Clayton Fire Case Study

The National Park Service communicates with surrounding areas to help prevent fires. They also have specialists to investigate when a burn ban needs to be in effect, this is all depending on certain reasons and moisture content in the area Angie (2006). Firefighters fight wildfires by depriving them of one or more of the fire trio basics. Traditional methods include water drenching and spraying fire retardants to

There are also so many animals that go along with the damage from the fires because they are living in the middle of it and do not have any where to go. It makes sense that actions such as controlled burns should be done because so much could be prevented. Then again there are so many people who argue against them because they are a disruption to the environment. “Fire experts argue that prescribed burns are vital for reducing the risk of catastrophic blazes and restoring ecosystems that evolved with fire” (Tobin 2). If a great deal of damage could be prevented, I do not see why there should be any concern. This is especially important when you look at what more damage is done to the environment during a huge forest fire compared to on from a petite controlled burn.

In 2003, possibly one of the worst wildfires in California’s history occurred. This fire, referred to as the Cedar Fire, spread across 273,246 acres.

In 2016 “there have been more than 4,000 wildfires in California, with well over 300,000 acres of land burned” (Kieran Cooke).

These fires highlighted that there were not enough fire fighters and resources to combat such fires. They highlighted areas that lacked emergency service protection and showed a lack of preparedness (San Diego Fire Facts, 2016). Years after the fires, some changes that came about include: wood shake shingles being banned on new construction and could not be used as roof replacements (Mainar, 2013) and 100 feet became the new defensible space, an increase from 65, between the fuel, for example vegetation, of the fire and the structure (Mainar, 2013). There’s an increase in code compliance officers in the field from two to seven (Mainar, 2013). Evacuation procedures and notices were

The wildfire fighting agency, Cal Fire, has reported minor injuries and notes that most of the fires are over 60% contained. In some cases, the land damage has been substantial. Fires in San Bernardino and Alpine counties have burned almost 50,000 acres. Rocky Fire, one of the largest wildfires, has destroyed three homes and led to a mandatory evacuation order for about 500 homes. The fire's location in steep terrain is making work

The Hodge Fire, just one of 10 fires that have occurred in this area in the past nine months, would cost more than $15 million in damages and left 18 firefighters

On the night of October 8, 1871 at 9:00pm, a horrible fire broke loose. Very dry weather, leaving the ground dry, the wooden city vulnerable. The abundance of wooden buildings a fire started in a barn, outside in Chicago behind the home of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary at 13 Dekoven street. The Great Chicago Fire people are saying was caused by the cow of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary kicked a lantern. No one really doesn’t know how this great fire was started but some theories say humans or a matador caused this fire.

It all started on 137 De Koven Street, in Catherine and Patrick O’Leary’s Barn. Daniel Sullivan ,who was a friend and the first one to discover the fire, did not hesitate to call out for help. When the fire was barely 15 minutes old, the O’Leary’s barn and neighboring houses were already engulfed in fire as families stood outside, watching, and waiting for any kind of help to arrive.“The absence of rain for three weeks [has] left everything in so flammable a condition that a spark might set a fire which would seep from end to end of the city.” Reported the Chicago Tribune in the Sunday Edition.

The Thomas wildfire on friday became california's biggest wildfire on record, burning 273,400 ares. The massive fire which has raged for weeks through ventura and santa barbara counties, has claimed just over 1,000 structures and san diego engineer cory iverson died fighting the fire last week. As of friday evening, it is 65% contained. Thousands of firefighters and fleets of aircraft

81 brush fires are responsible for damage to 6,363 acres of land in the Miami-Dade area. At the same point during 2014, 51 fires had been documented.

The rising number of high severity wildfires in California has significant ecological, economic, and health impacts. Many western American forests are adapted to frequent low severity fires. However, the majority of these forests, and particularly the mixed conifer forests of California, are not adapted to high intensity fires and do not possess fire resistance adaptations such as serotinous cones to protect seeds. Consequently, high severity fires have significant negative impacts on California forests, and the absence of low severity fires has considerably altered many fundamental ecosystem processes (Miller et al. 2008). Prior to 1900, low severity fires would burn every 6-15 years. Low severity fires are generally non-lethal, have minimal change to the overstory, and kill mainly small trees. In the past, these fires were started naturally by lightning, or by Native Americans who used low severity fires to manage the forests.

On august 29th at 2:30 in the morning a fire broke out by highway 190, east of Springville. The cause of the Pier fire is human caused but is still under investigation; New research shows that humans are the cause of 84% of all wildfires. As of september 18 it has burnt 36,556 acres and is at 95% containment, the estimated containment date is september 20th 12:00 am. And at 10:00am september 18th Tulare County officials lifted all evacuation orders for the Pier Fire, and Highway 190 is now open to traffic. The communities that had mandatory evacuation where Sequoia Crest, Mountain Aire, Rogers Camp, Pierpoint Springs, Cedar Slope, Camp Nelson, Doyle Springs, Alpine Village and Wishon. But the civilians coming back to their homes still have to be aware of the danger still prevalent, such as falling trees and smoke inhalation.

After battling a number of wildfires that moved very fast through the wine country, at least 30 people have been killed and 100,000 acres of land destroyed. Firefighters are hoping that the winds will weaken so that the fire will stay and not keep moving. Daniel Berlant assistant director says that the winds have decreased from 50mph to single digits. In addition, it will take days, and maybe weeks, for some people to be able to move back into their homes, or find new ones. Sonoma County seems to be affected the most, with 9 deaths and about 240 people reported missing. However, since Tuesday afternoon 57 of those missing people have been found.

The fires, which were first recorded in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Nov. 23rd, spread over 15,000 acres and 2,000 structures, burning down single-family homes, Churches and other edifices in its wake as it strode through Sevier County, destroying two of the country’s most tourist-heavy towns and an amusement park. The rapid growth and ferocity of the fires, attributed to the drought in the area at the time, exceeded 80 miles per hour.