When the Wildfires are Gone

[longknife]

It's amazing how Ma Nature comes back after disasters. Thanks to Dave Barry's blog.

 

[waltky]

Could be most expensive wildfire season ever...

US wildfires may be costliest ever
Sun, Sep 06, 2015 - The battle against wildfires sweeping across the western US could be the costliest on record, with about 30,000 firefighters mobilized and US$1.23 billion spent so far, officials said.

US Forest Service spokesperson Jennifer Jones said that last week alone, a record US$243 million was spent fighting more than 40 wildfires, most of them in Washington state, which along with Alaska has borne the brunt of the disaster. “Overall, the US Forest Service has spent US$1.23 billion,” Jones said, adding that the bill could get steeper as fires continue to blaze in some western US states. The all-time record for firefighting costs in the US is US$1.65 billion, which was set in fiscal 2002.

As of Friday, the flames had scorched nearly 3.5 million hectares so far this year, more than half in Alaska, the National Interagency Fire Center said. “Three new large fires were reported [on Friday] and three contained,” the agency said in a statement. “The majority of the fire activity continues in California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.” US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said if current conditions persist, an average US$200 million a week will be needed to battle the flames which have killed seven firefighters and overstretched resources.

Firefighters drive their vehicles near the Tepee Springs fire in Idaho County on Tuesday.

Officials fear further devastation in the coming months, especially in southern California, which experiences severe wind storms in the fall known as the Santa Ana winds. “September and October are generally when we see our worst wildfires,” monitoring agency Calfire spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said. “The potential for a record year is definitely there,” she said. “We are still in a very severe drought with potential for very severe fire behavior.”

California is into its fourth year of a record-breaking drought that has parched much of the state and forced residents to cut back on water consumption and rethink their habits. Experts say that climate change is likely contributing to the increased frequency in infernos, with some scientists predicting that by the end of the century megafires will become the norm. “There is science in the fact that the climate is changing, which affects the fire season throughout the year,” National Interagency Fire Center spokeswoman Jennifer Smith said. “Fire seasons are longer and fire activity is more extreme.”

She said given the number of hectares devoured by the flames so far this year, 2015 has the potential of being a record year. US President Barack Obama last month declared a state of emergency in Washington state, where about 200 active-duty soldiers have joined the battle against the flames along with reservists. Nearly 70 firefighters from Australia and New Zealand have also arrived as backup. The fires have destroyed at least 475 homes in Washington and California and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people.

US wildfires may be costliest ever - Taipei Times

 

[waltky]

Wildfires wipin' out the countryside...

Northern California fire destroys 400 homes, businesses
September 14, 2015 | Two of California's fastest-burning wildfires in decades overtook several Northern California towns, killing at least one person and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses and sending thousands of residents fleeing highways lined with buildings, guardrails and cars still in flames.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection confirmed one fatality in the wildfire north of San Francisco that raced through dry brush and exploded in size within hours. Officials also counted 400 homes, two apartment complexes and 10 businesses destroyed by the flames, department spokeswoman Lynn Valentine said. In addition, up to 1,000 structures such as barns, sheds and other outbuildings were burned, said Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant. The devastation comes after a separate wildfire to the southeast destroyed at least 81 homes. Residents fled from Middletown, dodging smoldering telephone poles, downed power lines and fallen trees as they drove through billowing smoke.

A sign hangs above an entryway to a home destroyed by fire Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, in Middletown, Calif. Two of California’s fastest-burning wildfires in decades overtook at several Northern California towns, destroying over a hundred homes and sending residents fleeing Sunday.

Whole blocks of houses were burned in parts of the town of more than 1,000 residents that lies about 20 miles north of the famed Napa Valley. On the west side of town, house after house was burned to their foundations, with only charred appliances and twisted metal garage doors still recognizable. Firefighters on Sunday afternoon could be seen driving around flaming utility poles to put out spot fires. Homeowner Justin Galvin, 33, himself a firefighter, stood alone at his house, poking its shin-high, smoking ruins with a piece of scrap metal. "This is my home. Or it was," said Galvin, who spent all night fighting another massive fire in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Valentine said most of the destruction occurred in Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake, as well as numerous homes along a shuttered state highway.

A burned car sits along Highway 29 with a vineyard in the background Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, in Middletown, Calif. Two of California’s fastest-burning wildfires in decades overtook at several Northern California towns, destroying over a hundred homes and sending residents fleeing Sunday.

Wind gusts that reached up to 30 miles per hour sent embers raining down on homes and made it hard for firefighters to stop the Lake County blaze from advancing, Berlant said. Four firefighters who are members of a helicopter crew suffered second-degree burns during the initial attack on the fire Saturday afternoon. They remained hospitalized in stable condition. The fire continued to burn in all directions, triggering the evacuation of a stretch along Highway 281, including Clear Lake Riviera, a town with about 3,000 residents. It was threatening critical communications infrastructure as well as a power plant, Cal Fire said.

Part of a garage door stands next to a number of hillside homes destroyed by fire Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, in Hidden Valley, Calif. Two of California’s fastest-burning wildfires in decades overtook at several Northern California towns, destroying over a hundred homes and sending residents fleeing Sunday.

The 78-square-mile fire erupted Saturday afternoon and rapidly chewed through brush and trees parched from several years of drought. Entire towns as well as residents along a 35-mile stretch of State Route 29 were evacuated. Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday declared a state of emergency to free up resources. Brown had already declared a state of emergency for a separate 102-square-mile wildfire about 70 miles southeast of Sacramento that has destroyed at least 81 homes and turned the grassy, tree-studded Sierra Nevada foothills an eerie white. Crews increased containment on that blaze to 25 percent. The fire, which broke out on Wednesday, was threatening about 6,400 more buildings.

MORE

See also:

Thousands flee 2 fast-moving California wildfires
September 13, 2015 | Thousands of people rushed to escape a massive wildfire charging across the tinder-dry Sierra Nevada foothills and another out-of-control fire that broke out in Northern California on Saturday, sending four firefighters to the hospital with second-degree burns.

The fire began in Lake County, about 100 miles north of San Francisco, and grew to about 15 square miles (or 10,000 acres) in just a few hours, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. The firefighters, all members of a helicopter crew, were airlifted to a hospital burn unit, where they were listed in stable condition, department spokesman Daniel Berlant said. The fire forced the evacuation of two towns as well as residents along a 35-mile stretch of State Route 29.

To the east, a blood-red sun pushed through a choking fog of smoke and ash that turned California's grassy, tree-studded Gold Country an eerie white. Away from the burned-out cars and smoldering remains of homes, Annette Stout and other residents who fled the flames rested at evacuation centers. Stout was ordered from her house Friday afternoon, and for the first time since her husband's death in March, she drove their recreational vehicle to safety in Angels Camp, a quaint town made famous by Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Tale of the Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." "I grabbed my cats, their carriers, important papers, my husband death's certificate and his ashes," said Stout, who lives in the community of Hathaway Pines. Despite the outpouring of help at the center set up at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds, she didn't sleep well. "We knew we were safe here, but (I was) worrying about the house, worrying about those who didn't leave," she said.

A home burns near Mokelumne Hill, in Jackson, Calif. Another round of evacuations has been ordered as wildfires continue to rage in the central and northern part of the state.

The blaze ignited about 70 miles southeast of Sacramento on Wednesday and exploded to more than 101 square miles amid triple-digit temperatures and land parched from several years of drought. Crews increased containment to 15 percent despite a thick layer of smoke that kept air tankers and helicopters from flying Saturday. Firefighters on the ground were hampered by rugged, hard-to-access terrain. With very little wind, the fires were driven by bone-dry brush and timber. "We're in a Catch-22, because without wind the smoke won't lift," said Mike Mohler, a Cal Fire spokesman. "We needed the aircraft today."

The fire destroyed 86 homes, 51 outbuildings and was threatening about 6,400 more. At the fairgrounds, Joe Thomas rested on a folded tent near his pickup truck, one of dozens of parked cars and RVs. He described what he could save from the flames — and what he couldn't. "I lost my business — it's all burned up — my shop, my house, 28 years of living," said Thomas, who lives near the community of Mountain Ranch. "I got to start all over. It's depressing." Thomas, who runs a tractor dealership and repair business, said he and his wife grabbed papers, his work computer, photos and their four dogs. But they left a goat, five ducks, six rabbits and more than 30 chickens behind. "I turned the pens open and turned them lose. I just couldn't gather them up," he said. "All we want to do is go home. It's miserable."

MORE

 

[waltky]

Residents of Fort McMurray start to trickle back in...

Residents start to return to Canada’s fire-stricken city
Thu, Jun 02, 2016 - Tens of thousands of Fort McMurray, Alberta, residents yesterday were expected to begin trickling back into the Canadian oil city ravaged by wildfires after the blaze was declared no longer a threat.

“Getting life back to a degree of normalcy in the immediate [future] is the key, and obviously for those people who have lost their homes tragically it is to make sure they have the supports they need,” said Scott Long, head of the Alberta Emergency Management agency. The fire, which forced the evacuation of nearly 100,000 people from the city and surrounding villages, remains out of control. However, it has moved away from populated areas as it heads eastward, while growing only minimally in the last few days to more than 566,560 hectares.

Smoke has largely dissipated in the city itself, raising local air quality to safe levels. “At this time the fire does not pose any immediate threat to Fort McMurray or surrounding communities,” Alberta wildfire manager Chad Morrison said. The residents were scheduled to begin returning at 8am yesterday, with police monitoring traffic flows and ambulances on standby. Rest stops have been set up along the 500km route from Edmonton to Fort McMurray. The Red Cross has offered to bus in up to 2,000 people per day. The repatriation will be voluntary and phased in over two weeks to prevent highway gridlock.

However, three hard-hit neighborhoods — Abasand, Beacon Hill and Waterways — will be closed off until September, when remediation and cleanup are expected to be completed. Most of the homes in these neighborhoods, which have been fenced off by a 30km enclosure, were burned to the ground when fires swept through at the beginning of last month. More than 500 undamaged houses and apartments were deemed unsafe for habitation this week after tests of air, soil and ash revealed chemical and heavy metal contamination.

Residents start to return to Canada’s fire-stricken city - Taipei Times

 

[Skull Pilot]

Fire is a natural process and is necessary for may species of plants to reproduce

Just because people have encroached more and more on wilderness does not mean fires are any more common than they used to be they just affect more people

 

[waltky]

Hundreds flee homes ahead of California wildfires near Los Angeles...

California wildfires: Hundreds flee homes near Los Angeles
Sun, 24 Jul 2016 03:54:55 GMT (10 hours and 7 mins ago)
Fast-moving wildfires have forced hundreds of people to leave their homes in mountains north of Los Angeles, California, the authorities say.

The fires had covered an area of 20,000 acres by Saturday evening, sending a pall of smoke across parts of Los Angeles County. About 300 people have been evacuated near the city of Santa Clarita. Public swimming pools in Pasadena and Glendale closed because of smoke and falling ash. The fires are being driven by high temperatures and strong winds, as forecasters warn the conditions are set to continue.

A firefighting helicopter drops water at the Sand Fire on July 23 2016 near Santa Clarita, California​

The wildfires, known as the Sand Fire, broke out on Friday afternoon in the Sand Canyon area near Santa Clarita and winds quickly fanned them towards the Angeles National Forest. About 900 firefighters are battling the flames, helped by helicopters and aeroplanes dumping water and fire retardant.

Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp said that about 1,000 homes were currently in danger but if the situation worsened, up to 45,000 homes, mostly in the San Fernando Valley, could be at risk. Among those evacuated to safety were about 400 animals from the Wildlife Waystation, a sanctuary for rescued exotic animals within the national forest.

California wildfires: Hundreds flee homes near Los Angeles - BBC News

See also:

California fires threaten thousands of homes; 1 body found
July 24, 2016 — Thousands of homes remained evacuated Sunday as two massive wildfires raged in tinder-dry California hills and canyons, and authorities said a burned body was found in one neighborhood swept by the flames.

Firefighters have been working a fire up and down ridgelines since Friday that has blackened 31-square miles of brush on the edge of Santa Clarita and the Angeles National Forest. About 300 miles up the coast, crews were battling another blaze across 10-square miles north of the majestic Big Sur region. The body of a man was discovered inside a burned sedan Saturday evening outside a home in Santa Clarita, just north of Los Angeles. There was no evidence the death was crime-related, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Sunday as the investigation continued.

A large plume of smoke from a wildfire rises near Highway 1, burning five miles south of Carmel, Calif.​

The area was among those ordered evacuated as the fire raged through brush withered by days of 100-degree temperatures as Southern California sweltered through a heat wave. After flames driven by gusty winds swept through an evacuated neighborhood, firefighters reported that some buildings had been engulfed, but it was not immediately clear whether they were homes, outbuildings or garages, said Nathan Judy, a spokesman for the U.S. Fire Service. The area was still unsafe, he said late Saturday night. "You've still got hotspots in that area, a lot of smoldering stuff," and trees that might fall because their roots had burned, Judy said.

Firefighters line a ridge near Southern Oaks Drive as a brush fire burns wildly in the Stevenson Ranch community of Santa Clarita, Calif. A fast-moving brush fire north of Los Angeles has sent about 2,000 people fleeing from their homes.​

More than 900 firefighters and water-dropping helicopters battled the flames overnight on several fronts. "It's not a one-direction type of fire," Judy said. "It's going in different directions depending on which way the wind is blowing. It's doing what it wants." Despite firefighters' efforts, the blaze destroyed sets at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita, which has Old West-style buildings used for movie locations. "It was a horrific firestorm," owner Derek Hunt told KABC-TV. "At some point, you know you're defeated and you have to step back and save what you can. We fought as best as we could."

MORE

 

[waltky]

Pilot Fire, east of L.A. grows half again...

Out-of-control California wildfire grows, forces schools to close
Tue Aug 9, 2016 - A wildfire burning out of control in mountains and foothills east of Los Angeles mushroomed more than 50 percent overnight, forcing authorities to order three school districts to cancel classes due to heavy smoke and dangerous conditions.

More than 900 firefighters were battling the so-called Pilot Fire, which has charred some 7,500 acres of bone-dry tinder and brush in the San Bernardino Mountains since it broke out around noon on Sunday. "We feel it is in the best interest of safety that we keep our students and staff at home," the Silver Valley Unified School District, which oversees nine schools in Mojave Desert, said in a statement on its website. Also closing campuses on Tuesday were the Apple Valley and Hesperia school districts in those high desert communities some 90 miles east of Los Angeles.

More than 5,000 homes were under evacuation orders from the Pilot Fire, a highway and several roads were closed and smoke advisories were issued for the Mojave Desert area, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). No homes had been destroyed but Cal Fire said the blaze was only 6 percent contained as of Tuesday morning. Some 400 miles to the north, the famed Highway 1 along the California coast was reopened to residents, one day after authorities were forced to close it in both directions due to the threat from the Soberanes Fire.

[c enter]

Firefighters prepare hose lines to attempt to hold a road during the Pilot Fire near Silverwood Lake in San Bernardino county near Hesperia, California[/center]

That blaze, which erupted on July 22, has already blackened 67,000 acres in the Big Sur area, destroying 57 homes and 11 outbuildings. A bulldozer operator died on July 26 when his tractor rolled over as he helped property owners battle the flames, the sixth wildfire fatality in California this year. Authorities have traced origins of the blaze to an illegal campfire left unattended in a state park about a mile from Highway 1. No arrests have been made so far.

As of Monday, more than 4,800 firefighters battling the flames had cut containment lines around 50 percent of its perimeter. Firefighters are making gradual progress against the blaze as wildfire season in the western United States reaches its traditional peak, intensified by prolonged drought and extreme summer heat across California. The conflagration is one of 35 major wildfires that have charred half a million acres in 12 states, mostly in the West, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Out-of-control California wildfire grows, forces schools to close

 

[Damaged Eagle]

*****SMILE*****

 

[waltky]

New wildfire spreads at staggering pace in California...

Southern California fire burns at least a dozen buildings
August 17, 2016 — A wildfire broke out Tuesday and spread at a staggering pace in every direction through drought-parched canyons east of Los Angeles, burning at least a dozen buildings — including some homes — and prompting evacuation orders for entire communities.

The blaze that began as a small patch of flame next to Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass had scorched 15,000 acres of the San Bernardino Mountains. By nightfall, it had churned up and over ridges and was descending into the Mojave Desert. "The smoke is on the desert floor," said Eric Sherwin of the San Bernardino County Fire Department. Snaking walls of flame rising 50 to 100 feet high turned nearly two dozen square miles of chaparral to ashes, along with outbuildings and homes in the ranchlands 60 miles east of Los Angeles. "I can confirm that we've lost structures, both residential and commercial," Sherwin said at the scene of a hard-hit cluster of ranches. "I'm looking up here and I'm seeing buses, I'm seeing outbuildings, I'm seeing houses." At least a dozen buildings had burned, including the Summit Inn, an historic diner near Interstate 15, he said.

Mandatory evacuation calls went out to 34,506 homes with more than 82,600 people, ranging for the ski resort of Wrightwood to the sprawling high desert town of Phelan, with more than 14,000 residents. "This fire is burning in significantly different terrains at multiple elevation levels," making it difficult to fight, Sherwin said. Hundreds of animals, including dogs and horses, also were evacuated. The flames were fueled by thick stands of drought-stricken brush in the canyons and grass at lower elevations. The flames burned faster in the grassy areas, making them less likely to burn homes but also making them more vulnerable to wind shifts, Sherwin said. The fire forced a shutdown of Interstate 15, leaving commuters stranded for hours.

Blue Mountain Farms, a horse ranch in Phelan, was in the path of the fire — just as it was for another fire in the area a year ago. "Breathing smoke again, just like last year," Shannon Anderson, a partner in the ranch, said as she panted into the telephone. "It's raining ash." Ranch hands used hoses to wet down fences and anything else that could burn. Six firefighters were briefly trapped by flames at a home where the occupants had refused to leave, forcing the crew to protect the house, fire officials said. "We were fully engulfed in smoke," county firefighter Cody Anderson told KCBS-TV. "It was really hard just to see your hand in front of your face." "We just hunkered down and sat there and waited for the fire to blow over," he said. Anderson and another firefighter were treated for minor injuries.

Gov. Jerry Brown quickly declared a state of emergency in the fire area, freeing up special resources and funds for the firefight and recovery. As that fire surged, a major blaze north of San Francisco was fading, and about 4,000 people in the town of Clearlake were allowed to return home. Their relief, however, was tempered with anger at a man who authorities believe set the blaze that wiped out several blocks of a small town over the weekend along with 16 smaller fires dating back to last summer.

MORE