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National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho issues monthly reports titled National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook. The report is "intended as a decision support tool for wildland fire managers, providing an assessment of current weather and fuels conditions and how these will evolve in the next four months. The objective is to assist fire managers in making proactive decisions that will improve protection of life, property and natural resources, increase fire fighter safety and effectiveness, and reduce firefighting costs." See Outlook Objectives, final page. The Report may also be of interest to property and business owners, so each month we will provide a link to the Report here (current issue released December 1, 2018). |
ARTICLES
There is a lot we can learn from other people's experiences with wildfires, both good and bad.
The following articles give us food for thought and action.
There is a lot we can learn from other people's experiences with wildfires, both good and bad.
The following articles give us food for thought and action.
"We have fire everywhere" - Escaping California's Deadliest Blaze
by Jon Mooallem (c) New York Times Magazine July 31, 2019
by Jon Mooallem (c) New York Times Magazine July 31, 2019
The fire was already growing at a rate of one football field per second when Tamra Fisher woke up on the edge of Paradise, Calif., feeling that her life was no longer insurmountably strenuous or unpleasant and that she might be up to the challenge of living it again.
She was 49 and had spent almost all of those years on the Ridge — the sweeping incline, in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada, on which Paradise and several tinier, unincorporated communities sit. Fisher moved to the Ridge as a child, married at 16, then raised four children of her own, working 70-hour-plus weeks caring for disabled adults and the elderly. Paradise had attracted working-class retirees from around California since the 1970s and was beginning to draw in younger families for the same reasons. The town was quiet and affordable, free of the big-box stores and traffic that addled the city of Chico in the valley below. It still brimmed with the towering pine trees that first made the community viable more than a century ago. The initial settlement was poor and minuscule — “Poverty Ridge,” some called it — until a new logging railroad was built through the town in 1904 by a company felling timber farther uphill. This was the Diamond Match Company. The trees of Paradise made for perfect matchsticks.
Article continued here.
She was 49 and had spent almost all of those years on the Ridge — the sweeping incline, in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada, on which Paradise and several tinier, unincorporated communities sit. Fisher moved to the Ridge as a child, married at 16, then raised four children of her own, working 70-hour-plus weeks caring for disabled adults and the elderly. Paradise had attracted working-class retirees from around California since the 1970s and was beginning to draw in younger families for the same reasons. The town was quiet and affordable, free of the big-box stores and traffic that addled the city of Chico in the valley below. It still brimmed with the towering pine trees that first made the community viable more than a century ago. The initial settlement was poor and minuscule — “Poverty Ridge,” some called it — until a new logging railroad was built through the town in 1904 by a company felling timber farther uphill. This was the Diamond Match Company. The trees of Paradise made for perfect matchsticks.
Article continued here.
Helping our Senior Community Prepare
This fall, I was working in my local Emergency Operations Center to support response to fires we had in my county in Colorado. My ears perked up when I heard things like, "We know this polygon (my county has pre-determined evacuation polygons in the WUI) has a high population of seniors that may need help evacuating, so we already have the [redacted company name] vans on standby and staged in case we need to issue an evacuation order."
I often think about the most vulnerable in our communities across the country and how we are (or are not) prioritizing and addressing their needs. Recently I have been thinking more about how practitioners are focusing on older adults in their wildfire preparedness work, and how they have had to adapt their programs due to COVID-19.
There are a lot of considerations when thinking about how to help seniors prepare including: helping senior care…
read more
This fall, I was working in my local Emergency Operations Center to support response to fires we had in my county in Colorado. My ears perked up when I heard things like, "We know this polygon (my county has pre-determined evacuation polygons in the WUI) has a high population of seniors that may need help evacuating, so we already have the [redacted company name] vans on standby and staged in case we need to issue an evacuation order."
I often think about the most vulnerable in our communities across the country and how we are (or are not) prioritizing and addressing their needs. Recently I have been thinking more about how practitioners are focusing on older adults in their wildfire preparedness work, and how they have had to adapt their programs due to COVID-19.
There are a lot of considerations when thinking about how to help seniors prepare including: helping senior care…
read more
"We have fire everywhere" - Escaping California's Deadliest Blaze
by Jon Mooallem (c) New York Times Magazine July 31, 2019
by Jon Mooallem (c) New York Times Magazine July 31, 2019
The fire was already growing at a rate of one football field per second when Tamra Fisher woke up on the edge of Paradise, Calif., feeling that her life was no longer insurmountably strenuous or unpleasant and that she might be up to the challenge of living it again.
She was 49 and had spent almost all of those years on the Ridge — the sweeping incline, in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada, on which Paradise and several tinier, unincorporated communities sit. Fisher moved to the Ridge as a child, married at 16, then raised four children of her own, working 70-hour-plus weeks caring for disabled adults and the elderly. Paradise had attracted working-class retirees from around California since the 1970s and was beginning to draw in younger families for the same reasons. The town was quiet and affordable, free of the big-box stores and traffic that addled the city of Chico in the valley below. It still brimmed with the towering pine trees that first made the community viable more than a century ago. The initial settlement was poor and minuscule — “Poverty Ridge,” some called it — until a new logging railroad was built through the town in 1904 by a company felling timber farther uphill. This was the Diamond Match Company. The trees of Paradise made for perfect matchsticks.
Article continued here.
She was 49 and had spent almost all of those years on the Ridge — the sweeping incline, in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada, on which Paradise and several tinier, unincorporated communities sit. Fisher moved to the Ridge as a child, married at 16, then raised four children of her own, working 70-hour-plus weeks caring for disabled adults and the elderly. Paradise had attracted working-class retirees from around California since the 1970s and was beginning to draw in younger families for the same reasons. The town was quiet and affordable, free of the big-box stores and traffic that addled the city of Chico in the valley below. It still brimmed with the towering pine trees that first made the community viable more than a century ago. The initial settlement was poor and minuscule — “Poverty Ridge,” some called it — until a new logging railroad was built through the town in 1904 by a company felling timber farther uphill. This was the Diamond Match Company. The trees of Paradise made for perfect matchsticks.
Article continued here.
Inside Australia's Plan to Survive Bigger, Badder Bushfires
By Bianca Nogrady (c) MIT Technology Review April 24, 2019
By Bianca Nogrady (c) MIT Technology Review April 24, 2019
The Blue Mountains are burning. I stand in the doorway of our home and take a long look around: the handmade rugs, the jumble of artworks, the shelves crammed with books, the scattered toys. The house is a tinderbox: wooden walls, doors, balcony, window frames, all built into a lushly forested hillside. I picture all of it flaming into indistinguishable piles of ash.
Please don’t burn,” I whisper, as if it will make a difference.
Article continued here.
Please don’t burn,” I whisper, as if it will make a difference.
Article continued here.
Air purification sales surge as Canadians anticipate smoky summer stuck indoors
By Andrew Kurjata (c) CBC News April 24, 2019
By Andrew Kurjata (c) CBC News April 24, 2019
People in Western Canada are stocking up on air purifiers and heavy-duty carbon filters as they anticipate what could be another summer stuck indoors due to wildfire smoke.
"People are preparing," said Nadine Serwatkewich, who manages the warehouse for the Filter Shop at BGE in Prince George, B.C.
She said the sales surge started in summer 2018 when smoke from a record-breaking wildfire season drifted over the city, at times blocking out the sun.
"It was insane," she said. "We have a manufacturing plant in Edmonton and they were building [products] as fast as they could and getting them out the door."
Article continued here.
"People are preparing," said Nadine Serwatkewich, who manages the warehouse for the Filter Shop at BGE in Prince George, B.C.
She said the sales surge started in summer 2018 when smoke from a record-breaking wildfire season drifted over the city, at times blocking out the sun.
"It was insane," she said. "We have a manufacturing plant in Edmonton and they were building [products] as fast as they could and getting them out the door."
Article continued here.
Some California neighborhoods destroyed by wildfire being rebuilt without fire-safe standards
By Bill Gabbert (c) Wildfire Today April 23, 2019
By Bill Gabbert (c) Wildfire Today April 23, 2019
Camp Fire, as it began to burn into Paradise, Calif. LANDSAT 8 image at 10:45 a.m. PT, Nov. 8, 2018. Processed by Zeke Lunder, Deer Creek Resources, Chico, Calif.
Analysts studying the aftermath of the Camp Fire which destroyed much of Paradise, California found that homes built to fire-safe standards had a much higher survival rate than those that were not.
Beginning in 2008 new construction in the city was required to follow a standard, known as the 7A Code, designed for the state’s areas at high risk from wildfire, requiring fire-resistant roofs, siding and other safeguards. Fifty-one percent of the homes built under the 7A code survived, while only eighteen percent of those built before 2008 did.
While this would seem like an easy lesson to learn, some areas in the state are reluctant to apply the fire-safe standard.
Article continued here.
Beginning in 2008 new construction in the city was required to follow a standard, known as the 7A Code, designed for the state’s areas at high risk from wildfire, requiring fire-resistant roofs, siding and other safeguards. Fifty-one percent of the homes built under the 7A code survived, while only eighteen percent of those built before 2008 did.
While this would seem like an easy lesson to learn, some areas in the state are reluctant to apply the fire-safe standard.
Article continued here.
Firefighters get new tool for predicting wildfire danger
By Bill Gabbert (c) Wildfire Today February 14, 2019
By Bill Gabbert (c) Wildfire Today February 14, 2019
The Hot-Dry-Windy Index (HDW) is a new tool for firefighters to predict weather conditions which can affect the spread of wildfires.
It is described as being very simple and only considers the atmospheric factors of heat, moisture, and wind. To be more precise, it is a multiplication of the maximum wind speed and maximum vapor pressure deficit (VPD) in the lowest 50 or so millibars in the atmosphere.
Article continued here.
It is described as being very simple and only considers the atmospheric factors of heat, moisture, and wind. To be more precise, it is a multiplication of the maximum wind speed and maximum vapor pressure deficit (VPD) in the lowest 50 or so millibars in the atmosphere.
Article continued here.
Friendly Fire: Can neighborhood burn squads save California from the next big wildfire?
By Nathanael Johnson (c) Grist January 14, 2019
By Nathanael Johnson (c) Grist January 14, 2019
On a crisp winter morning, while my daughters lingered over pancakes with their grandparents, I drove a couple of miles past houses nestled among incense cedars, Ponderosa pines, and Douglas firs. I couldn’t help imagining those trees roaring with flames, because I was going to watch the neighbors set a patch of land on fire.
Article continued here.
Article continued here.
Here's how Paradise ignored warnings and became a deathtrap
By Paige St. John, Joseph Serna and Rong-Gong Lin (c) Los Angeles Times December 30, 2018
By Paige St. John, Joseph Serna and Rong-Gong Lin (c) Los Angeles Times December 30, 2018
Embers blow in the wind as the Camp fire burns a KFC restaurant in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 8. Fueled by high winds and low humidity, the rapidly spreading wildfire ripped through the town. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
The fate of Paradise was cast long before a windstorm last month fueled the deadliest fire in California history.
The ridge settlement was doomed by its proximity to a crack in the mighty wall of the Sierra Nevada, a deep canyon that bellowed gale-force winds.
It was doomed by its maze of haphazard lanes and dead-end roads that paid no heed to escape.
Article continued here.
The ridge settlement was doomed by its proximity to a crack in the mighty wall of the Sierra Nevada, a deep canyon that bellowed gale-force winds.
It was doomed by its maze of haphazard lanes and dead-end roads that paid no heed to escape.
Article continued here.
150 Minutes of Hell: The inside story of death and survival as the Carr Fire's tornado of flames stormed Redding
By Lizzie Johnson (c) San Francisco Chronicle December 12. 2018
By Lizzie Johnson (c) San Francisco Chronicle December 12. 2018
Death blew east on a savage wind, driving flames over foothills and across a river, spitting glowing embers and scrubbing the earth bare.
It was coming for Don Andrews.
His bulldozer’s windows shattered, flinging glass into his face. The blue-green shards were everywhere: on the floor, inside his helmet, in his skin and eyes. He was alone and blinded. The firestorm shook the ground and roared as loud as a passing train.
I’m not going to survive this, he thought.
Article continued here.
It was coming for Don Andrews.
His bulldozer’s windows shattered, flinging glass into his face. The blue-green shards were everywhere: on the floor, inside his helmet, in his skin and eyes. He was alone and blinded. The firestorm shook the ground and roared as loud as a passing train.
I’m not going to survive this, he thought.
Article continued here.
The new abnormal: why fires like Paradise will happen again and again
By Oliver Milman (c) The Guardian December 10, 2018
By Oliver Milman (c) The Guardian December 10, 2018
Ruth McLarty, an experienced surgeon, was fairly certain she was about to die in a particularly grisly way. Surrounded by a hellish inferno of burning trees and cars, McLarty reasoned the flames would engulf her long before the smoke could choke her to death.
Trapped in nearby vehicles, some of McLarty’s colleagues made similarly macabre calculations. Two nurses, stuck in the back of a stalled police car, contemplated shooting each other. Another nurse rolled down her window and gulped in the smoke. McLarty edged her car away from a burning wreckage, fired off some final messages to her sister and called her daughter, who said she could hear the roar of the blaze over the phone.
Article continued here.
Trapped in nearby vehicles, some of McLarty’s colleagues made similarly macabre calculations. Two nurses, stuck in the back of a stalled police car, contemplated shooting each other. Another nurse rolled down her window and gulped in the smoke. McLarty edged her car away from a burning wreckage, fired off some final messages to her sister and called her daughter, who said she could hear the roar of the blaze over the phone.
Article continued here.
Fire-Resistant Is Not Fire-Proof, California Homeowners Discover
by Emily Guerin (c) NPR December 9, 2018
by Emily Guerin (c) NPR December 9, 2018
A motorist on Highway 101 watches flames from the Thomas fire leap above the roadway north of Ventura, Calif., in December 2017. Hundreds of homes were destroyed in what was then California's most destructive wildfire. Noah Berger/AP
California's building codes are not keeping up with the severe, wind-driven wildfires that are becoming the norm.
Ten years ago, the state passed strict new standards for homes built in high fire-risk areas.
But even homes built to those standards were destroyed in last year's massive Thomas Fire. Now, those burned out homes are being rebuilt in the same places, under the same codes.
In the Ventura foothills of southern California, four of the nine homes on Andorra Lane burned down in the Thomas Fire. Almost no one expected it. After all, the homes were brand new. They were surrounded by dozens of other homes. And most importantly, they met the state's building codes for areas at heightened risk of wildfires.
Article continued here.
Ten years ago, the state passed strict new standards for homes built in high fire-risk areas.
But even homes built to those standards were destroyed in last year's massive Thomas Fire. Now, those burned out homes are being rebuilt in the same places, under the same codes.
In the Ventura foothills of southern California, four of the nine homes on Andorra Lane burned down in the Thomas Fire. Almost no one expected it. After all, the homes were brand new. They were surrounded by dozens of other homes. And most importantly, they met the state's building codes for areas at heightened risk of wildfires.
Article continued here.
How a quiet California town protects itself against today's megafires
By Mark Kaufman (c) Mashable November 23, 2018
By Mark Kaufman (c) Mashable November 23, 2018
In the early hours of December 16, 2017, hot embers began raining down on the Southern California town of Montecito.
Ominous, orange flames soon appeared on hills above the wooded community as the infamous Thomas Fire, burning for nearly two weeks at that point, lunged over the ridge and pushed into the enclave below.
The odds weighed in the fire's favor: The winds picked up overnight, blowing 65 mph gusts in the direction of hundreds and hundreds of homes.
But when the smoke and ash finally settled, the fire had lost -- for the most part, anyhow.
"They thought for sure that they were going to lose 400 or 500 homes -- instead they only lost seven," Crystal Kolden, a fire scientist at the University of Idaho and former wildland firefighter, said in an interview.
Article continued here.
Ominous, orange flames soon appeared on hills above the wooded community as the infamous Thomas Fire, burning for nearly two weeks at that point, lunged over the ridge and pushed into the enclave below.
The odds weighed in the fire's favor: The winds picked up overnight, blowing 65 mph gusts in the direction of hundreds and hundreds of homes.
But when the smoke and ash finally settled, the fire had lost -- for the most part, anyhow.
"They thought for sure that they were going to lose 400 or 500 homes -- instead they only lost seven," Crystal Kolden, a fire scientist at the University of Idaho and former wildland firefighter, said in an interview.
Article continued here.
We contained the horrors of wildfires before. We can do it again.
By Stephen Pyne (c) CNN November 21, 2018
By Stephen Pyne (c) CNN November 21, 2018
In October 1918, a swarm of smoldering fires flared and rode rising winds through 1,500 square miles outside Duluth, Minnesota. The flames incinerated cities, killed at least 450 people, and overtook evacuees as they fled in cars. It wasn't the last fire of a cycle that began in 1825 in Maine and migrated through the Lake States before moving on, but it was the last in which the fallen numbered in the hundreds.
Then, over several decades, the scene calmed.
That former era of firestorms was sparked along the frontier. Settlers and logging companies felled the forests and left lands lathered in slash. They used fires widely to work the land into agriculture. They built houses and towns out of wood, and they lacked much incentive to prevent burning, or the capacity to fight the fires that blew up. Railroads cast sparks with abandon.
Article continued here.
Then, over several decades, the scene calmed.
That former era of firestorms was sparked along the frontier. Settlers and logging companies felled the forests and left lands lathered in slash. They used fires widely to work the land into agriculture. They built houses and towns out of wood, and they lacked much incentive to prevent burning, or the capacity to fight the fires that blew up. Railroads cast sparks with abandon.
Article continued here.
Trapped in the Fire Zone
By April Glaser (c) Slate November 20, 2018
By April Glaser (c) Slate November 20, 2018
Last Wednesday morning, as a fellow reporter and I drove the three and a half hours from Oakland, California, to the tiny town of Pulga, our phones kept telling us to turn around. Thanks to the Camp Fire, a roughly 200-square-mile swath of Butte County and the surrounding area is now burnt or burning. Google Maps knew this, rerouting us around the evacuation zone every time we typed in our destination. Since the fire began on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 8, it has killed at least 77 people—a number that increases every day as investigators and rescue dogs find more remains. The list of missing persons initially grew until it passed 1,200, but is finally starting to shrink. As of Friday, only firefighters, electric company workers, railroaders, emergency personnel, and credentialed journalists were being allowed into the evacuated area. The officer at our first checkpoint said officials have caught people trying to use forged documentation to enter the evacuation zone to loot the few homes that didn’t burn down in the blaze.
Article continued here.
Article continued here.
The California Town Destroyed By The Camp Fire Wasn't Prepared For The Worst. And Then Something Even Worse Came.
By Brianna Sacks (c) BuzzFeed News November 14, 2018
By Brianna Sacks (c) BuzzFeed News November 14, 2018
For California fire officials, the question has never been whether a wildfire would hit the town of Paradise — it was just a matter of when.
Years before the Camp fire tore through the rural retirement community, becoming the most devastating wildfire in state history, state and local officials had known Paradise faced a serious threat from fires. According to historical fire maps, most of Butte County has burned at some point in the last century, including in a major blaze that burned several homes near Paradise in 2008. But the town itself had somehow remained untouched until last week, and locals and firefighters had long been bracing for an inevitable disaster.
“Years and years and years ago we knew we had a problem with that community,” Thom Porter, a chief with Cal Fire, told BuzzFeed News Tuesday, citing the lack of roads in and out of the mountain town of 26,000.
Article continued here.
Years before the Camp fire tore through the rural retirement community, becoming the most devastating wildfire in state history, state and local officials had known Paradise faced a serious threat from fires. According to historical fire maps, most of Butte County has burned at some point in the last century, including in a major blaze that burned several homes near Paradise in 2008. But the town itself had somehow remained untouched until last week, and locals and firefighters had long been bracing for an inevitable disaster.
“Years and years and years ago we knew we had a problem with that community,” Thom Porter, a chief with Cal Fire, told BuzzFeed News Tuesday, citing the lack of roads in and out of the mountain town of 26,000.
Article continued here.
Start-up Blue Forest secures funding for first privately financed forest fire bond
By James Rufus Koren (c) Los Angeles Times November 1, 2018
By James Rufus Koren (c) Los Angeles Times November 1, 2018
In a remote corner of the Sierra Nevada, amid 8,000-foot peaks and deep river gorges, a financial experiment is about to begin.
Once this winter’s snow melts, workers will cut down small trees and burn off undergrowth across 5,000 acres of the Tahoe National Forest. But those workers won’t be paid by the U.S. Forest Service or any other public agency that typically funds forestry projects.
Instead, the roughly $4 million will come from two foundations, an investment firm and an insurance company — which hope to make money on the deal.
Article continued here.
Once this winter’s snow melts, workers will cut down small trees and burn off undergrowth across 5,000 acres of the Tahoe National Forest. But those workers won’t be paid by the U.S. Forest Service or any other public agency that typically funds forestry projects.
Instead, the roughly $4 million will come from two foundations, an investment firm and an insurance company — which hope to make money on the deal.
Article continued here.
National Institute of Building Sciences Issues Second Report on the Value of Mitigation
News Release October 30, 2018
News Release October 30, 2018
Today, the National Institute of Building Sciences issued its latest report in a multi-year study on natural hazard mitigation. The second in a series of interim results, Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: Utilities and Transportation Infrastructure examines the potential benefits associated with investing in mitigation for select utility and transportation infrastructure.
Article continued here. Find initial report released January 11, 2018 here.
Article continued here. Find initial report released January 11, 2018 here.
California Fire: What Started As A Tiny Brush Fire Became The State's Deadliest Wildfire. Here's How.
by Paige St. John , Anna M. Phillips, Joseph Serna , Sonali Kohli and Laura Newberry (c) Los Angeles Times November 18, 2018
by Paige St. John , Anna M. Phillips, Joseph Serna , Sonali Kohli and Laura Newberry (c) Los Angeles Times November 18, 2018
A home burns as the Camp Fire rages through Paradise, Calif. (Noah Berger / Associated Press
Before there was a spark, there was the wind.
On the morning of Nov. 8, as the sun rose over the isolated mountains in the Sierra Nevada, gale-force winds tore through the canyon. A fire outpost on the Feather River recorded blasts of 52 mph — a bad omen in a national forest that hadn’t had a satisfying rain since May.
From his station bunk at the head of Jarbo Gap, Capt. Matt McKenzie of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection woke to the sound of pine needles pelting the roof.
At 6:15 a.m., a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. high-voltage line near the Poe Dam generating station six miles away malfunctioned. A report of fire came at 6:29.
Article continued here.
On the morning of Nov. 8, as the sun rose over the isolated mountains in the Sierra Nevada, gale-force winds tore through the canyon. A fire outpost on the Feather River recorded blasts of 52 mph — a bad omen in a national forest that hadn’t had a satisfying rain since May.
From his station bunk at the head of Jarbo Gap, Capt. Matt McKenzie of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection woke to the sound of pine needles pelting the roof.
At 6:15 a.m., a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. high-voltage line near the Poe Dam generating station six miles away malfunctioned. A report of fire came at 6:29.
Article continued here.
Full Community Costs of Wildfire
(c) Headwaters Economics May 2018
(c) Headwaters Economics May 2018
Almost half of the full community costs of wildfire are paid for at the local level, including homeowners, businesses, and government agencies. See full article here.
Wildfires in Colorado Cost $130 Million in 2018
by Jennifer Brown (c) The Colorado Sun November 1, 2018
by Jennifer Brown (c) The Colorado Sun November 1, 2018
Dozens of tents were staked in the dried weeds of a cow pasture outside Kremmling at Silver Creek fire camp in September. (Jennifer Brown, The Colorado Sun)
KREMMLING — Dozens of empty tents staked on dried-up, end-of-summer grass rustled in a wind-whipped cow pasture north of town.
Fire camp was nearly deserted, as the hundreds of crew members working to contain the Silver Creek wildfire had been gone since just after breakfast, fueled by fried eggs, sausage and potatoes. In the distance, about 5 miles away, smoke tinted orange from the fire’s glow rose from the mountains of Grand and Routt counties.
Inside a trailer at camp, a group of women tapped keyboards, printed invoices and tallied the day’s expenses.
Nine weeks since the fire began, after scorching 12,000 acres, the running total stood at $15.3 million.
Article continued here.
Combustion Engines
By Richard Manning (c) Harpers Magazine October 27, 2018
By Richard Manning (c) Harpers Magazine October 27, 2018
On any given day last summer, the smoke-choked skies over Missoula, Montana, swarmed with an average of twenty-eight helicopters and eighteen fixed-wing craft, a blitz waged against Lolo Peak, Rice Ridge, and ninety-six other wildfires in the Lolo National Forest. On the ground, forty or fifty twenty-person handcrews were deployed, alongside hundreds of fire engines and bulldozers. In the battle against Rice Ridge alone, the Air Force, handcrews, loggers, dozers, parachutists, flacks, forecasters, and cooks amounted to some nine hundred people. Article continued here.
Setting fires to control wildfires: a profound change takes hold in Washington state
by Hal Bernton (c) Seattle Times October 14, 2018
by Hal Bernton (c) Seattle Times October 14, 2018
This swath of private forest land near Roslyn underwent a prescribed burn this month.
An area to the right had the same treatment last year. (Steve Ringman / The Seattle Times)
An area to the right had the same treatment last year. (Steve Ringman / The Seattle Times)
After more than a century of scrambling each summer to put out fires in Washington state, the push to light them in the fall and spring represents a profound change in the strategy to prevent wildfires. Article continued here.
Hellfire - This Is What Our Future Looks Like
by John Vaillant (c) The Guardian October 2018
by John Vaillant (c) The Guardian October 2018
In late July, nearly half of the 92,000 residents of Redding, California, were forced to evacuate. More than 1,600 homes, businesses and other structures burned in the Carr fire, due to sparks thrown by a trailer wheel with a flat tire. But the cause hardly matters; it was 113F that day, and the land was primed for fire.
Seven people were killed, three of them firefighters, but when survivors tell of their escapes, it seems a miracle there weren’t many more. A local dentist, surprised by the flames in the gated community of Stanford Hills, fled for her life through the woods. Disoriented, with no idea where to go, she and her husband followed the animals – deer, rabbits and squirrels – as they fled downhill, toward the Sacramento river. Several of her neighbors were rescued by helicopter. Article continued here.
Seven people were killed, three of them firefighters, but when survivors tell of their escapes, it seems a miracle there weren’t many more. A local dentist, surprised by the flames in the gated community of Stanford Hills, fled for her life through the woods. Disoriented, with no idea where to go, she and her husband followed the animals – deer, rabbits and squirrels – as they fled downhill, toward the Sacramento river. Several of her neighbors were rescued by helicopter. Article continued here.
How Wildfires Are Polluting Rivers and Threatening Water Supplies
by Ed Struck (c) YaleEnvironment360 October 2, 2018
by Ed Struck (c) YaleEnvironment360 October 2, 2018
A forest fire blazes alongside a river in Washington state in 2014. WASHINGTON DNR
As wildfires become more frequent and destructive in a warming world, they are increasingly leaving in their wake debris and toxic runoff that are polluting rivers and fouling water supplies. Some municipalities are having to upgrade their water treatment methods to counter the new danger. Article continued here.
Can Colorado Burn Its Way Out of a Wildfire Crisis?
by Jay Bouchard (c) 5280 Magazine September 19, 2018
by Jay Bouchard (c) 5280 Magazine September 19, 2018
The Sugarloaf Fire grows in the Williams Fork Range near Silverthorne, Colo. on Thursday, June 28, 2018.
Photo by Hugh Carey / Summit Daily News via AP
Photo by Hugh Carey / Summit Daily News via AP
This year has been one of the most active fire seasons in Colorado history, featuring some of the largest, most intense wildfires the state has ever seen. Now, land managers hope prescribed burns can counteract the disturbing trend before it’s too late. Article continued here.
Fighting Fire with Fire: California Turns to Prescribed Burning
by Jane Braxton Little (c) YaleEnvironment360 September 5, 2018
by Jane Braxton Little (c) YaleEnvironment360 September 5, 2018
Forest managers set this prescribed burn in California's Stanislaus National Forest. ERIC KNAPP/U.S. FOREST SERVICE
A century of fire suppression and historic drought have combined to kill 129 million trees and counting in California’s forests. As wildfires rage across the state, managers are increasingly setting fires to burn the dead timber and ward off catastrophe. Article continued here.
Evacuation orders can't keep up as fires get faster and hotter — with deadly results https://t.co/cybCKhfcrr
— Fire Adapted Bailey (@FABinColorado) September 11, 2018
Raging wildfires send scientists scrambling to study health effects
by Sara Reardon (c) Nature - International Journal of Science September 7, 2018
by Sara Reardon (c) Nature - International Journal of Science September 7, 2018
Firefighters in California have faced a historic fire season in 2018. Credit: Fred Greaves /Reuters
Record-setting wildfires have burnt through northern California over the past month, blanketing huge swathes of the western United States in a smoky haze and destroying an area larger than London. Now scientists are hoping that the fiery summer will help them determine whether exposure to wildfire smoke damages health over the long term. Article continued here.
Wildfires Make Their Own Weather, And That Matters For Fire Management
by Laurel Hamers (c) Science News September 9, 2018
by Laurel Hamers (c) Science News September 9, 2018
Wildfires are not known for their restraint. They’ll jump rivers, spew whirling dervishes of flames and double in size overnight.
Take the Carr Fire — one of California’s most destructive — sparked in mid-July when the rim of a flat tire met pavement. As the blaze grew, it jumped across the Sacramento River and sparked a flaming whirlwind that trapped and killed a firefighter near Redding. By the time it was fully contained on August 30, it had burned 930 square kilometers, destroyed more than 1,000 buildings, and killed seven people.
“Once these fires are spreading fast enough and intensely enough, you can’t stop them,” says Ruddy Mell, a combustion engineer with the U.S. Forest Service based in Seattle.
Federal and state agencies that manage wildfires use mathematical equations — fire models — to predict how blazes will spread and decide how to commit firefighting resources or whether an evacuation is needed. But the models can’t always predict when a fire will suddenly veer in a new direction or grow exponentially.
Now, scientists are developing more nuanced fire models with increasingly detailed satellite data and better understanding of how fires can create their own weather and fan their own flames. These finer-scale models take hours or days to run on a computer, so they aren’t likely to replace more quick-and-dirty field models for responding in the heat of the moment. But they can help scientists figure out what’s driving a wildfire’s behavior — and learn how to better protect communities from fires. Article continued here.
Take the Carr Fire — one of California’s most destructive — sparked in mid-July when the rim of a flat tire met pavement. As the blaze grew, it jumped across the Sacramento River and sparked a flaming whirlwind that trapped and killed a firefighter near Redding. By the time it was fully contained on August 30, it had burned 930 square kilometers, destroyed more than 1,000 buildings, and killed seven people.
“Once these fires are spreading fast enough and intensely enough, you can’t stop them,” says Ruddy Mell, a combustion engineer with the U.S. Forest Service based in Seattle.
Federal and state agencies that manage wildfires use mathematical equations — fire models — to predict how blazes will spread and decide how to commit firefighting resources or whether an evacuation is needed. But the models can’t always predict when a fire will suddenly veer in a new direction or grow exponentially.
Now, scientists are developing more nuanced fire models with increasingly detailed satellite data and better understanding of how fires can create their own weather and fan their own flames. These finer-scale models take hours or days to run on a computer, so they aren’t likely to replace more quick-and-dirty field models for responding in the heat of the moment. But they can help scientists figure out what’s driving a wildfire’s behavior — and learn how to better protect communities from fires. Article continued here.
Enormous wildfires spark scramble to improve fire models
by Jeff Tollefson (c) Nature - International Journal of Science August 31, 2018
by Jeff Tollefson (c) Nature - International Journal of Science August 31, 2018
Firefighters battle a conflagration near Redding, California, in July.Credit: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty
In California, where the state’s largest wildfire on record continues to burn, fires are getting bigger and less predictable — so much so that scientists are struggling to model them. Now, two research projects under way in the state are aiming to revamp the models that scientists, first responders and policymakers use to understand these costly and dangerous disasters. Article continued here.
2018 CO Wildfires Part Of Worst Year In History, Five Make Top 20 Biggest Blazes
by Jenni Fink (c) Newsweek August 21, 2018
by Jenni Fink (c) Newsweek August 21, 2018
Fire from the Black Forest fire burns behind a stand of trees on June 12, 2013, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. 2018 has become one of the worst years for wildfires in Colorado, already burning over 400,000 acres with over four months left of the year. PHOTO: CHRIS SCHNEIDER/GETTY IMAGE
Colorado’s wildfire season isn’t close to being over, but it’s already become the second worst year in history in terms of acreage that’s been burned with five fires making the list of the top 20 largest. Article continued here.
Here's What It's Like To Lose Your Home In California's Wildfires
by Sarah Ruiz-Grossman (c) Mother Jones and The Foundation for National Progress August 18, 2018
by Sarah Ruiz-Grossman (c) Mother Jones and The Foundation for National Progress August 18, 2018
Hundreds of homes were burnt to the ground in Coffey Park as high winds pushed the Tubbs fire from house to house. David Gross/ZUMA Wire
Michele Rahmn woke with a start at 1:45 a.m. Monday, Oct. 9, 2017. She smelled smoke.
She shook her husband, Steve, awake, and he jumped out of bed and looked out the window. The sky over their neighborhood of Coffey Park, in Santa Rosa, California, was filled with thick, dark smoke, an eerie glow of light behind it. Their electricity was out. Article continued here.
She shook her husband, Steve, awake, and he jumped out of bed and looked out the window. The sky over their neighborhood of Coffey Park, in Santa Rosa, California, was filled with thick, dark smoke, an eerie glow of light behind it. Their electricity was out. Article continued here.
What It Felt Like Inside The Fire Tornado That Killed A California Firefighter
by Dakin Andone (c) CNN August 17, 2018
This article contains numerous videos that are terrifying and must-see. Please follow this link to see the article and videos.
by Dakin Andone (c) CNN August 17, 2018
This article contains numerous videos that are terrifying and must-see. Please follow this link to see the article and videos.
The Causes and Solutions to Today's Worldwide Megafires
by Jackson Schroeder (c) The University Network August 10, 2018
by Jackson Schroeder (c) The University Network August 10, 2018
2018’s heat waves have the world on fire.
Record-setting wildfires have stormed through and torched an unusually high number of regions, including the Arctic Circle.
The reason — it’s too hot.
Overall, 2018 is on pace to be the fourth-warmest year ever. Article continued here.
Record-setting wildfires have stormed through and torched an unusually high number of regions, including the Arctic Circle.
The reason — it’s too hot.
Overall, 2018 is on pace to be the fourth-warmest year ever. Article continued here.
The Only Thing Fire Scientists Are Sure Of: This Will Get Worse
by Adam Rogers (c) Wired August 1, 2018
by Adam Rogers (c) Wired August 1, 2018
JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
SUBTRACT OUT THE conspiracists and the willfully ignorant and the argument marshaled by skeptics against global warming, roughly restated, assumes that scientists vastly overstate the consequences of pumping greenhouse gases into Earth’s atmosphere. Uncertainties in their calculations, the skeptics say, make it impossible to determine with confidence how bad the future was going to be. The sour irony of that muttonheaded resistance to data is that, after four decades of being wrong, those people are almost right. Article continued here.
California Wildfires Are Breaking the Rules by Burning Downhill Fast
by Allie Weill (c) KQED Science on PBS News Hour, July 28, 2018
by Allie Weill (c) KQED Science on PBS News Hour, July 28, 2018
Firefighters from Chino Hills keep watch on a wildfire as they perform structure protection on a residence near Potrero California, U.S. June 20, 2016. Photo By Mike Blake /Reuters
Right now, on the outskirts of Redding, a rampaging wildfire is doing something that was once unusual: It’s burning fast…downhill.
“Fires are burning almost as fast downhill as they burn uphill,” said Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean, from the scene of the Carr Fire, which by midday Friday had torched more than 44,000 acres and was only 3 percent contained.
That’s not typical. One of the first things wildland firefighters learn is that fires burn much faster uphill. Article continued here.
“Fires are burning almost as fast downhill as they burn uphill,” said Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean, from the scene of the Carr Fire, which by midday Friday had torched more than 44,000 acres and was only 3 percent contained.
That’s not typical. One of the first things wildland firefighters learn is that fires burn much faster uphill. Article continued here.
Can 'Moneyball' Fix How The West Manages Wildfire?
by KUOW News (c) Earthfix July 24, 2018
by KUOW News (c) Earthfix July 24, 2018
A blaze burns in the Umpqua National Forest in 2017.
The U.S. government spent a record $2.9 billion fighting wildfires last year. This year is shaping up to be another costly fire season. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Up against pressure from politicians and the public, risk-averse bureaucracies drive their fire managers to spend millions of dollars suppressing wildfires that pose relatively low risk compared to the benefit of letting them burn. Some of those fires are far from homes in remote wilderness. Others are closer to communities in national forests, where under the right conditions they could, in fact, reduce costs and risks to life and property by stunting the spread of future fires. Article continued here.
Up against pressure from politicians and the public, risk-averse bureaucracies drive their fire managers to spend millions of dollars suppressing wildfires that pose relatively low risk compared to the benefit of letting them burn. Some of those fires are far from homes in remote wilderness. Others are closer to communities in national forests, where under the right conditions they could, in fact, reduce costs and risks to life and property by stunting the spread of future fires. Article continued here.
A Political Firestorm Is About To Hit The Capitol: Who Will Pay For Wildfire Damages?
by Laura Rosenhall ((c) KQED News July 17, 2018)
This article applies to California but is equally applicable to Colorado. Read article here.
by Laura Rosenhall ((c) KQED News July 17, 2018)
This article applies to California but is equally applicable to Colorado. Read article here.
It’s Time to Rethink Firefighting in the Wildland-Urban Interface
by Stephen Pyne ((c) Treesource July 16, 2018)
Read article here.
by Stephen Pyne ((c) Treesource July 16, 2018)
Read article here.
We've Entered The Era of "Fire Tsunamis"
by Eric Holthaus ((c) Grist Magazine July 5, 2018)
by Eric Holthaus ((c) Grist Magazine July 5, 2018)
Helen H. Richardson / The Denver Post via Getty Images
Life in the Rocky Mountains is frequently extreme as blizzards, baking sun, and fires alternate with the seasons. But fire tsunamis? Those aren’t normal.
On Thursday, one observer described a “tsunami” of flames overnight at the Spring Creek fire near La Veta in the south-central part of the state. And you can’t stop tsunamis.
“It was a perfect firestorm,” Ben Brack, incident commander for the Spring Creek fire, told the Denver Post. “You can imagine standing in front of a tsunami or tornado and trying to stop it from destroying homes. A human response is ineffective.” Article continued here.
On Thursday, one observer described a “tsunami” of flames overnight at the Spring Creek fire near La Veta in the south-central part of the state. And you can’t stop tsunamis.
“It was a perfect firestorm,” Ben Brack, incident commander for the Spring Creek fire, told the Denver Post. “You can imagine standing in front of a tsunami or tornado and trying to stop it from destroying homes. A human response is ineffective.” Article continued here.
Proactive Firebreaks Protect Nearly $1 Billion in Homes, Infrastructure During Colorado Wildfire
by Holly Krake (c) U.S. Forest Service Blog June 29, 2018
by Holly Krake (c) U.S. Forest Service Blog June 29, 2018
Fuel breaks on the White River National Forest in Colorado directly protect nearby homes during the Buffalo Fire in the community of Silverthorne, Colo. on June 12, 2018. (Photo credit: USDA)
When the Buffalo Fire sparked on the White River National Forest on June 12, the flames stopped short of nearly 1,400 residences near Silverthorne, Colorado. But, it wasn’t just the air support from firefighting helicopters and tankers and the more than 150 firefighters on scene that helped prevent a catastrophe in two small mountain subdivisions. Part of the success can also be attributed to proactive work over the last decade to build fuel breaks and reduce hazardous fuels where homes meet wild lands or what is called the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI).
“The fuel breaks reduced the number of trees available to burn next to homes; gave firefighters safe spots to aggressively fight the fire; and provided for effective fire-retardant drop zones,” said Bill Jackson, district ranger, White River National Forest, USDA Forest Service. “Without the proactive forest treatments, we likely would have lost homes.” Article continued here.
“The fuel breaks reduced the number of trees available to burn next to homes; gave firefighters safe spots to aggressively fight the fire; and provided for effective fire-retardant drop zones,” said Bill Jackson, district ranger, White River National Forest, USDA Forest Service. “Without the proactive forest treatments, we likely would have lost homes.” Article continued here.
Fires are white-hot signs of climate change in our backyard
(c) The Denver Post June 28, 2018
(c) The Denver Post June 28, 2018
The Sugarloaf Fire grows in the Williams Fork Range, Thursday, June 28, 2018, near Silverthorne, Colo. The fire, started by lightning the previous night, reached 200 acres as of 5:20 p.m. Thursday. (Hugh Carey/Summit Daily News via AP)
My first backpacking trip as a kid was in Bear Creek in southwest Colorado where the Burro Fire is now incinerating thousands of acres of forest. Fishing poles in hand, my brother and I hiked from fishing hole to fishing hole in the shade of tall spruce and fir trees. Many of the most wonderful times in my childhood involved hunting and fishing trips across Colorado with my family. Like many in southwest Colorado, I suspect, I’ve been watching the billowing smoke plumes, now visible from outer space, of the Burro and 416 Fires with an ever-sinking feeling in my stomach. Article continued here.
Making Consumer Fireworks History
(c) Michele Steinberg, NFPA Xchange June 28, 2018.
Find the article here.
(c) Michele Steinberg, NFPA Xchange June 28, 2018.
Find the article here.
Wildfire - The Answer
by Bob Roper (c) Wildfire Magazine March 20, 2018
by Bob Roper (c) Wildfire Magazine March 20, 2018
Smoke from wildland fires in North Bay counties pushed approximately 45 miles south into the San Francisco Bay, and tint the sunlight seen from Alameda, California, on October 12, 2017. PHOTO: Lance Cheung, USDA.
In the aftermath of wildfires burning in California and elsewhere, causing deaths and billions of dollars in property losses, elected leaders will surely commission new and time-consuming “Blue Ribbon” studies to explore the reasons that made these fires so damaging. Let me offer a viewpoint that simply states it’s the elected leaders (federal, state, local) and the citizenry that have ignored the results of previous “Blue Ribbon” studies and may ignore new recommendations in the future. Let’s ask our elected leaders to end the “analysis paralysis” state and enact major policy direction. Article continued here.
Fantastic Failure: False Hope and the Four Mile Canyon Fire
by Dave Lasky (c) Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network 2018 (first published January 4, 2018)
by Dave Lasky (c) Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network 2018 (first published January 4, 2018)
Photo: satellite image of the Four Mile Canyon Fire perimeter. Green and black indicate burned areas. White spots are destroyed homes. Credit: DigitalGlobe
Note from F A B: This sobering article highlights the importance of the Home Ignition Zone, mitigating our road rights of way, and the mistake of not doing enough.
On the morning of September 2, 2010, the Four Mile Canyon Fire ignited in the Rocky Mountain Foothills, just west of Boulder, Colorado. Eighteen hours later, 168 homes were destroyed, and over 6,000 acres had burned. For me, what started as a smoke report from a neighboring fire protection district finished as the most traumatic experience of my professional career. I watched the fire destroy seven of my neighbors’ homes and fought the fire from my own front deck. It is a horrific moment when you realize that the worst case scenario, the thing you had been theoretically preparing for, is actually happening. Despite having fought fire across the West, I was emotionally unprepared to help my wife evacuate our dogs, cat and horses while also defending my friends’ and neighbors’ homes. Article continued here.
On the morning of September 2, 2010, the Four Mile Canyon Fire ignited in the Rocky Mountain Foothills, just west of Boulder, Colorado. Eighteen hours later, 168 homes were destroyed, and over 6,000 acres had burned. For me, what started as a smoke report from a neighboring fire protection district finished as the most traumatic experience of my professional career. I watched the fire destroy seven of my neighbors’ homes and fought the fire from my own front deck. It is a horrific moment when you realize that the worst case scenario, the thing you had been theoretically preparing for, is actually happening. Despite having fought fire across the West, I was emotionally unprepared to help my wife evacuate our dogs, cat and horses while also defending my friends’ and neighbors’ homes. Article continued here.
We Need A Better Social Contract with Wildfire
by Paul Larmer (c) High Country News December 11, 2017 (hcn.org)
by Paul Larmer (c) High Country News December 11, 2017 (hcn.org)
In his 2004 book Scorched Earth, Idaho Statesman columnist Rocky Barker describes the desperate sprint he and a colleague made to escape a 1988 wildfire in Yellowstone National Park: “Coals were pelting his back and I could see fist-sized firebrands by my head. … The entire area turned black as night and the howling wind sounded like a jet engine. … The forest we had just left … ignited as if someone had lit a match to gasoline.”
Wildfire can be as terrifying as any natural force on Earth. If we needed a reminder of this, we got it with this year’s dramatic season. But while 2017 may well be remembered mainly for its destructiveness, I hope it will also be remembered as the year that fear-based responses to fire began to lose some of their power. Article continued here.
Wildfire can be as terrifying as any natural force on Earth. If we needed a reminder of this, we got it with this year’s dramatic season. But while 2017 may well be remembered mainly for its destructiveness, I hope it will also be remembered as the year that fear-based responses to fire began to lose some of their power. Article continued here.
California Wildfires Are A Wake-Up Call for Colorado
by Harris Sherman (c) Denver Post November 3, 2017
The recent conflagration in California’s Sonoma and Napa counties, with the loss of human life and wholesale destruction of communities, vineyards, and vast forests, should be yet another wake up call for Coloradans. Our state experienced its own warnings with the Hayman fire in 2002, the Waldo fire in 2012 and Black Forest in 2013. But in reality, relatively little preventive work has occurred since these fires. Meanwhile, wildfire threats are worsening and we are not prepared.
I have had the unique opportunity of serving twice as director of Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources, where we dealt with the pine beetle epidemic and its corresponding buildup of flammable fuels. I also have overseen the United States Forest Service during a period of record forest fires across the United States.
At both the state and federal level, these governments have struggled with the enormous costs of fighting fires and finding additional resources to address the underlying causes of such fires. But there are emerging solutions which will require broad private and public sector participation rather than relying solely on the work of a few governmental agencies. This article describes some of the solutions at hand and the path forward. But first, let’s address the realities on the ground. Article continued here.
Here are links to more stories on the 2017 California wildfires. Pay attention to how quickly the fires spread.
Tubbs Fire: How Its Deadly March from Calistoga to Santa Rosa Unfolded ((c) Press Democrat 2017)
How Santa Rosa's Tubbs Fire Spread, Hour By Hour (with a map) ((c) Press Democrat 2017)
by Harris Sherman (c) Denver Post November 3, 2017
The recent conflagration in California’s Sonoma and Napa counties, with the loss of human life and wholesale destruction of communities, vineyards, and vast forests, should be yet another wake up call for Coloradans. Our state experienced its own warnings with the Hayman fire in 2002, the Waldo fire in 2012 and Black Forest in 2013. But in reality, relatively little preventive work has occurred since these fires. Meanwhile, wildfire threats are worsening and we are not prepared.
I have had the unique opportunity of serving twice as director of Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources, where we dealt with the pine beetle epidemic and its corresponding buildup of flammable fuels. I also have overseen the United States Forest Service during a period of record forest fires across the United States.
At both the state and federal level, these governments have struggled with the enormous costs of fighting fires and finding additional resources to address the underlying causes of such fires. But there are emerging solutions which will require broad private and public sector participation rather than relying solely on the work of a few governmental agencies. This article describes some of the solutions at hand and the path forward. But first, let’s address the realities on the ground. Article continued here.
Here are links to more stories on the 2017 California wildfires. Pay attention to how quickly the fires spread.
Tubbs Fire: How Its Deadly March from Calistoga to Santa Rosa Unfolded ((c) Press Democrat 2017)
How Santa Rosa's Tubbs Fire Spread, Hour By Hour (with a map) ((c) Press Democrat 2017)
With Warming, A Terrifying New Normal For Firefighters
(c) YaleEnvironment360 August 10, 2015
A Yale Environment 360 video goes onto the front lines with Colorado fire crews who have watched as massive, months-long wildfires have become a regular occurrence in their state.
Introduction to the video: To many people, climate change is a distant, abstract concept. But to the men and women who battle wildfires in Colorado and throughout the American West, evidence of a warming world is something they face on a daily basis. In recent years, these fire crews have fought blazes that are larger, more frequent, faster-moving, longer-lasting, and increasingly unpredictable — the result of rising temperatures, diminishing snowpack, and more frequent droughts. This e360 video, “Unacceptable Risk: Firefighters on the Front Lines of Climate Change,” produced by The Story Group, focuses on the people battling to save lives and property in a rapidly changing environment.
It tells the story of dedicated professionals struggling to come to grips with a new and frightening breed of fire. Once known as the “asbestos state” because of its low incidence of big wildfires, Colorado is now experiencing huge, record-breaking fires almost every year. “We’re being asked to battle fires that didn’t exist 20 years ago,” says veteran firefighter Don Whittemore. “We’re seeing a level of fire and an intensity of fire and a risk to firefighters that hasn’t existed in the past. On a day-to-day basis we’re being surprised — and in this business, surprise is what kills people.”
Link to the video (this is a MUST SEE)
(c) YaleEnvironment360 August 10, 2015
A Yale Environment 360 video goes onto the front lines with Colorado fire crews who have watched as massive, months-long wildfires have become a regular occurrence in their state.
Introduction to the video: To many people, climate change is a distant, abstract concept. But to the men and women who battle wildfires in Colorado and throughout the American West, evidence of a warming world is something they face on a daily basis. In recent years, these fire crews have fought blazes that are larger, more frequent, faster-moving, longer-lasting, and increasingly unpredictable — the result of rising temperatures, diminishing snowpack, and more frequent droughts. This e360 video, “Unacceptable Risk: Firefighters on the Front Lines of Climate Change,” produced by The Story Group, focuses on the people battling to save lives and property in a rapidly changing environment.
It tells the story of dedicated professionals struggling to come to grips with a new and frightening breed of fire. Once known as the “asbestos state” because of its low incidence of big wildfires, Colorado is now experiencing huge, record-breaking fires almost every year. “We’re being asked to battle fires that didn’t exist 20 years ago,” says veteran firefighter Don Whittemore. “We’re seeing a level of fire and an intensity of fire and a risk to firefighters that hasn’t existed in the past. On a day-to-day basis we’re being surprised — and in this business, surprise is what kills people.”
Link to the video (this is a MUST SEE)
Good Fire, Bad Fire
A publication of the Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership (c) 2007
Link to document
A publication of the Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership (c) 2007
Link to document
Forest Restoration Guidelines in Ponderosa Pine on the Front Range of Colorado
A publication of the Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership (c) 2007
Link to document
A publication of the Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership (c) 2007
Link to document