Wildfires and other fire incidents

weatheriscool
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California Wildfire Burns More Than 900 Acres and Prompts Evacuations
Source: NY Times

By Livia Albeck-Ripka
A fast-growing fire near South Yuba River State Park in Nevada County, Calif., about 70 miles northeast of Sacramento, has grown to more than 900 acres in two days, prompting evacuation orders for hundreds of residents of nearby communities, the authorities said Thursday.

The blaze, named the Rices fire, is one of more than 50 large wildfires and complexes that have burned across parts of the United States so far this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Those fires have collectively burned more than two million acres in 12 states, the center said.

Wildfires are increasing in size and intensity in the Western United States, and their seasons are growing longer. Recent research has suggested that heat and dryness associated with climate change are factors in the increase in bigger and stronger fires.

The Rices fire began in a structure at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the authorities. As of Thursday afternoon, it was about 12 percent contained and was threatening 250 structures, they said.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/30/us/c ... -fire.html
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caltrek
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In the article that follows the results of yet another study are reported upon. While this may be redundant of past articles, there is still not a consensus among the general public accepting these findings. Hence, the need to continue to dwell upon the same themes.

Land’s “Memory” Determined Scope of Awful Dixie Fire
by Sara LaJeunesse
July1, 2022

Introduction:
(Futurity) The 2021 Dixie Fire burned over nearly 1 million acres in California and cost $637 million to suppress, making it the largest and most expensive wildfire to contain in state history.

Fire history largely determined how severely the wildfire burned, and low-severity fire treatments had the largest impact on reducing the worst effects of the fire, according to the findings.

“We’re in extreme drought conditions over most of California,” says Alan Taylor, professor of geography and ecology at Penn State and principal investigator on the project. “The Dixie Fire burned during the hottest summer in California on record and after two years with half the average precipitation and snowpack. The large amounts of fuels that had accumulated due to over a century of fire exclusion were primed to burn intensely due to these extremely dry conditions.

“The 2022 fire season may also be difficult in California. April 1 snowpack was only 38% of normal. In this study we wanted to see what factors help keep fire severity down when drought is extreme.”

DIXIE FIRE ANALYSIS

The researchers examined the Dixie Fire to see how fuel treatments and previous fires affect a wildfire burning under extreme conditions. They gathered Landsat 8 satellite imagery of the fire-damaged area taken immediately after the Dixie Fire and during the same time period in 2020 to create maps of the fire effects on vegetation.
Read more here: https://www.futurity.org/dixie-fire-2761052/
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Portugal on wildfire alert amid heat wave and severe drought

By BARRY HATTON
an hour ago

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s government on Friday declared an eight-day state of alert due to a heightened risk of wildfires, as the drought-stricken country prepares for a heat wave packing temperatures as high as 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit).

The torrid weather brings with it “a significant worsening of the wildfire risk” through July 15, a joint statement from five government departments said.

Declaring a state of alert gives the government temporary authority to order precautionary measures. The restrictions adopted Friday include barring public access to forests deemed to be at special risk, banning the use of farm machinery that might produce sparks, and outlawing fireworks that are commonly used at summer festivals.

Portugal has long experienced dramatic forest fires. In 2017, blazes killed more than 100 people.

Heat waves and droughts also aren’t uncommon in Portugal, but climate scientists say all of southern Europe can expect higher temperatures and lower rainfall as a consequence of global warming.

https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-cl ... 694ec53adf
weatheriscool
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Yosemite wildfire threatens grove of iconic sequoia trees
Source: AP
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — The largest grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park remained closed Saturday as firefighters battled a blaze that threatened the gathering of the iconic trees and forced hundreds of campers to evacuate.

The rest of the park in California remained open, though smoke that hung in the air obscured some of the most scenic vistas and views.

More than 500 mature sequoias were threatened in the Mariposa Grove but as of Saturday afternoon there were no reports of severe damage to any named trees, including the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant. Some of the massive trunks were wrapped in fire-resistant foil for protection as the blaze burned out of control.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.




Read more: https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-sp ... 899a485def
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caltrek
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weatheriscool wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 1:05 am Yosemite wildfire threatens grove of iconic sequoia trees
Source: AP
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — The largest grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park remained closed Saturday as firefighters battled a blaze that threatened the gathering of the iconic trees and forced hundreds of campers to evacuate.

The rest of the park in California remained open, though smoke that hung in the air obscured some of the most scenic vistas and views.

More than 500 mature sequoias were threatened in the Mariposa Grove but as of Saturday afternoon there were no reports of severe damage to any named trees, including the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant. Some of the massive trunks were wrapped in fire-resistant foil for protection as the blaze burned out of control.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-sp ... 899a485def
Also more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/ ... t-sequoias

here: https://www.latimes.com/california/stor ... onal-park

and here: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/11/weather/ ... index.html

In which it is reported that:
"(Common Dreams) The fire has entered the grove," Robbie Johnson, a spokesperson for the fire response, told CNN on Sunday night. "But the good news is because of prescribed burns and clearing out material on the ground, it's clear in the Mariposa Grove," where protection efforts have created a "doughnut hole" shield.
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weatheriscool
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Fires scorch France, Spain; temperature-related deaths soar
Source: AP

By ANGELA CHARLTON and JOSEPH WILSON
PARIS (AP) — Firefighters struggled on Sunday to contain wildfires raging out of control in France and Spain as Europe wilts under an unusually extreme heat wave that authorities link to a rise in excess mortality.

Two huge blazes that have been consuming pine forests for six days just south of the city of Bordeaux in southwest France have forced the evacuation of some 14,000 people, including many who were set to spend their vacation at campsites.

In Spain, firefighters supported by the armed forces’ emergency brigades are trying to stamp out over 30 fires consuming forests spread across the country. Spain’s National Defense Department said that “the majority” of its fire-fighting aircraft have been deployed. Many areas are rugged, hilly terrain that makes it difficult for ground crews to access.

So far, there have been no fire-related deaths in France or Spain. In Portugal, a pilot of a firefighting plane died when his aircraft crashed on Friday.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-fr ... 790a23e94b
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caltrek
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Wildfire-smoke Observations Fill Gap in Estimating Soot’s Role in Climate Change
July 21, 2022

Introduction:
(EruekAlert) LOS ALAMOS, N.M., July 20, 2022—New research refining the amount of sunlight absorbed by black carbon in smoke from wildfires will help clear up a long-time weak spot in earth system models, enabling more accurate forecasting of global climate change.

“Black carbon or soot is the next most potent climate-warming agent after CO2 and methane, despite a short lifetime of weeks, but its impact in climate models is still highly uncertain,” said James Lee, a climate researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory and corresponding author of the new study in Geophysical Research Letters on light absorption by wildfire smoke. “Our research will clear up that uncertainty.”

The Los Alamos research resolves a long-time disconnect between the observations of the amount of light absorbed by black carbon in smoke and the amount predicted by models, given how black carbon is mixed with other material such as condensed organic aerosols that are present in plumes.
The team used the multi-instrument laboratory Center for Aerosol-gas Forensic Experiments (CAFÉ) at Los Alamos to sample smoke from several wildfires over two summers in the Western United States, including the nearby Medio Fire in New Mexico in 2020 and aged plumes from California and Arizona
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/959584
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