Expert pitch on smoke dangers from wildfires

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is spending £1.6m on new kit to tackle the problem.

Did you know your car could cause a wildfire if you’re not careful? The Oregon Department of Transportation says more than 70% of the state’s wildfires in 2021 were caused by people.

State College, PA — The threats of high heat and wildfires are expected to persist well into autumn, AccuWeather says – meaning workers could be at risk.

Utility companies have been sued to bankruptcy over downed power lines that caused deadly wildfires in Hawaii and California. A Colorado utility's power shutoff to prevent fire also caused problems.

Fire crews are battling small wildfires across the Northeast U.S. A blaze in New York and New Jersey killed a parks employee over the weekend and postponed Veterans Day plans. A quarter-inch of rain fell overnight from Sunday into Monday, giving a slight respite to firefighters. 

Residents whose property was damaged by the Texas wildfires should contact their insurance company to file a claim as soon as possible.

Coordinated power shutoffs could help control the wildfires spreading across New York and New Jersey, according to a Virginia Tech expert. These shutoffs could mitigate the risk posed by unseasonably dry conditions and challenging terrain, both of which have made containment efforts especially difficult, said Professor Ali Mehrizi-Sani, a Virginia Tech electrical engineering researcher.

As wildfires tear across the Western U.S., officials are confronting the challenge of evacuating and sheltering people in the middle of a pandemic.

As the risk of wildfires in developed areas continues to increase, customers can now access highly accurate data for the protection of people, properties, and land

With a home’s roof being the single most vulnerable area for ignition in the event of a wildfire, materials such as quality metal roofing systems that carry a Class A rating for fire resistance are essential.

Dramatic remote sensing imagery reveals the large-scale impact of Canadian wildfires. Blazes also are raging in the United States and the Siberian Arctic.

Heavy equipment working near dry brush sparked a destructive wildfire near Riverside, Calif., in September 2024.

Uncontrolled wildfires can be powerful enough to generate their own weather.

FireSat, a constellation of more than 50 satellites, will be able to detect wildfires as small as the size of a classroom, about 16 by 16 feet, Google said in an announcement.

Colorado wildfires are becoming more extreme, and fire officials must seek new and better ways to prevent and fight them.

A wildfire northwest of Fort Collins on Tuesday burned 15 to 30 acres.

As wildfires escalate in Western states, authorities are embracing once-outlawed burning practices.

Dr. Valentina Wheeler of University of Wollongong, Australia, shares how her work influences efforts to understand wildfires and red blood cells. In Australia, where bushfires are a concern year-round, researchers have long tried to model these wildfires, hoping to learn information that can help with firefighting policy. Mathematician Valentina Wheeler and colleagues began studying a particularly dangerous phenomenon: When two wildfires meet, they create a new, V-shaped fire whose pointed tip races along to catch up with the two branches of the V, moving faster than either of the fires alone. This is exactly what happens in a mathematical process known as mean curvature flow. Mean curvature flow is a process in which a shape smooths out its boundaries over time. Just as with wildfires, pointed corners and sharp bumps will change the fastest.

The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP28, begins this week in Dubai. A new topic on the agenda this year is how wildfires are emerging as a serious health risk not just to those in their immediate vicinity, but even to people thousands of miles away. Last summer, smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted not only as far south as the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, but even across the Atlantic Ocean. We speak with John Vaillant, whose book Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World recounts a 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Canada that dislocated tens of thousands of people and caused billions of dollars in damage. That natural disaster seemed like a terrifying outlier when Vaillant began his reporting, but 2023’s unprecedented fire activity suggest that Fort McMurray was merely the shape of things to come. John explains how climate change is making wildfires hotter and harder to contain. Next, we’re joined by photojournalist Andria Hautamaki, who observed a “prescribed burn” in Plumas County, California. Andria shares how these kinds of carefully planned, intentionally set fires can be a useful tool for preventing more destructive blazes. Read an excerpt from John’s book Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-worlds-first-wildfire-tornado-blazed-a-path-of-destruction-through-australia-180982309/) , and learn more about John and his other books here (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/58679/john-vaillant/) . Andria’s reporting for her wildfires story (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/fighting-fire-with-fire-california-180981810/) y from the April/May 2023 issue of Smithsonian was supported by the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources (https://www.ijnr.org/) . You can learn more about Andria and her work at her website (https://ahowdyphoto.com/About/1) . Andria recommends these resources for anyone seeking more information about prescribed burns: • Your state’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/conservation-by-state) • The Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils (https://www.prescribedfire.net/) • The Great Plains Fire Science Exchange (https://gpfirescience.org/) , which can help you find Prescribed Burn Associations in your area • The National Fire Protection Association, aka Firewise USA (https://www.nfpa.org/) • The Cooperative Extension of any universities in your region Find prior episodes of our show here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/podcast/) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Terence Bernardo, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.

The Delaware Forest Service's 2021 VFA Grant program is open to all Delaware volunteer fire departments and can provide up to $4,500 in matching grants to acquire pumps, hoses, and equipment to respond to and suppress wildfires. More than $350,000 has been given to enhance wildfire response in the First State since the program's inception. Applications must be received by the Delaware Forest Service office by regular mail no later than June 20, 2021. No email submissions will be accepted.  Awards will be made within 7 business days so that awarded projects can begin. Details at de.gov/wildfire.

Wildfires in eastern Canada emitting particulate matter into the atmosphere continue to cause poor air quality.

In the western US, the average maximum growth rate of fires has more than doubled over the past two decades

In his latest book, The Blue on Fire: Hawaii, photographer Enzo Barracco hopes to inspire the world to protect the ocean.

Wildfires have been raging in New York and New Jersey. People in some areas have been asked to prepare for possible evacuations.

In the western US, the average maximum growth rate of fires has more than doubled over the past two decades

Billowing menace, acrid scents  Old growth, saplings charring together  While out of sight, fawns distressed race And the owl’s perch succumbs.  Golden hordes breaching firebreaks  Rapine alight windswept, rapacious, desiccation stoked   Consuming canopies, no quarter given While rooted tributaries blazing course underfoot.  Slight deluges, drawn from placid lakes Lofted by fraught metaled battalions Plunge pityingly […]

The post Wildfires Of No Consequence  appeared first on Waiter Rant.

Unusual medlinkarsenic/medlink release from wildfires poses a huge threat to human and environmental health, reveals a new study. The findings of

David Saah, professor and director of Geospatial Analysis Lab at University of San Francisco and managing principal, Spatial Informatics Group, and LeRoy Westerling, professor of management of complex systems, University of California, Merced, in conversation with Daniel Duane, WIRED.

Daniel Duane, WIRED contributor in conversation with Maria Streshinsky, Executive Editor, WIRED.

Experts urge water industry to study plastic pipes’ vulnerability

Organised in collaboration with PLACARD, the European research platform on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction, this conference will bring together climate change adaptation and wildfire experts from governments and public agencies to discuss recent insights into wildfire risks as well as the extent to which policies have been able to address emerging challenges.

Wildfires in the Mediterranean region are a significant threat to human life and the natural environment and cause considerable economic damages. Recent research from Italy suggests that different types of land cover influence the timing of wildfires throughout the year and this knowledge can be used to improve fire risk assessment and prevention strategies.

Forest root systems increase soil strength and stability, thus protecting mountainous regions against gravitational natural hazards, such as landslides. However, tree roots are affected by factors such as soil properties, climate and disturbances, such as timber-harvesting or wildfire — and, as a result, a forest’s stabilising effect can vary greatly. This study of fire-disturbed beech forests explores how this effect changes over time. The results reveal that forests which have suffered moderate and severe wildfires completely lose their protective function within 15 years, placing those regions at high risk of landslide for up to 50 years after the fires.

New research has recorded high levels of airborne aerosol black carbon (BC) in Lithuania during two periods in 2008 and 2009. Further investigation indicated this is from smoke produced by wildfires in Ukraine and southwest Russia, which then travels northwards.

Fires in forests contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear accident could lead to areas of Europe and Russia being exposed to further radioactive fallout, new research has found. The study examined the spread of the fallout and the health effects on people and animals under three different scenarios: 10, 50 and 100% of the forests being burnt.

While the Camp Fire rages over 100 miles away in the Sierra Nevada foothills, San Francisco experiences an air pollution emergency.

Carefully managed fire is used as a tool to protect wildlands from invasive plants and other threats.

A wet and rainy winter after a wildfire year could give California a beautiful super bloom.

Many organizations are accepting donations for California wildfire victims and first responders, making it easy for you to help.

Here's how you can donate or otherwise help the animals, residents and first responders affected by wildfires in Australia.

Australia's feral horses will be removed from national park lands to help wildfire-damaged areas come back. The goal is relocation, but not all will survive.

Fire-created thunderstorms, "ember attacks," high winds and fire clouds are all a part of the intense fires down under.

A dozen active major wildfires are burning in California, including the Getty and Kinkade fires, causing widespread evacuations.

The U.S. has had several wild years of wildfires, and scientists say climate change is likely fanning the flames.

Tips for the home and landscaping to prevent damage from wildfires

This report reviews the growing literature on the concept of agency-citizen interactions after large wildfires. Because large wildfires have historically occurred at irregular intervals, research from related fields has been reviewed where appropriate. This issue is particularly salient in the West where excess fuel conditions indicate that the large wildfires occurring in many states are expected to continue to be a major problem for forest managers in the coming years. This review focuses on five major themes that emerge from prior research: contextual considerations, barriers and obstacles, uncertainty and perceptions of risk, communication and outreach, and bringing communities together. It offers ideas on how forest managers can interact with stakeholders for planning and restoration activities after a large wildfire. Management implications are included.

Reveal revisits our investigation into California’s deadliest wildfires. Last October, more than 170 fires ripped across Northern California, burning more than 9,000 buildings, causing millions of dollars in damage and killing 44 people. Along with our partners at KQED we’ll examine what’s being done to ensure that emergency response failures are not repeated as the next wildfire season approaches.

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With wildfire season already starting in some regions of the United States and around the corner in others, now is the time to start thinking about your physical and financial preparedness.  To help you be better informed, NFPA is hosting two free

What's worse than power shutoffs during the coronavirus quarantine? An unplanned outage that sparks a wildfire.