Davis User Stories

November 2007

WEATHER STATIONS IN ACTION:

Wildfires Try, but Fail, to Stop this Vantage Pro2

Charred and melted, this valiant Southern CaliforniaVantage Pro2, named R-2, is still sending data packets to the fire station below it.

If anyone ever dares to question your interest in the weather by making a “how’s the weather, ho-hum” comment, you might point out that it was largely thanks to the weather that much of Southern California is currently still bathed in ashes from the raging, wind-driven wildfires of last month. We’ve discussed the terrible effect of the intense Santa Ana winds here before (December 2003, January 2004, and May 2006 ). Add to that a lack of rainfall, and you get CNN 24-hour coverage of people running from their homes. (For some good information on the fires and the role of the weather, see the NASA page with MODIS satellite images. Thanks Jan Null!)

While the news was full of heartbreaking stories (and although we are in Northern California, we all know somebody who was affected by the terrible fires), we got one of our own in our e-mail box from Pete Curran of the Orange County Fire Authority.

“We’ve all heard about the devastation in Southern California caused by the multiple Santa Ana wind-driven fires in late October,” Pete wrote. “Thousands of acres were blackened from Malibu all the way to the Mexican border. The Santiago Fire started in the evening of October 21st in the foothills and canyons of eastern Orange County. The Orange County Fire Authority responded with dozens of engines, bulldozers, hand crews and helicopters to help fight the fire as it threatened several rural canyon communities.

“The crew of Fire Station 55, located in the Portola Hills community of Irvine never figured they’d be fighting to protect their own station from the flames, but that’s exactly what happened. With hot, dry winds howling at over 50 mph, fire crews deployed hose lines around the fire station to keep it from burning. Less fortunate was a Davis Instruments wireless Vantage Pro weather station, dubbed ‘R-2’ by the crew, which was located on a slope above the fire station. The photos and archive log tell the rest of the story, but the most amazing part is that the station continues to transmit intermittent data, despite the obvious fire damage.”

We’re so proud of that brave little station. Wonder where it learned to show such courage and grace under the most dangerous of conditions? Maybe from the crew of Fire Station 55?