Wildfires
S


Fire

California wildfire triples in size forcing evacuations

California wildfire
California wildfire
Driven by high winds and soaring temperatures, a wildfire in California more than tripled in size Thursday, swelling to more than 14,000 acres, fire officials said.

The so-called Butte Fire, located east of the town of Jackson southeast of Sacramento, was a little more than 100 acres shortly after it broke out at around 2:26 p.m. Wednesday, and grew to around 4,000 acres by Thursday.


Comment: All over the world we are witnessing extensive wildfires, which in some regions have been described as "unprecedented". The wildfire season in the US has worsened dramatically in recent years and 2015 is set to be the worst yet.

Could some of these wildfires have been fueled from outgassing, then possibly 'sparked' by an increase in atmospheric electric discharge events, such as lightning strikes? A wildfire in Utah last week was attributed to being 'sparked' by an underground transformer exploding, according to fire officials. See also:

Study: Wildfire seasons are more destructive and lasting longer almost everywhere on Earth


Fire

Large fire sparked in Yosemite National Park

yosemite fire
© National Park Service
A 100-acre fire sparked in Yosemite National Park floats above mountain ranges Tuesday afternoon.

The smoke visible Tuesday in the Yosemite Valley is coming from the Tenaya Fire, which is located in Indian Canyon above the north rim of the Valley on both sides of the Lehamite trail, between the Valley and Tioga Road.

The fire was discovered last night and is currently estimated at 100 acres. The fire is spotting among dead trees creating much of the large smoke plume we are seeing in Yosemite Valley.

Full suppression efforts are underway, with two 20-person Type-1 hand crews on scene. Four air tankers and two helicopters are also assisting. Temperatures are expected to drop tonight which should help firefighting efforts. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Smoky conditions are likely to persist over the next few days.

Trails on the north rim of Yosemite Valley south of the Tioga Road and east of Yosemite Creek, to near Olmsted Point, are closed.

No estimate on a containment date was given.

Details: Here.

Attention

4.3 earthquake hits north central Washington wildfire zone

Image
A 4.3 magnitude earthquake has hit the wildfire zone in north central Washington.

The quake, which was six miles deep, hit 26 miles east of Okanogan and 25 miles north of Grand Coulee at 9:42 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

KIRO 7 meteorolgist Morgan Palmer said an earthquake of that depth was considered shallow and was likely felt as a jolt.

The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network asks if you felt the earthquake, to fill out the form here.

Fire

Washington state battles worst wildfire in history


The state of Washington, in the North-west of the United States, is battling its largest wildfire on record.

The flames have devoured more than 1,000 square kilometers of land so far, burning over 200 homes and now threatening thousands more.

Heavy smoke has grounded firefighting airplanes and helicopters, making it difficult to contain the flames.

At Okanogan county, near the Canadian border, Incident commander Todd Pechota said firefighters were gradually making progress against the fires.

2015 US wildfires
2015 US wildfires

Comment: It is not only volunteer firefighters from Australia and New Zealand who are assisting with these unprecedented US wildfires. In California, 4000 PRISONERS not firefighters have been tasked with putting out raging wildfires there!


Fire

Battle for Baikal: Raging Siberian wildfires threaten world's biggest freshwater lake

Lake Baikal wildfires
© Chono Erdenebayar
The world's oldest and deepest lake could face severe damage from wildfires which are burning out of control along its shores. Lake Baikal, home to 20 percent of the world's unfrozen fresh water, is facing a potential ecological catastrophe with 36 fires burning in the region.

It is one of the jewels of Russia, both in terms of its importance ecologically and for tourism. However, as plumes of smoke billow out in southern Siberia, thousands of hectares of forest are being destroyed around Lake Baikal.

Comment: All over the world we are witnessing extensive wildfires, which in some regions have been described as "unprecedented". Could some of these wildfires have been fueled from outgassing, then possibly 'sparked' by an increase in atmospheric electric discharge events, such as lightning strikes? See also:

Study: Wildfire seasons are more destructive and lasting longer almost everywhere on Earth


Fire

'Firenado' filmed at Idaho's Soda fire

Image
© Craig Fluer
A firefighter battling Idaho's Soda Fire captured footage of a so-called "firenado" shooting flames high into the air.

Craig Fluer, a wild land firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service, posted a video to Instagram of the firenado, or "fire whirl," throwing flames 100 feet into the air.

"Saw a #firewhirl for the first time last night," Fluer wrote. "This sucker was shooting flames 100 ft in the air before it passed right in front of the line, all while dropping hot dirt and ash on our helmets."

Experts said intense heat from large fires can cause the air to rise rapidly, leading to the spinning fire and smoke known as a "firenado" or "fire whirl."

The Soda Fire has burned through more than 280,000 acres since it was first reported Aug. 10. Officials said the fire was 90 percent contained Tuesday.


Fire

Three firefighters are killed battling devastating wildfires across Washington state; one million acres on fire

Image
Authorities on Wednesday afternoon urged people in the north-central Washington town to evacuate because of a fast-moving wildfire
Three firefighters in Washington state were killed and four injured while battling a wildfire threatening the north-central town of Twisp, Governor Jay Inslee said on Wednesday, as more than a dozen major blazes burned across Western U.S. states.

The deaths came as a fast-moving wildfire forced authorities late on Wednesday to order the evacuations of Twisp and Winthrop, towns in the foothills of the Cascade mountains, Okanogan County Emergency Management said on Facebook.

'I was just told that three firefighters died while battling the Twisp fire and four were injured,' Inslee said in a statement.

Fires have blackened more than 1 million acres (400,000 hectares) across the arid Western region, prompting fire managers to call in help from the U.S. Army and abroad to reinforce civilian crews.


Cloud Lightning

Best of the Web: Signs of Change: Extreme weather and environmental upheaval in August 2015 (VIDEO)

hawkkey davis
© HawkkeyDavisChannel/YouTubeFloods and infernos: August has seen flooding and fires in areas all over the world.
Hawkkey Davis' latest video compilation of extreme weather events (and general environmental chaos) from the past month or so.

The Solomon Islands, Alaska's Aleutian Islands, the Bay Area, Indonesia, Queensland and Maryland are rocked by earthquakes; Reunion Island (the site of the alleged MH370 'wreckage' found earlier this month) and Mexico by volcanoes. The Queensland quake was the biggest in a century. Flash floods in Arizona, northwest China, Iran, Pakistan, Florida, India, Myanmar, Colorado, and Argentina. Wildfires in France, Spain, Montana and California. The Dead Sea tourism industry is threatened by unprecedented sinkholes. All this, plus storms, tornadoes, sand, fireballs, record-breaking heat and more!


Comment: See also: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - July 2015: Extreme Weather and Planetary Upheaval


Bizarro Earth

Fast moving wildfire destroys homes, forces evacuations in central Idaho

Clearwater wildfire idaho
© Barry Kough, AP Fire consumes trees along the Clearwater River in north central Idaho on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015, part of the Lawyer complex of wildfires caused by lightning earlier in the week.
A 70-year-old woman was killed when she fell while preparing to flee from a wildfire expanding quickly east of Lewiston, the Idaho County Sheriff's Department said Saturday.

Authorities said Cheryl Lee Wissler of Adams Grade died Friday from a head injury she sustained when she fell.

An estimated 30 homes and 75 other structures were lost to the blaze, the sheriff's department said. The fire is surrounding the small town of Kamiah, about 60 miles east of Lewiston, and burned to the edge of Clearwater River, directly across the water from downtown.

The blaze is one of dozens taxing fire crews across the Pacific Northwest. Wildfires have destroyed dozens of homes in Oregon, Idaho and Washington, forced thousands of evacuations throughout the region and left at least 9,000 without power in eastern Washington.

Many of the fires were started by lighting from a storm that swept through the region. They grew quickly in hot weather, fueled by bone-dry vegetation.

Handcuffs

United Corporations of Amerika: 4,000 PRISONERS - not firefighters - are tasked with putting out raging wildfires in California

Image
A shocking number of firefighters battling California's numerous wildfires are actually prisoners sometimes working for less than $2 a day. They're hoping to earn shorter sentences - and they're saving taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.


Comment: No, they're saving private corporations millions of dollars. Why pay for firefighters when you can pay for slaves?


Somewhere between 30 to 40 percent of the state's forest firefighters, or nearly 4,000 people, are low-level felons from state prisons, Mother Jones reported. Working in "Conservation Camps" set up by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), the inmates are trained to clear brush that can potentially trigger a fire and also battle the flames when a blaze does occur.

In return, they make somewhere between $1.45 and $3.90 per day, according to the CDCR. They also have two days knocked off of their sentences for every day they work.

Speaking with KQED, inmate Cory Sills said that, despite sometimes having to work 24-hour shifts, he generally feels like the camps are a good thing, especially since prisoners are treated better than they are behind bars.

"There's an assembly where we have a formation in the mornings and it was like my second or third day and the lieutenant comes out and he goes, 'Look, we'll treat you like men first, firefighters second, and prisoners if we have to,'" he said last July. "That right there, that stuck in my head for two years now because now I have a chance to be treated like a man."