Aerial Assessment Reveals Extensive Damage in Puna (VIDEO)

New aerial footage shows extent of damage in Puna - "big tall trees down in every direction." 

Massive trees on the ground not only pose a hazard currently but down the road, as well. A sudden extreme build-up of fuels on the ground poses a huge wildfire risk, especially once El Niño's extended drought season hits. 

Pay attention to your surroundings...is your area now a high risk area? Take action with your neighbors to clear dead and down trees before it becomes a major problem in the future. 

It will take a community effort to get through this, but continue to stay resilient and strong.  

From the Source: 

"A Hilo Army National Guard crew took Hawai'i County officials on a damage assessment flight Saturday afternoon and the destruction in lower Puna is extensive.

'It's a lot worse than we expected,' said John Medeiros, the Deputy Director of Environmental Management. 'Our priority is to open those arteries so we can get down to those areas where people are trapped,' Medeiros said, referring to the dozens of toppled albizia trees that are blocking roadways. The area is surrounded with the invasive tree, which Medeiros says grows tall rapidly and is very brittle. 'It's just like toothpicks breaking when it dries out. That's a devastating tree we have all over this area, that's why we had such a problem.'

Officials say Nanawale and Leilani Estate neighborhoods, along with coastal community Kapoho, appear to be the hardest hit and are their top priorities.

Access and communication are the two biggest obstacles right now.

Officials say Kapoho residents were completely trapped in their neighborhood until just after 11 a.m. Saturday when crews were finally able to clear one road up to the main highway. However, Government Beach Road along the coast is still shutdown.

'It's pretty devastating the amount of trees on the ground and the community the roads are really blocked. Across the islands, it's not devastated but I tell you there are some communities here that are devastated and that's what we need to consider,' said Major General Darryll Wong of the Hawai'i National Guard, who was onboard the Black Hawk flight."

Above: "Aerial view shows extensive damage in Puna from Iselle." Credit - Hawaii News Now

Dad of Fallen Arizona Hotshot Hopes to Make Better Fire Shelters (AUDIO)

Fire shelter improvements unfortunately spurred by the death of the 19 Yarnell Hill firefighters:

From the Source: 

"Firefighter Travis Turbyfill was killed one year ago by a wildfire after he and fellow members of the elite Granite Mountain Hotshots deployed to a fire shelter in an Arizona box canyon. A fierce wind blew the Yarnell Hill Fire over the crew, killing 19.

Travis' father, David, doesn't want his son to have died in vain, and he's trying to help the U.S. Forest Service improve those shelters to withstand direct flames. All that remained of the Granite Mountain Hotshots' fire shelters — which are thin layers of foil and insulation designed to help protect firefighters as a fire burns over them — were twisted piles of crumbled aluminum and ash.

David has been conducting tests on new shelter material, and recently presented the results in a video. In it, a large metal pipe shoots fire for 30 seconds onto the current fire shelter material layered over a firefighter's yellow fire-retardant shirt. The shirt material winds up scorched and brittle.

Then he runs the same test, but for a minute longer, over a fireproof fabric Turbyfill found on the Internet. 'The firefighter's shirt is completely intact,' he says as he shows the camera the scorch-free yellow material.

For anyone who's seen a wildfire, the video gets your attention.

Turbyfill's metal fabricating shop is in Prescott, Ariz. There he talks statistics. In the past two decades, burn over and entrapment accounted for 25 percent of wildland firefighter deaths. In the case of the Yarnell Hill Fire, the wind pushed the blaze over the men and trapped them in a canyon.

'What I'm saying is that if you create a better fire shelter or survivable fire shelter product, that you could eliminate 20 to 25 percent of all fatalities. Eliminate. Not reduce, eliminate,' he says."

Above: "This aerial photo shows Yarnell, Ariz., days after a fire claimed the lives of 19 members of an elite firefighting crew." Credit: Tom Tingle / AP

A Year After Deadly Wildfire: 'Some Recovery, But...' (VIDEO)

Video on how a fence brought together a town after one of the worst firefighting tragedies in American history. Article digs into the long, difficult process of mourning after such an incident.

From the Source: 

"A year ago they arrived with heads bowed, hands held. The air was silent because no one knew what to say.

They parked their pickups, their SUVs, their sedans outside Mile High Middle School, and when every last space was occupied, they parked along narrow side streets and vacant lots.

Lights blazed from the auditorium, a beacon to those who wanted to be anywhere else.

A few hours earlier on a day that soon would appear on marquees, banners and T-shirts — June 30, 2013 — friends and loved ones of the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew gathered to hear the worst news possible.

Nineteen had perished at the Yarnell Hill Fire, trapped by flames that moved so quickly several of them had not even deployed their fire shelters.

The grief began there, and spread through the city, to the vigil sites, to the public square where the hearses passed by, to the arena where thousands would gather to say goodbye.

Nearly a year later, the scenes that contained the drama of those days largely are devoid of reminders of those early days.

But the number 19 still has only one meaning in Prescott, and it reverberates as strongly today as it did then."

Above: "A makeshift memorial to the 19 fallen firefighters wraps around three sides of Fire Station 7 in Prescott in August, weeks after the tragedy." Credit: Lynn French / The Arizona Republic

Navajo's Assayii Lake Fire: Heartbreaking Losses, and How to Help

Learn how you can help those who have lost an important piece of their livelihoods:

From the Source: 

"Firefighters are making headway against the Assayii Lake Fire, but not before it gobbled up acre upon acre of sacred land in the Chuska Mountains between Gallup and Shiprock.The Assayii fire on the Navajo Nation had been 20 percent contained by Thursday June 19, as the blaze reached 13,450 acres, and 867 personnel battled the flames, according toInciWeb. But the victory is destined to be bittersweet.

Though no one has died, the toll is still great. Members of two communities had been evacuated, and at least 13 summer sheep camps had been destroyed, according to the Navajo Times.

'We’re going to be losing everything and our memories will be gone,” Elvina Yazzie told theNavajo Times on June 16 after driving her family’s flock of 28 sheep down the mountain with the help of her nephew, Nelvin Yazzie. “It just hurts because our grandparents built that hogan.'

Donations are being accepted at several chapter houses, Navajo Nation Emergency Management Director Rose Whitehair told the Navajo Times. The Crystal Chapter House, Naschitti Chapter House, Shiprock Chapter House, Fort Defiance Field House (Home Base), Tohatchi High School Gymnasium and Newcomb School are looking for flour, potatoes, eggs, paperware (bowls, plates, utensils, cups) Zip-lock bags, disposable gloves, oil, salt, baking powder, dish towels, steel knives, pots, pans, napkins, coffee, Kool-Aid and ice tea mix, power bars, cold cuts, bread, soda, water, juice, pitchers for Kool-Aid, canned food and boxes for food storage, according to theNavajo Times. The American Red Cross is fielding financial donations and offering other aid.

'Officials are asking that those donating items refrain from too much sugar products and also to be aware of the expiration dates,' the Navajo Times stated."

Above: "A weary firefighter prays between bouts with the Assayii Lake Fire in the sacred Chuska Mountains on the Navajo Nation." Credit: Neil Damon

Fire on the Mountain (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Check out this beautifully put-together new short documentary on the many mysteries of fire, highlighting the Missoula Fire Lab's work in Montana. Definitely worth 10 minutes of your day!

From the Source: 

"Last June, 19 firefighters lost their lives trying to control a blaze near Yarnell, Arizona—the highest death toll for firefighters battling a wildfire in this country since 1933. What went wrong? Is it time to reconsider our approach to fighting fire?"

"Fire is inevitable. You can defer it, but it’s a pay-me-now-or-pay-me-later scenario."

"We’re paying for that blindness now. Across the West, enormous swaths of forest and shrubland are loaded with decades’ worth of built-up fuel. Climate change is compounding the problem: years of drought are turning much of that fuel into tinder; fire season is starting earlier and ending later; bugs are surviving warmer winters and killing vast numbers of trees, increasing the risk that fires will start and spread; and some forests destroyed by fire aren’t growing back, because faster-growing shrub and grass species are taking over before new trees can establish themselves. What it all means is that when fires start, they burn hotter and more destructively than ever before, often killing trees that would have survived less-intense heat."

"The success of fire shelters often depends on where they’re deployed, and on the intensity of the fire. The Granite Mountain Hotshots could not have been in a worse place for deploying their shelters: they were walled in on three sides by rising slopes that would funnel and pull the fire, and surrounded by a six-foot-high tangle of very dry fuel."

"When Marsh saw the fire turn the corner into the bowl, the crew had maybe three or four minutes until the flames would reach them. They picked an area where the vegetation wasn’t as dense and started clearing a spot for their shelters, between two shallow troughs that carry runoff into Yarnell. This was the point at which Marsh radioed his plans, with chain saws audible in the background. His sawyers cut down gamble oak and manzanita, to give the crew at least a small area free of fuels where they could lie down. Other hotshots dragged the branches away from the clearing and lit fires at the perimeter to burn off more fuels and increase the distance between themselves and the main fire when it arrived. In the final moments before the fire closed in, as they had been trained to do, they began to toss all their equipment outside the perimeter of the clearing, especially combustible items such as torches and chain-saw gas and oil. But the fire roared in too fast for them to finish the job. Later, fire-behavior analysis would suggest that it crossed the last 100 yards toward them in 19 seconds, burning at about 2,000 degrees."

Above: "Names of the fallen hotshots, scribbled on a whiteboard in the resource room at the fire station the day of the Yarnell Hill Fire and left untouched ever since." Credit: The Atlantic

Chile Wildfire Litters Questions in the Ash of Burned-Out Homes (AUDIO)

Economic inequality and lack of planning and infrastructure and how they may have contributed to the severe damage caused by the Valparaiso fire. 

From the Source: 

"In Chile, a fire that started in the hills above Valparaiso continues to burn. The blaze has killed 15 people and destroyed 2,500 homes in the area that surrounds Valparaiso. Reporter Alexandra Hall looks at some of those affected."

Pebre #FuerzaValpo

A wildfire doesn't just affect the communities that have lost their homes and livelihoods, it affects the whole region at large. There are always ways to help - here's how one group of people made a significant impact by feeding those in need.

Even if you don't understand Spanish, you can still understand the message of selflessness from the video.

Pebre #FuerzaValpo from Horno Feroz on Vimeo.

Wildfires Rage in Chile (VIDEO)

From the Source: 

"At least 16 people are dead from wildfires burning around the coastal town of Valparaiso, Chile.

Strong winds have fanned the flames, making it difficult for firefighters to stop the blaze from spreading to over 2,000 acres of steep terrain. Homes are mostly wood, often built on hillsides with narrow access roads and no fire hydrants.

The fires have so far destroyed roughly 2,000 homes, and displaced at least 10,000 people. Until the burning is controlled, local officials expect those numbers will continue to rise."

Above: Screen-capture from Time video.

Fire Destroys 2,000 Homes in Valparaiso (PHOTOS)

Stunning and quite chilling photos from the recent Valparaiso fires in Chile.

From the Source: 

"In the port city of Valparaiso, Chile, a massive fire started late Saturday. Fueled by strong winds, flames swept across hilly residential areas, destroying more than 2,000 houses and killing at least 12. Firefighters battled the blaze throughout the weekend and are still extinguishing isolated hot spots. Today, some Valparaiso residents are being allowed to return to their homes to assess the damage, recover what they can, and plan their next steps."

Above: "Embers are carried by high winds as a large forest fire reaches urban areas in Valparaiso, Chile, on April 13, 2014. Authorities say the fires destroyed thousands of homes, forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 and claimed the lives of at least 12 people." AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo.

Blaze in Chilean Port City Kills 12, Destroys 2,000 Homes

From the Source: 

"At least 12 people have been killed by a massive blaze in Chile's port city of Valparaiso famous for its UNESCO-listed historic center, authorities confirmed Monday. 

Chilean police said 12 people have been confirmed dead, 500 injured and more than 10,000 people evacuated.

Pushed by strong Pacific coast winds, the fire rampaged over 741 acres of hilly residential neighborhoods — destroying at least 500 homes. The cause of the fire, which began in woodland near the city late on Saturday, was being investigated.

Over 2,000 homes were destroyed in the city of 250,000 over the weekend. Valparaiso’s rolling hills and closely spaced houses, many of them made of wood, make it difficult to fight the flames. The city, part gritty port town and part bohemian retreat, has a large number of people living in poverty."

Above: "People look at smoke from a forest fire in Valparaiso city, northwest of Santiago April 12, 2014." Courtesy of Cesar Pincheira (Reuters). 

Why Homes are Lost to Wildfire: This Forest Service Expert Says it's as Much a Sociopolitical Problem as it is Physical

Very interesting interview with the founder of the Firewise Communities Certification Program. Although some of the content doesn't quite apply to Hawaii, there are many lessons learned to gain from it.

From the Source: 

"Wildland fires are inevitable. And without homeowner engagement, without their participation in mitigating the problem, firefighters can't be effective. It's continuing a problem to have my own agency, federal agencies in general, and most fire departments in this country that deal with wildland fire issues, not be telling people that by and large, under the conditions that destroy lots of houses, we can't deal with this without your participation. It's about taking responsibility for the condition of your house, before the fire, because nobody else can. And it's not just the material that the house is made of, it's the condition that lends itself to potential ignition. It's a big maintenance issue too…

You don't have to eliminate fire from your property completely, but you have to keep flames from contacting your structure and you have to keep firebrands from having high ignition potential when they land on your house - because they will. Which means all of the fine fuels need to be gone from on and immediately around your house before fire season even starts. All flammable things need to be swept away from your house at least about five feet. The grass needs to be mowed immediately around the structure, but you don' t have to mow an acre.

You don't have to cut all the trees down, you just have to make sure they're not contacting each other, and they're not continuous with the wildland. Make sure fire on the surface can't easily burn up the tree and torch out, because that creates firebrands close to the house. I highly encourage hardwoods around the structure as a shield, they just don't support high-intensity fire, and can become a very, very good radiation barrier."

Above: "The wreckage of a burned structure sits near a surviving home after the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire near Boulder, Colorado. The 7,000 acre fire claimed nearly 170 houses in the first days of the blaze. Several of the houses that were saved had properly prepared their land for the potential of wildfire, including building with fire resistant materials as well as preparing defensible, fuel-minimized spaces in the areas surrounding the structure." Credit: Matt Slaby/Luceo 

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

Wildfire Rages in Forest Outside of Los Angeles, Residents Evacuated (VIDEO)

Driest year in California's recorded history and notorious Santa Ana winds create a recipe for an early fire season - a VERY early fire season.

From the Source:

"GLENDORA, Calif. » Homes burned in a wildfire threatening neighborhoods in dangerously dry foothills of Southern California's San Gabriel Mountains today, fanned by gusty Santa Ana winds that spit embers into the city below. Residents who awakened in the pre-dawn darkness to see flames approaching were ordered to evacuate.

Television images showed several structures engulfed in flames in a neighborhood abutting Angeles National Forest, just north of the San Gabriel Valley community of Glendora. Homes are nestled in canyons and among rugged ridges that made an accurate assessment difficult.

At least 2 1/2 square miles of dry brush were charred in the wilderness area about 25 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles...

The notorious Santa Anas, linked to the spread of Southern California's worst wildfires, picked up at daybreak. The extremely dry Santa Anas blow downslope and can push fires out of the mountains and into communities below. The area, which has been historically dry, has been buffeted by the winds which have raised temperatures into the 80s. The Santa Anas typically begin in the fall and last through winter into spring. A wet winter reduces fire risk, but the whole state is experiencing historically dry conditions."

Above: "A wildfire burned in the hills just north of the San Gabriel Valley community of Glendora, Calif. today. Southern California authorities have ordered the evacuation of homes at the edge of a fast-moving wildfire burning in the dangerously dry foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains." - Associated Press

A Tragic Year for Wildland Firefighters Ends in Reflection (AUDIO)

From the Source:

"'This was an unusual year, and so part of this may be due to just the fact that it was an unusual year, and part of it may be due to the growing footprint of the wildland-urban interface,' Rideout says.

That interface is where homes and even whole cities are being built into the forests, and it's where most of today's high-profile fires happen — Yarnell Hill included. The homes in these zones are being built safer, and Rideout says that comes with some unintended consequences.

'As we take measures to try to make the wildland-urban interface a nice and safe place to be and to occupy, the incentive for it to grow gets even larger, so it's kind of a self-perpetuating situation,' he says."

Above: "The wildfire in Yarnell, Ariz., last June destroyed homes and killed 19 firefighters. Experts say expansion into wildfire-prone areas has created new challenges for firefighters." Courtesy of NPR.

New South Wales Communities Band Together After Bushfire Disasters

From the Source:

"Severe bushfires have destroyed more than 200 properties and damaged 37,000 hectares of land in New South Wales since Thursday.

Whilst dozens of people have lost their homes, many others are reaching out to those affected, as well as emergency services currently working against the blazes.

Charity organisations, local businesses, wildlife rescue teams and members of the community are among those who have shown their support."

Above: "Alecia Newton and Mairead Sheehy busking on Springwood's shopping strip, Macquarie Street on October 20, 2013, to raise money for those who have lost homes in the fire."

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

The Age of Western Wildfires

From the Source:

"The cooler temperatures of fall may have arrived on the East Coast, but in California and the Pacific Northwest, fire season burns on. There are six large fires raging out West, and this year’s season is likely to burn 10 million acres of land, more than in any year since 1960, when federal records began to be kept.

Explanations abound: global warming has provided consistently hotter weather, and warmer winters have meant less snow melt during the spring. Drought has plagued the country, and invasive beetles have killed millions of trees, leaving mountains of ready-to-burn timber."