Geography Topic 5 - (1.)- Wildfire Case study - The 2018 California wildfire
- They provided 9700 over night shelter spots
- They served over 112,800 meals and snacks
- They handed out more than 32,300 relief items
Full Answer
What caused the 2018 California wildfire?
After a very meticulous and thorough investigation, CAL FIRE has determined that the Camp Fire was caused by electrical transmission lines owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electricity (PG&E) located in the Pulga area.
How much damage did the 2018 California wildfires cause?
The catastrophic Camp Fire alone killed at least 85 people, destroyed 18,804 buildings and caused $16.5 billion in property damage, while overall the fires resulted in at least $26.347 billion in property damage and firefighting costs, including $25.4 billion in property damage and $947 million in fire suppression ...
How did the 2018 California wildfires affect the environment?
California's Wildfires Had an Invisible Impact: High Carbon Dioxide Emissions. From June to August, the blazes emitted far more planet-warming carbon dioxide than in any other summer in nearly two decades, satellite data shows.
What are the three main causes of California wildfires?
Rising temperatures, drought conditions and dry vegetation are all contributing causes of wildfires in California, but worsening impacts of climate change are exacerbating and prolonging the fire season in the state.
What damage did the California wildfires cause?
The fires destroyed over 10,000 structures and cost over $12.079 billion (2020 USD) in damages, including over $10 billion in property damage and $2.079 billion in fire suppression costs.
Who set the California fires?
A Redding man pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to setting nearly a dozen fires in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest between 2019 and 2020, prosecutors said. Eric Michael Smith, 41, was arrested in July 2020 after an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service.
How much did 2018 wildfires cost?
$148.5 billionIn 2020, for example, a team of researchers studied the nationwide impact of California's 2018 wildfire season, and estimated that its economic damage totaled $148.5 billion.
What is the impact of wildfires?
Wildfires increase air pollution in surrounding areas and can affect regional air quality. The effects of smoke from wildfires can range from eye and respiratory tract irritation to more serious disorders, including reduced lung function, bronchitis, exacerbation of asthma and heart failure, and premature death.
How did the California wildfires affect the plants?
Furthermore, the blaze can exacerbate soil erosion, because of the burned up foliage. More specifically, invasive weeds and grassses could overtake native plants and shrubs, making soil erosion more likely which could lead to even more frequent wildfires in the future, according to CBS.
Why California has so many fires?
He is among several experts who say a confluence of factors has driven the surge of large, destructive fires in California: unusual drought and heat exacerbated by climate change, overgrown forests caused by decades of fire suppression, and rapid population growth along the edges of forests.
Are wildfires caused by climate change?
The report describes a worsening cycle: Climate change brings more drought and higher temperatures that make it easy for fires to start and spread, and in turn those blazes release more climate-changing carbon into the atmosphere as they burn through forests and peatland.
Are wildfires caused by humans?
Humans and Wildfire Nearly 85 percent* of wildland fires in the United States are caused by humans. Human-caused fires result from campfires left unattended, the burning of debris, equipment use and malfunctions, negligently discarded cigarettes, and intentional acts of arson.
How many acres are in California wildfires?
In 2018, California experienced its most destructive wildfire season on record. 1 More than 25 million acres of California wildlands are classified as very high or extreme fire threats—a risk area covering more than half the state. 2
How many acres burned in California in 2018?
Public Health Problem. In 2018, California experienced the most destructive wildfire season on record, with 7,571 fires burning nearly 1.7 million acres, over 23,300 damaged or destroyed structures, and 93 confirmed fatalities.1 The Camp Fire, which began on November 8, 2018, in east wind-driven fire-prone wildlands in Butte County, ...
When did California participate in the NSSP?
California participation in CDC’s National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) by county, May 2019. To continue building on the capabilities developed during the Camp Fire, San Mateo County responded to a CSTE call for proposals to develop a climatic exposures and respiratory health outcomes pilot.
What is NSSP in California?
In California, participation in the CDC National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) is decentralized, with independently participating local health jurisdictions in various stages of planning, onboarding, and production. During the Camp Fire, CDC NSSP contacted Sacramento, San Mateo, and other affected sites to offer technical assistance, guidance, and resources. This included sharing Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE) queries and visualizations that had been developed by Washington State Department of Health (WA DOH)#N#external icon#N#epidemiologists to monitor wildfire events in their state. The support enabled Sacramento and San Mateo counties to rapidly leverage, adapt, and extend wildfire-related syndrome definitions and surveillance techniques that had demonstrated utility and value; define specific monitoring and response needs that differ based on wildfire proximity and magnitude; and establish relationships and direct lines of communication with other sites.
How many acres burned in California wildfires in 2018?
In 2018, there were a total of 103 confirmed fatalities, 24,226 structures damaged or destroyed, and 8,527 fire s burning 1,975,086 acres ...
Why are wildfires worse in California?
Stanford Earth System Science Professor Noah Diffenbaugh stated that atmospheric conditions for California wildfires are expected to worsen in the future because of the effects of climate change in California and that "what we're seeing over the last few years in terms of the wildfire season in California [is] very consistent with the historical trends in terms of increasing temperatures, increasing dryness, and increasing wildfire risk." Other experts agreed, saying that global warming is to blame for these extreme weather conditions. Global warming has led to higher temperatures and longer summers, creating a drier landscape that gave fires more fuel to burn longer and stronger.
How much did the 2018 wildfires cost?
AccuWeather estimated the total economic cost of the 2018 wildfires at $400 billion (2018 USD), which includes property damage, firefighting costs, direct and indirect economic losses, as well as recovery expenditures.
How much did the Camp Fire cost?
The catastrophic Camp Fire alone accounted for at least 85 lives, 18,804 razed buildings, and $16.5 billion in property damage, while overall, the fires amounted to at least $26.347 billion (2018 USD) in property damage and firefighting costs, including $25.4 billion in property damage and $947 million in fire suppression costs.
How many acres of fires were there in California in 1850?
However, from a historical perspective, it has been estimated that prior to 1850, about 4.5 million acres (17,000 km²) burned yearly, in fires that lasted for months.
How many people died in the Woolsey Fire?
This new batch of wildfires included the Woolsey Fire and the Camp Fire. The Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise and killed at least 85 people, with 1 still unaccounted for as of August 2, 2019. The Camp Fire destroyed more than 18,000 structures, becoming both California's deadliest and most destructive wildfire on record.
How many acres did the Mendocino fire burn?
The Mendocino Complex Fire burned more than 459,000 acres (186,000 ha), becoming the largest complex fire in the state's history at the time, with the complex's Ranch Fire surpassing the Thomas Fire and the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889 to become California's single-largest recorded wildfire. In September 2020, the August Complex surpassed ...
Introduction: Wildfires spread rapidly. When a fire ignites, first responders need to act quickly to not only put out the fire, but also contain the spread
Wildfires have engulfed the state of California. With the deadliest, most destructive fires California has ever experienced close to 75,000 people have had to evacuate due to the Camp and Woolsey fires. Approximately 12,000 buildings and residences have been destroyed and 500 have been damaged.
Challenges: Due to first responders being dispersed within California, All Partners Access Network (apan.org) is relied upon by the California Military Department (CMD) to provide near real-time updates and information to Federal, State, Local, Tribal and NGOs in an effort to combat the wildfires in California
To ensure cooperation and coordination was taking place, CMD invited those supporting the disaster response into their APAN community, including California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and California’s Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). PG&E needed a way to track their field operators.
Solutions: The California Military Department is utilizing APAN to provide coordinated information through 9 Adobe Connect conference rooms
In one of the rooms, PG&E is working with CMD to track their field operators who are in the field making repairs to electric grids.
Results: Using data-feeds in Adobe Connect, various teams working the fires are able to synchronize efforts and capabilities
Damage assessments to homes and buildings are monitored, as well as shelter capacities. Links to weather forecasts to identify potential wind gusts are displayed to assist those on the ground be prepared for varied response.
Where was the Camp Fire in California?
The Camp Fire ignited on November 8, 2018 in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Butte County, California. The first 24 hours were characterized by a fast-moving fire with initial spread driven by high winds up to 22 m/s (50 mi/h) and long-range spotting up to 6.3 km (3.9 mi) into the community. The fire quickly impacted the communities of Concow, Paradise, and Magalia. The Camp Fire became the most destructive and deadly fire in California history, with over 18,000 destroyed structures, 700 damaged structures, and 85 fatalities. After a preliminary reconnaissance, it was determined that abundant data was available to support an in-depth case study of this devastating wildland-urban interface (WUI) fire to increase our understanding of WUI fire spread, fire behavior, evacuation, and structure response. The methodology guiding the case study and a detailed timeline reconstruction of the fire progression and fire behavior are presented. Over 2200 observations about fire spread and behavior were collected during the case study. Subsequent reports will detail additional aspects of the incident including emergency response and evacuation, and defensive actions and structure response. This study has identified that Butte County and the Town of Paradise were well prepared to respond to a WUI fire, that the Camp Fire grew and spread rapidly and that multiple factors contributed to the rapid growth and spread of the Camp Fire. Additionally, this study identified the importance of the wildland fire ignition location relative to the community, that multiple parcel-level fire spread pathways caused structure ignitions, and that WUI fire spread impacted the affected communities in multiple ways beyond the destruction of residential and commercial properties.
How many structures were destroyed in the Camp Fire?
The Camp Fire became the most destructive and deadly fire in California history, with over 18,000 destroyed structures, 700 damaged structures, and 85 fatalities.
How many ha of fires were burned in Alaska in 2015?
For context, we note that US burned area statistics include Alaska, which often contributes substantially to annual total burned area. While over 2 million ha burned in Alaska in 2015, just over 260,000 ha burned in Alaska in 2017 thus highlighting the elevated level of fire activity in the contiguous US.
How many ha were burned in the North Bay fires?
The North Bay fires burned nearly 100,000 ha, with the majority of these devastating consequences occurring within 12 h of ignition on 8–9 October 2017 (Table1), including four of the top 20 deadliest and most destructive wildfires in the state’s history.
Public Health Problem
Actions Taken
- In California, participation in the CDC National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) is decentralized, with independently participating local health jurisdictions in various stages of planning, onboarding, and production. During the Camp Fire, CDC NSSP contacted Sacramento, San Mateo, and other affected sites to offer technical assistance, guidance, and resources. This …
Outcome
- To continue building on the capabilities developed during the Camp Fire, San Mateo County responded to a CSTE call for proposals to develop a climatic exposures and respiratory health outcomes pilot. The proposal was selected for funding, along with proposals from the WA DOHexternal icon and Propeller Health.external iconWith CSTE support, San Mateo County initia…
References
- 1. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Incidents [Internet]. Sacramento (CA): California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 2018 Incident Archive [cited 2019 Sept 19]; [about 1 screen]. Available from: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2018/external icon 2. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Community wildfire prevention and mitigation report…
Lessons Learned
- California’s use of syndromic data during the 2018 wildfire season helped launch syndromic surveillance (SyS) capacity-building initiatives among local public health agencies to— 1. Demonstrate the utility, reliability, and timeliness of syndromic datafor monitoring and characterizing wildfire-related health impacts; 2. Establish channels for cross-jurisdictional com…