Wildfires
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Fire

Wildfires Rage Across Southern US, Scorching More Than 100,000 Acres

Elizabeth Chuck
NBC News
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 10:56 UTC
southern US wildfires from space
© NASASouthern US wildfires seen from space
Uncontrolled wildfires are raging through the drought-stricken South, blanketing multiple states in haze as firefighters race to temper the flames.

If you're not on the front lines, it may be hard to visualize just how bad these wildfires have gotten. To give you an idea of their size and scope, here's a handy guide:
  • Wildfires are burning in six states: North Carolina, which is the hardest hit, plus Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
  • All told, there are more than 30 large fires that are still uncontained. Overall, 128,000 acres have gone up in flames — a land mass that's about nine times the size of Manhattan, more than four times the size of San Francisco... or the size of nearly 96,970 football fields.
  • While that's a lot, there have certainly been much larger wildfires in past years. In August 2015, the Okanogan Complex Fire in Washington burned over 256,560 acres, making it the largest wildfire in Washington state history.
  • More than 5,000 firefighters and support personnel are battling the flames. The firefighters have come in from all parts of the country to assist and authorities are using 24 helicopters to drop flame retardant on the fires.

Comment: Winter drought forecast for much of United States

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Fire

Wannabe weatherman seeking Facebook views arrested for starting wildfire

Jeff Martin & Rebecca Reynolds
Lexington Herald Leader
Fri, 11 Nov 2016 16:16 UTC
Johnny Mullins
© WLEXJohnny Mullins arrested and charged with second degree arson.
A wannabe weatherman was jailed for arson after admitting he started a wildfire to draw attention to his selfie videos on Facebook, his town's police chief said Friday. Meanwhile, a Georgia sheriff appealed for help identifying the driver of a dark blue SUV last seen where other wildfires began. And in North Carolina, authorities suspect arson in more than 20 wildfires burning in a national forest.

"It's really too bad because he's not a bad kid — he's just misguided," said James Stephens, the police chief in Jenkins, Kentucky, where Johnny Mullins, 21, was arrested this week on a second-degree arson charge.

"He likes to do Facebook videos and have people follow him on his 'weather forecast,' so that's pretty much why he did what he did," the chief said. "He enjoyed the attention he got from the Facebook stuff."


Comment: Typical of a narcissistic society with an unhealthy obsession with social media status.


"He didn't realize how much danger he was putting other people in," Stephens added.

A teenager in Harlan County, Kentucky also was arrested for arson this week, and in Tennessee, authorities said Friday that Andrew Scott Lewis was charged with setting fires and vandalism causing more than $250,000 in damage and threatening homes outside Chattanooga.

No arrests were announced in most of the rest of the suspicious fires, which have been torching forests in and around the southern Appalachian mountains. The relentless drought across much of the South has removed the usual humidity and sucked wells and streams dry, making the woods ripe for fire.

Comment: Dozens of wildfires spread across North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia

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Fire

Dozens of wildfires spread across North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia

Scott Jensen
Charlotte Stories
Wed, 09 Nov 2016 15:14 UTC
NC wildfires map
© Charlotte Stories
As the drought continues to linger in the South East, wildfires are now spreading throughout the Blue Ridge mountains, and now into the Piedmont of North Carolina.

Evacuations have even begun to take place around Lake Lure, which is about an hour and a half west of Charlotte.

Emergency personnel are now going door-to-door to evacuate residents in Rutherford County.

Dozens of parks, including the South Mountains State Park are now closed due to the fires.

North Carolina firefighters are now expecting wind gusts of over 20mph today to push the fires even further.


Burn bans enacted until further notice in these counties:

Comment: There are reports of extensive fires in Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia as well as North Carolina. According to NASA, more than 30 have ignited since a wildfire began 6 days ago in Maple Springs, North Carolina. The agency's satellite image shows just how far the wildfires have spread across the southeast:

Southeast wildires
© NASA
From the NOAA:
Southeast wildfires


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Fire

October a record month for wildfires in Georgia

Steve Burns
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Fri, 04 Nov 2016 17:24 UTC
Georgia wildfire
© Channel 2 Action NewsFirefighters are at work in DeKalb County.
DeKalb County firefighters were battling a blaze Friday afternoon near the First Baptist Church in Lithonia, Channel 2 Action News reported. The scene is on Hillandale Drive near I-20. The blaze was reported under control about 5:30 p.m.

Also, crews in Forsyth County were battling a 1-acre fire on Greenwood Acres near Cumming, Channel 2 reported. That blaze was threatening three homes in a neighborhood.

There were 64 new fires reported statewide since Thursday, Georgia Forestry Commission spokeswoman Wendy Burnett said.

In all, October wildfire activity in the state was more than 200 times the five-year average for the month, the GFC said in a Facebook post.

"We are stretched with fires breaking out all over," Burnett said, "but our folks are some of the most dedicated and professional that you could hope to meet. So we are confident when we say, 'We've got this.'"

Burnett said the GFC has been able to move some firefighters from areas with lower activity to some of the "hot spots." And the agency has gotten help from local fire departments and other agencies.

Gwinnett County fire spokesman Tommy Rutledge said the GFC has helped his agency cut firebreaks around the perimeter of burn areas as needed.
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Fire

More than 100,000 acres destroyed in Alabama by 900-plus wildfires since October 1


abc3340.com
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 13:25 UTC
Wildfire
Officials say more than 900 wildfires have destroyed over 100,000 acres across the state this month amid an ongoing drought that has no signs of ending anytime soon.

Interim State Forester Gary Cole said in a statement Monday that extremely dry conditions have created favorable environments for wildfires during the past several weeks.

"The drought creates a dangerous scenario where wildfire can quickly spread out of control, destroying forestland and threatening homes," Cole said.

Gov. Robert Bentley on Oct. 12 signed a drought emergency declaration, putting 46 counties under the no burn order.

Cole says that order will remain in effect until weather conditions have significantly improved. Citing a 10-day forecast of low potential for rainfall, Cole says there is "no relief in sight."

Violators of the burn ban could face a fine of up to $500 and up to six months in jail if convicted.

Source: Associated Press
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Fire

25 square miles and 5 homes lost to wildfire in Custer County, Colorado

Allison Sylte
9news.com
Tue, 18 Oct 2016 14:06 UTC
The Junkins fire grew rapidly Monday in southern Colorado, forcing more than 175 homes to evacuate.
© KKTVThe Junkins fire grew rapidly Monday in southern Colorado, forcing more than 175 homes to evacuate.
Authorities say a wildfire in southern Colorado has destroyed five homes and hundreds of people remain under evacuation orders.

The Pueblo County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday the fire had scorched more than 25 square miles.

The sheriff's department says the fire started when high winds blew a metal outbuilding into a power line.

In addition to the homes, 13 outbuildings have been destroyed.

Crews were trying to block the flames with fire lines, but authorities said the blaze was still uncontained Tuesday night.

Custer County has declared the fire a local emergency, and the Colorado Office of Emergency Management is trying to secure a verbal declaration of disaster from the governor's office, which will provide funding and help from the Colorado National Guard.

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Fire

Prairie fire scorches 48 square miles and kills scores of cattle east of Rapid City, South Dakota

Jim Holland and Chris Huber
Rapid City Journal
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 13:18 UTC
wILDFIR
© Chris Huber
A massive prairie fire that consumed an estimated 48 square miles of private and public ranch lands east of Rapid City — and which was mostly contained but still burning on Monday — led to the loss of ranch outbuildings, caused a pair of interstate traffic wrecks, killed at least 135 head of cattle and consumed untold amounts of grasslands by Monday afternoon.

The blaze, called the Cottonwood Fire, began around 1 p.m. Sunday and was initially battled by 300 firefighting personnel. The fire caused smoky skies and upset ranching activities across a wide swath of land about 75 miles east of Rapid City in an area between Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 14.

No one had been injured by the fire or while battling it as of late Monday; the fire was reportedly 75 percent contained by 4 p.m. Monday, and potential rain in the area Monday night might help the firefighting cause.

Officials located the fire's point of origin and an investigator confirmed Monday that the fire was human-caused, but no specific cause was announced as the investigation continues, said Rapid City Fire Department Lt. Jim Bussell.

Sunday's fire-ripe combination of unseasonably high temperatures, low humidity and winds gusting as high as 50 mph pushed flames swiftly across the prairie, scorching most everything in its path.

"Under these conditions, the fire spread quickly," Bussell said in a Monday news briefing.

The fire scorched an estimated 48 square miles of private land and part of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, southeast of Cottonwood and north of I-90.
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Arrow Up

Charity calls on DiCaprio to step down from UN climate change role

Alex Ritman
The Hollywood Reporter
Fri, 14 Oct 2016 17:26 UTC
DiCaprio
© Olivier Marteau on Twitter
A rainforest charity calls on the star to either denounce his connection to individuals involved in a Malaysian corruption scandal and return laundered money he allegedly received or give up his role.

In perhaps the biggest attack on Leonardo DiCaprio's environmental credibility, a rainforest charity on Friday called on the actor to give up his title as UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on climate change.

At a press conference in London, the Bruno Manser Funds offered DiCaprio an ultimatum: either he renounce his connections to the "politically exposed persons" at the center of the multi-billion dollar 1MDB Malaysian corruption scandal now being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department and return corrupt money he allegedly received or resign from the position he was given by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon in 2014.

"If DiCaprio is unwilling to come clean, we ask him to step down as UN Messenger for Peace for climate change, because he simply lacks the credibility for such an important role," said Lukas Straumann, director of the Switzerland-based charity, which has a particular focus on deforestation in Malaysia.

DiCaprio is alleged to have received millions of dollars diverted from the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund for his role as star and producer of The Wolf of Wall Street, alleged by the DOJ to have been funded by stolen Malaysian money and produced by Red Granite, co-founded by Riza Aziz, the stepson of the Malaysian prime minister and a major figure in a DOJ filing. He is also alleged to have received laundered 1MDB money for his charity, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, from his former close associate Jho Low, the controversial Malaysian businessman at the heart of the scandal.
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Fire

22 homes destroyed and hundreds evacuated in northern Nevada wildfire


Daily Mail (UK)
Sat, 15 Oct 2016 18:09 UTC
Hand crews finish up work on the Emerald Fire along Highway 89, Friday, Oct. 14, 2016 near Lake Tahoe, Nev.
© Randall Benton/The Sacramento BeeHand crews finish up work on the Emerald Fire along Highway 89, Friday, Oct. 14, 2016 near Lake Tahoe, Nev.
A trio of wind-whipped wildfires burning along the Sierra Nevada on Friday destroyed 22 homes north of Carson City, forced hundreds of evacuations at Lake Tahoe and temporarily closed a major highway connecting Reno to the mountain lake.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval declared a state of emergency as hundreds of firefighters battled the most dangerous fire, which is still threatening hundreds of structures in the Washoe Valley along Interstate 580 and U.S. Highway 395 between Reno and Carson City.

No serious injuries have been reported but four firefighters have been treated for smoke inhalation, said Tia Rancourt, spokeswoman for the Sierra Front Interagency Fire Dispatch Center.

The wildland blaze that continued to burn out of control Friday night has charred about 3 square miles of brush and timber. It forced the closures of numerous schools and roads, and triggered widespread power outages.

Federal disaster funds were approved late Friday to help cover firefighting costs in the parched area that has only recently shown signs of recovering from a five-year drought

About 500 firefighters were on the scene Friday night at the so-called Little Valley fire, which broke out about 1:30 a.m. in the mountains between Lake Tahoe and Washoe Valley about 8 miles north of Carson City.


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Fire

Wildfire rages through Santa Cruz mountains in California


Seeker
Tue, 27 Sep 2016 12:49 UTC
Santa Cruz wildfire
© twitter/scott balentine (screen capture)
The Loma fire has consumed more than 2,000 acres and forced evacuations in Santa Clara County, Calif.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes due to a wildfire near Loma Prieta in the Santa Cruz mountains that grew to more than 2,000 acres. On Tuesday, the fire was just 5 percent contained.

Dramatic photos of the fire appeared on social media as 500 firefighters battled the blaze.

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