highlights of notable disasters of 2012 part 9: 2012 wildfires (in chronological order)
DESCRIPTION
HIGHLIGHTS OF NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012 PART 9: 2012 WILDFIRES (In Chronological Order). Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA . PLANET EARTH HAS HUNDREDS OF “WILDFIRE LABORATORIES” EVERY YEAR. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
HIGHLIGHTS OF NOTABLE DISASTERS OF 2012
PART 9: 2012 WILDFIRES(In Chronological Order)
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna,
Virginia, USA
PLANET EARTH HAS HUNDREDS OF “WILDFIRE
LABORATORIES” EVERY YEAR
Each Wildfire Provides Valuable Lessons on Disaster Risk
Reduction
Natural Phenomena that Cause Disasters
Planet Earth’s atmospheric-lithospheric interactions create favorable conditions for:
Wildfires
YOUR YOUR COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY
YOUR YOUR COMMUNITYCOMMUNITYDATA BASES DATA BASES
AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATIONDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATION
HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS
•WILDFIRE HAZARDS •INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION
RISK ASSESSMENTRISK ASSESSMENT
RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
RISK REDUCTION FOR RISK REDUCTION FOR WILDFIRESWILDFIRES
•PREVENTION/MITIGATION•PREPAREDNESS•EMERGENCY RESPONSE•RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION• EDUCATIONAL SURGE
POLICY OPTIONSPOLICY OPTIONS
WILDFIRES are conflagrations caused by
lightning discharges (or acts of man) in wilderness areas close enough to one or more urban
interfaces that they threaten people, property, infrastructure, and
business enterprise.
WILDFIRES are conflagrations caused by
lightning discharges (or acts of man) in wilderness areas close enough to one or more urban
interfaces that they threaten people, property, infrastructure, and
business enterprise.
WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)
• FIRE
• HOT GASES AND SMOKE
• HOT SPOTS
• BURNED OUT SLOPES (with increased susceptibility to insect infestation, erosion, and landslides)
WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)
• SUNDOWNER WINDS
• SANTA ANNA WINDS
• LOCAL CHANGES IN AIR QUALITY
• LOCAL CHANGES IN WEATHER
LIGHTNING STRIKES
WILDFIRESWILDFIRES
MANMADE FIRES
PROXIMITY OF URBAN AREA TO THE WILDLAND FIRE
WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION (DAY/NIGHT CHANGES)
DRYNESS
HIGH TEMPERATURES
LOCAL FUEL SUPPLY
CAUSES OF FIRES
CAUSES OF FIRES
DISASTER LABORATORIES
DISASTER LABORATORIES
WILDFIRES CAN CAUSE HIGH-RISK SITUATIONS
People, property, infrastructure, business enterprise, government, natural resources, and the environment are at risk.
WILDFIRE WARNING: SPRING 2012 WAS
PREDICTED TO BE DRIER THAN NORMAL FROM THE
SOUTHERN PLAINS TO THE SOUTHWEST
DURING MARCH, PARTS OF TEXAS, OKLAHOMA, NEW MEXICO, KANSAS AND COLORADO WERE UNDER A HIGH WILDFIRE ALERT
AS A RESULT OF HIGH TEMPERATURES, HIGH WINDS,
LOW HUMIDITY, AND DRY VEGETATION
HIGH PARK WILDFIRE
Located 26 km (15 miles) West of Fort Collins, the lightning-caused fire had burned 85 square acres and destroyed 181 homes between June 6 and June 17.
More than 1,630 firefighters were working on the partially contained fire on Saturday, June 16th.
VERY DIFFICULT FIREFIGHTING CONDITIONS BECAME WORSE
Firefighting crews, working for 11 days just to get a difficult fire in a difficult terrain under 45 percent control, suddenly faced hot, dry, “sundowner” winds of 800 kph (500 mph) with temperatures of 90 degrees F on Sunday.
INITIAL REPORTS
• Mandatory evacuation was ordered for residents of 7,400 homes
• 28 homes destroyed.
• 4,500 acres burned near Conifer, a foothills community 33 km (20 miles) southwest of Denver
• High winds hindered slurry flights
• Two deaths reported
NATIONAL RESPONSE
• Firefighters from across the USA and Canada were dispatched to Colorado to increase the number of firefighters on the ground from 100 to 450.
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
• Waldo Canyon fire started June 25th.
• More than 32,000 evacuated, but more than 21,000 evacuation messages were NOT delivered.
• Air Force Academy threatened
• 350 homes burned.
• President Obama visited: June 29.
PAST WILDFIRES IN GREECE
• Hundreds of other wildfires have raged throughout Greece, most recently in 2009.
IT’S “FIRE SEASON” AGAIN IN GREECE
Every Summer, Greece faces the nightmare of destructive forest fires linked either to the inevitable heat wave or to arsonists.
In 2007, 80 people died in dozens of major wildfires across Greece
BAD TIMING
The timing of the unwanted fire coincided with Greece’s election to deal with the economic crisis.
2,000 firefighters are trying to control the “Robbers
Wildfire” that is burning in a steep, heavily wooded area of Placer County about 83 km (50 miles) northeast of
Sacramento, the capitol