There are three places in the world that share the worst wildfire
conditions - South-East Australia, Southern France and California.
Each has a very dry summer to dry out vegetation and, worst of all, a
seasonal hot wind. I live in the forest fringe in an old wooden house
and each hot summer there is fear and sometimes the days with a
40degC wind blowing from the north and the sun seen orange through
smoke and the sound of the fire siren. Few things in an ordinary life
are that frightening.
Wouldn't live anywhere else but.
AndrewF
Although many fires are started intentionally/unintentionally by
people, what Michael says of his part of Australia is true of large
parts of California as well. Many fires are started by lightning and
have been a part of the ecosystem since before there even were
people anywhere, let alone 'civilized' ones living here. Many
plants, including the Giant Sequoia, depend on fire as part of their
reproductive cycle. Their cones (tiny little things on the biggest
trees of all) don't even open and let the seeds out until heated by
fire and the seeds of many other species require fire to start their
germination.. We just had the obligatory newspaper story on the
subject today, larger than usual because of the SoCal fires.
Those fires are making an serious effort to exceed the destruction
of lives and property of our local '93 fire. I hope for the sakes of
those hwo live there that they don't break the record. We've also
had hot East winds for the last few days, got to about 90F yesterday
and a little less today, very hot for this area. Fortunately, both
people and Nature have been careful so far. The big fire also
profoundly affected how our fire departments prepare for and respond
to fires. Now on days like this, they have trucks hanging out in and
patroling the dry hill areas so they can responding very quickly.
Where a reported fire would have received a small initial response
before, initial response is much larger. They've decided they would
rather send equipment back unused than not have enough in the
cruical initital stages.
Moose
Michael and Elizabeth wrote:
Fires have always been part of our landscape. I can remember bad ones, in
the mountains, as far back as the mid 1950's. The big difference now is a
lot more people live in these areas resulting in more personal and human
loss. It is lovely to live with the trees and wildlife but sometimes there
is a big price to pay. These wild fire storms cannot be stopped and a
change in the weather is what brings them under control.
James N. McBride wrote:
One of these fires was started by a lost hunter who was trying to signal his
friends. At least one other was believed to have been arson. /jim
----- Original Message -----
From: "TMLee"
From halfway round the globe, I watched in horror on TV at how the fires
razed many homes. Many many homeowners were terribly devastated.
What started these fires ?
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