Wildfires and other fire incidents

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[firestar464]

More on that by Turkiye Today:

https://www.turkiyetoday.com/lifestyle/ ... ify-41698/

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[firestar464]

Here's a map of these fires on Google Maps

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5557716 ... FQAw%3D%3D

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Franklin Fire nearly triples in size in one hour as it threatens Malibu

Source: CNN

A fire near Southern California’s downtown Malibu is spreading quickly, prompting mandatory evacuations and threatening homes and businesses, including the city’s iconic Malibu Pier. Nearby Pepperdine University canceled classes Tuesday, as students sheltering in place on the school’s Malibu campus watch the flames in the distance.

The Franklin Fire has burned through an area larger than five football fields every minute since igniting late Monday night and burning toward Malibu. The inferno is so intense that it’s altering the weather around it and worsening already extreme conditions.

“The fire is burning so hot that it is modifying the local winds… (and) bending them towards and into the fire,” the National Weather Service in Los Angeles warned Tuesday morning.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/10/us/frank ... index.html

[caltrek]

More on the Franklin Fire: https://www.sciencealert.com/malibus-fr ... vacuations

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Fueled by New Trees and Shrubs
Wildfire Surges in East and Southeast U.S.
December 17, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) WASHINGTON — The eastern U.S. has more trees and shrubs than three decades ago. This growth, driven by processes such as tree and understory infilling in unmanaged forests, is helping fuel wildfires, contributing to changing fire regimes in the eastern half of the country, according to a new study.

Some parts of the eastern and southeastern United States have experienced a tenfold increase in the frequency of large wildfires over the last forty years, with Texas and the Appalachians seeing the largest increase. However, the Northeast lacked a tie between woody plant growth and large wildfires.

Wildfires thrive on woody vegetation such as trees and shrubs. The new analysis of wildfire and vegetation data shows that the eastern U.S. has seen a 37% increase in woody cover over the last 30 years. In some regions, high levels of woody cover are linked directly to a higher risk of large wildfires over the same period.

The research “is helping us narrow in on regional drivers and focus our efforts to preemptively get ahead of the growing wildfire problem here in the eastern U.S.,” said Victoria Donovan, a landscape ecologist at the University of Florida who was the senior author on the study.

The study was published in Geophysical Research Letters, an open-access AGU journal that publishes high-impact, short-format reports with immediate implications spanning all Earth and space sciences.

Read more of the Eurekalert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1068598

to read the results of the study as published in Geophysical Research Letters: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com ... 4GL110586

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'This Is Unprecedented': Several Horrific Wildfires Ravage Los Angeles
by Jake Johnson
January 8, 2025

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) Several major wildfires burned out of control in California's Los Angeles County on Wednesday as roaring winds fueled the rapid spread of the blazes, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate as state, local, and federal officials mobilized resources to confront the emergency.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass wrote on social media late Tuesday that the city is "working aggressively" to stem the wildfires, which scientists and government officials characterized as uniquely devastating.

"Emergency officials, firefighters, and first responders are all hands on deck through the night to do everything possible to protect lives," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said early Wednesday. The governor noted that more than 1,400 firefighting personnel have been deployed to "combat these unprecedented fires."

The Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst fires broke out on Tuesday. It quickly exploded amid what the National Weather Service described as "extremely critical fire weather," with wind gusts up to 99 mph propelling the devastating blazes. The extreme winds forced emergency crews to ground aircraft that were working to contain the fires.

Additional extract:

There has been a recent massive increase in wildfires in California but really, a fire this big in January? This is unprecedented," scientist Hayley Fowler wrote on social media. "One of many extreme events fueled by the climate crisis."

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/wild ... s-angeles

caltrek’s comment: …and remember: don’t look up.

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Yes, Even the Most Unexpected Landscapes in the U.S. Can and Will Burn
Kylie Mohr
January 8, 2025

Introduction:

(Vox) In February 2024, a heat wave persisted for days in the Chilean coastal city of Viña del Mar. The landscape, already affected by an El Niño-supercharged drought, was baked dry. So, when wildfires sparked, they ripped through densely populated and mountainous terrain. In just a few days, the fires — the deadliest in Chile’s history — burned 71,000 acres and killed at least 134 people.

Devastating wildfires like these are becoming increasingly common. Climate change is partly to blame — while research has found that both El Niño and climate change have contributed to intense wildfires in Chile in recent years, scientists disagree whether climate change had a statistically significant impact on these particular February fires. But the Chilean fires also underscore another ominous dynamic: Grasses, shrubs, and trees that humans have introduced to new ecosystems are increasing wildfire occurrence and frequency.

In central Chile over five decades, timber companies have converted natural forests to homogenous, sprawling plantations of nonnative eucalyptus and Monterey pine that grow rapidly in the country’s Mediterranean climate. These trees contain an oily resin that makes them especially flammable but coupled with hotter and drier conditions due to climate change, they can be explosive, says Dave McWethy, an assistant professor at Montana State University.

Our relationship with such nonnative species is fraught. We enable the spread of nonnatives by purposely transporting species to landscapes that haven’t previously existed with them. Take English ivy, a popular choice for stabilizing soil as an ornamental plant. Or the Norway maple, which was introduced to the East Coast of the US in 1756, quickly becoming popular for the shade it provided. In the process, such nonnatives can displace local ecologies and native species, disrupt agriculture, or transmit disease. Once a critter or a plant is introduced, either accidentally or purposefully, it can spread rapidly and outpace efforts to catch them at checkpoints or, as is the case for Florida’s state-sponsored “rodeos” for species like pythons, kill them.

Read more here: https://www.vox.com/climate/24111549/w ... ast-south

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LA's Wildfires Sparked by Rare Collision of Climate Factors
Andrew Freedman
January 8, 2025

Introduction:

(Axios)At least three destructive, fast-moving wildfires were burning in the Los Angeles metro area early Wednesday.

• Tens of thousands of people evacuated, some having run on foot to flee oncoming flames.

The big picture: The wildfires are the result of an unheard-of combination of factors at this time of year — the worst high wind event in Southern California since 2011, plus some of the driest conditions on record for early January.

• Downtown LA has received just 0.16 inches of rain since May 6 of last year, making it the second-driest period on record for May 6 to Dec 31, according to the National Weather Service.

• January is typically during the region's wet season.

• Bone-dry conditions in Southern California contrast with the northern parts of the state, where atmospheric rivers have squelched fire risks.

• Even worse, the region had an unusually hot summer that dried out vegetation even further.

Read more here: https://www.axios.com/2025/01/08/calif ... ge-factors

[wjfox]

So... Los Angeles burning down, the most destructive wildfire in the city's history, Sunset Boulevard in ruins, even the world-famous Hollywood sign now threatened with destruction.

Thank goodness Donald Trump will soon be in office to strengthen climate regulations.

[wjfox]