulders around it.
Nick Wold of 'Ponderosa' fame, had a $25 a month Walker wifi internet table set up at the May 28 board meeting, his email is nwold@freewaynetworks.com, but it's always 'not found' when I go there. He says email him if you're interested.
How to start P-81 pump
at page top, with Leif Pedersen and Roger Nusbaum
Rolling out the hose videos, June 18, 2011
Click on 'all' to see all the videos, in lower right it says '360p', click on that to change it to 480p for more resolution, they're roll_out_hose1 through 7.
I've been doing severity patrol for the Fire Dept. There are a LOT more cabins in Potato Patch than are on the map, crowded together, heavy growth underbrush, narrow roads, not an ideal place to bring large tankers. Also a lot of houses on Misty Mountain loop, they have better defensive space, farther apart. Same with the new houses on Snowdrift mine, not many trees there to begin with it looks like.
May 28, 2011 New Walker Fire Protection Board
Re-elected to the Board were members John Ohanesian and Greg Stava
New members elected to the Board were Vic Hencken and Greg Kozlowski
New Board President will be Bill Loughridge
Vice President will be Mark Keegan
Treasurer will be Greg Kozlowski
Secretary will be Terry Piske
The three Directors will be Vic Hencken, Greg Stava, and John Ohanesian
3 mile circle from Walker
3 mile ellipse from Walker
I don't know if the map got squashed or what, the only parts I know of that has its own fire dept is Groom Creek in the upper left, which actually reaches all the way to the inside edge of the green because Marc Delany pays beaucoup taxes to them every year. Of course the National Forest has its own fire department also.
Hail May 18, 2011
A new one on me, it likes pecking carpet.
Chipper on Firewise May 21.
Aria Arizona map images
Supposed to be Poland Junction satellite/aerial photos, don't have the bandwidth to DL the big ones.
Payson North and other map images
Now I get it, you r-click on the map Payson North is USGS_QD_ID 34111-C3 QUAD_NAME Payson North
Theres' c5, c6, c7 and (full entry) 34111c38_lbrowse.jpg 282 KB 4/25/2008 10:24:16 AM JPEG Image. Which are the 4 quadrants of payson north.Most of the Prescott area is missing though. On the same page would be Verde Hot springs, c6, c7, c8- 34111c66_lbrowse.jpg 263 KB 4/25/2008 10:31:09 AM JPEG Image
The map said '31112/d' for Poland Junction, but there's only e, f, g
When copy/pasted this I got a 'd', but don't know where it is either
http://ariadata.arid.arizona.edu/browse/doqq_2005.asp?path=/nad83/31111/d
It's impossible to register also, the 'captcha' thing only appears in Internet Explorer. Still, they're in color.
King snake (or is it a coral?)
May 7, a practice fire
practice fire pics at bottom of this link
April 26, not that warm of an April. 1 thing I'm not seeing are pine cones, back in the 80's you'd have to wade through them, might be some pine tree cycle. Another thing is the Abert curly-tail tree squirrels are being replaced by small bushy tailed ground squirrels.
April 13,property cleanup link
Mail j latham webmaster@walkerfire.org to get on the community announcements list. There will be a chipper/dumpster service on May 17, it says.
An announcement regarding the site(s) of the Chipper/dumpster service will be verified closer to the date. A licensed, bonded service provider will be used for this purpose. This service is an allowed provision of the grant. There will not be a charge to local residents under the grant provision.
There was a dumpster program back in 2003, these things could fill up in 2 hours. I think burying slash in holes and covering with dirt is also a good idea, labor intensive though, holes are never conveniently located, and dirt is scarce. Also, the large dead trees, many of which are rotten and easy to cut, could be stacked like the Forest service does and burned at at the 1st snow like they do up at Sherwood forest Fire district, also labor intensive.
April 8, snowed 3 inches. A 76-year-old UNNAMED neighbor of mine had some chest pains yesterday and drove himself to the hospital. Luckily for him and the people he didn't collide with on the way from passing out from a heart attack, it wasn't a heart attack. Is this any different from DUI? Oh, right, it's legal. Lifeline ambulance has a $50 a year service, all the trips you want, the signup isn't until September though.
March 31, 2011, high of 77 today. From webmaster@walkerfire.org, J. Latham. There's a guy who will come to your house and assess your defensive space for free. Gary Roysdon of PAWLUIC is in the Walker area actively assessing properties and clearing trees away from structures. This is at no cost to the property owner.
He needs names and addresses of property owners willing to have their properties cleared. He will meet you at your convenience including Saturdays and Sundays.
This might be related to the grant the fire dept. got? his email is groysdon@cableone.net
Fire training pics
I took notes but don't have them matched up to the pics yet.
April 11, 2011, added some.
March 25, 2011, windy and cool spring so far.
A five-mile radius map from the fire station
Board Secretary Terry Piske sent this in, not sure what it means other than the pink people will get served last!
March 12, 2011, took the second Wildland fire class 'Advanced'. Now I'm an FF1, WFPA paid my tuition, but I had to run to the "Supply Cache" and buy the book in order to pass. The firemen bureaucracy love acronyms, I remember 2, LCES. lookout, communications, escape, safety zone, IRPG is , uh,..the last one is 'Guide', it's the little book, it has everything you need to know to fight a fire and is small enough to carry with you. They actually are very well organized, if you've ever had a bad burn you don't want to repeat the experience.
I met Gene, from Sherwood Forest fire district near Williams, they're all volunteer, 12 people, at 57, he's the youngest. Only 3 passed the pack test as you might imagine. He also took the structure fire training, it's a week in Phoenix. They pile up their dead trees in stacks like the Forest service and burn them at 1st snow,HINT HINT...
They also have that white 1947 jeep we used to have, they're making it a parade vehicle.
Weather.gov
Type in 'Prescott, az', then click on the map to get Walker-specific forecast
March 5, 2 011, nice weather for a week, maybe no more snow?
March 5, 2011, WFPA pack test, you have to walk 3 miles with a 45 lb pack in 45 minutes. This qualifies you to do 'out of Walker' fires, like controlled burns.
13 of 15 qualified, I'm very sore. If actual firefighting was like that I'd pass. Usually it's only the 1st 10 minutes you have any weight, once the hose is unrolled all you have is a shovel.
February 27, 2011, snowed about 8 inches, but will hit the 50's by the 1st.
February 20, 2011, snowed about a foot, but hit 51 degrees on the 23rd.
February 2, 2011, it was 5 degrees this A.M., high was 16, colder tonight. Lots of wind, no snow.
The many forms of frozen water, pt.1
big map of the above (684k)
This is the Wcaa's idea of what a Fire District should look like, only the green dot people are included. See below for my comments.
I tracked them to their lair, wonder what their game status is, look like rodents (no license) to me.
House near Pink Car, these guys should be on 'megabuilders', they don't mess around. I first noticed this about 6 months ago, from 1000 yds away and above it looks like it's floating.
January 17, 3 days of 65 degrees, snow all but gone.
Apparently the WFPA got a grant for 'defensive space' from 'Firewise', someone (nobody local, of course) comes in and chops down the trees around your house. How do they decide who gets this free service? Can I get reimbursed, I did mine 6 years ago, took me 6 months.(sniff)
In case you missed it, January, 2011-
Proposed Articles of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation of the Walker Fire Protection Association
ARTICLE 1 No changes ARTICLE 2 No changes ARTICLE 3 The principle place of business of the corporation shall be in Walker, Arizona. ARTICLE 4 The corporation is organized not for profit, and the objects, purposes and powers of the corporation, and the general nature of the business it proposes to transact and in which it may be engaged are: section (a) To form and operate a volunteer community organization to take advantage of benefits under the Clarke-McNary Bill, to cooperate with other agencies in providing fire protection, reducing fire hazard, and providing medical response in Walker, Arizona and in the surrounding area, and such incidental objects as are appropriate in the conduct of its activities, for the use of its members, and others, as may be approved by the Board of Directors of the Corporation. sections (b), (c), (d), and (e) No changes ARTICLE 5 The corporation shall have no capital stock and shall not engage in business for profit, but shall be supported by gifts, bequests, benefits, contributions, fees, and dues paid by members, by any monetary payments presented by other fire response groups, either private or governmental, through mutual aid or joint assistance, or through grants, either private or public in nature. Membership in the corporation shall be exclusive to all property owners whose property is located within a four mile radius of Fire Station number 1, located at 5881 South Walker Road, (Walker, AZ), excluding any parcels protected by any other recognized fire protection entity. ARTICLE 6 No changes ARTICLE 7 Last paragraph Eliminate first sentence due to redundancy. Then-- The Officers and the Board of Directors shall have the power to adopt, amend, or repeal by a 2/3 majority vote, the By-Laws and/or Articles of Incorporation of the Walker Fire Protection Association, provided said changes have been previously approved by a 2/3 majority of the members of the community, as qualified in article 5 above, who attended a posted, public meeting staged to address stated changes. ARTICLE 8 No changes ARTICLE 9 No changes ARTICLE 10 The Board of Directors may at any time appoint a statutory agent as may be required in Arizona, or in any other states in which the corporation may qualify to do business, and revoke such appointments, in accordance with the laws of the state wherein such agent is appointed. ARTICLE 11 In the event of the voluntary or involuntary dissolution of this corporation, or the merging with any other fire protection entity, or the divestment of assets through sales, barter, loan, trade, gift, or any other means, or in the event it shall cease to carry out the objects and purposes herein set forth, all the business property and assets of the corporation shall go and be distributed to such non-profit charitable corporation, municipal corporation, or corporations as may be selected by 2/3 of the Board of Directors of this corporation, therefore and thereafter, ratified by 2/3 of the members of the community, qualified in article 5 above, who attend and vote, at a posted, public meeting staged to address stated changes, so that the business, property, and assets of the corporation shall in that event be used for, and devoted to, the general purposes of this corporation. In no event shall any said assets or property, in the event of the dissolution of this corporation, go or be distributed to members, either for the reimbursement of any sums subscribed, donated, or contributed by such members, or for any other such purpose. It being the intent that in the event of the dissolution of this corporation, or upon its ceasing to carry out the objects and purposes herein set forth, the property and assets then owned by the corporation shall be devoted to the carrying on of the function and purposes of this corporation as the members shall determine and direct by a 2/3 majority vote taken at a properly posted, public meeting held to address this status change.
Here's the original
Wfpa incorporation doc
38K
It's sad the community is split on the fire district question.
The proposed district is 41 percent vacant land, you can't insure it, why would anyone tax themselves to protect dirt, trees, and rocks from fire?
3If none of the vacant land owners are in favor, 83 percent of the owners with buildings would have to approve a district to get to 51 percent, if my math is right.
Gerrymandering a 'checkerboard' district (only the people who want one are included) isn't going to work. I can just see firefighters studying a map to determine 'is this burning house in or out of the district'?
'Oops, never mind'
That's assuming the State would approve such a district, which would be an administrative/legal nightmare.
We're stuck with what we have. On the bright side, it sure would be handy to have access to firefighting equipment if the joint starts burning up!
Dec15-22, big rains, snow on Dec 22, and 14 inches on Dec. 29.
'An increase in global temperatures will lead to an intensification of the hydrological cycle. This is because an increase in surface air temperature causes an increase in evaporation and generally higher levels of water vapor in the atmosphere.'
Global Warming
The Sun is causing global warming ,27MB youtube video
Well, DUH!
The sun's magnetic activity makes the earth warmer
'Svensmark is right on. There is a long historical correlation between changes in solar activity and global temperatures. There is no connection in geological history between atmospheric CO2 levels and global temperatures. There were at least three ice ages with more CO2 than today,one had ten times more, one five times more. The? hoaxers want any new discoveries stopped. We live in a laboratory,expect colder temperatures next few decades as solar activity remains low/ ocean surface temps cool'
Bottom line: 8 feet last year , and 1.2 feet this year so far.
Turkey tracks
Nov. 6 2010, finally froze, latest in the 27 years I've been here.
November 2010, 3 different people have seen a golden eagle (including me) 1 of them said he saw 3, Momma and 2 babies?. Now that my sister has a chicken yard open to the sky, we might be getting all sorts of visitors. |P
Political statement or some rubble?
Oct. 2-6, 2010, tons of driving rain
Had a chat with Glenn Heithold. He thinks it would be good if the fire department had a paid chief who was a paramedic and knew how to do the administrative paperwork to get grants from the government. Right now the nearest EMT's are at Hwy 69 and Lee Blvd, 4 miles away. They will probably not quickly find the house they're looking for. He said we're already paying taxes for firefighters/emt's who sit around doing nothing 90 percent of the time, except those guys will never come to Walker.
All volunteer is a nice ideal, but it's not working for this community. I'd be interested in firefighting if I was paid, even $8 an hour, and had a legitimate professional running things.
Update September 2010- I have all the addresses, they load into Delorme Street Maps 2003. My address, and 2 others, don't appear because the F.S. put up a 'DEAD END' sign (liars!) so the Sheriff's posse turned around.
They're on the jpg now
3 MB version of Walker Addresses
Delorme GIS file, drag it onto Street Maps if you have it. (56K)
Below are some closeups of the map with house numbers I made a few years back, I'll finish it someday. I know the county changed some numbers on Morning Star, but the ones in the map should be close to the new ones.
Is this mold or a political statement?
September 2010, no rain for weeks. I just noticed a 'mine remediation' announcement dated Jan. 2010, on the 1st bulletin board at Big Bug turnoff, put up by the Forest Service, some sites are in Heavenly Heights and others by the Arizona Victory Mine, which is near Boundary Springs Rd. on the way to Potato Patch. The PDF's are here,
Abandoned mines remediation project
There are 2 PDF's 'abandoned_mines_remediation_scoping_letter,Abandoned_mine_remediation_maps.'
Heavenly_Heights
az_victory
There are also some sites by Amulet and Bannie mines. This may be of interest to people who live on or near these sites.
August 2010, plenty of rain, even saw a few mushrooms popping up.
Wild Turkey
Bing map of Walker
Dan Pace's on the upper left
http://bing.com/maps They're blurry, but they have all the roads labeled, however, they don't go where the map shows them going. You'll have to download some stuff beforehand, they'll try to make msn.com your home page, etc, have to really study what you're clicking on. I only run Microsoft stuff in Internet Explorer, don't want to pollute Firefox with it.
Lion attacks June 9 2010
I found this fairly fresh dead deer covered in leaves.
I read mountain lions cover their kills with leaves, etc. There was a guy attacked not far from here last week, and a young lion was sighted a few hundred yards from here. I'm arming myself with a machete. If confronted, yell and wave your arms at it. (pretend it's your spouse).
Quote from 'Mountain Lions of Texas'- If you are in a park or other area where lions are known to be present, hike with others, not alone. If small children are present, keep them close to you and within sight at all times. Carry a sturdy walking stick, it can be used to ward off a lion. 2. DO NOT APPROACH A LION, especially one that is feeding or has cubs. Leave the lion an avenue of escape. 3. STAY CALM, when you encounter a lion. Talk calmly and move slowly. 4. STOP, back away slowly only if you can do so safely. DO NOT RUN AWAY OR TURN YOUR BACK. 5. DO ALL YOU CAN TO APPEAR LARGER by raising your arms. Pick up children to prevent them from running and possibly triggering an attack. 6. IF THE LION IS AGGRESSIVE, throw rocks, sticks or whatever you can get your hands on easily. Wave your arms, brandish a stick, speak firmly and loudly. DO NOT BEND OVER OR TURN YOUR BACK. 7. FIGHT BACK, if a lion attacks you. Lions can be driven off by fighting back with whatever you can get your hands on. Remain standing. If the lion knocks you down, try to get back on your feet.
IF YOU LIVE IN AN AREA KNOWN TO BE INHABITED BY LIONS, THERE ARE SEVERAL PRECAUTIONS YOU CAN TAKE. THESE PREVENTIVE ACTIONS WILL HELP YOU AVOID A POSSIBLE LION ATTACK: 1. Install outdoor lighting in areas where you walk after dark so you can see a lion, if present. 2. Landscape or remove any vegetation a lion could hide in around children�s play areas. Make it difficult for a lion to approach unseen. 3. DO NOT FEED WILDLIFE and do not plant palatable shrubs since this will also attract deer. Remember, predators follow prey. 4. Keep pets under control. Roaming pets are easy prey and can attract lions. If you leave pets outside, confine them to kennels with tops. Store all garbage securely. 5. Children should be closely supervised while playing outside if lions have been seen in the area
Copied from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3AcNg0B4oehkUJ%3Awww.tpwmagazine.com%2Fnature%2Fmedia%2FMountain-lion-guide.pdf+coyotes+lions+cover+kills+in+leaves&hl=en&gl=us A field guide to Texas Mountain Lions, by Billy Pat Mckinney
Snow Damage in Potato Patch
Another roof collapse, this one in Walker
A local resident measured 8 feet of snowfall at his place this Winter.
Update June 2010, 3 of the 5 'reform' candidates were elected to the board, John Horvat, Bill Loughridge, Terry Piske. The other ones were Paul Nies and Mark Keegan, who had favorable reviews from 'someone who goes to the meetings.' The fire chief hiring fell through, I heard.
Verda Mae and John Horvat, who's the new board President
Update April 2010, dmherrin-at-gmail.com writes about the April Walker Fire Department's hiring of a new Fire Cheif:
We had several candidates come forward, including several who were offered salaries for their participation and at least one who VOLUNTEERED for the position. This volunteer has been a member of the Walker Fire Department for many years and has held multiple positions, including Assistant Chief. His schooling in fire management is at least equal to the present Chief. He did not have her medical qualifications, but with other volunteers in our community who do, he would not need to have them. This committee, after interviewing the candidates, chose an out-of-town person for the position, and offered him a salary of $45,000, based upon $20 per hour, to come to work for Walker on a 60% time basis.(I'm not sure how their figures actually added up) Add Work Comp, Taxes, and matching withholding, and that would commit about 40% of our available funds we have donated to actually run the department.
End Mark Herrin quote
Also Tim and Kristi McFarland, tkmcfarlan-at-wildblue.net,- Tim's President of the Fire Department -on the Fire District Survey-Overall, one can only conclude that going forward with the District in its current form would result in another failed attempt to achieve over 50% of the needed votes for the District to pass.
On the other hand, the data suggests there is an opportunity to redefine the District boundary to a smaller size that would leverage the yes votes in a manner that would allow a District to pass.
End Tim McFarland QUOTE
Write these people if you want more details. For the record, it's a great idea to pay people to train and fight fires.
Oh, they're only paying the Chief?
In that case, I suggest Walker residents build an incinerator- for pine needles and slash- out of 2nd hand concrete blocks from Yavapai Block, get fire block if possible, otherwise you have to keep the blocks wet during burning. Cover it with old roofing steel, I'll donate a few sheets. No you don't need a burn permit, it's inside a building, but note the wet blocks requirement. Phone 778-7363. My other strategy is throwing them in a hole and putting dirt on top of that.
Update March 2010, the drought is over! I think we had 6 feet of snow this winter, 2nd most in history. Flagstaff, 75 miles away, got 11.5 feet.
Update May 2010, drought is back, high winds have dried out the forest.
Ice Storm December 8, 2009
This tree had grown into 2 parts at about 15 feet, why it snapped off I guess, damaged a wood box
You can tell Angela loved every minute of it
These 2 broke off at 20 feet
And hit this powerline
About 8 fell on Falks, amazingly only this one hit anything expensive. They are at the end of a long narrow gulch that goes way up the mountain, must have been a funnel effect.
As soon as Shelley and I buried our food the power came back on
Props to Bud Mellor and Dan Pace who cleared some roads, and Dave Pollock who told me an easy way to put on chains, jack up the wheels with a hydraulic jack. I carry one in the Toyota, it's the only way to change a tire. I can see why people slept 10 hours a night before electricity, it's dark. The only 'must-have' electricity we needed was power to the heat tape in the pump house, I had a 12-volt battery and inverter that lasted a few hours. I want to get a solar battery charger, they're about $25 I think. One of those bicycle pedal generators, too. Or a 12-volt/solar powered heat tape, and some Yak Trax, you put them on your boots for traction on ice.
Walker real-time weather station, thanks, Nick!
Remember when Walker had a Fire Department? This article got me all misty-eyed...
$100 valuation, however, the average rate for all Arizona Fire districts is $2.22, which would be $500 per year-
http://terrymorgan.net/fire_districts_az.html
Fire District Commitee's estimateThe Walkerfdcc.org says it would only be $129, at .059 rate, this would be the 3rd lowest in the state, AS IF! Unless I'm comparing apples to oranges, not really a bean counter, they probably hope you aren't either.
I ran all this by Howard Norman, here's his take:
"That proposed fire district tax rate is 0.59 per $100 of valuation. Still gives you $129 on your place. As I understand it that rate was calculated by taking the amount raised for WFDA last year and spreading it over the proposed tax base. I may have that wrong but that is what I understood. That would provide the same income that WFDA has now. The trouble with using that number is that it is not sustainable. You gain the ability to sign mutual aid agreements with Prescott but that is about all. I have analyzed the tax rates of the nineteen fire districts in Yavapai County. By adding the bond service costs to the stated tax rates you get the effective tax rate to a home owner/landowner. The median of that numbers is $1.97/100 valuation. That translates into $430 for your place if I did the math correct. In my opinion the median tax rate is a much more realistic number to use for any proposed Walker tax rate than any other number you can come up with. The other thing that comes out of my analysis is that there are 2/19 YCFD with tax rates of $3.25 which is the max allowed by state law. As well there are 2/19 with a tax rate <$1. In other words from a statistical stand point you have the same probability of have the max tax rate as you do of having one less than a dollar."
At the highest maximum of 3.25 it would be $650 per year for me. I don't think the Fire District would lower my fire danger. What lowered my fire danger was cutting down 20 trees around my house and building an incinerator to burn pine needles. The Fire District idea looks like some paper shuffling deal involving homeowners' insurance, which I don't have anyway. I favor selling all the WFD assets to a private entity, who could then sell subscriptions by the year, just like homeowners' insurance. Downside is you couldn't know from year to year what your budget would be. Upside, the fire protection would be non-governmental and (presumably) professional. I could have used a cherry picker to cut those trees safely instead of climbing a ladder with an electric chain saw and no ambulance driver.
Now a ROAD District, that I'd be interested in.
Walker Community Blog
Bill Loughridge's Walker blog, it has all you could ask for re District, Fire Department, Insurance ISO ratings, etc. Hey, my post got deleted!
Looking south
Old Walker Mines
Walker Mining district.txt
Contains link to original PDF, apparently they got a lot of lead out of the ground. Map with Sheldon, Mudhole and Amulet mines in pink boxes (573K)
May 2009
I made about 15 of these around the pines to catch water.
Google has updated its maps
Here's a photo from June 2008, Google's looks like 2003 or 2004 when there were many dead trees with the needles still on them. If you cruise around, you'll see that there are TOO MANY PEOPLE! Also the google
3d view is flattened, real Walker is steeper.
June, 2007
Walker
Here's one I made using the Sheriff's Posse GPS file, you can see it yourself with easy_gps, download the gpx files here
The one with all the roads is 'Walker_all_rds.gpx'.
Update September 2010. Below is a Google earth file you can load in Google Earth, it doesn't have the addresses, just a bunch of numbers, I don't remember how I got the addresses out of it.
(56K) Google Earth walker roads
It has a bunch of numbers on it, where they took GPS readings, when you look at it in Easy GPS. They didn't get
North star mine road because the Forest Service put up a 'Dead End' sign about 500 yards before the road ended,
and the Posse believed it. Just another of the FS's little tricks. Also, Morning Star connects with it, not updated yet. Below is a flash movie, you can right-click and zoom in and pan,
it has some of the street addresses, although I heard the county has changed some.
You can also load it into Google Earth by going /file/open:
walker_all_rds.gpx
to
get rid
of the pushpins and numbers uncheck 'waypoints' in the
topografix.kml
Here's the one Dwight G. Bennett made in 1956. Download a big one here (573K)
Walker fly-around
With this program (walker.zip) you can fly around Walker and environs. It uses the Ogre engine, see ogre3d.org for details, (Included in Walker.zip) You'll need free 7-zip, get it here. Or see below for the built-in Windows XP unzipper.
Download Walker.zip (6.4 MB) right-click and 'save file as' Mirrored here7-zip instructions:
Right-click on 'my computer' go 'explore', go '/file/new folder'
Here I've made a folder on C: called 'walker'
If you're using 7-zip, you can navigate to where you 'save file as' walker.zip, in the exampe, it's d:\grafprog\terrain\walker,make sure you hit CTRL-A (select all) in 7-zip,
all the files will turn blue.
Then you can 'EXTRACT' (see the pink box?) to c:\walker.
or if you have Windows XP, there's an unzipper built-in. Make sure that 'use folder names' is checked when you hit the 'extract' button for the Windows XP unzipper and Direct X 8, get that at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.asp The latest is Direct X 9, that will work, too.(also included with Windows XP). You might just try running it and see if it works without DL'ing Direct X, many newer machines have Direct X 8 already. Click on Walker.exe in the C:/Walker directory.
Update September 21, 2007-The Walker.zip link works now!
Walker.exe keys
W, forwardS, backward
A, left
D, right, mouse moves , and looks, escape (ESC) exits.
Knapp Gulch
Update January 29, 2005: replaced the textures with non-blurry ones. When the demo starts, you'll find yourself deep underground, (maybe in a mine?). Press 'w' and point your mouse up 'til you are above ground, it'll be near Smith Ravine, head for the middle.
Click Here to download a 325K topo map of the area the demo covers.
Looking Southwest.
View looking south from Spruce Mtn.
Looking North from Big Bug road.
.
Comparison of reality and virtual reality looking from Big Bug Road to Spruce Mountain.
Here's a couple from the new Ogre, the satellite map is way off, but you can get some idea of where stuff is.
Optional: below is terrain.cfg, in C:\walker ,open it up in
Wordpad or Notepad and change walkertex5.jpg to walkertex4.jpg to see
Walker without
the map lines.
WorldTexture=walkertex5.jpg
#DetailTexture=terrain_detail.jpg
#number of times the detail texture will tile in a terrain tile
DetailTile=3
Terrain=walkerelev.png
TileSize=17
MaxPixelError=5
ScaleX=1
ScaleY=.15
ScaleZ=1
MaxMipMapLevel=5
#VertexNormals=yes
#VertexColors=yes
Here's a small version of the 'walkphotos.jpg', large is 1600x1400,
get it here
Here's another one, it's in color
There's a service called http://earth.google.com,
Download a 10MB program, see the earth in color satellite, here's one
of Walker from the Mount Union area
Give it time to load if your connection is slow.
satellitesmall.jpgsatellitesmall.jpgsatellitesmall.jpg
(6MB) , new August 2005:
walkernewcolor.jpg (6.5MB), (3100x2600). Red dot at center right is fire station, pink writing at center is 100 mailboxes, pink writing at upper right is turnoff to Big bug. You can see your house if you know where to look, someday I'll upload the 23MB one, it's pretty amazing. About 45 minutes at 26,400.
(Old Satellite maps)Large Walker Satellite Map -(5MB) 2600x2600, takes about 30 min at 26,400.Small Walker Satellite Map- (1.2MB) 1300x1300.
Walker Fire District Map-now you can see what shape your neighbor's property is. I was surprised to see all that subdividing between Walker and Potato Patch, someone's been busy.
wfdlarge.jpg (3.3MB) 5000x5300
wfdsmall.jpg (1.0MB) 1200x1300
Here's Groom Creek (left) and Poland Junction (right) topo maps with 3d mountains from
3dem. Get the large version (groom_poland_topo.jpg) here 2.3MB
Here's Groom Creek in 3ds Max 3.1
This is a shot from Worldwind
kind of like Google Earth, except it actually works on a dial-up connection of 26,400 if you're patient.
You can download many more maps if you have fast internet. If you want to see Walker, copy this text:
worldwind://goto/world=Earth&lat=34.27000&lon=-112.23000&alt=10000
And then in Worldwind, go /file/paste coordinates, then click on the
Icon at the top of the screen, it will load the map after a few minutes. Mouse buttons/move, w, s, a, d tilts, Numeric keypad 7 zooms in , Numpad 1 zooms out. Really
too blurry to see much.
The 2 white spots under the white cross are the Sheldon mine hill and the Sheldon mine dump, Lynx Lake is at very
top left.
Here's the Grand Canyon:
worldwind://goto/world=Earth&lat=35.78000&lon=-113.46000&alt=10000
