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LEARNING FROM CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES Part 4: 2017—A Very Bad Year

Explore the devastating 2017 California wildfire season, highlighting the impact, causes, and implications for future disaster management. Learn about the hazards, risks, and conditions that exacerbated the wildfires. Discover the challenges posed by unusually strong Santa Ana winds, climate change, and urban interface risks. Follow the narrative of the 2017 catastrophic fires, evacuations, and destruction, shedding light on the ongoing battle against wildfires in California.

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LEARNING FROM CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES Part 4: 2017—A Very Bad Year

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  1. LEARNING FROM CALIFORNIA WILDFIRESPart 4: 2017—A Very Bad Year Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA

  2. WILDFIRES RAGED OUT OF CONTROL IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AS THE RESULT OF UNUSUALLY STRONG SANTA ANA WINDS MAKING 2017 THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE CA WIDFIRE SEASON EVER November-December 2017

  3. GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE EMERGES ANEW AS AN ISSUE FOR FUTURE FIRE SEASONS. BUT, THE FACTS FOR “YES” ARE NOT THERE, AT PRESENT

  4. WILDFIRES are conflagrations caused by lightning discharges, spontaneous combustion, or acts of man in wilderness areas close enough to an urban interface that they threaten people, homes, infrastructure, and business enterprise.

  5. HAZARDS AND RISK

  6. WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS) • FIRE • HOT GASES AND SMOKE • HOT SPOTS • BURNED OUT SLOPES (with increased susceptibility to insect infestation, erosion, and landslides)

  7. WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS) • SUNDOWNER WINDS • SANTA ANNA WINDS • LOCAL CHANGES IN AIR QUALITY • LOCAL CHANGES IN WEATHER (“FIRENADOES”)

  8. CALIFORNIA HAS THE CONDIT-IONS FOR ANNUAL WILDFIRES • It is well known that California has all of the physical conditions needed for annual wildfires: years of drought, triple digit temperatures, lightning, dead trees for fuel, and Santa Ana winds.

  9. WHY WAS THE 2017 CA WILDFIRE SEASON SO LONG AND SO BAD? • Based on what happened at the end of its 2017 fire season: • “Is California experiencing a “NEW NORMAL” based on the unusual Santa Ana winds, and - - -

  10. GOV. BROWN: “OUT OF CONTROL WILDFIRES IS CA’s ‘NEW NORMAL’”

  11. WHY WAS THE 2017 CA WILDFIRE SEASON SO LONG AND SO BAD? • Based on what happened at the end of its 2017 fire season: • “Will the unusual Santa Ana winds continue during the 2018 wildfire season in CA?”

  12. GOV. BROWN: “YES; GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE” IS THE CAUSE”

  13. WHY WAS THE 2017 CA WILDFIRE SEASON SO LONG AND SO BAD? • We can not forget that global climate change is emerging as a threat, but - - - • - - -the facts are not there today that would cause us to believe a priori that the unusual Santa Ana winds of 2017 will continue during the 2018 wildfire season.

  14. AS OF DECEMBER 10TH, 2017 • Sixteen wildfires, that eventually became six large wildfires that are still burning, have wreaked havoc. • Thousands have been evacuated; many finding charred remains of homes when returning.

  15. THOUSANDS OF EVACUAEES

  16. IMPACTS (as of December 10) • These fires, occurring at the end of an already busy fire season, have caused traffic disruptions, school closures,hazardous air conditions, massive power outages, loss of productivity, and economic losses in the billions of dollars.

  17. IMPACTS (as of December 10) • Only one death, so far • Over 212,000 people forced to evacuate. • Thousands of homes destroyed as fires burned residential areas in an 181,000 acre (732 km2) burn zone.

  18. EXAMPLES OF SIX WILDFIRES BURNING AT SAME TIME • The largest fire encircled the city of Ojai, a city of 110,000 people located north of Ventura, burning more than 90,000 acres

  19. EXAMPLES OF SIX WILDFIRES BURNING AT SAME TIME • The Creek Fire in northern Los Angeles created a burn zone near the neighborhoods of Sylmar, San Fernando and Lake View Terrace.

  20. EXAMPLES OF SIX WILDFIRES BURNING AT SAME TIME • The Skirball fire was small, but it became a major threat to heavily populated areas of Los Angeles.

  21. EXAMPLES OF SIX WILDFIRES BURNING AT SAME TIME • The Thomas fire moved into Santa Barbara County.

  22. 8,500 FIRE-FIGHTERS TRYING TO CONTROL MULTIPLE FIRES, BUT- -

  23. - - -HIGH SANTA ANA WINDS RESIST CONTROL AND SUSTAIN THE FIRES

  24. MAKING CONTROL AN ELUSIVE GOAL WITHOUT THE HELP OF NATURE

  25. SUPPRESSION: AFFECTED BY SANTA ANA WINDS

  26. SUPPRESSION: AFFECTED BY WINDS

  27. CAUSES OF DAMAGE LIGHTNING STRIKES MANMADE FIRES PROXIMITY OF URBAN AREA TO THE WILDLAND FIRE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION (DAY/NIGHT) WILDFIRES DRYNESS DISASTER LABORATORIES HIGH TEMPERATURES LOCAL FUEL SUPPLY

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