Wildfires
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning storms spark 50 fires overnight in Tasmania

Australia wildfires
© AAP
Lightning has sparked almost 50 fires across Tasmania overnight as authorities start a race to extinguish them before the next wave of hot weather.

A total fire ban was in place for the state's south on Wednesday as temperatures reached more than 35C at several centres, and while there were no significant problems through the day, the storm that followed put crews on high alert.

"Approximately 47 fires started in bushland ... by lightning with very little rain," Tasmania Fire Service deputy chief Jeremy Smith said.

"The majority of these fires are in remote areas and do not present a risk to people or homes."

Many of the fires have burnt out or been extinguished but aircraft continue to search for blazes not already reported, Mr Smith said.

"Some are still burning freely in remote areas and will require careful management over the next few days to ensure they are bought under control before the next hot weather change."

Temperatures are forecast to be near 30C in part of the state on Monday.

Source: AAP

Comment: Remember that crazy wildfire season the US just had? Now Australia is having one


Fire

Remember that crazy wildfire season the US just had? Now Australia is having one

Australian wildfires
2015 was a record hot and fiery year, but it may not get to keep the title for long. While the American West is still reeling from a devastating wildfire season, Australia's pyrotechnic woes are just getting started.

Over the past few years, persistent drought conditions have transformed vast swaths of Southern Australia into a tinderbox. But thanks to an unsavory combination of El Niño and global warming, this year's spring was exceptionally hot and dry. In November, the Australian government issued one of the grimmest fire season outlooks in recent memory, and now, our planet is making good on that prediction.

On January 6, a lightning strike triggered a bushfire in Lane Pool Reserve, located near the city of Perth in Southwest Australia. With plenty of fuel on the ground, the blaze spread rapidly, engulfing the nearby town of Yarloop and destroying at least 128 homes and 41 other structures, according to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. As of yesterday, the fire had burned through a whopping 276 square miles (177,000 acres)—placing it on par with the largest blazes to hit North America this past summer.

In fact, the fire was so vicious that it created its own weather system: a pyrocumulus "fire cloud," captured by the the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on NASA's Suomi NPP satellite on January 7. Pyrocumulus clouds are similar in appearance to other cumulus clouds. The difference, NASA explains, is that the heat forcing air to rise doesn't come from thermal radiation, but from—you guessed it—fire.

Comment: The 2015 wildfire season has already been a record breaker in the United States and Canada. Last year the Amazon jungle was going up in smoke with tens of thousands of wildfires, while in Indonesia wildfires caused a toxic haze which threatened millions in southeast Asia.

A study last year showed that wildfire seasons are more destructive and lasting longer almost everywhere on Earth.

Rather than attributing the dramatic increase in wildfires to "climate change," could a significant factor in the escalation of these events be that they are fueled from outgassing, then possibly 'sparked' by an increase in atmospheric electric discharge events, such as lightning strikes and other 'cosmic' ignition sources?


Fire

Wildfires in Canada broke record in 2015

Wildfire
Wildfires scorched a record amount of Canada's national parks last year — the latest in a number of long, hot summers that have almost entirely depleted Parks Canada's firefighting reserve.

"We had a very busy fire year," said director of fire management Jeff Weir. "We had more wildfires than normal and those fires burned larger areas than normal."

The agency's annual fire report recorded 122 wildfires in 2015 that burned through 4,600 square kilometres — seven times the area of the city of Toronto.

The yearly average is 82, and, in 2014, the amount of park land burned in non-prescribed fires was 3,000 square kilometres.


Most of the damage in 2015 occurred in a single park. Fire licked through 3,700 square kilometres of Wood Buffalo on the boundary between Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

Fire

Wildfires in U.S. burned record 10 million acres in 2015

fire wildfire
© Unknown
For the first time in U.S. history, wildfires charred more than 10 million acres across the nation in 2015, according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

That's roughly the size of Connecticut and Massachusetts combined.

At 10,125,149 acres burned, it's the first time the 10 million acre mark has been topped. The previous record was set in 2006 at 9,873,745 acres.

This year's amount is about 4 million more than average, the center announced Tuesday. Fires in Alaska made up about half of the acreage burned.

Nine of the 10 worst years for acres burned have occurred since 2000, center spokesman Randall Eardley said.

Accurate wildfire records go back to 1960. Prior to 2000, the U.S. surpassed 7 million acres only one time — in 1963.

Fire

Film shows moment family drive through California wildfire

California wildfire
California wildfire
The terrifying moment a Dutch family drove through a California wildfire has been captured on mobile phone.

Maaike Maks was visiting California from the Netherlands when she and her family were caught driving through the middle of the raging fire in Ventura County.

The fire burned across 1,250 acres in the Solimar Beach area triggering mandatory evacuations and temporarily shutting the highway in both directions.


Footage courtesy of @MaaikeMaks

Comment: See also: Wildfire shuts down Highway 101 and Pacific Coast Highway in California


Stop

Wildfire shuts down Highway 101 and Pacific Coast Highway in California

Ventura California wildfire
© Ventura Co. Aviation Unit
Sections of California's two scenic coastal routes — Highway 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway — were shut down west of Ventura early Saturday because of a rapidly expanding 1,200-acre wildfire driven by high winds, according to fire officials.

The Solimar Beach area, about 10 miles northwest of Ventura, was under mandatory evacuation orders and authorities also urged residents in nearby beach communities to leave the area, according to Capt. Mike Lindbery of the Ventura County Fire Department.

Authorities said about 30 homes were threatened by the fire, which began around 10:30 p.m.PST Friday.
Highway 101/Solimar Beach fire
© Via twitter@LACoFireAirOpNight brush fire 12/25/15 near Highway 101/Solimar Beach.
The Union Pacific Railroad was also asked to stop train traffic in the area.

The National Weather Service predicted sustained winds over over 60 mph in Ventura County Saturday evening.

Lindbery said that more than 600 firefighters were sent to battle the fire that is feeding off thousands of acres of drought-stricken forest and grasslands.


Comment: A meteor was seen in Nevada and California a few days ago. Is this wildfire connected?

From the article: "The object was also later seen flying across [Ventura] California."


See also: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - November 2015: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs


Fire

'Out of control' wildfires destroy 103 homes on Christmas Day in Victoria, Australia

Australian wildfire
© APTN
Out of control wildfires near the Great Ocean Road destroyed at least 103 homes on Friday, forcing residents to flee nearby towns, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing Victorian State Premier Daniel Andrews.

About 85 houses in Wye River and 18 at Separation Creek were engulfed by fire that has burned more than 2,000 hectares in the Australian state, according to the report. Residents and holidaymakers who fled Lorne and Allenvale to go to safer areas were allowed to return earlier today, ABC said.

No casualties have been reported. Cooler weather and heavy rain overnight slowed the spread of the fire though fire fighters warned they have yet to bring the situation under control, the report said.


Australia's hot, dry climate makes wildfires a major risk in the southern hemisphere's summer. In February 2009, bush fires across Victoria state killed 173 people and destroyed 150 homes in the worst blazes in the nation's history. Wildfires in February 2014 destroyed about 20 properties in Victoria, while fires in January of that year burned 52 homes on the eastern fringes of Perth.

Fire

America's 2015 wildfire season is now the most expensive on record

California wildfire
© Getty ImagesFirefighters try to contain the Lake County blaze, the worst of 21 major fires in California this year
The 2015 wildfire season is now the costliest on record, with $1.71 billion spent to fight the blazes, the U.S. Forest Service said Wednesday.

The previous record of $1.67 billion, adjusted for inflation, was set in fiscal year 2002, U.S. Department of Agriculture communications director Matt Herrick said. (The Forest Service is part of the U.S.D.A.)

With the season nearly over, 9.8 million acres burned in 2015, the second-highest total since records began in 1960, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Only 2006, with 9.87 acres charred, had a higher total.

In addition, seven forest service firefighters died this year battling wildfires. Since 2000, on average, 18 firefighters have died each year fighting flames, the fire center reports.

Most of the fires hit the West and Alaska, which is typical. The size of the area burned this year is roughly equivalent to the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined.

Over the past 10 years, the Forest Service has spent $1.13 billion on average each year to fight wildfires. That amount does not include local or state costs to fight fires.

Comment: In the US, the 2015 wildfire season has already broken other records this year, whilst a study has shown that wildfire seasons are more destructive and lasting longer almost everywhere on Earth.


Fire

Forest fires rage over northern Spain despite winter rain

burnt out truck
© Reuters/Eloy AlonsoAn emergency services helicopter flies over a burnt out area devastated by a forest fire in La Caridad, northern Spain, December 20, 2015.
Dozens of forest fires raged across northern Spain on Sunday after strong winds hindered efforts to keep them from spreading, forcing some homes to be evacuated in the worst-affected Asturias region.

More than 100 fires were still burning on Sunday morning in Asturias alone despite rain overnight in some areas, emergency services said.

Television pictures showed several rural houses destroyed by fire but officials said there had been no reports of casualties or damage to villages or towns. Some residents were told to leave their houses as a precaution.

Spain is prone to wildfires in summer, especially in the more arid southern regions and along its Mediterranean coastline. But such incidents are unusual in winter, especially in rainier northern regions including Asturias.

Attention

2015 has been the worst wildfire season in U.S. history

fire wildfire
© Unknown
The nation is closing in on its worst wildfire season in recorded history, with nearly 9.8 million acres already burned -- the equivalent of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and part of New Hampshire going up in flames.

Two large fires and more than 160 smaller ones remain active, and more fires are expected to be reported before the month ends. Together, they're likely to push the 2015 total past the record 9.87 million acres burned in 2006.

The extent of scorched earth reflects a warming trend that has made the United States considerably drier, scientists and fire expects say, with less mountain snowpack particularly in Alaska and the southwest.

Comment: It looks like the US is going up in flames.

See also: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - November 2015: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs