Ethiopia Forest Fire Emergency Update: 20 March 2000, 13:00 GMT
Ethiopia Forest Fire Emergency Update
20 March 2000, 13:00 GMT
Ethiopia Fire Emergency Update (20 March 2000 13:00 GMT)
The Incident Command Team received a report from Bale Zone that all the fires around Dolo Mena which are accessible from the ground are being contained. However, in this area there were no rainfalls as yet and there is a risk that fires are erupting again. Furthermore, there were still some smoke columns in the remote forest areas spotted from the air. Mobilised community fire fighters are monitoring the situation in recently controlled fire areas.
In Shakiso (Borana Zone) there are reports about two serious fires in two Kebeles (sub-districts), namely Sewana and Angadi. In the other Kebeles fires have been contained. 636 community members, soldiers and militia men have been assigned to observe the fire situation in eight Kebeles with previous fire occurence. At the same time they are trying to remove combustible biomass from smouldering stems and stumps.
The Air Base Camp has been partly relocated to Shakiso and will be fully operational by tommorrow. Water bombing will continue in Shakiso area.
As scheduled, 14 fire fighters from South Africa will return to their home country by tommorrow. The remaining teams will continue with training and actual fire fighting in Shakiso area. Funding for this will be obtained from the United Nations Environment Programme, who will hand over a cash donation of $US 20,000 by tomorrow (Tuedsay 21 March 2000).
Satellite Fire Reconnaissance Update
The update information by satellite sensors is provided by imageries of the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP).
Attention: Next satellite image update is expected for tomorrow morning (21 March 2000)!
Fig.1-3 DMSP scenes of East Africa, 16 March 2000.The red dots represent active fires. Land signature: brown; water: blue; clouds: grey; stable lights (cities): cyan. The center and right fire map show the area in which the problem fires are currently burning and fire-suppression actions take place.
(Fig.1.: Upper left corner 20°N, 22°E lower right corner 0°N, 50°E; Fig.2 & 3: Upper left corner 9°N, 38°E lower right corner 5°N, 42°E)
(source: DMSP. The provision of satellite data are a response of the U.S. Government to the Government of Ethiopia’s call for international assistance.)
Ethiopia Current Fire Weather Situation and Forecast
Fire Weather Forecast for the Southern Region:
Tab.1. Addis Abba AREA FORECAST FOR 14H00 Monday 20 March 2000
There is a fairly good chance for rain in the medium term, at least scattered showers and or thundershowers, and may also start to include the main valley towards the sea in the north-east of the country.
6 Day 14h00 Forecast Ethiopia Region Addis Abba Area Day Temp (C) Hum (%) W Dir WSpd (km/h) Bar (Hpa) FDI Tendency Mon 20 32 37 E 16 1002 65 Orange – Tue 21 31 45 SE 17 1007 62 Orange – Wed 22 29 55 SE 20 1004 59 Yellow – Thu 23 28 56 NE 17 1008 55 Yellow – Fri 24 27 65 NE 21 1007 53 Yellow – Sat 25 28 61 NE 18 1005 54 Yellow
Tab.2. Goba AREA FORECAST FOR 14H00 Monday 20 March 2000
6 Day 14h00 Forecast Ethiopia Region Goba Area Day Temp (C) Hum (%) W Dir WSpd (km/h) Bar (Hpa) FDI Tendency Mon 20 27 41 SE 15 1007 58 Yellow – Tue 21 28 45 SE 14 1007 56 Yellow – Wed 22 26 50 SW 15 1007 54 Yellow – Thu 23 25 55 SE 14 1009 50 Yellow – Fri 24 24 68 NE 20 1010 49 Yellow – Sat 25 25 63 SE 15 1008 48 Yellow
Source of forecast tables: Net Forecasting (South Africa) on the base of data from the ECMWF (European Center For Medium Range Weather Forecasts) and the U.K.M.O. (United Kingdom Meteorological Office).
Fig.4.and 5. Fire weather forecast maps for Ethiopia, 20 and 21 March 2000
(Source: Net Forecasting)
Also available is a three-month rain forecast (starting 26 February 2000). The implications of this forecast are discussed by Net Forecasting.
An Eastern Africa and the Horn Satellite Imagery (NDVI) and rainfall analysis is provided by the USAID Famine Early Warning System.
The Ethiopian National Fire Fighting Committee, supported by the International Fire Emergency Advisory Group, has set up an Incident Command System. The structure of the system is given in the chart (Fig.6).
Fig.6. Structure of the Incident Command System (State: 20 March 2000)
Nationalgeographic / News has published an article which describes the ongoing fires resulting from slash-and-burn practices in Africa and Indonesia with information and imageries from last days GFMC webpages: Slash-and-Burn Agriculture Sparks Devastating Fires (16 March 2000).
For further information (history of the current fire situation, etc.) please refer also to the earlier reports this and last week at the Current Significant Fire Events page. Some visual impressions from the currently ongoing fires in Ethiopia and several photographs taken from the Space Shuttle missions in the 1980s and 1990s with general impression of land cover and fires are also available.
