GFMC: Bush and Forest Fires, USA
Forest Fires in the US
03 November 2003
Large Fire Locations:
Source: NIFC
ECPC Forecasts:
Fire weather index /FWI/
Wind Speed and directions
Source: ECPC
Current Information about the California area large fires /NIFC, pdf file/
WildlandFire Update
November 2, 2003
Large fires continue inCalifornia. Many have slowed due to the higher humidity and cooler temperatures.Two Unified Area Commands were created in California. One Unified Area Commandwill manage the Old and Grand Prix fires and consists of a National Area CommandTeam, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the SanBernardino County Fire Department. The other Unified Area Command will managethe Cedar and Paradise fires and consists of the California Department ofForestry and Fire Protection and the Forest Service.
No new large fires werereported yesterday. One large fires was contained in southern California.Initial attack was light nationally.
The low pressure system overCalifornia has weakened and moved east as a new disturbance develops over thePacific Northwest. This will cause drying in southern California. The SouthwestArea continues to experience moisture due to the high pressure extending fromthe Four Corner states into the Great Lakes region.
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Statistics
Daily Statistics 11/2/03
Year-to-Date Statistics 1/1/03 – 11/2/03
Number of New Large Fires
0
Year-to-date Large Fires Contained
6,435
Number of Active Large Fires
8
Fires Contained Yesterday
1
Acres from Active Fires
565,493
Number of Wildland Fire Use (WFU) Fires
2
Acres from WFU Fires
8,177
States Currently Reporting Active Large Fires includes WFU:
- Arizona (1)
- California (7)
- New Mexico (1)
- Oklahoma (1)
Year-to-date Statistics
2003 (1/1/03 – 11/2/03)
Fires: 56,110
Acres: 3,829,959
2002 (1/1/02 – 11/2/02)
Fires: 69,520
Acres: 6,658,710
2001 (1/1/01 – 11/2/01)
Fires: 71,801
Acres: 3,196,897
2000 (1/1/00 – 11/2/00)
Fires: 88,417
Acres: 7,061,704
10-Year Average
1993 – 2003
Fires: 79,866
Acres: 4,917,898
State-by-State Summaries
Arizona
Number of Fires: 0
Acres: 0
New Fires: 0
Fires Contained: 0
Number of WFU Fires: 1
WFU acres: 3,694
Rose (Grand Canyon National Park): 3,694 acres at unknown percent contained. This fire is burning 15 miles northeast of North Rim Developed Area. This will be the last report unless significant activity occurs.
California
Number of Fires: 6
Acres: 563,552
New Fires: 0
Fires Contained: 1
Number of WFU Fires: 1
WFU acres: 4,483
Padua (Angeles National Forest): 10,466 acres at 95 percent contained. The fire is located six miles northeast of Claremont. No new information was reported.
Information: For more information about the Padua fire, call 626-821-6700 or visit the Padua web site.
Cedar (Cleveland National Forest): 281,666 acres at 90 percent contained. This fire is burning 10 miles east of Ramona. Smoldering and creeping was observed with minor flare-ups in oak snags. Roads were opened and residents were allowed back into the fire area.
Information: For more information about the Cedar fire, call 619-590-3160 or visit the Cedar fire web site.
Old (San Bernardino National Forest): 91,281 acres at 65 percent containment. The fire is located on the north side of San Bernardino. Minimal fire activity was observed. Pockets of heavier fuels continue to smolder. Structure protection is a priority.
Information: For more information about the Old fire, call 909-383-5688 or visit the Pacific Southwest Region web site.
Piru (Los Padres National Forest) 63,991 acres at 80 percent contained. The fire is located 14 miles northwest of Santa Clarita. Minimal fire activity was observed due to the continued higher relative humidity and rain in the fire area. Some demobilization has begun.
Information: For more information about the Piru fire, visit the Piru Fire incident web site or call 805-961-5770.
Grand Prix (San Bernardino Unit, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection): 59,448 acres at 95 percent contained. The fire is located two miles west of Mira Loma. Minimal fire activity was observed. Mandatory evacuations remain in effect for Silverwood Lake. Structure protection is a priority.
Information: For more information about the Grand Prix, call 909-383-5688 or visit the Pacific Southwest Region web site.
Paradise (Monte Vista Unit, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection): 56,700 acres at 65 percent contained. This fire is located six miles northeast of Escondido. The fire continues to smolder and creep. Structure protection is in place for numerous residences.
Information: For more information about the Paradise, call 619-590-3160 or visit the Paradise fire web site.
Albanita/Hooker (Sequoia National Forest): This 4,483 acre lightning Wildland Fire Use (WFU) fire is being managed to accomplish resource objectives. The fire is located ten miles north-northwest of Kennedy Meadows.
New Mexico
Number of Fires: 1
Acres: 271
New Fires: 0
Fires Contained: 0
Ski Run (Lincoln National Forest): 271 acres at 80 percent contained. The fire is six miles northwest of Ruidoso. Minimal fire activity was observed. Significant progress was made yesterday. Mop up and rehabilitation efforts continue.
Oklahoma
Number of Fires: 1
Acres: 1,670
New Fires: 0
Fires Contained: 0
Phinneyhill (Osage Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs): 1,670 acres at 95 percent contained. This fire is in grass and timber, eight miles west of Wynona. No new information was reported
Source: NIFC
Current News:
Californians Risk Lives, Homes to Live with Nature Mail this story to a friend | Printer friendly version
USA: November 3, 2003
LOS ANGELES – They live on earthquake fault lines, on cliff tops, in the middle of dying forests and far from any source of water and then they wonder why they’re struck by earthquakes, fires, mudslides, floods and drought.
You might call it the California way of life.
“I think seismic activity is both the experience and the symbol of California culture which is a very dramatic, artificial imposition of human will on the land, on nature,” said state librarian and University of Southern California history professor Kevin Starr.
“We are continuously allowing suburban development to edge into volatile wilderness.”
From the cliff tops of Malibu with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean to the foothills of the picturesque San Bernardino Mountains, Californians love to live in the midst of the state’s scenic nature and wilderness.
And the trend is evident among both the state’s wealthiest residents who live in Malibu mansions and the middle class who find cheaper housing in the countryside and rural foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains.
But now with some of the worst wildfires in California history ravaging the southern part of the state, some experts are blaming Californians and their government officials for exacerbating the extent of casualties, damage and even the intensity of some of the natural disasters that strike the state.
Canada agreed on Thursday to match a $100,000 grant from the U.S. federal government to help pay for the whale’s relocation.
By choosing to live on fault lines, on clifftops and in the wilderness Amid dying forests, Californians are taking on too much risk that can jeopardize not only their own lives, but those of others who choose to live on safer terrain, historians and ecologists say.
And county governments that not only allow development of these precarious areas, but subsidize the risk homeowners take by bailing them out whenever disaster strikes are also at fault, they say.
“It takes both nature and society to produce disasters like this,” University of California at Irvine history Professor Mike Davis said of the ferocious wildfires that have killed 20 people, destroyed over 2,000 homes and scorched some 644,000 acres of land.
“If Southern California seems like an apocalyptic theme park it’s because we’ve made it one due to the absence of regional planning, bad land use policies and the political domination of local government by developers,” Davis said.
Ecologists say the wildfires raging throughout southern California would never have been this deadly or destructive if previous smaller fires had been able to run their course, burning swatches of forest that would serve as a natural fire break.
SUBURBAN DEVELOPMENT
Because there is so much suburban development Amid the wilderness, California firefighters usually extinguish fires quickly and refrain from a policy of purposely burning brush that acts as fuel for wildfires.
“I think the government’s natural reaction is to protect property wherever it is. Unfortunately, in determining those policies, the government does not take into adequate account the increased risk they put people in urban areas by suppressing fires in the back country,” said Professor Richard Carson, chairman of the economics department at the University of California, San Diego.
Whatever risks they take in choosing where they live, Californians rely on the government to bail them out and help pay the cost of rebuilding their homes.
In fact, most of the residents whose homes have been scorched by wildfires in the past week have vowed to rebuild and return to their communities. Even some who lost their homes for a second time to California infernos have pledged to rebuild.
“These incursions into these volatile areas involve the assumption of enormous public subsidies. The people of California have determined they want to live in a condition of subsidized risk,” said Starr.
Story by Gail Fitzer-Schiller
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