I first thought this was another volcano eruption, causing fires. I guess they don't know the cause yet, but major damage and tragically, many deaths. Wildfires in Oklahoma are fairly common, especially around this time, and the middle of winter when all vegetation is dry and dormant. The wind turns a nuisance fire into a huge blaze in no time.
Hawaii is a popular holiday destination for western Canadians, so this disaster is getting plenty of air play here.
Wildfires are unfortunately a helluva problem here in Canada (and all down the west coast of the US), but it's a shock to see this occur in a tropical paradise.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 08-11-2023).]
Drought conditions combined with strong winds from an offshore hurricane... cited as the causes in a brief news report that I heard.
Luckily, those factors don't cause fire. If so, most of the country would be on fire. Drought and wind is simply what got the fire out of control, if it was even being controlled. The spark that started the fire is not known. Could be a camp fire, trash burning, arson, etc.
This is just so horrible....They were stating how there were no warning sirens and some of the fire hydrants had no pressure- The wind most probably knocked down power lines which started the fires....and...No power for sirens or water pumping.
The high winds we have been experiencing the last 4-5 years are scary- there is no way to fight a fire with wind over 40 mph.....and power lines MUST be buried now.
Originally posted by cvxjet: ... power lines MUST be buried now.
I have suggested this after every hurricane. We have an electrical line man on the forum. He explains ground shifting also causes outages.
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Originally posted by rinselberg: Drought conditions combined with strong winds from an offshore hurricane... cited as the causes in a brief news report that I heard.
Doubtful. You need better news intelligence. And education. What are the ingredients for a fire ? There are only three, which all must be present at the same time.
There are/were multiple fires, but main focus was in the western town of Lahaina. The pace that this fire moved through the town is unbelievable. They still don't know the cause of the initial fire that started the devastation. Only thing I've read so far is possibly electrical lines fell and sparked. Oh, and climate change.
[This message has been edited by Fiero_Adam (edited 08-19-2023).]
Cliff- You are right to suggest burying the lines....but they need to improve HOW they bury them to mitigate the chances of ground shifting causing outages. I would rather have some outages than a catastrophic fire! Also, maybe make switches with wind sensors on the high tension lines that automatically switches off the power when the winds exceed a certain speed.
We have had several large fires in CA- and obviously the west and now in Canada and Australia. Droughts are killing a large percentage of the trees...and then high winds A) down power lines which SPARKS the fires, and then B) The high winds make it impossible to fight the fires.
We had the largest wild fire ever in CA (Dixie fire- 900,000 acres)...There was no way to even fight it at times because of 40-70 mph winds.
I went for a bike ride up in Lassen Volcanic NP a month ago (Favorite place in the world for me)...At times I was really enjoying the ride...then I would see some of the forest that had burned....But even when I was not in areas that had burned, I could see a lot of dead trees...The drought from 2013 to 2016 killed half of the trees in CA (And in other western states)
California has 50,000 square miles of forest...So clearing the dead trees is going to take a long time- especially since most of that forest is in mountainous terrain...
But even when I was not in areas that had burned, I could see a lot of dead trees...The drought from 2013 to 2016 killed half of the trees in CA (And in other western states)
Don't forget the devastation of forests caused by the explosion in population of the mountain pine beetle. All those dead trees due to that damn beetle make for a lot of forest fire kindling!
Here in British Columbia, wildfires are currently raging around the province. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated. From the following article (which has quite a few photos), this particular image jumped out at me. Look what became of this car's alloy wheels... turned into puddles of molten metal. Damn, that inferno must've been hot!
Hayley Smith is a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. Prominent in her reportage is her coverage of the analytical mosaic that incorporates the accelerating crescendo of drought conditions and wildfires worldwide with the ongoing scientific revelations about climate change in a mostly warming world. A Miami native, Smith earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California.
The text of Smith's report pegs the proverbial Read-o-Meter at a quasi-magazine article length of 6 minutes "and change."
Excerpt:
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“We’re starting to see the emergence of much greater fire activity in places where fires are conditionally possible but less common,” Swain said. The next fire, for example, might be somewhere in Appalachia, or downwind of the Pine Barrens or in a beach town in New Jersey, or in Wisconsin or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, he said.
The recipe for such disasters will inevitably vary from place to place and event to event, and could depend on factors such as forest management, urban development, invasive species and drought conditions, some of which are being heightened by human-caused climate change.
Places that may have had a 1-in-1,000 chance of such a fire in the 20th century might now see risk levels closer to 1-in-100, Swain said.
“That still is unlikely, but it’s a lot less unlikely,” he said. “And if there are hundreds of places at risk of a 1-in-100 event, now all of a sudden you’re going to start to see it happening more and more often.”
The article includes some large format photographs that are captioned in a way that adds significantly to the narrative.
Originally posted by cvxjet: Cliff- You are right to suggest burying the lines....but they need to improve HOW they bury them to mitigate the chances of ground shifting causing outages.
There is an easy solution. Septic lines now are buried in a cocoon of pea gravel. To help septic tank drainage. I can see it could help buried power lines be protected from shifting ground.
Originally posted by rinselberg: Hayley Smith is a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. Prominent in her reportage is her coverage of the analytical mosaic that incorporates the accelerating crescendo of drought conditions and wildfires worldwide with the ongoing scientific revelations about climate change in a mostly warming world. A Miami native, Smith earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California.
. Would I kick her out of bed for eating crackers ?
So-called "Föhn" winds implicated in recent heatwaves and wildfires.
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"Once you have global warming and you have the normal variability like Föhn winds contributing, it all acts together and gives you the heatwave you've never seen before,"
Damn, that inferno must've been hot!
. Would I kick her out of bed for eating crackers ?
