California's Drought Heightens Fear of Fire Season

From the Source:

"There is no relief in sight from the historic drought ravaging every corner of California, and where there's drought, there's fire. In the thick of winter and normally wet months, 545 fires have broken out so far this year, burning 1,142 acres.

That is a staggering 330 percent increase in fires over the same Jan. 1 to Feb. 15 period last year and a 150 percent jump in burned acreage...

Current conditions are as severe as during the hottest summer months, and Cal Fire is bracing for the worst. It has already brought in 125 additional firefighters, who normally come on board when fire season starts in late May in the North and in June in Southern California...

There is enough water to fight fires now, [Capt. Michael] Mohler said, but he added a note of warning to the state’s residents and urged them to conserve supplies. 
We’re reminding California residents that not only is it important to save water for the environment and human consumption but for firefighting,' he said."

Above: "Firefighters being deployed as wildfires burn through the foothills in Azusa, Calif., in January." - Al-Jazeera America

Western Wildfire Season 'Likely to Set a Record'

From the Source:

"The number of wildfires has increased over the years. In the 1980s, wildfires burned on average 2.98 million acres a year in the U.S. However, between 2003 and 2012, an average of 7.26 million acres burned each year.

The average length of the annual fire season has grown by 78 days over the last four decades.

Also almost certain to grow is the cost of battling wildfires. National costs have averaged $1.8 billion annually for the past five years, and the 2012 fire season was among the most expensive on record for many regions and states, according to Headwater Economics, a nonprofit research group...

'Because they aren't getting any water, the trees are in danger and won't survive, creating more fuel for fires,' [Malcolm North, a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service] said.

North added that the level of destruction this year's fire season brings will depend a lot on luck.

'All we can do is hope for more rain and hope we get some," he said. "But we've had years of dry conditions, so it will take a lot of rain for a long time to prevent the fires.'"

Above: "Firefighters monitor the Colby Fire on Highway 39, January 17, 2014, in Azusa, California." Courtesy of CNBC.

Devastating Australian Brushfires as Seen from Space

From the Source:

"Bushfires are continuing to rage across parts of Australia’s state of Victoria today despite the arrival of milder conditions.

You can see them in the image [on the left] from NASA’s Aqua satellite. Massive plumes of smoke stream from fires burning in the eastern part of the state, as well as just north of the city of Melbourne. Red dots mark spots where the satellite sensor detected fire...

The region has been experiencing hot and windy conditions that have raised the fire risk in Victoria to its highest level since 2009, when fires killed 173 people."

Above: "NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this view of bushfires blazing in the Australian state of Victoria today. (Source: NASA)" - Discover

Half a Decade After Black Saturday, Towns are Still Rebuilding

A very engaging, interactive, and creative webpage detailing the long-term physical and psychological effects of catastrophic wildfires on communities in Australia. Definitely worth spending some time scrolling through!

From the Source:

"TODAY the Herald Sun begins a series of reports on Victoria's bushfire-affected communities five years on from Black Saturday. We speak to survivors who recount their courageous stories, meet a town that is rising from the ashes, and remember those we lost."

"The Herald Sun can reveal that, five years on:
*Doctors and psychologists have reported anecdotal evidence of a rise in suicides, alcohol and drug abuse and addictive behaviour such as gambling by traumatised bushfire survivors.

*Family violence reports increased in traumatised fire communities including Marysville, Flowerdale and Kinglake.

*There is unhappiness in some areas about block buybacks, which weren’t available until the change of government in 2010. Residents such as Phil Fennell in Kinglake West worried about a lack of maintenance on the two empty blocks either side of his house. He was also concerned about any negative impact on his property price.

*Many houses are not complete, as survivors ran out of money before they could apply the finishing touches, and increased fireproofing drove up construction costs.

*20 of the 67 recommendations from the bushfire royal commission have not yet been completed.

*Only three fire refuges have been completed — none in the Kinglake or Marysville regions."

Above: "An aerial of Marysville after the fires. Picture: Mark Smith" - Herald Sun News

Brushfires in Australia Deadlier, More Destructive and Worse to Come (VIDEO)

From the Source:

"BUSHFIRES are almost twenty times more deadly and eighty times more destructive than a century ago - and experts warn the devastation will continue to grow as urban sprawl pushes further into bushland. Exclusive analysis by News Corp Australia has revealed the true extent of the devastating toll caused by decades of bushfires.

In today's money, the combined damage caused by bushfires over the past 90 years is almost $7 billion.

And $2.6 billion of this damage was caused in the past 13 years."

Above: "Harmful effect ... Sydney’s CBD is shrouded in a haze of smoke from bushfires in Springwood, Winmalee and Lithgow in the Blue Mountains last October. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images"

Into the Wildfire: What Science is Learning About Fire and How to Live With It

Incredible article put out by the New York Times putting fire science in a publicly-accessible format and stunning pictures and moving graphics. A must read!

From the Source:

"By suppressing fires ... we’re saving the landscape for the worst conditions,’ a fire researcher says. ‘We need to choose good fire over bad fire, and if we understand spread we can make better choices."

"Fire has always been a part of the natural ecology — many plant species evolved in direct response to it and couldn’t survive without it; when the sap of some pine cones melts, for example, seeds are released. But the reflexive practice of putting out all fires, which has dominated national policy for so many decades, has turned much of the American West into a tinderbox."

Above: "Scientists at the Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula observe the behavior of fire in a wind tunnel."

Fire Regime: Native Plants Help Fire-Proof Vulnerable Park Ecosystems

From the Source:

“National Park visitors are often familiar with fire’s beneficial role in maintaining ecosystem health. Many national parks routinely burn vegetation and allow some lightning fires to burn in remote areas—if they benefit the resources. Unfortunately, wildfires at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, where native biodiversity is shrinking, have become a threat to native ecosystems. Invasion and colonization of alien tropical and sub-tropical grasses, coinciding with the ongoing eruptions of Kilauea Volcano, have caused fire frequency rates to triple since historic levels and average fire size to increase 60-fold.”

Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization and Pacific Fire Exchange

Thank you to North Hawaii News for profiling Hawaii Wildfire's efforts along with Pacific Fire Exchange's!

From the Source:

"HWMO’s mission is to work with communities to be more fire wise and to reduce the risk of wildfires. Headquartered in Waimea, the organization’s outreach includes educational activities, fuels management projects — to reduce anything that will fuel a fire — restoration of native plants, research and even assisting in the development of K-8 curriculum on fire knowledge.

About 40 people attended HWMO’s annual meeting at the Pohakuloa Training Area last week to network and receive updates on the organization’s projects. Among those participating were representatives from the University of Hawaii Fire Management, Parker Ranch Fire Protection, Hawaii State Fish and Wildlife, Hawaii Island Native Seed Bank, and Rep. Cindy Evans, D-North Kona, Kohala."

Above: Participants from various wildfire organizations gather at Mauna Kea State Park on July 20 to discuss events of the 2010 fire that burned 25,000 acres. (PHOTO BY CYNTHIA SWEENEY| SPECIAL TO NHN)

Aerial Pictures from Colorado Black Forest Fire Show Incredible Destruction

From the Source:

“A 14,000-acre wildfire has been raging near Colorado Springs for nearly a week, and firefighters are still struggling to contain the blaze. Two people have died so far and about 485 homes have been destroyed in the Black Forest fire. It's now the most destructive wildfire on record in the state's history, beating out last year's giant wildfire that hit the same area.”

Above: Photo by Rick Wilking, Reuters

Lava, Fire, and the Forest

From the Source:

“Wildfires have a dramatic effect on Hawaiian landscapes (D’Antonio et al. 2000). Historically, wildfires were believed to be relatively small and infrequent (more than 700 years apart) in Hawaiian forests despite the presence of natural ignition sources such as lightning and lava flows (LaRosa et al. 2010). In 2002 and 2003, lava-ignited wildfires occurred in the East Rift forests of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, and were presumably intensified by drought and nonnative plant species that alter fuel loads and fire behavior.”

"Photo on left: Unburned - Middle photo: Burned in 2003, photo taken in 2010 - Photo on right: Burned again in 2011"
Photo credit - The National Park Service