Wildfires

Baked Alaska: Anchorage breaks all-time temperature record amid heatwave

Katy Dartford & NBC
Euronews
Fri, 05 Jul 2019 18:07 UTC

It's not only Western Europe that has been experiencing a record-breaking heatwave.

Whilst we normally think of Alaska as largely freezing and snow-covered, the US's northernmost state is forecast to bake in temperatures reaching 30.5 degrees Celsius (87 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher over the next five days, stretching from July 4 through July 8, according to the National Weather Service.

Its largest city, Anchorage, broke its all-time temperature record on Friday, reaching 31 degrees Celsius (89 degrees Fahrenheit) at the city's airport.

The previous record was also set in the airport on June 14, 1969, and reached a temperature of 29.4 degrees Celsius (84.9 degrees Fahrenheit).

Comment: More record-breaking heat and wildfire smoke forecast for Alaska

Spain: Catalonia battles worst wildfire in 20 years amid heatwave

Al Jazeera
Fri, 28 Jun 2019 21:24 UTC

© Jordi Borras/AP
Hilly terrain, high temperatures and strong winds have frustrated firefighters' efforts to contain the blaze

The still-raging blaze has devoured more than 5,500 hectares of land, forcing people to evacuate and killing animals.

Catalan firefighters are battling the worst wildfire the Spanish region has seen in 20 years as Europe swelters in the grip of an intense heatwave.

Hundreds of firefighters struggled to contain a wildfire in the northeastern region of Catalonia on Friday that has scorched more than 5,500 hectares of land and forced the evacuation of some 53 residents.

A day earlier, authorities warned that the blaze, which began on Wednesday afternoon, could easily devour 20,000 hectares if it was not contained.

Underground fire triggers panic in Uttar Pradesh, India

Deccan Herald
Sat, 15 Jun 2019 18:27 UTC

An underground fire in Mohammadi range forests of Uttar Pradesh left scores of neighbouring villagers panicked and puzzled.

Smoke was seen gushing out through the cracks in the ground and at some places land had turned into embers, said residents of Bela Pahara and Muda Galib villages in South Kheri forest division.

72-year-old Hukum Singh of Muda Galib said he has never been witness to such a scene. He feared that the fire may damage his crops.

Another villager, Bhai Lal (75), termed the scene as a natural miracle, which he had never heard of or seen earlier. Some villagers also mistook it as a volcanic incident.

Canadian wildfires are already turning sunsets red in the US

Brian Kahn
Gizmodo
Fri, 31 May 2019 16:31 UTC

The calendar hasn't turned to summer yet, but skies in Canada and across the U.S. already look like August. Smoke from massive Canadian wildfires has made the sun disappear in Edmonton and turned Friday's sunrise blood red as far east as Vermont.

More than 900,000 acres of Alberta has gone up in flames, the latest symptom of our overheating planet. Wildfire risk continues to be high in the province as well as neighboring British Columbia where a heat wave has temperatures climbing into the 90s for parts of the province through the weekend.

There are currently 10 fires in Alberta raging out of control according to the province's fire agency. The largest of which is the Chuckegg Creek Fire burning in the northwest part of the province. The blaze, combined with others in the High Level fire district, has consumed more than 610,000 acres as of Thursday according to the agency, and along with the other wildfires in the province, forced 10,000 to flee from their homes.

The province remains on a Level 5 alert, the highest alert level the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) issues, due to a combination of factors including dangerous weather, high fuel loads, and inadequate resources to respond to any new fires. The country as a whole remains on a Level 3 alert, and with a hot, dry weekend ahead for British Columbia, Alberta, and parts of the Yukon Territory, the threat of more conflagrations remains acute.

Comment: See also:

Israel seeks the assistance of 'friendly' countries to assist with deadly wildfires

RT
Fri, 24 May 2019 17:00 UTC

Tel Aviv is considering seeking help from "friendly" neighbors as the country was hit by an extreme heatwave and subsequent wildfires that have already destroyed dozens of houses and displaced some 3,500 people.

Raging fires forced evacuation of several small towns in central Israel on Thursday. The blazes affected wooded areas between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with firefighter crews and airplane tankers trying to push back the flames. Some 22 people have been reportedly hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

The fires have been triggered by unusually high temperatures that surged to 37.5 degrees Celsius (99.5 F) near Jerusalem and even 43.5 degrees Celsius (110.3 F) outside Tel Aviv, according to the Israel Meteorological Service.

Toxic smoke hangs over Mexico City as wildfires burn

Manuel Crespo Feliciano
AccuWeather.com
Mon, 13 May 2019 21:53 UTC

The government of Mexico City has issued alerts for poor air quality since Friday as a result of a series of forest fires that have broken out in and around the most populated city in North America.

Outdoor activities were affected during the course of the weekend, and continues, due to a dense layer of smoke that has enveloped much of the city. Videos posted on social media showed how dense the smoke was that hung in the air over Mexico's capital city.

The situation is especially dangerous because, as reported by the Ministry of the Environment, the air is contaminated with high levels of ash particles, which can cause respiratory problems and other diseases by inhalation.

Wildfires scorch over 44,000 hectares across Russia

TASS
Sat, 11 May 2019 11:01 UTC

Wildfires have scorched over 44,000 hectares in 18 Russian regions, the Federal Aerial Forest Protection Service (Avialesokhrana) said in a statement on Saturday, adding that 155 forest fires had been extinguished in the previous 24 hours.

"As of May 11, 2019, a total of 54 forest fires are active in Russia, which engulf 44,245 hectares, active efforts are underway to extinguish the fires," the statement reads.

As many as 17 forest fires have been registered in Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region, while the number of wildfires active in the Kurgan, Irkutsk and Trans-Baikal region ranges from four to six. Firefighting activities involve 3,600 personnel and 835 pieces of equipment.

The fire season has begun in 77 Russian regions. A state of emergency has been declared in six regions, namely the Kurgan, Trans-Baikal, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk and Tuva regions, as well as in certain districts of the Chelyabinsk region, the Federal Aerial Forest Protection Service pointed out.

Comment: Raging wildfires in Russia's Trans-Baikal region have killed thousands of animals; national parks and conservation sites threatened

'Unprecedented' wildfire season has begun in Washington, US

John Knicely
MyNorthwest.com
Fri, 10 May 2019 22:29 UTC

The wildfire season is off to a busy start, and state Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz calls it unprecedented. With record money recently approved at the state and federal level, KIRO 7 is looking into what that means for the firefight this season.

"So far to date we've had 170 fires in Washington state," Franz told KIRO 7. "Fifty-three percent of them west of the Cascades and I have to stress that is a new phenomenon. We're not used to having that many fires west of the Cascades and we're not used to having that many fires early in the season."

The state legislature approved a record $50 million in its recent budget, and Congress and President Donald Trump approved $2 billion over the next eight years. That federal money is available staring this season.

"I was just back in D.C. last week thanking them for their leadership on that," Franz said.

Much of the federal money will provide more drones, and KIRO 7 has showed you how drones help fight wildfires. Infrared technology pinpoints hot spots in real-time. Normally firefighters have to take a glove off and use the back of their hands, feeling the ground for hot spots.

Comment: Meanwhile with insurance claims of $12bn, last year's wildfires were the most expensive in California history.

With insurance claims of $12bn last year's wildfires were the most expensive in California history

The Guardian
Wed, 08 May 2019 23:08 UTC

Camp Fire rages through Paradise, California

Insurance claims have topped $12bn for the November wildfires in California, making them the most expensive in state history.

The figure released on Wednesday by the insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, covers the fire that destroyed the town of Paradise and two southern California blazes.

Most of the damages relate to the Camp fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 19,000 buildings in Paradise.

Comment: California wildfires: Death toll rises to 71 - 1,000+ missing - 50,000+ remain evacuated - 7,000+ buildings destroyed - Camp Fire deadliest in state's history - UPDATES

California experienced some of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in its history in 2017 and 2018. A series of sweeping fires in late 2017 had been the most expensive, with claims topping $11.8bn.

The increasing destruction is making it harder and more costly for people to obtain homeowners insurance.

The insurance department has started collecting data on policy non-renewals to better assess patterns and locations where coverage is being dropped, Lara said earlier this year.

"Wildfire has long been part of California's landscape, and insurers understand that California faces major wildfire risk," said Nicole Mahrt-Ganley of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, which represents about 60% of the nation's property casualty insurance market.

The UK has already had more wildfires in 2019 than any year on record

Adam Vaughan
New Scientist
Tue, 23 Apr 2019 07:19 UTC

Firefighters tackle a blaze on moorland in northwest England

The UK has been hit by nearly a hundred large wildfires in 2019, making it the worst year on record already.

The hot spell in February and the recent Easter heatwave have contributed to a total of 96 major wildfires of 25 hectares or larger, eclipsing the previous high of 79 across the whole of 2018.

Researchers told New Scientist that the figures, collated by the European Forest Fire Information System, were evidence that climate change had already heightened the risk of wildfires in the UK.

More than 100 firefighters battled wildfires over the Easter weekend across Illkley Moor and Marsden Moor in West Yorkshire. Another fire broke out on moorland near Marsden on Tuesday afternoon, requiring ten fire engines to attend.

Fires throughout the year

There were also wildfires in Cornwall, Dorset, Derbyshire, Northern Ireland, the Peak District, Rotherham, Wiltshire and Wales, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC).

Scotland was affected by fires across the Highlands, including a large one that posed a "serious risk" to the Moray windfarm.

The spate of blazes follows a series of major wildfires during the hot, dry weather of 2018, including the Saddleworth Moor fire near Manchester, which burned for five days and made pollution levels spike.

Paul Hedley, national wildfires lead for the NFCC, said it was "really significant" that the number of large wildfires in 2019 had already overtaken 2018's tally so early in the year.

Comment: Europe's record breaking warm winter leads to unprecedented wildfires