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Natural Disasters: Wildfire

A research topic guide on natural disasters, including avalanches, earthquakes, fire, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and volcanoes.

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Research & Reference

Mega Fires

Devastating forest fires rage across California, and enormous fires reach the doors of major European cities... But these gargantuan fires are often impossible to stop without rainfall. With every new dry season, these fires devour the world's forests and increasingly threaten human lives and homes. This documentary series focuses on the science behind natural catastrophes and helps audiences to understand these spectacular moments of Earth's anger.

Source: Kanopy

Inside the Megafire

The California wildfires of 2018 took a worrisome trend to a new extreme, claiming lives and over a million acres. Scientists investigate how forestry practices, climate change, and drought may contribute to the rise of deadly megafires.

Source: Kanopy

Perspectives

Land on Fire

"This comprehensive book offers a fascinating overview of how those fires are fought, and some conversation-starters for how we might reimagine our relationship with the woods." --Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet   Wildfire season is burning longer and hotter, affecting more and more people, especially in the west. Land on Fire explores the fascinating science behind this phenomenon and the ongoing research to find a solution. This gripping narrative details how years of fire suppression and chronic drought have combined to make the situation so dire. Award-winning nature writer Gary Ferguson brings to life the extraordinary efforts of those responsible for fighting wildfires, and deftly explains how nature reacts in the aftermath of flames. Dramatic photographs reveal the terror and beauty of fire, as well as the staggering effect it has on the landscape.

Paradise

The definitive firsthand account of California's Camp Fire, the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century, Paradise is a riveting examination of what went wrong and how to avert future tragedies as the climate crisis unfolds "A tour de force story of wildfire and a terrifying look at what lies ahead."--San Francisco Chronicle On November 8, 2018, the people of Paradise, California, awoke to a mottled gray sky and gusty winds. Soon the Camp Fire was upon them, gobbling an acre a second. Less than two hours after the fire ignited, the town was engulfed in flames, the residents trapped in their homes and cars. By the next morning, eighty-five people were dead. As a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, Lizzie Johnson was there as the town of Paradise burned. She saw the smoldering rubble of a historic covered bridge and the beloved Black Bear Diner and she stayed long afterward, visiting shelters, hotels, and makeshift camps. Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting and reams of public records, including 911 calls and testimony from a grand jury investigation, Johnson provides a minute-by-minute account of the Camp Fire, following residents and first responders as they fight to save themselves and their town. We see a young mother fleeing with her newborn; a school bus full of children in search of an escape route; and a group of paramedics, patients, and nurses trapped in a cul-de-sac, fending off the fire with rakes and hoses. In Paradise, Johnson documents the unfolding tragedy with empathy and nuance. But she also investigates the root causes, from runaway climate change to a deeply flawed alert system to Pacific Gas and Electric's decades-long neglect of critical infrastructure. A cautionary tale for a new era of megafires, Paradise is the gripping story of a town wiped off the map and the determination of its people to rise again.

The Landscape Ecology of Fire

Global warming is expected to change fire regimes, likely increasing the severity and extent of wildfires in many ecosystems around the world. What will be the landscape-scale effects of these altered fire regimes? Within what theoretical contexts can we accurately assess these effects? We explore the possible effects of altered fire regimes on landscape patch dynamics, dominant species (tree, shrub, or herbaceous) and succession, sensitive and invasive plant and animal species and communities, and ecosystem function. Ultimately, we must consider the human dimension: what are the policy and management implications of increased fire disturbance, and what are the implications for human communities?

Introduction to Fire in California

What is fire? How are wildfires ignited? How do California's weather and topography influence fire? How did the California Indians use fire? In the spirit of his highly acclaimed Introduction to Air in California and Introduction to Water in California, David Carle now turns to another fundamental element of the natural world, giving a fascinating and concise view of this complex topic. His clearly written, dramatically illustrated book will help Californians, including the millions who live near naturally flammable wildlands, better understand their own place in the state's landscape. Carle covers the basics of fire ecology; looks at the effects of fire on wildlife, soil, water, and air; discusses firefighting organizations and land management agencies; explains current policies; and explores many other topics. Features: * 91 color illustrations and 15 maps * Tips on what to do before, during, and after fires * An overview of major wildfires in California's history * A discussion of the effect of climate change on fires in natural landscapes A book in the Californians and Their Environment subseries, dedicated to understanding human influences on the state's ecology and natural resources

Smokechasing

"Painting, architecture, politics, even gardening and golf--all have their critics and commentators," observes Stephen Pyne. "Fire does not." Aside from news reports on fire disasters, most writing about fire appears in government reports and scientific papers--and in journalism that has more in common with the sports page than the editorial page. Smokechasing presents commentaries by one of America's leading fire scholars, who analyzes fire the way another might an election campaign or a literary work. "Smokechasing" is an American coinage describing the practice of sending firefighters into the wild to track down the source of reported smoke. Now a self-described "friendly fire critic" tracks down more of the history and lore of fire in a collection that focuses on wildland fire and its management. Building on and complementing a previous anthology, World Fire, this new collection features thirty-two original articles and substantial revisions of works that have previously appeared in print. Pyne addresses many issues that have sparked public concern in the wake of disastrous wildfires in the West, such as fire ecology, federal fire management, and questions relating to fire suppression. He observes that the mistake in fire policy has been not that wildfires are suppressed but that controlled fires are no longer ignited; yet the attempted forced reintroduction of fire through prescribed burning has proved difficult, and sometimes damaging. There are, Pyne argues, many fire problems; some have technical solutions, some not. But there is no evading humanity's unique power and responsibility: what we don't do may be as ecologically powerful as what we do. Throughout the collection, Pyne makes it clear that humans and fire interact at particular places and times to profoundly shape the world, and that understanding the contexts in which fire occurs can tell us much about the world's natural and cultural landscapes. Fire's context gives it its meaning, and Smokechasing not only helps illuminate those contexts but also shows us how to devise new contexts for tomorrow's fires.

Wildland Fuel Fundamentals and Application

A new era in wildland fuel sciences is now evolving in such a way that fire scientists and managers need a comprehensive understanding of fuels ecology and science to fully understand fire effects and behavior on diverse ecosystem and landscape characteristics. This is a reference book on wildland fuel science; a book that describes fuels and their application in land management.  There has never been a comprehensive book on wildland fuels; most wildland fuel information was put into wildland fire science and management books as separate chapters and sections.  This book is the first to highlight wildland fuels and treat them as a natural resource rather than a fire behavior input. Moreover, there has never been a comprehensive description of fuels and their ecology, measurement, and description under one reference; most wildland fuel information is scattered across diverse and unrelated venues from combustion science to fire ecology to carbon dynamics.  The literature and data for wildland fuel science has never been synthesized into one reference; most studies were done for diverse and unique objectives.  This book is the first to link the disparate fields of ecology, wildland fire, and carbon to describe fuel science. This just deals with the science and ecology of wildland fuels, not fuels management. However, since expensive fuel treatments are being planned in fire dominated landscapes across the world to minimize fire damage to people, property and ecosystems, it is incredibly important that people understand wildland fuels to develop more effective fuel management activities.

The Big Burn

In The Big Burn, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Timothy Egan tells the story of the largest forest fire in American history, a storm that destroyed seven towns, killed 86 people and raged across three million acres in Montana and Idaho in 1910. It was also a fire that changed American conservation, finally prompting a reluctant Congress to give the Forest Service the power to oversee the forests of the American West. Through the eyes of characters famous (Teddy Roosevelt, a few years out of office, but infuriated by how timber barons were ignoring his legacy and not-so-famous (immigrants, new to the West, caught in the firestorm), Egan paints a picture of a West that was still wild, a time when timber barons had rule over the forests and owned their Senators outright. The fire itself lasted barely three days during a time of intense heat and drought. People ran into mine shafts for cover, went underwater with breathing tubes, some even took their own lives. Entire towns were consumed in the blink of an eye. The fire created its own weather system, darkened the sky for 500 square miles, and sent smoke across the United States. There were heroic attempts to stay alive, to save towns, and horrid missteps as well. Ultimately, the lesson learned from the disaster was the wrong one: hereafter, the government suppressed every forest fire, setting the stage for the catastrophic fires of today. With the same power and propulsive storytelling that made The Worst Hard Time a critical and commercial blockbuster, Egan tells an epic story of an environmental disaster, paints a moving portrait of the people who fought and survived it, and offers a critical cautionary tale for today.

Fire in Paradise

Who's to blame for the devastating Camp Fire, and why was it so catastrophic? With accounts from survivors and first responders, this is the inside story of the most destructive fire in California history, its causes and the impact of climate change. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

Source: Films on Demand