Wildfires
S


Phoenix

An unseasonable wildfire threatens Montana ski area, forcing evacuation

Image
A wildfire near the Red Lodge Mountain Resort ski area in southern Montana had grown to 700 acres after being reported at 200 acres earlier on Saturday
An unseasonable wildfire driven by strong winds prompted an evacuation of a ski lodge in southern Montana.

The blaze a few miles west of the community of Red Lodge had grown to 700 acres by Saturday night, US Forest Service spokesman Jeff Gildehaus said.

The fire was first reported on open private land around 12.30pm, but it was driven by winds gusting 35 to 50 mph into the Custer National Forest, where the Red Lodge Mountain Resort ski area is located.

It was zero per cent contained as of early Saturday night.

Cloud Lightning

Best of the Web: Extreme weather, meteor fireballs, and Earth Changes in March 2015 (VIDEO)

Image
© HawkkeyDavisChannel
Earth changes have taken place the past few weeks or so. Animals are listed among the dead.

I've been working 50+ hours a week, sorry if there's any mistakes. Thanks for watching and stay safe..

This series does not mean the world is ending! These are documentaries of series of extreme weather events which are leading to bigger earth changes. If you're following the series, then you're seeing the signs. It's much more than one video!


Follow me on Facebook for much more

Bizarro Earth

Massive wildfires threaten ancient forests in Chile

wildfire chile
Aerial view of smoke columns are seen over mountains on the Conguillo National Park in Chile on March 22, 2015
Chile has declared a red alert for three national parks and reserves where massive wildfires are threatening forests that are thousands of years old, officials said Tuesday.

The fires have been raging for more than a week in the southern region of La Araucania, which has been hit by a severe drought.

The National Emergency Office (ONEMI) warned they would likely spread and intensify.

"It's going to be difficult to contain this fire today and tomorrow, but we hope that by Thursday we can effectively have it under control," said the vice minister of the interior, Madmuh Aleuy.

The head of national forest service CONAF, Aaron Cavieres, said firefighters were battling to keep the blaze away from populated areas.

"High temperatures and strong winds of more than 50 kilometers (30 miles) an hour are complicating our work to contain the fires," he said.

The fires are burning in three protected areas: China Muerta National Reserve, Nalca Lolco National Reserve and Conguillio National Park.

Attention

Strong winds sweep wild fire in North Korea across South Korean border

wild fire north korea
© Evan Collis / DFES / AFPThe cause of the blaze was not known, and damage estimates were not immediately available.
Strong winds swept a wild fire in North Korea across the heavily armed border with South Korea, prompting a suspension of cross-border movements into a jointly-run factory park in the North.

About 50 firefighters and three helicopters were battling the fire on the south side of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) border, according to an official at the South Korean border town of Paju, adding that there were no reports of casualties.

Access to the area is normally restricted.

Phoenix

5-mile long wildfire breaks out in St. Joseph, Missouri

Image
St. Joseph wildfire prompts evacuations
Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for part of St. Joseph because of a 5-mile long wildfire that broke out Sunday afternoon.

People have been ordered out of homes along Elwood Street in St. Joseph, and firefighters want people to stay away from an area between Wyeth Hill south to River Front Park downtown.

The St. Joseph Frontier Casino has also been closed.

Those forced to evacuate can go to the American Red Cross for shelter at 401 N. 12th St.


Phoenix

Thousands evacuated due to raging forest fire near Valparaiso, Chile

Image
© APPlumes of smoke from a wild fire rise over Valparaiso, Chile, Friday, March 13, 2015.
A serious forest fire spread quickly on Chile's coast Friday and threatened to reach the nearby port cities of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.

Officials said the fire began at an illegal garbage dump in the afternoon and flames were spread quickly by high winds, leading authorities to declare a state of catastrophe in the area. Deputy Interior Secretary Mahmud Aleuy said that about 4,500 people in six neighborhoods had been evacuated as flames advanced nearby and that an additional 10,000 might need to be moved.


Phoenix

'Firenado' spins up as large wildfire blazes in Cape Town, South Africa

wildfire in south africa
© AP Photo/Schalk van ZuydamA couple stands on the beach as they look at the fire, rear, at Houtbay on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, March 3, 2015.
A large wildfire burning in and around the South African city of Cape Town continued to rage for a fourth day on Wednesday, forcing officials to evacuate some 500 people.

Conditions were even powerful enough to spark a "firenado." According to weather.com digital meteorologist Jon Erdman, a firenado is a rapidly spinning vortex that forms when air superheated by an intense wildfire rises rapidly, consolidating low-level spin from winds converging into the fire.

The inferno destroyed three homes and left five more damaged overnight as the sky glowed orange around Table Mountain National Park, according to an emergency spokesperson.

Those who were evacuated spent the night with family or friends, or they were lodged in a nearby community center. Some of the evacuees were allowed to return to their homes Wednesday afternoon, Cape Town disaster risk management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said.

Phoenix

34 wildfires reported across Arkansas

Image
© THV11Wildfire threatens Rush Historic District of Buffalo National River
34 wildfires were reported in Arkansas over the weekend.

According to the Arkansas Forestry Commission, those wildfires burned across 492 acres.

Air tankers dropped water on fires in Hot Spring and Clark Counties.

The wildfire danger remains moderate for most of Arkansas and low risk on the northeast side of the state.

There are currently no active burn bans.

Phoenix

Californian town of Swall Meadows ravaged by 'wall of red' wildfire

Image
© Jim Stimson/APThe wind-whipped fire gutted about 40 homes near Swall Meadows, California, along the Sierra Mountains, this weekend.
Police went door to door to get 250 residents out of Swall Meadows this weekend before a massive wind-driven wildfire swept through the town and destroyed 40 homes and other buildings along the Sierra mountains.

Ira Hanson milled around an evacuation center near tiny Swall Meadows on Sunday afternoon, not quite sure what to do after learning that the dream home he and his late wife had built 30 years earlier was damaged in a wildfire that consumed 40 homes and buildings.

Sheriff's deputies had banged on the door and urged him to get out less than 48 hours earlier, and he'd fled the house with little more than his medications and a pillow. Officials later told him that fire crews had to knock down one of the home's walls in an effort to save another house next door, but he had yet to see the damage.

"It's unbelievable," said Hanson, 79. "It's like having a nightmare and you're going to wake up any minute and it won't be true."

Fire crews increased containment of the wind-driven wildfire that ravaged communities along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, but they said Sunday that they still didn't know when the roughly 250 residents evacuated from Swall Meadows and nearby Paradise would be able to return home.



Airplane

Air tanker crashes while fighting record wildfires in California

Image
© Donald Talend / APSmoke rises from the crash site above Highway 140 near the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite national park in northern California.
An air tanker plane being used to fight a wildfire in Yosemite national park has crashed, killing the pilot, officials for the park and the California forestry and fire department have said.

Emergency workers reached the crash site near the Dog Rock fire on Tuesday evening and found the pilot had been killed, authorities announced. The pilot was yet to be named.

Witnesses saw the plane slam into the wall of a cliff above Highway 140 near the Arch Rock entrance to Yosemite on the western edge of the park "and yes, there was a lot of fire", park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said.

She said crews were just reaching the site of the wreckage several hours after the accident. There was no word on what caused the crash.

Alyssa Smith, of the California fire service, said the pilot was the only person on board at the time.

Comment: The world is in the grips of some seriously destructive events. For a compilation of the latest round of chaos, check out:

SOTT Earth Changes Video Summary: September 2014