THE NEW YEAR OPENED WITH A WILDFIRE, and its impact was familiar. During the week of January 4, a 31,000-acre wildfire sparked by lightning and fanned by strong winds ran through residential and interface areas. Volunteer fire services fought to control the blaze, and at its height more than a dozen aircraft were engaged in its suppression. Rain at week’s end brought the mixed blessing of wet conditions that helped bring the fire under control, but also lightning that ignited additional grass fires. In the end, 27 homes were destroyed or damaged and 130 outbuildings were lost. There were no human fatalities, but there were more than 100 reported smoke-related injuries. Thousands were evacuated from residential areas. Livestock and wildlife were not as lucky.
To many readers, the timing of this fire might seem odd given that most of the United States was in an artic freeze in early January. If we flip the globe upside down, though, we realize that there is no off-season for wildfire—it’s high summer in Australia, and the Adelaide Hills fires of early January burned in the suburban areas northeast of the city of Adelaide. With dry weather, high winds, and temperatures of 95 degrees Fahrenheit and above, it’s easy to imagine fire conditions like those found in Colorado, California, or Georgia last summer, or to contemplate our own coming fire season just months away.
For the full article please visit here: http://www.nfpa.org/newsandpublications/nfpa-journal/2015/march-april-2015/columns/wildfire-watch
