California Fire Evacs & an "adventure" that could have gone horribly wrong!

[Soldier Girl]

Hey Everyone!

Most of y'all know that I've flying this rig by the seat of my pants for the last 21 months of fulltiming & that I couldn't survive out here on my own without all of your fantastic help!

By now, most of y'all know that I always seem to have quite an "adventure" ( my euphemism for generally screwing something up & do things the hard way, lol!). & y'all always go about finding ways to get me outta trouble, keep me running & continuing my fulltime journey. What follows is another episode in the never ending "adventures" I manage to get myself into.

Some of you know I came out to the West Coast to work my next camp hosting position & visit family earlier this year, jus before Covid hit. Like many others, I got stuck in the California Shutdown. My new camphosting was suddenly put on hold & later the park cancelled the rest of this year's positions.

Other hosting jobs I had arranged for the late summer & fall also dried up at least temporarily. But I managed to get extensions from the military bases in the area for a reasonably priced (by California standards) place to stay on my tight budget during the lockdown, so things worked out...

During that time y'all helped me swap out all my batteries & fix a slide-out that developed a "short to ground". It was a bit boring without my camp hosting work (which I love to do), I especially missed meeting new people along the way; & both Radar (the service dog) & I, gained a good 20 lbs while stuck inside the confines of my tin can (I never realized how small it is in here until the military asked the famcamp residents not to leave their rigs except to walk their dogs or empty trash!)...

As things started to ease up, restrictions-wise, I started re-applying to area Natl Parks, Forests, & Corps. But I quickly found out that all the new rv'ers who've hit the road had the same idea & the parks that used to beg for camp hosts suddenly put me on waiting lists!

Unsuccessful in finding a new camphost position in time for the end of my final famcamp extension, I had to find an alternative place to land - in a hopefully inexpensive civilian camp - where I could wait out my required 30 days outside the military famcamp system that I was camped at (most posts or bases, allow between 90 & 120 days at the famcamp & then you havta leave for anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months before returning to that particular famcamp).

So, I managed to find a place in the California foothills, that was much more expensive than the military, but I tightened my belt (which I was in need of!) & moseyed up the road to the Northern California hill country where I planned to continue my camphost search.

You've figured out what came next, right??? Fires, fires, & more fires. Radar & I have become smoked sardines inside this tin can w/so many ways for the heavy smoke to seep thru the cracks! We were adapting, improvising, & overcoming in our new sitrep (& we found a way to enjoy the adventure, per usual, lol!). But then we had a unscheduled power outtage one morning (as opposed to all the scheduled ones that have been happening in the area).

I woke up to smoke & no air conditioning & rising temperatures, so I went to start my genset, without a worry to my name. No light blinked on as I tried to prime my genie, despite the rest of my control panel having enough little lights glowing to light up a small Christmas tree.

That sort of spooked me. I didn't want to sit in the smoke & heat & make myself ill. So then I figured, "I'll jus drive down out of the hills & hang out on one of the roads near Sacramento that had become a haven for rv'ers w/no place to go or no money to get there (nobody would notice one more rv - granted, nearly brand new - among so many...)".

But when I went to raise my jacks, all the electronic lights on the panel for the leveling jacks started flashing on & off, mocking me - worse - my jacks refused to retract an inch! Now I had a real safety issue to worry about. I was officially spooked & not having as much fun as I usually do when an "adventure" suddenly happens...

All around my area people are being forced to evacuate, some have already had to leave their rigs & were rescued by the Army Natl Guard this past week, & some still are being rescued - & their rigs are, or were, presumably in working order - the fires have jus been moving too unpredictably & too quickly for some of them to get out safely.

Mine was effectively dead! The idea of losing my rig that I have to basically make what amounts to a small mortgage payment on each month (no, I couldn't buy used - long story - some other time), had me close to tears, & I didn't have the luxury of time to turn to all my favorite guys here on the forum to save my bacon once again...!!!

I have a toad & so I of course put my go bag, my edc, & some of my "tools", that California doesn't seem to appreciate, inside the trunk ready to go at a moments notice in case we got the order to evac. The order didn't come for two straight days & the power eventually was restored to the campground.

So, I started making calls, trying to find out who could fix my issues in the middle of nowhere, & whether what's left of some of my individual warranties might cover the costs. No, I haven't been able to obtain an extended warranty, though I haven't given up on that front. Warranties still good? Yes! I still had some months left for both systems - but I had to be able to drive to their service centers - not happening...

My brother in law, who I've mentioned before, is a tech genius & an Air Force Veteran fighter jet mechanic, drove out here to take a look. He called LCI1, who had tech support available for my jacks. During the call they assured him that my jacks had had a catastrophic failure & that my remaining warranty would Not cover their replacement.

He poked around near the cylinder & motor for awhile & then told them one of the ground cables was loose to a "100 amp breaker" (I have a 30 amp rig, & I'm tech phobic, as y'all well know, so I still have no idea how I can have a 100 amp breaker to anything, lol!). They said it wouldn't make a difference. He tightened up the cable, flipped the breaker back on & lo & behold - not only were my jacks back online - but so was my bloody genset!!!

Soooooo, all that long story was to let y'all know that once again, I found myself in the middle of an "adventure", but this time I sadly didn't have the time to reach out to all my favorite guys on the forum (my humblest apologies!).

Thankfully, God still seems to watch out for fools & children (you pick which, lol!), & sent me a guardian angel in the form of my long suffering brother in law who has the patience of Job with me...

Speed that all up to this evening & I'm still packed up ready to go at a moment's notice, keeping an eye on fire apps & making sure my noaa radio has good back up batteries. But if that alert happens tonight, I'm content knowing that I'm as prepared as I can be this time & I jus may have the time to bring my rig & my toad with me now that it is once again in working order!

Don't worry guys, I'm sure it won't be long till I find myself enjoying a new "adventure" & will be sorely in need of your fantastic help!

I hope that anyone else who is out here in Northern California during all this mess has their rigs squared away, their emergency communications straack, & most of all - I hope y'all stay safe & enjoy what seems to be the year when anything can & will happen. Fires, riots, multiple fly by Earth meteors, earthquakes, outrageous heat waves, pandemics, lions & tigers, & bears, oh my - it's 2020 - y'all might as well jus enjoy the ride (what choice do you have?)...

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by Soldier Girl

Hey Everyone!

Most of y'all know that I've flying this rig by the seat of my pants for the last 21 months of fulltiming & that I couldn't survive out here on my own without all of your fantastic help!

By now, most of y'all know that I always seem to have quite an "adventure" ( my euphemism for generally screwing something up & do things the hard way, lol!). & y'all always go about finding ways to get me outta trouble, keep me running & continuing my fulltime journey. What follows is another episode in the never ending "adventures" I manage to get myself into.

Some of you know I came out to the West Coast to work my next camp hosting position & visit family earlier this year, jus before Covid hit. Like many others, I got stuck in the California Shutdown. My new camphosting was suddenly put on hold & later the park cancelled the rest of this year's positions.

Other hosting jobs I had arranged for the late summer & fall also dried up at least temporarily. But I managed to get extensions from the military bases in the area for a reasonably priced (by California standards) place to stay on my tight budget during the lockdown, so things worked out...

During that time y'all helped me swap out all my batteries & fix a slide-out that developed a "short to ground". It was a bit boring without my camp hosting work (which I love to do), I especially missed meeting new people along the way; & both Radar (the service dog) & I, gained a good 20 lbs while stuck inside the confines of my tin can (I never realized how small it is in here until the military asked the famcamp residents not to leave their rigs except to walk their dogs or empty trash!)...

As things started to ease up, restrictions-wise, I started re-applying to area Natl Parks, Forests, & Corps. But I quickly found out that all the new rv'ers who've hit the road had the same idea & the parks that used to beg for camp hosts suddenly put me on waiting lists!

Unsuccessful in finding a new camphost position in time for the end of my final famcamp extension, I had to find an alternative place to land - in a hopefully inexpensive civilian camp - where I could wait out my required 30 days outside the military famcamp system that I was camped at (most posts or bases, allow between 90 & 120 days at the famcamp & then you havta leave for anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months before returning to that particular famcamp).

So, I managed to find a place in the California foothills, that was much more expensive than the military, but I tightened my belt (which I was in need of!) & moseyed up the road to the Northern California hill country where I planned to continue my camphost search.

You've figured out what came next, right??? Fires, fires, & more fires. Radar & I have become smoked sardines inside this tin can w/so many ways for the heavy smoke to seep thru the cracks! We were adapting, improvising, & overcoming in our new sitrep (& we found a way to enjoy the adventure, per usual, lol!). But then we had a unscheduled power outtage one morning (as opposed to all the scheduled ones that have been happening in the area).

I woke up to smoke & no air conditioning & rising temperatures, so I went to start my genset, without a worry to my name. No light blinked on as I tried to prime my genie, despite the rest of my control panel having enough little lights glowing to light up a small Christmas tree.

That sort of spooked me. I didn't want to sit in the smoke & heat & make myself ill. So then I figured, "I'll jus drive down out of the hills & hang out on one of the roads near Sacramento that had become a haven for rv'ers w/no place to go or no money to get there (nobody would notice one more rv - granted, nearly brand new - among so many...)".

But when I went to raise my jacks, all the electronic lights on the panel for the leveling jacks started flashing on & off, mocking me - worse - my jacks refused to retract an inch! Now I had a real safety issue to worry about. I was officially spooked & not having as much fun as I usually do when an "adventure" suddenly happens...

All around my area people are being forced to evacuate, some have already had to leave their rigs & were rescued by the Army Natl Guard this past week, & some still are being rescued - & their rigs are, or were, presumably in working order - the fires have jus been moving too unpredictably & too quickly for some of them to get out safely.

Mine was effectively dead! The idea of losing my rig that I have to basically make what amounts to a small mortgage payment on each month (no, I couldn't buy used - long story - some other time), had me close to tears, & I didn't have the luxury of time to turn to all my favorite guys here on the forum to save my bacon once again...!!!

I have a toad & so I of course put my go bag, my edc, & some of my "tools", that California doesn't seem to appreciate, inside the trunk ready to go at a moments notice in case we got the order to evac. The order didn't come for two straight days & the power eventually was restored to the campground.

So, I started making calls, trying to find out who could fix my issues in the middle of nowhere, & whether what's left of some of my individual warranties might cover the costs. No, I haven't been able to obtain an extended warranty, though I haven't given up on that front. Warranties still good? Yes! I still had some months left for both systems - but I had to be able to drive to their service centers - not happening...

My brother in law, who I've mentioned before, is a tech genius & an Air Force Veteran fighter jet mechanic, drove out here to take a look. He called LCI1, who had tech support available for my jacks. During the call they assured him that my jacks had had a catastrophic failure & that my remaining warranty would Not cover their replacement.

He poked around near the cylinder & motor for awhile & then told them one of the ground cables was loose to a "100 amp breaker" (I have a 30 amp rig, & I'm tech phobic, as y'all well know, so I still have no idea how I can have a 100 amp breaker to anything, lol!). They said it wouldn't make a difference. He tightened up the cable, flipped the breaker back on & lo & behold - not only were my jacks back online - but so was my bloody genset!!!

Soooooo, all that long story was to let y'all know that once again, I found myself in the middle of an "adventure", but this time I sadly didn't have the time to reach out to all my favorite guys on the forum (my humblest apologies!).

Thankfully, God still seems to watch out for fools & children (you pick which, lol!), & sent me a guardian angel in the form of my long suffering brother in law who has the patience of Job with me...

Speed that all up to this evening & I'm still packed up ready to go at a moment's notice, keeping an eye on fire apps & making sure my noaa radio has good back up batteries. But if that alert happens tonight, I'm content knowing that I'm as prepared as I can be this time & I jus may have the time to bring my rig & my toad with me now that it is once again in working order!

Don't worry guys, I'm sure it won't be long till I find myself enjoying a new "adventure" & will be sorely in need of your fantastic help!

I hope that anyone else who is out here in Northern California during all this mess has their rigs squared away, their emergency communications straack, & most of all - I hope y'all stay safe & enjoy what seems to be the year when anything can & will happen. Fires, riots, multiple fly by Earth meteors, earthquakes, outrageous heat waves, pandemics, lions & tigers, & bears, oh my - it's 2020 - y'all might as well jus enjoy the ride (what choice do you have?)...Attachment 26061Attachment 26062Attachment 26063

Yikes! Amazing adventure. But I truly admire your attitude through it all. You’re doing great and making the best of it all. Godspeed.

[ducksface]

This isn't exactly an app and it doesn't appear to be a website in the traditional sense.
But
It has to the minute information on fires nationwide. Look up the name in the logo.
We live in/on the edge of a national forest and a high plains convergence.
It's used by us often.

[Soldier Girl]

Thx Pete!

Originally Posted by Pete'sMH

Yikes! Amazing adventure. But I truly admire your attitude through it all. You’re doing great and making the best of it all. Godspeed.

[Soldier Girl]

Thanks. I'll check it out. I generally use www.ucanr.edu. It's a pretty amazing up to the minute (mostly) site that uses satellite heat signatures, croud sourcing for sudden changes, noaa wind speed & direction, links to evac notices & routes, AQI by address, power outtages, both scheduled & unscheduled, fire perimeters, percentages consumed or contained - u get the idea... But I like to build in redundancies when it comes to emergency preps, so I will definitely check out the site! Thx again Duckface

Originally Posted by ducksface

This isn't exactly an app and it doesn't appear to be a website in the traditional sense.
But
It has to the minute information on fires nationwide. Look up the name in the logo.
We live in/on the edge of a national forest and a high plains convergence.
It's used by us often.

[taylorbob1]

We’re scheduled to go to Pismo at the end of the month
It’s been closed since March due to Virus.
I guess that the strong oceans winds at Pismo Beach aren’t enough to keep away the virus...so says our CA Dictator, oops...I mean Governor.

Then there’s the fires.
And the power outages.
CA is behaving like a 3rd world country.

At our home we’ve now had 8 power outages of 1 to 24hrs or more in the past 9 months. Never experienced anything like it.
(But the weather is great!).

I’m now shopping the home stand-by generator market. Generac & Cummins 20kw units. Abt $6k installed.
Because when we leave our home for a couple of weeks in our RV we want to be confident that our freezers will be frozen when we return.

[Soldier Girl]

I can understand that. I was born in L.A. to a military family & spent my childhood in the old freedom loving CA (or maybe that's jus how I remember some of my wanna-be hippie older siblings in comparison to my Navy brother & father & uncles, lol!) & I also lived on a MN working family farm (meaning Every family member old enough to walk had to work & teamwork as an efficiency tool was highly rated). My time was split pretty evenly between the two. I went away to the Army as a teenager & didn't return to CA until my own kids were grown. I don't recognize this CA. I wondered whether I'd seen it thru the lenses of military brat & maybe it hadn't changed as much as I had. The jury's still out on that one, lol! Still great weather - but, well, I miss the old CA...

[Judge]

Every time I see someone post they can't start the generator and the levelers are dead, I know it is an easy fix 99.99% of the time.... it's always the 100AMP (12V) breaker!!!

Glad you got things fixed and out of there. I saw pictures last weekend of the military helicopters coming into one campground to airlift 160 people out. The pictures were so scary. I'm sure all of those people lost their rigs and everything in them.

We plant to travel around California in a couple years.... assuming the entire state does not burn down before then or slide into the Pacific from an earthquake. We have already decided we will be doing it in April when everything is sill relatively wet from winter and fire season has not got cranked up yet.

I've been to California many times on business at different times of the year for the past 25 years. When I was there last year in August and it was the driest I'd ever seen. A cigarette butt, backfire, etc. could have started a raging fire in minutes. It was just to look at because you knew a fire was inevitable.

I feel bad for people who have lost homes, cars, RV's, all of their possessions and people who have lost their lives.

I often wonder why anyone would want to live in California.... high cost of living, high taxes and gas prices, heavy traffic and then a lot of the state in danger of fires. But it does have some of the most beautiful scenery in the country and the weather in San Diego is great.

Then again I have a home and spend a lot of time in Florida where we have to worry about tropical storms and hurricanes for 5 months a year.

[Bob Denman]

S.G.
Whew! Your "adventures" are getting pretty scary!
Next time (and I hope there isn't one!): I hope it's a story about burning toast on the grill!
PLEASE stay safe!

[paulwadley]

Glad your issue was solved and you are prepared in the event of an evacuation comes your way.


Paul

[taylorbob1]

5 million acres burned, 3 million acres in CA alone
And we aren’t even in Fire season yet.

No wonder that many campgrounds aren't open.

[Soldier Girl]

Hi Judge;. Well, you jus illustrated why I usually turn to all you guys on the forum when I'm having one of my adventures - you already knew what was wrong w/my generator & jacks w/out having to think about it, lol! I won't ever forget that information after this, there's something to be said for learning by doing. As for the fires, I jus checked on my area again (I do that throughout the day), & there are already more than a dozen new fires today - hopefully none of these new ones amount to much.

Originally Posted by Judge

Every time I see someone post they can't start the generator and the levelers are dead, I know it is an easy fix 99.99% of the time.... it's always the 100AMP (12V) breaker!!!

Glad you got things fixed and out of there. I saw pictures last weekend of the military helicopters coming into one campground to airlift 160 people out. The pictures were so scary. I'm sure all of those people lost their rigs and everything in them.

We plant to travel around California in a couple years.... assuming the entire state does not burn down before then or slide into the Pacific from an earthquake. We have already decided we will be doing it in April when everything is sill relatively wet from winter and fire season has not got cranked up yet.

I've been to California many times on business at different times of the year for the past 25 years. When I was there last year in August and it was the driest I'd ever seen. A cigarette butt, backfire, etc. could have started a raging fire in minutes. It was just to look at because you knew a fire was inevitable.

I feel bad for people who have lost homes, cars, RV's, all of their possessions and people who have lost their lives.

I often wonder why anyone would want to live in California.... high cost of living, high taxes and gas prices, heavy traffic and then a lot of the state in danger of fires. But it does have some of the most beautiful scenery in the country and the weather in San Diego is great.

Then again I have a home and spend a lot of time in Florida where we have to worry about tropical storms and hurricanes for 5 months a year.

[Soldier Girl]

Hey Bob! We both wish for that - but you are one of the guys who knows first hand how my adventures generally go & have often lent a hand to get me flyin straight again!

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

S.G.
Whew! Your "adventures" are getting pretty scary!
Next time (and I hope there isn't one!): I hope it's a story about burning toast on the grill!
PLEASE stay safe!

[Soldier Girl]

Her's one of the smaller fires rushin thru the dry grass hillsides...

[MaceMan]

Wow that is scary! My motor home once at the races would not rais the jacks either and I had to summon service to come to the track. It took the guy 2 minutes to show me the 100 amp breakers for the hydraulics and reset them. By the 100 amp breakers are 12 volts DC. Thats why they recommend you run the engine, not the gen set, during leveling!

[Dilley Dilley]

I often wonder why anyone would want to live in California.... high cost of living, high taxes and gas prices, heavy traffic and then a lot of the state in danger of fires. But it does have some of the most beautiful scenery in the country and the weather in San Diego is great.

Then again I have a home and spend a lot of time in Florida where we have to worry about tropical storms and hurricanes for 5 months a year.[/QUOTE]

Lifelong California resident born and raised. 33 years as a professional Firefighter in the State of California. I always giggle about the thoughts and comments that get attributed to our fair State by those who mainly experience California from afar or in small doses. Then you add to that the inevitable where the discussion digresses to political alliances and that when the people that don’t know what they don’t know really come out of the woodwork. I have to admit that U fall into that category when I think about why in the hell anyone would want to live in Florida or any of the Gulf States for that matter. I wonder if maybe it’s because of the great weather then I think no that’s not it. The only thing I can ever come up with is that so many of the States below the Mason Dixon line just love the fact that they are so dependent on the Federal tax subsidies that They are provided with by the Federal Donor States like California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, etc.
Well the reason for this rant is because I know that when other States have Natural Disaster like Hurricanes, Floods, Tornados, or even Terrorism, or Space Shuttles falling out of the sky. My State of California and I know New York and other States provides assistance without judging regardless of the social political difference that might exist.
In California for the most part we enjoy a mild climate, beautiful scenery and a diverse population. We have snow covered mountains, High desserts, low desserts, lakes and The Pacific Ocean to name a few things. Yes we have earthquakes from time to time, wildfires and civil unrest but in the grand scheme of things I would always choose California’s Natural Disasters and civil unrest over any other place in these Divided States of America.
Maybe there are some in this forum that agree with our President that these Western States need to do a better job on their Forest Management and the whole idea of climate change is just a hoax. Well Forest Management is truly to blame like Trump says then Get tour take and broom out Donny and get to work. Because 46.9% of the land in the 13 western States is Federal Responsibility Area. My home State of California has 100 Million total acres of land. Of that land 47 Million acres are Federal Responsibility Area. There is approximately 33 Million acres of forest in California. The Federal Government is responsible for 57% of California’s forest land.
Before COVID19 hit our State we were going to have approximately 9 Billion $ surplus. Thanks in great part to the fact that California has to shoulder most of the burden of dealing with COVID19 and now the wildfires we are running a huge deficit. California has the 5th largest economy in the World. States like California bail the Federal subsidized States out year after year. You’re welcome.

[Popfla]

The mysterious "100 amp breaker" is normally found fairly close to the house battery/ies, although some builders seem to take great pride in hiding them. When there's an overload. the little yellow (some are red) flag pops out to the position shown in the photo below. Resetting it is a simple matter of just pushing that flag back up. If it pops again, there's still a problem elsewhere in the 12 volt system. You can test the breaker by pressing the red button.

(Those doohickies attached are insulating caps that snap on the electric lugs after the cables are installed.)