GreenWatch

B. McPherson A wildfire outside of Bakersfield California has forced a mandatory evacuation of 500 homes. The fire, dubbed the Shirley Fire, is currently out of control and spreading fast. It currently has consumed 2200 acres on the Alta Sierra Mountains.  Gusty winds on the weekend helped spread the fire. Currently, over 1000 firefighters are on the job there, helped with planes and helicopters. With only 10% of the fire contained, workers are employing  overlapping duty/shift changes in order to maintain the fight. The firefighting may get more difficult later this week as the weather is expected to trend to hotter and drier. The rugged terrain is hampering the use of heavy ground equipment. The cost of fighting this fire so far has been pegged at over $4 million. California is facing increasing costs in fighting wild fires. One of the reasons for the increase is the huge efforts to save people’s homes in areas of interface between the wild land and the urban. W...

B. McPherson Two people are confirmed dead and another is missing as firefighters from Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Utah battle a 4 500 acre fire near Denver. The fire believed to have started from a controlled burn has destroyed 28 dwellings and forced evacuation of 900 more. According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) fire season in Colorado is normally May to September. Controlled burns are conducted to deny a forest fire fuel. “Annually, the BLM completes about 15,000 acres of fuels reduction projects in the state. Colorado focuses its fuels reduction efforts on areas near communities known as the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI).”   BLM While many might jump to the conclusion that this early start to the fire season is a result of climate change, it may not be. It may be the end of a La Nina weather pattern that caused the mild, dry winter. The National Interagency Fire Centre in Boise Idaho keeps year to year statistics on wildfires throu...