I know i'm ignorant, so please correct that for me. I really don't see what is so hard about putting out fires, like in California now. Why don't they just dig ditch around it and fill it with water, or at least cut down trees on the border so there is a gap. I know the wind carries a bit but....
Also why does California have so many wild fires?
Thank you
2007-10-23 02:41:16 · 17 answers · asked by ieatbacon4breakfast 2 in Environment ➔ Other - Environment
I know in california there is a low pressure center off the coast, so normally wet cold winds come in from the sea, but not warm dry winds are going out and spreading the fire by debris, etc.
2007-10-23 02:44:02 · answer #1 · answered by BlckPdf 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The logistics of it all seems to be against fighting these fires. This is not a simple house fire, or a fire in a campground fireplace. The monsters are huge!
The winds interracting with "wildfires," can blow sparks and hot coals and ash for a long distance. In the past these fires have "jumped" across 4 lane highways. The fires can, and do, create their own wind systems that will feed the beast.
How wide would you make the ditch?
California has so many wildfires simply because it has so much land in ecosystems that provide fuel. Forests and other habitats naturally develop deadfall, and other dry, highly flammable material.
It is so hard to extinguish these fires because they grow so large. Imagine having to fight a fire that has a five mile front. (A five mile front is by no means the largest,)
How many people would it take?
If each person with handtools can clear a firebreak that is 10' wide and 200' deep in a day, (and that is a huge undertaking requiring superhuman strength and endurance,) then it will take 528 people to attack the advance of just one mile of the fireline.
2,640 people would be needed to attack the entire front. We don't have that many people who are trained, and experienced in fighting wildfires in the whole world, much less in the USA.
You need to place these people down wind far enough to allow them to clear the firebreak before the fire reaches that point. Speculate that the fire can burn downwind at just 3 miles in a day. Again, this is not extraordinary.
Now, what happens if the wind shifts direction? It was blowing to the west, (270 degrees true,) and now it is blowing just a few degrees north of west? (290 degrees true.) In just 3 miles the fire will have moved several hundred miles north of the firebreak you have been preparing. It will find readily available fuel north of the firebreak, and it will continue to advance.
2007-10-23 03:10:47 · answer #2 · answered by Schtupa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Big problem is the area covered by the fire. When was the last time you saw someone dig a few hundred miles of ditches, and transport enough water to fill the Gulf of Mexico? That's about what it would take.
One of the main reasons there are so many giant wildfires lately is because for the longest time we put small fires out immediately rather than letting them run their course in a controlled burn. This allowed dead vegetation to build up for decades, providing a ready fuel source for any fire that does get started, whether natural or man-made.
Going forward, I'll be surprised if you don't start seeing arguments for the fire-brake trenches you've mentioned. It should be amusing to see if the safety people win over the environmentalists that will probably crop up saying the ditches are dangerous to wildlife.
Oh, and in this particular case, the air is really dry right now, so not likely to rain fast enough to help.
2007-10-23 02:49:35 · answer #3 · answered by ima_super_geek 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Part of the problem is that constructing those ditches takes time and there is not time for that. The fire moves so quickly that it gets to the ditch sight before it is complete. Because the fires are so enormous, the ditches would have to be enormous. Cutting down trees presents the same problem. When fires are that large, the wind can move them at an incredible pace, and even if you had a large area that would not burn (like a "ditch") it would blow right over and catch on the other side.
To be clear, the wind does not carry it a "bit." They are having 70 mph winds. Think about the combination of a fire that is hundreds of acres in size and a 70 mph wind.
2007-10-23 02:46:13 · answer #4 · answered by snoopy 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No one mentioned yet how remote and steep the moutnians are or how big the trees are.
There are reasons why people ego there to be left alone or just to be near the rugged beauty where you could hike for months and maybe see 10 other people.
Embers fly over head if you have a ditch, and they go underground via roots.
There are no road, nor even any trails to get there.
And when you do get there, there is no water, just endless amounts of highly flammable fuel.
The usual response is to build a very big perimeter and let it burn out in the middle. But because these fires happened to be close to and rapidly moving towards population centers, that was not possible.
But hat is how it worked with other fires this summer - Henry Coe State Park in the Bay Area and something in the Golden Trout Wildness area where the lands are very remote and not near human habitat are ones that come to mind.
It is not the fires that are news, i tis that humans are in the area of the fire that is news.
2007-10-26 13:37:49 · answer #5 · answered by Barry C 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Rainy Spring season contributes to Heavy summer growth. Rain ceases,winds increase( Santa Ana) things dry out. Then nature,someone or something sets the fire. A blaze with wind gusts of fifty miles an hour or higher go thru the tinder whichwillnot be stopped by a ditch filled with water. California has the fires due to dryness.
2007-10-26 15:57:32 · answer #6 · answered by googie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wind blows and fans the flames to a point where the fire sometimes can move at a pace of 20 to 30 mph. Plus hot embers from burning structures are blown over any ditch of water anyone can build. You just can't contain that. It's all about the wind.
2007-10-23 02:45:31 · answer #7 · answered by Rob P 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thats just it they are WILD, with the winds and the dry, just one gust of wind changes the direction of the fire, plus its sooo big, they get one part contained and the other parts double in size in the amt of time it takes to do that. There are so many factors. Think of it this way, ive seen a house fire that 20 firefighters couldnt contain, imagine how many firefighters it would take for a wildfire as small as a mile wide???
2007-10-23 02:47:11 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The reason is the prohibition of harvesting mature trees and underbrush, Green Forever laws are fine however if you do not harvest the mature trees, you will get the disaster we are all now going to have to pay for. By using smart harvest tactics you will get the best of all worlds, wood for building and warmth (avoiding petroleum and gas imports from canada and mexico), planting 3 new trees for every one tree cut down, and keeping the beauty of forests one can actually enjoy and walk through. Now what do we have? a complete disaster, the coast will need 20 years to look pretty again.
2007-10-26 16:29:22 · answer #9 · answered by CaRiE nYc 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Santa Ana Winds
2007-10-24 15:44:55 · answer #10 · answered by cashelmara 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋