Author Topic: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas  (Read 14772 times)

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Offline Cerebus

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Re: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas
« Reply #50 on: April 10, 2017, 04:26:57 pm »
IMHO the best thing to do would be to climb in a tree (or anything else high) to see where it is safe and then go into that direction.

You can't do that - the drop bears'll get you.  :)
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Offline vk6zgo

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Re: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas
« Reply #51 on: April 10, 2017, 11:33:29 pm »

What's the point? The wave of snakes, spiders and drop bears running away from the fire would provide you with ample warning and quite sufficient motive to run away.  :)
Quote
That is assuming wildfire burns as a single front and AFAIK it usually doesn't so running towards bush which isn't burning may lead straight into the flames a couple of hundred meters away. IMHO the best thing to do would be to climb in a tree (or anything else high) to see where it is safe and then go into that direction.

No!----- stay well away from trees.

When it is hot, eucalyptus trees (& I believe,also conifers), are surrounded by an "cloud" of flammable oil vapour excreted (not quite the right word ;D) by their leaves (or needles).

It is quite common in Australia for a fire front to leap from one tree to the next, without needing to burn the undergrowth in between
 

Offline Cerebus

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Re: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas
« Reply #52 on: April 11, 2017, 12:42:57 am »
When it is hot, eucalyptus trees (& I believe,also conifers), are surrounded by an "cloud" of flammable oil vapour excreted (not quite the right word ;D) by their leaves (or needles).

I've thankfully never been anywhere near a forest fire but I have been around a lot of woodworking and I can confirm that offcuts of conifers chucked into the stove burn very quickly and very hot (faster and hotter than non-coniferous softwoods) and eucalyptus species are particularly vigorous. As they heat you can see resin/turpentine bubble to the surface, evaporate and ignite.

Oh, and excretions are waste products, secretions are useful, deliberately produced substances. So the word you were grasping for was secreted.
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Offline Someone

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Re: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas
« Reply #53 on: April 11, 2017, 12:56:35 am »

What's the point? The wave of snakes, spiders and drop bears running away from the fire would provide you with ample warning and quite sufficient motive to run away.  :)
Quote
That is assuming wildfire burns as a single front and AFAIK it usually doesn't so running towards bush which isn't burning may lead straight into the flames a couple of hundred meters away. IMHO the best thing to do would be to climb in a tree (or anything else high) to see where it is safe and then go into that direction.

No!----- stay well away from trees.

When it is hot, eucalyptus trees (& I believe,also conifers), are surrounded by an "cloud" of flammable oil vapour excreted (not quite the right word ;D) by their leaves (or needles).

It is quite common in Australia for a fire front to leap from one tree to the next, without needing to burn the undergrowth in between
Having been in the middle of bushfires the entire concept is broken, thick smoke can prevent seeing anything beyond 50m. You need a lot of advance warning to decide what to do and avoid being cutoff (if deciding to leave).

Spatial awareness in such emergencies is poor even from the emergency services:
http://www.bushfirecrc.com/news/news-item/underestimating-speed-and-overestimating-distance-wildfire-avoiding-entrapment-and-bu
For a very good overview of the basics:
https://blog.csiro.au/bushfire-basics/
 

Offline timb

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Re: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas
« Reply #54 on: April 11, 2017, 06:23:29 am »

What's the point? The wave of snakes, spiders and drop bears running away from the fire would provide you with ample warning and quite sufficient motive to run away.  :)
Quote
That is assuming wildfire burns as a single front and AFAIK it usually doesn't so running towards bush which isn't burning may lead straight into the flames a couple of hundred meters away. IMHO the best thing to do would be to climb in a tree (or anything else high) to see where it is safe and then go into that direction.

No!----- stay well away from trees.

When it is hot, eucalyptus trees (& I believe,also conifers), are surrounded by an "cloud" of flammable oil vapour excreted (not quite the right word ;D) by their leaves (or needles).

It is quite common in Australia for a fire front to leap from one tree to the next, without needing to burn the undergrowth in between

Jesus. Even the trees can kill you in Australia?!
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Offline CJay

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Re: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas
« Reply #55 on: April 11, 2017, 06:30:42 am »

What's the point? The wave of snakes, spiders and drop bears running away from the fire would provide you with ample warning and quite sufficient motive to run away.  :)
Quote
That is assuming wildfire burns as a single front and AFAIK it usually doesn't so running towards bush which isn't burning may lead straight into the flames a couple of hundred meters away. IMHO the best thing to do would be to climb in a tree (or anything else high) to see where it is safe and then go into that direction.

No!----- stay well away from trees.

When it is hot, eucalyptus trees (& I believe,also conifers), are surrounded by an "cloud" of flammable oil vapour excreted (not quite the right word ;D) by their leaves (or needles).

It is quite common in Australia for a fire front to leap from one tree to the next, without needing to burn the undergrowth in between

Jesus. Even the trees can kill you in Australia?!

Well to be fair, they can kill you in most parts of the world, not many people survive entirely unscathed a tree falling on them
 

Offline Someone

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Re: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas
« Reply #56 on: April 11, 2017, 08:46:27 am »
It is quite common in Australia for a fire front to leap from one tree to the next, without needing to burn the undergrowth in between
Jesus. Even the trees can kill you in Australia?!
Well to be fair, they can kill you in most parts of the world, not many people survive entirely unscathed a tree falling on them
Well to get specific; trees falling on people is a cause of fatalities similar in risk to being killed by a snake. But if you take all the dangerous plants and animals in Australia and look at all the deaths caused by them, its still at least an order of magnitude lower risk than being shot and killed in the US. Dangers are relative, you're more likely to be killed in a road accident than either of those other categories.

To show just how fast the fires can be upon you:

Thats the professionals getting it horribly wrong
 

Offline CJay

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Re: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas
« Reply #57 on: April 11, 2017, 09:20:56 am »
Well to get specific; trees falling on people is a cause of fatalities similar in risk to being killed by a snake. But if you take all the dangerous plants and animals in Australia and look at all the deaths caused by them, its still at least an order of magnitude lower risk than being shot and killed in the US. Dangers are relative, you're more likely to be killed in a road accident than either of those other categories.

To show just how fast the fires can be upon you:

Thats the professionals getting it horribly wrong

Yeah, it was a slightly tongue in cheek comment, I've seen videos similar to that one and heard the recollections of survivors as well, it's a horrifying spectacle.

I'm lucky in that my country rarely (never?) suffers that sort of thing but I have seen the speed a field of dry arable crop burns at, it's quite frightening to watch yet far less intense than a true forest/bush fire.

I think pine forests would be similar risk as they have a similar volatile sap?

 

Offline Someone

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Re: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas
« Reply #58 on: April 11, 2017, 09:42:11 am »
I think pine forests would be similar risk as they have a similar volatile sap?
Often even faster for pine when they're dry, depends on the climate.
 

Offline vwestlife

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Re: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas
« Reply #59 on: April 11, 2017, 11:52:34 pm »
That might be their surviving usage, but used to be small town whistles/sirens were used daily to tell workers when it was lunchtime and quitting time. The practice was still common when I was a kid, but it's a pretty rare town that still does now that everyone wears a watch or carries a smartphone.
In Japan, large outdoor PA speakers play music at 5 PM every day to remind the kids who are out playing to come home:



This article explains it: https://blog.gaijinpot.com/tokyo-5pm-song/

"The beloved music is used as both a daily safety check to ensure the broadcast system and speakers are working correctly, and also to remind children that playtime is over and that they should return home before dark."

And as for the tsunami warning sirens on the Pacific coast, Cannon Beach, Oregon uses the sound of a mooing cow to test the warning sirens, so that people won't confuse it with an actual emergency. It's so distinctive that tourists actually come to visit just to hear the cow siren!


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Offline Cerebus

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Re: Hacker triggeres all 156 emergency sirens in Dallas, Texas
« Reply #60 on: April 12, 2017, 12:55:52 am »
"The beloved music is used as both a daily safety check to ensure the broadcast system and speakers are working correctly, and also to remind children that playtime is over and that they should return home before dark."

I like that.

If you wanted something for a daily test that was a little more universal, an alternative would be, at sunset, to play the retreat on the bugle (or 'taps', both traditional for sunset in different places).

And as for the tsunami warning sirens on the Pacific coast, Cannon Beach, Oregon uses the sound of a mooing cow to test the warning sirens, so that people won't confuse it with an actual emergency.

What if it's a really nervous sounding cow?  :)
Anybody got a syringe I can use to squeeze the magic smoke back into this?
 


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