...Wildfires Imagine driving down the road and looking over to see a field burning in flames, animals dodging the heat and running for their lives, you just witnessed a wildfire. Wildfires happen everywhere. They can start by natural cause or even human cause. A wildfire is defined as an uncontrolled fire, usually in places of high vegetation, such as forest, and in places with lots of wind. Wildfires are ‘quasi-natural’ hazards, meaning that they are not entirely natural features. They can also be caused by human error as well. The four major causes of wildfire ignitions are lightning, volcanic eruptions, sparks from rockfalls, and spontaneous combustion: the ignition of organic matter without apparent cause, typically through heat generated...
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...Uncontrolled blazes fueled by weather, wind, and dry underbrush, wildfires can burn acres of land—and consume everything in their paths—in mere minutes. On average, more than 100,000 wildfires, also called wildland fires or forest fires, clear 4 million to 5 million acres (1.6 million to 2 million hectares) of land in the U.S. every year. In recent years, wildfires have burned up to 9 million acres (3.6 million hectares) of land. A wildfire moves at speeds of up to 14 miles an hour (23 kilometers an hour), consuming everything—trees, brush, homes, even humans—in its path. HOW THEY ARE FORMED There are three conditions that need to be present in order for a wildfire to burn, which firefighters refer to as the fire triangle: fuel, oxygen, and...
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...Systems, www.iso.org/ims INTERNATIONAL New York State forest ecosystem benefits from ISO 14000-based fire management While uncontrolled wildfires threaten lives, property, and natural resources, planned fires play a significant role in maintaining the vigour of many protected areas. This article describes a novel use of ISO 14001 and ISO 14031 environmental performance evaluation guidelines in fire management carried out under a project to improve stewardship of the fire-prone Central Pine Barrens ecosystem in Suffolk County, New York State, USA. U ncontrolled wildfires extend beyond political, geographical and economic boundaries to threaten lives, property, and natural resources. Yet fire plays a significant role in maintaining the health and vigour of many park and protected areas and is used as a prescribed fire management tool. Few are aware that effective fire management planning can benefit from the application of ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) requirements and ISO 14031 environmental performance evaluanation and implementation of natution (EPE) guidelines, and that these ral resource management and standards can also become a subrestoration projects, often with the stantive force in the direct involvement conservation sector of local businesses as well. Quality Parks, and their employUncontrolled wildfires Inc. has taken up ees. extend beyond this challenge. Strategic alliances Quality Parks is offer our members political, geographical an incorporated...
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...sequence of events. Both fires were located inside box canyons, or “small ravine or canyon with steep walls on three sides allowing access or egress only through the mouth of the canyon” (Wikipedia) and located on a major river. Gusting winds up the mouth of the canyon contributed to the fire blowing up and increase in size in just a matter of moments. On both fires, the practice of downhill fire line construction was used down steep mountain sides which hampered the fire crews in escaping uphill when the fire began to overrun them. In this paper, I plan on examining the organizational, executive, and regulatory failures that led to the demise of the fourteen firefighters on the South Canyon Fire and to address the major question, “Are wildfire fighting fatalities inevitable ‘normal accidents’?” South Canyon Fire Event In 1994, Colorado experienced a year of extreme drought and in the summer months, long periods of low humidity and record high temperatures. Between June 30th and July 2nd, dry lightning storms had ignited over forty fires in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Grand Junction District. One of those fires started was located seven miles west of Glenwood Springs, Colorado on a ridge which was paralleled by two deep canyons or drainages. On July 3rd, the fire was reported to the BLM...
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...Burn to Revive In New Mexico and Colorado firefighters are battling a roaring wildfire. In New Mexico 37 thousand acres has been destroyed. Colorado has lost 43 thousand acres and one person. (Coffman, 2012) These fires are prime examples of why prescribed burning is a must. These fires had all the ingredients to make a big problem. There was a drought/lighting, debris, and humid temperatures. Prescribed burning, controlled burning is a management tool. These small burns in forest-like areas reduce wildfire. (Prescribed, 2012) This is done by teams of firefighters or foresters, studying the weather and characteristics of the area. Once the team has a date set to burn, they ignite the fire against the wind and down a slope. (Prescribed, 2012) They do this so the fire is controllable. Once the team is finish, they look for smoldering signs and extinguish any spots. (Prescribed, 2012) Controlled forest fires are healthy for the environment by reducing wildfires, increasing wildlife/controlling pest, and improving access. Prescribed burns reduce wildfires because it reduces debris on the forest floor; one of the key ingredients for producing wildfires. When logging in the area is complete, the trucks leave wood chips behind. Add that to the vegetation that grows naturally and the dead leaves and trees that fall every year, it basically becomes a big fire pit waiting to be ignited with the perfect storm. There are two types of burning to reduce debris: under burning and slash burning...
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...A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, peat fire, vegetation fire, and veldfire may be used to describe the same phenomenon depending on the type of vegetation being burned, and the regional variant of English being used. A wildfire differs from other fires by its extensive size, the speed at which it can spread out from its original source, its potential to change direction unexpectedly, and its ability to jump gaps such as roads, rivers and fire breaks. Wildfires are 'quasi-natural' hazards, meaning that they are not entirely natural features (like volcanoes, earthquakes and tropical storms). This is because they are caused by human activity as well. The four major natural causes of wildfire ignitions are lightning, volcanic eruption, sparks from rockfalls, and spontaneous combustion. The thousands of coal seam fires that are burning around the world, such as those in Centralia, Burning Mountain, and several coal-sustained fires in China, can also flare up and ignite nearby flammable material. The most common human sources of wildfires are arson, discarded cigarettes, sparks from equipment, and power line arcs (as detected by arc mapping). There are mainly 4 types of forest fires. They are:- Ground fires are fed by subterranean roots, duff and other buried organic matter. This fuel type is especially...
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...The Science of Disasters EAS 201 – Written Assignment 5 1. What is the difference between a flash flood and a regional flood? Are the causes the same? Are the effects the same? Flash Flood; are walls of water, set up in a matter of hours by a large convective storm. Many automobile related deaths in a flash flood are in 2 feet of water due to the buoyant lift and current of the water. In 1997, in Antelope Canyon a flash flood took 12 hikers, tumbling them down the canyon as helpless on lookers could only watch. A wall of water builds due to steep topography, channeling the water and striking a particular area in a thunderstorm. In Big Thompson Canyon, Colorado in 1976, a thunderstorm remained stationary in the canyon for four hours. The topography fed the flash floods and carried many hikers and tourist down the canyon to their death. Many survived by fleeing their cars and climbing to safety, seeking shelter along the canyon walls. Those who chose to stay with their cars were swept away in the flood and died. The weight and proximity of the vehicle couldn’t allow them to achieve the safety they required. Regional Flood; different from flash floods, regional floods inundate an area with rainfall over several weeks, causing fewer deaths and often more damage. Occurring in areas of large river valleys and low topography, these heavy rains often result due to cyclonic systems. Their can be many contributing factors as to why a particular river may flood; geological...
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...18, 1937, in Shoshone National Forest, about 35 miles (56 km) west of Cody, Wyoming, United States. Fifteen firefighters were killed by the forest fire when a dry weather front caused the winds to suddenly increase and change direction. The fire quickly spread into dense forest, trapping some of the firefighters in a firestorm. Nine died during the fire and six died afterwards from severe burns and respiratory complications; 38 others were injured. More U.S. wildland firefighters died in the Blackwater fire than in any incident since the Great Fire of 1910; the death-toll was not surpassed until 2013 when 19 firefighters died in the Yarnell Hill Fire. Firefighters in the first half of the 20th century used mostly hand tools to suppress wildfires, and all gear was carried by the firefighters or by pack animals. Weather forecasting and radio communication were generally poor or nonexistent. After the Blackwater fire, better ways to respond to such fires were developed, including the smokejumper program in 1939 and the Ten Standard Firefighting Orders (a standardized set of wildland firefighting principles) in 1957. n 1937, firefighters did not have portable radios for rapid on-scene communication or helicopters to bring supplies and provide water drops.[8][9][a] Firefighters had some access to gas-powered portable water pumps (two were set up on the Blackwater fire), but most used backpack pumps that were manually operated and held limited water.[10][b] Firelines were dug by handcrews...
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...Social entrepreneurship through forest bio residue briquetting Contents 1. The social problem and the opportunity 4 2. Mission, vision and values 7 3. Our solution (strategy and business model) 9 4. The entrepreneurial team 15 5. Human resources 16 6. Context 18 7. Scaling strategy 20 8. Impact measurement 22 9. Risks 25 10. Financial Plan 28 Bibliography 29 Figure 1. Exposure of the population to natural disasters 4 Figure 2. Lean canvas 8 Figure 3. Manually operated briquetting machine 11 Figure 4. Crushing option 12 0. Business plan summary This section should briefly present the main ideas of the following sections and thus should resemble an elevator speech. Accordingly, it has to be written last, after all the details of the business have been established. Length of section: 0.5-1 page 1. The social problem and the opportunity Most of the time Romania ranks last in sectors like education, health and sustainable development among European countries. But when it comes to antagonistic areas, the situation changes abruptly: Romania occupying the fourth place among the European countries threatened by natural disasters like drought, floods and landslide. In 2012 Institute for Environment and Human Security of the UN launched the World Risk Report which focused on environmental degradation and disasters. According to the study, Romania features an average risk. The report underlined the following aspect: “The risk...
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...Due to a mix of inter-related human and natural factors, such as climate change, drought, beetle damage, 20th century fire suppression policy and associated hazardous fuels build-up, and the expansive growth of the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), many montane forests in the western United States (US) have become increasingly susceptible to high-severity wildfires. Critical sources for public drinking water systems often originate in montane forests, where wildland fires can alter hydrologic systems, and degrade watersheds, while creating significant runoff, debris, and water quality impacts downstream. For people that live in the WUI, wildfires pose a direct risk to the safety of life and property, and to economic livelihoods from forest products and tourism....
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...Q: Explain the fire principals of wildland fires. And how their behavior differs from structure fires. The basic fire principals consist of five principals that go into fire behavior. Principal one is the fire triangle or Tetrahedron. The fire triangle consists of having heat, fuel, and oxygen. Removing one of these elements from the triangle and the fire will eventually die out. Principal two is method of heat transfer. Therefore, if heat is transfer from direct contact, liquid or air. A fire of some sort could arise. Methods such as convection, conduction, and radiation. Which is known to be the number one cause of any fire exposure. Principal three in stages and fire growth. This talks about the stages of a fires lowest point of ignition temperature, to its highest of peak of flame point. Principal four is thermal layering. This is the process at which all oxygen is pushed towards the ground and causing al heat to rise to its extreme heat. Principal five is the last of the basic principles. Flashover. A flashover is the point at which all or any combustible materials reach their ignition temperature. How do these principals apply to wildland fires? Easy A wildland fire is any fire that is not taking place inside a structure facility, typically in the wildlands. Wildland fires at almost in any case uses elements of the fire triangle. Once the fire is ignited, the fire uses some sort of direct contact or radiation as in method two to spread out amongst the area. Once the fire...
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... Charcoal deposits in soil samples provides evidence of bushfires as far back as one hundred thousand years ago. This charcoal allows scientists to analyse the frequency of bushfires in Australia, and speculate about main causes for change. In the absence of human interference, the most common instigator of bushfires are lightning strikes which we can trace back to the beginning of time. For this fact bushfires were common but few such years ago. However, since the arrival of Aboriginal Australians from the North fifty thousand years ago, their has been an increased spike in charcoal deposits from soil samples. The need of fire for hunting, heat, traditional ceremonies, and the necessity of fire as a resource has caused this exponential incline. This is evident in the rapid increase of charcoal deposits in our soil as can be seen in this graph: This skyrocket since the introduction of human life to Australia has thereby impacted the rainforest environment that once thrived on these lands. Australian organisms have been forced to adapt over time to withstand the rising frequency of Bushfire occurrences over the past 50000 years. These species have been forced to adapt to the conditions in order to prosper in the unrelenting Australian bushland environment. The Banksia fruit is an example of a native Australian plant adapting over time to survive the fatal bushfires in Australia. As a result they have formed a unique adaptation which requires heat to release their seeds - this...
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...Dr. Elmore is an Extension Wildlife Specialist. He helps with the current natural resource issues that are in Oklahoma. Dr. Elmore talked about plant and forest life, positives and negatives to disturbances, and solutions to help the problems. There are three things that plant life need to thrive in the world. Plants and trees need climate, soil, and disturbances. One disturbances that grassland and prairies are dependent on is fire. Fire helps get rid of old grass and bring back fresh grass in its wake. It also gets out unwanted things such as red cedars who are fire intolerant. Even though the disturbances are a needed thing for plant life, there is positives and negatives to them. Having too much of a disturbance and not enough it can both benefit some species and hurt others depending on what you are wanting. When you over fire landscapes you keep the grass short driving species away who prefer a higher grassland. Those who prefer the short grass will thrive in this environment. The same goes for the grassland that doesn’t see a lot fire has tall grass and some trees, it works for those who seek taller grass rather those who do not. Fire is not the only disturbances in the prairies, there is also wind bines, oil and gas wells, and nonnative grass. There are many solutions to help fix these issues when it comes to disturbances that have gone too far to be helpful. An increase in fire can help the areas where tress have taken over the grassland and taking up the space that...
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...The first question that arises when it comes to the story of forest fires is: What exactly is fire? This question can simply be answered that it is a chemical reaction involving fuel, oxygen and heat. The molecules of a combustible substance move around at an ever more rapid pace as the substance heats until it ultimately combusts totally. When this combustion takes place, the chemicals in whatever substance is being heated are broken down and combined with the oxygen present in the air, with the substance acting as the fuel. This combination causes two things to occur, heat and light, which is essentially fire. The intensity of fire is determined by the amount of fuel present, and as the heat increases, so does the rate of its spreading to other fuel sources. The next question to ponder is: What is the cause of forest fires? While the famous “Smokey the Bear” may tell us that only we can stop forest fires, the truth is that the overwhelming majority of forest fires are caused by lightning. There are other natural causes that can spark forest fires as well. Falling rocks can cause small sparks to be created, which in turn can light piles of dried out kindling such as twigs. Superheated lava from volcanoes can also engulf nearby forests, as can the superheated air caused by an eruption. However, as we all know humans can also cause forest fires. Sometimes these fires are started by accident, and sometimes on purpose. There is a myriad of different fuels that allow a forest...
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...Two of the most prominent disturbances to trees are wildfire and bark beetles in the Northwest United states. Over the years, millions of acres of timberland and forest have been damaged or destroyed due to wildfires and bark beetles. Both of these disturbances are brought about by climate and stand conditions. The future forecast for climate changes suggest that there will be an increase in wildfires and also the bark beetle outbreaks. These disturbances affect the water quantity, wildlife, and timber production but with the combination of bark beetle cause tree mortality and wildfires there will be more combustible fuels for fires to feed off of. Effects of the combination could mean larger and hotter crown fires in forests infected by bark...
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