Wildfires
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Phoenix

Thousands evacuated due to raging forest fire near Valparaiso, Chile

Eva Vergara
news.yahoo.com
Sat, 14 Mar 2015 18:03 UTC
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© 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.

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Phoenix

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


The Weather Channel
Wed, 04 Mar 2015 03:09 UTC
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.
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Phoenix

34 wildfires reported across Arkansas


thv11.com
Mon, 09 Feb 2015 20:29 UTC
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© 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.
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Phoenix

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


New York Daily News
Sun, 08 Feb 2015 14:58 UTC
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© 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.


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Airplane

Air tanker crashes while fighting record wildfires in California


The Guardian, UK
Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:48 UTC
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© 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

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Bizarro Earth

Northern California wildfires claim 100 structures, forcing closure of Interstate 5

Michael Kuhne
AccuWeather
Tue, 16 Sep 2014 23:10 UTC
A raging wildfire, which erupted Monday afternoon, has damaged or destroyed more than 100 structures and has forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents in Northern California, near Weed. The Boles Fire has scorched 375 acres, and prompted the closure of Interstate 5, according to CalFire.
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© @KenBodnarTwitter user Ken Bodnar:
My wife just got these pics from a friend in #WeedCa of the #BolesFire
Evacuation orders were issued for residents in Weed, Carrick and Lake Shastina, CalFire reported. An evacuation center has been opened at the Siskiyou County Fairgrounds in Yreka. Three injuries were reported. As of Tuesday morning, the fire is 20 percent contained.
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Phoenix

California firefighters battle out of control wildfire as area withers under triple-digit temperatures

Dan Whitcomb
Reuters
Sat, 13 Sep 2014 21:22 UTC
wildfire
© AFP
Los Angeles - Hundreds of firefighters spent a second day on Saturday battling a wildfire burning out of control in a national forest southeast of Los Angeles, as the region baked under triple-digit temperatures that prompted authorities to issue a "heat alert."

The so-called Silverado Fire, which broke out in the Cleveland National Forest on Friday morning, had charred some 1,600 acres (647 hectares) by Saturday afternoon as it burned through brush and chaparral left bone dry by California's record drought.

Evacuation orders were issued for more than 200 homes in and around Silverado Canyon as some 740 firefighters worked to gain a measure of control over the flames, assisted by 10 water-dropping helicopters and five fixed-wing aircraft, according to the U.S Forest Service fire-tracking website InciWeb.

The heat wave that has sent temperatures soaring over 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) in parts of Southern California on Saturday and was not expected to break until late Sunday. The sweltering heat prompted Los Angeles health officials to issue a "heat alert" for this weekend, urging residents to take special precautions.

"Extreme heat such as this is not just an inconvenience, it can be dangerous and even deadly, but we can protect ourselves, our families and our neighbors if we take steps to remain cool and hydrated," Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, the city's interim health director, said in issuing the heat alert.
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Newspaper

64,000-acre wildfire threatens Northern California communities

Veronica Rocha
Los Angeles Times
Tue, 02 Sep 2014 07:26 UTC
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© Karen Crocker Derry via FacebookHappy Camp Complex
A roughly 64,000-acre wildfire burning along the Northern California-Oregon border for three weeks continues to threaten two communities.

Officials have increased the number of firefighting personnel assigned to the Happy Camp Complex fire by 30% as flames advance in steep terrain, according to the U.S. Forest Service.


Comment: See below for a chart of wildfires over the past year, note the unseasonal peak in January ( the vast majority of all reports are from the Northern hemisphere).




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Phoenix

Methane gas seeping out of the ground in China

Tara Brady
Daily Mail, UK
Tue, 27 May 2014 12:42 UTC
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Dangerous: Methane gas is coming up from the ground in a village in China causing the air to burst into fire
* Nanjiawan village in China has been dubbed the 'Invisible Fire Village'

* Lighting a cigarette or starting electrical equipment can be hazardous

* Locals called in priests at first believing they had been cursed by evil spirits

Methane gas is coming up from the ground in a village in China causing the air to burst into balls of fire.

The phenomenon is now so common that Nanjiawan village in south-west China has been dubbed the 'Invisible Fire Village'.

Lighting a cigarette or starting electrical equipment can have disastrous consequences.
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Extinguisher

Massive fires sweep across Siberia, 3.6 thousand hectares destroyed


Famagusta Gazette
Tue, 19 Aug 2014 06:42 UTC
siberia fires
As many as 896 forest security officers and fire-fighting paratroopers, 139 units of fire trucks and 11 aircrafts were involved in fire-fighting.
Forest fire area has grown sharply by 700 hectares over the past day to reach 3.6 thousand hectares in Siberia.

On Tuesday morning, 60 fires were reported in six regions of the district, the forestry department in the Siberian Federal District said on Tuesday.

The Republic of Tyva (2.4 thousand hectares) and the Republic of Buryatia (0.5 thousand hectares) are affected by fires more than other regions.

Comment: Prepare for the Ice Age: Weather goes crazy in Siberia - with record high temperatures, then July snow and wildfires

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