2018 Wildfires

[waltky]

Massive coastal bushfire chases Aussies to the beach...

Australians flee to the beach to avoid a massive coastal bushfire
Mon March 19, 2018 - A massive bushfire has engulfed a small town in southeastern Australia, destroying more than 100 buildings and forcing hundreds of residents to flee to beaches or evacuate to nearby towns, authorities said.

The fire, which has burned 1,200 hectares of bush, hit the coastal town of Tathra in New South Wales (NSW) on Sunday evening. Extreme heat and strong winds contributed to the quick spread of bushfire, leading to mass evacuations, according to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. There are no reports of residents missing or seriously injured, though a number of people have been treated for smoke inhalation, she said. Firefighters saved approximately 400 houses from the flames, but 69 homes were destroyed and 39 damaged.

Residents fled to the beach to avoid the flames.​

The fire also destroyed 30 caravans or cabins, according to the Rural Fire Service. Some residents fled to the beach to avoid the flames, as the temperature rose to 41 degrees Celsius (106 Farenheit), as reported by Reuters. "I walked to the beach for 5km with over 200 people to try to get away," a local, Simone Ward, told CNN. Ward, who later evacuated to the nearby coastal town of Bermagui, praised the community spirit in the Bega Valley, saying the quick thinking of the locals has been "phenomenal." "Everyone wants to help. Everyone who's seen those flames and that fire is so brave. It was so scary to be so close, you could see the flames and the explosions."

Debris from destroyed homes and a burnt-out car covers the ground in Tathra, Australia.​

Chris Bowles, a tourist who is road-tripping around Australia in a van, posted on Instagram pictures of the flames rising above the trees and the houses in Tathra. Dozens of homes destroyed in bushfire "We could see houses on fire as we drove away," he wrote.

Australia bushfire destroys 69 houses, forces residents to flee - CNN

 

[longknife]

Few people hear about the fires in Australia that cause so much havoc there. Thanks for this post.

 

[waltky]

Firefighter dies fighting Yosemite fire...

California firefighter dies battling blaze near Yosemite National Park
July 14, 2018 -- A California firefighter died Saturday while battling a blaze near Yosemite National Park, the statewide fire authority said.

Braden Varney, 36, a heavy equipment operator with Cal Fire, died on site after a bulldozer rolled while fighting the Ferguson Fire. He leaves behind a wife and two small children, Cal Fire said.Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean said Varney "was a community member. That's where he lived, protecting the area where he grew up." Varney, with Cal Fire's Madera-Mariposa-Merced Unit for a decade, was fighting the Ferguson Fire, one of the newest of dozens of wildfires burning across California and the West.

Firefighters battle the Valley Fire Sunday in San Bernardino County, Calif., one of several wildfires burning thousands of acres across the state. On Saturday, a firefighter died while battling the state's newest fire, the Ferguson Fire, a fire that was reported Friday near near Yosemite National Park.​

The fire was reported late Friday and has burned about 130 acres in the Sierra National Forest near El Portal, close to the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite. It was 5 percent contained Saturday morning. McLean said Varney's death is still under investigation. His job involved operating bulldozers and he was working on the line with teams trying to contain the fire when he was killed. The area where the firefighters were working has steep terrain and is largely inaccessible. Last year, firefighter Cory Iverson died of burns and smoke inhalation while fighting Ventura County's Thomas fire.

On Thursday the County Fire, the largest wildfire burning in California, was nearly 100 percent contained, fire officials said. It has burned 90,288 acres in Napa and Yolo counties.

California firefighter dies battling blaze near Yosemite National Park

 

[longknife]

It's going to be a very rough fire season.

 

[ozro]

Some good news:
Due to some nice monsoon storms in the past week, fire restrictions in my area have been lifted.

Fire restrictions, forest closures ended

 

[waltky]

Sweden struggling to control wildfires...

Sweden seeking foreign assistance to combat raging wildfires
July 19, 2018 -- Sweden called on other European countries to help it battle a series of wildfires raging throughout the country Thursday.

Italy, France and Norway sent aircraft to assist Swedish helicopters in combatting the 44 wildfires burning nearly 50,000 acres of forest in the country. Officials evacuated residents from Gavleborg, Jamtland and Dalarna counties. The largest fire in Fagelsjo-Lillasen has burned more than 6,000 acres.

In addition to receiving aid from other European countries, hundreds of residents from the municipality of Ragunda and other areas have volunteered to assist firefighting efforts. "There are at least 100 people helping every day to go and see what fires are left that need to be put out and then relating this information back to the firefighters," Ragunda municipality spokeswoman Karina Landin said. "There are also other volunteers helping with providing food and such things. We couldn't be doing this without them."

Sweden sought assistance from other European countries to combat more than 40 wildfires raging in the country on Thursday.​

Sweden's Civil Contingencies Agency also appealed to the Red Cross for help organizing volunteer efforts. We have extensive experience in organizing voluntary efforts and are now scaling up our work immediately," Swedish Red Cross Secretary General Martin Ärnlöv said. Ärnlöv called for anyone interested and able to help to contact the organization to help with "assistance in evacuation, distributing supplies and spreading information about the ongoing evacuation efforts."

Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lövin offered thanks to those who were combatting the fire. "A big thank you to all the heroes, professional and volunteers who are fighting to extinguish the wildfires in this heat. Your efforts are invaluable," she said.

Sweden seeking foreign assistance to combat raging wildfires

 

[longknife]

Sweden struggling to control wildfires...

Sweden seeking foreign assistance to combat raging wildfires
July 19, 2018 -- Sweden called on other European countries to help it battle a series of wildfires raging throughout the country Thursday.

Italy, France and Norway sent aircraft to assist Swedish helicopters in combatting the 44 wildfires burning nearly 50,000 acres of forest in the country. Officials evacuated residents from Gavleborg, Jamtland and Dalarna counties. The largest fire in Fagelsjo-Lillasen has burned more than 6,000 acres.

In addition to receiving aid from other European countries, hundreds of residents from the municipality of Ragunda and other areas have volunteered to assist firefighting efforts. "There are at least 100 people helping every day to go and see what fires are left that need to be put out and then relating this information back to the firefighters," Ragunda municipality spokeswoman Karina Landin said. "There are also other volunteers helping with providing food and such things. We couldn't be doing this without them."

Sweden sought assistance from other European countries to combat more than 40 wildfires raging in the country on Thursday.​

Sweden's Civil Contingencies Agency also appealed to the Red Cross for help organizing volunteer efforts. We have extensive experience in organizing voluntary efforts and are now scaling up our work immediately," Swedish Red Cross Secretary General Martin Ärnlöv said. Ärnlöv called for anyone interested and able to help to contact the organization to help with "assistance in evacuation, distributing supplies and spreading information about the ongoing evacuation efforts."

Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lövin offered thanks to those who were combatting the fire. "A big thank you to all the heroes, professional and volunteers who are fighting to extinguish the wildfires in this heat. Your efforts are invaluable," she said.

Sweden seeking foreign assistance to combat raging wildfires

Masswive fires north of The Arctic Circle.

 

[Old Rocks]

Wildfires have almost become a year-round threat in some parts of the western United States. From Colorado to California, it feels like the blazes from last year never went out.

Flames ignited forests and chaparral virtually nonstop in 2017, and the year ended with record infernos in Southern California that burned well into 2018.

Officials don’t refer to “fire seasons anymore but rather to fire years,” Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center, told me in an email.

The NIFC reports that this year, wildfires have burned more than 3.9 million acres, behind the 5 million acres that had burned as of this time last year.
Huge wildfires are spreading in California, Oregon, and Colorado. They’re poised to get worse.

Nearly all of Oregon, and most significantly, the west side, is primed for large fires. And we are having temperatures in the 90's, and it appears that will continue into August.

 

[waltky]

At least 74 killed as wildfires sweep through Greece...

At least 74 killed as wildfires sweep through resorts in Greece
Jul 24, 2018 — Wildfires raging through seaside resorts near the Greek capital torched homes, cars and forests, killing at least 74 people, authorities said Tuesday. Twenty-six of the dead were groups of families or friends found huddled together, some of them clasp in hugs. Others swam out to sea to escape the inferno and some never came back.

Greece endures wildfires every year but the fires that broke out Monday were the deadliest to hit the country in decades. Fueled by gale-force winds, they trapped thousands of people on beaches, roads and in homes. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras declared three days of national mourning for those killed as officials feared the death toll could rise even further, as there was no definitive count of how many people were missing. Coast guard boats patrolled the shores near fire-hit areas Tuesday after over 700 people trapped by quick-moving fires had to be rescued from beaches or the sea, where six of the dead were found.

A wildfire rages in the town of Rafina, near Athens, Greece. Photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters

While Greek authorities urged the public to contact them if they were looking for loved ones, many people took to social media, posting pictures of those they were looking for and their last known location before the fires hit. Fire service spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri announced Tuesday afternoon that the death toll had jumped from 50 to 74. In addition, 164 adults and 23 children were still being treated in hospitals for injuries, mainly burns. Of the adults, 71 remained hospitalized Tuesday afternoon, 10 of them in serious condition, while 11 of the children also remained hospitalized.

A local stands next to burnt cars following a wildfire at the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece​

Twenty-six of the dead were found at first light Tuesday huddled together in one compound near the sea in the community of Mati, near the port of Rafina. Red Cross rescuers who found them said they appeared to be families or groups of friends, as they were found hugging in groups of threes and fours. Although the fires had largely abated by Tuesday afternoon, they were far from out. Firefighters, aided by water-dropping aircraft from the sky, were tackling the remaining areas in the two main blazes near the capital: one northeast of Athens near Rafina, where most of the casualties appeared to have occurred.

A local sprays water with a hose on a burnt car following a wildfire at the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece.​

Stavrinidis, his wife and four friends swam out into the sea to escape the smoke, but they quickly became disoriented, losing sight of the shore and being swept out further by the wind and currents. Two of the group didn’t survive. “It is terrible to see the person next to you drowning and not being able to help him,” Stavrinidis said, his voice breaking. The remaining survivors were picked up by a fishing boat with an Egyptian crew who jumped into the water to rescue them.

MORE

 

[skookerasbil]

Looks to me like we may be looking at the entire nation burning to the ground!!!

 

[skookerasbil]

Can you believe they now actually make graphs that plot SIGNIFICANT WILDFIRE POTENTIAL OUTLOOK.

 

[gipper]

Wildfires have almost become a year-round threat in some parts of the western United States. From Colorado to California, it feels like the blazes from last year never went out.

Flames ignited forests and chaparral virtually nonstop in 2017, and the year ended with record infernos in Southern California that burned well into 2018.

Officials don’t refer to “fire seasons anymore but rather to fire years,” Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center, told me in an email.

The NIFC reports that this year, wildfires have burned more than 3.9 million acres, behind the 5 million acres that had burned as of this time last year.
Huge wildfires are spreading in California, Oregon, and Colorado. They’re poised to get worse.

Nearly all of Oregon, and most significantly, the west side, is primed for large fires. And we are having temperatures in the 90's, and it appears that will continue into August.

Hey OldCrotch could it be caused by 5G cell phone towers or is it old man coal?

 

[waltky]

Major wildfires across Israel...

Record heat starting major wildfires across Israel
July 25, 2018 -- Israeli firefighters worked Wednesday to put out fires along the border with Gaza, as the country dealt with a record-breaking heat wave.

Officials said one fire was sparked by an incendiary balloon and the rest were brush fires ignited by the intense heat. The largest blaze is burning near Kibbutz Re'im, where seven firefighting crews and four planes are involved in the fire, the Times of Israel reported. Fires are also burning in the northern Ahihud Forest, the central Horshim Forest and the southern Churchill Forest.

An Isreli firefighter takes a break while battling flames near the Gaza border. High temperatures from an enduring heat wave sparked brush fires along the border and blazes in three of Israel's largest forests​

Another fire, in the West Bank settlement of Karmei Tzur, was started by a barrage of Molotov cocktails thrown at a settlement security fence, the Israeli army said. Flames ultimately spread to nearby homes and forced residents to evacuate. The fires occurred during a major a heat wave. The Red Sea resort city of Eliat recorded a temperature of 109 degrees Wednesday, the Israel Meteorological Service said. A high temperature of 105 degrees in Gaza is the highest ever recorded for July.

The Israel Electric Corp. said Wednesday the heat has been accompanied by a surge to record electricity usage. Israel's Health Ministry warned the elderly and those with chronic illnesses to stay out of the sun, and the public to refrain from unnecessary physical activity until the temperatures cool.

Record heat starting major wildfires across Israel

 

[BuckToothMoron]

Wildfires have almost become a year-round threat in some parts of the western United States. From Colorado to California, it feels like the blazes from last year never went out.

Flames ignited forests and chaparral virtually nonstop in 2017, and the year ended with record infernos in Southern California that burned well into 2018.

Officials don’t refer to “fire seasons anymore but rather to fire years,” Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center, told me in an email.

The NIFC reports that this year, wildfires have burned more than 3.9 million acres, behind the 5 million acres that had burned as of this time last year.
Huge wildfires are spreading in California, Oregon, and Colorado. They’re poised to get worse.

Nearly all of Oregon, and most significantly, the west side, is primed for large fires. And we are having temperatures in the 90's, and it appears that will continue into August.

I live in Colorado, and we have plenty of forest fires, but they don’t burn thru the winter. They just don’t.

 

[gipper]

Wildfires have almost become a year-round threat in some parts of the western United States. From Colorado to California, it feels like the blazes from last year never went out.

Flames ignited forests and chaparral virtually nonstop in 2017, and the year ended with record infernos in Southern California that burned well into 2018.

Officials don’t refer to “fire seasons anymore but rather to fire years,” Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center, told me in an email.

The NIFC reports that this year, wildfires have burned more than 3.9 million acres, behind the 5 million acres that had burned as of this time last year.
Huge wildfires are spreading in California, Oregon, and Colorado. They’re poised to get worse.

Nearly all of Oregon, and most significantly, the west side, is primed for large fires. And we are having temperatures in the 90's, and it appears that will continue into August.

I live in Colorado, and we have plenty of forest fires, but they don’t burn thru the winter. They just don’t.

You mean winter STILL occurs in Colorado...who knew?

OldCrotch might not...

 

[waltky]

Nine-year-old twin sisters died hugging their grandparents in Greece wildfires...

Twins died hugging their grandparents in Greece wildfires
July 28, 2018 | Nine-year-old twin sisters missing in Greece’s wildfires died hugging their grandparents, officials confirmed.

The bodies of sisters Sophia and Vassiliki Philippopoulou and their grandparents were found embracing each other after the devastating fire about 25 miles northeast of Athens, which killed at least 88 people Monday night. The four were among 26 bodies found huddled together after they fled the fires and were trapped on a cliff edge as the fires rages around them at a resort in the seaside village of Mati, the Telegraph reported. Their grandfather’s burnt-out car was found nearby. ““The epilogue has been written. All 4 found hugging each other,’ a relative wrote on Facebook on Friday. “Not even death could tear them apart.”

The twins’ disappearance was the focus of international attention after their father, Yiannis said he saw them in TV news footage that showed people getting off a fishing boat used to rescue some survivors. The desperate father made an emotional appeal on television for anyone who was on the boat to contact him. The children he saw turned out to belong to another survivor, who stepped forward. The death toll from the worst wild fires in Europe this century rose to 88 on Friday night after a woman in her 40’s died in the hospital, where she had been since Monday. Greek officials said 12 other people remained hospitalized with serious injuries.

More than 500 homes were destroyed, and more victims may be found because some have not yet been inspected. Identifying victims has been difficult because many were badly burnt. Greece’s defense minister said that illegal construction contributed to the devastating wildfires, with too many buildings blocking escape routes next to fire-prone forested areas. The blazes were Europe’s worst wildfires this century.

https://nypost.com/2018/07/28/twins-died-hugging-their-grandparents-in-greece-wildfires/

 

[Billy_Bob]

Wildfires have almost become a year-round threat in some parts of the western United States. From Colorado to California, it feels like the blazes from last year never went out.

Flames ignited forests and chaparral virtually nonstop in 2017, and the year ended with record infernos in Southern California that burned well into 2018.

Officials don’t refer to “fire seasons anymore but rather to fire years,” Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center, told me in an email.

The NIFC reports that this year, wildfires have burned more than 3.9 million acres, behind the 5 million acres that had burned as of this time last year.
Huge wildfires are spreading in California, Oregon, and Colorado. They’re poised to get worse.

Nearly all of Oregon, and most significantly, the west side, is primed for large fires. And we are having temperatures in the 90's, and it appears that will continue into August.

The funny thing about a cooling world is drought... And these turn into fire regions due to lack of water in the atmosphere.... WOW natural variation at work.... Human encroachment on wild lands that naturally burn in cyclical cycles is some how not listed as a cause? Too damn funny...

 

[Old Rocks]

Funny thing about Silly Billy's stinky 'facts' that he pulls from his ass, they really stink after he posts them.

https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/IND43965633/PDF

Fortier (5) shows, in the measurement of losses from water surfaces kept at different temperature, that reducing the temperature from 88° to 80.4o F. lessened evaporation 20 per cent; reducing it to 73.5o decreased evaporation 40 per cent; to 61.3° decreased it to 67 per cent; and to 53.4o reduced it to 85 per cent

Increased temperatures, such as we are seeing right now, increase the evaporation of the soil, and the transpiration of the plants, leaving the plants with far less moisture in them, and much more susceptible to fire. And that is exactly what we are seeing throughout the West.

 

[waltky]

Death toll from Greek wildfire reaches 91...

Death toll from Greek wildfire reaches 91 as village grieves
Jul 29, 2018 — Fire officials in Greece raised the death toll from a wildfire that raged through a coastal area east of Athens to 91 and reported that 25 people were missing Sunday, six days after Europe’s deadliest forest fire in more than a century.

Before the national fire service updated the official number of fatalities, it stood at 86 as hundreds of mourners attended a Sunday morning memorial service for the victims in the seaside village hardest-hit by the blaze. The fire sped flames through the village of Mati without warning on July 23. A database maintained by the Centre for the Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels shows it as the deadliest wildfire in Europe since 1900. The vast majority of victims died in the fire itself, though a number drowned in the sea while fleeing the flames. Until Sunday night, Greek officials had not provided a tally of the people reported missing.

A burnt house is seen following a wildfire in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 28, 2018.​

The senior local Greek Orthodox Church official, Bishop Kyrillos, presided over the memorial service at Dormition of the Virgin Mary Church in Mati, a popular resort spot that was the place hardest-hit by the blaze that killed at least 86 people. Kyrillos said the community was mourning the loss of family, neighbors and friends. “There’s fewer of us now than usually, the bishop said. “It is the victims of the recent fire that are missing — friends, relatives and acquaintances, next-door people that we saw every day in town and on the beach.

Local resident Angeliki Galiatsatou said she narrowly managed to escape the fire that killed others in their cars and homes. “I came to pray for the people who were lost and I pray that God blesses us all,” she said. Dozens of volunteer divers, some of them retired Navy Seals, kept searching the sea off Mati on Sunday looking for the bodies of more possible victims. Greek authorities have said they have reason to believe the fire resulted from arson and turned so deadly because winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) buffeted the pine-forested seaside resorts at the time.

The interior of a burnt house is seen following a wildfire in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 28, 2018.​

The Greek government also has come under criticism for how buildings and roads were laid out in the area and an alleged lack of adequate preparation for fire season. More than 2,000 homes were damaged in the fire and roughly a quarter will have to be demolished, Greek officials said Friday. The Holy Synod made up of all Greek bishops said in a letter read out loud at Sunday’s memorial service that everyone bears responsibility for protecting the environment from haphazard development. “What words of comfort can you offer the person who has lost their father, their mother, the grandparents in whose arms their grandchildren were found?” Kyrillos said. “What words of solace can you offer a mother who has lost her baby and left a few flowers on the beach?”

Death toll from Greek wildfire reaches 91 as village grieves

 

[Old Rocks]

There are currently 88 wildfires burning across the country in 14 states. Almost 200,000 acres are currently ablaze, an area roughly equivalent to all five boroughs of New York City, combined.

In California, Yosemite National Park has been evacuated for fear of the nearby 41,576 acre Ferguson fire, which is only slightly more than one-quarter contained. There are currently over 10 active fires, each, in Alaska, Idaho, and Oregon. In southern Colorado, the Spring Creek fire covers over 100,000 acres. That fire, while largely contained, is close to becoming the second largest in state history.

The current series of dangerous fires across the western United States represents more of the same for residents there. Due to prolonged high risk conditions caused -- according to experts -- by climate change as well as accumulation of dead timber, attempts to contain fires in the 21st century have been more often than not been a losing battle, even as firefighting tactics and technology continues to improve. Since the turn of the century, there have been 10 years in which at least 7 million acres burned. This has only happened in one year between 1956 and 1999.

2017 was the worst year for fires in more than 60 years, second only to 2015. With conditions predicted to be worse across much of the country over the next several months, and 4.2 million acres have already burned this year, 2018 is shaping up to be another bad year.

To identify the 14 states with active wildfires, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the latest data on current active wildfire released by the National Interagency Fire Center. Annual acres burned due to wildfires also come from the NIFC.

Wildfires Are Burning These 14 States Right Now

In spite of having far more personal and equipment, the we have had 10 years out of 18 in which more than 7 million acres burned in the US since 2000. In the prior 44 years, just one year with that amount of acreage burned.