http://www.theage.com.au/national/anatomy-of-a-firestorm-20090225-8hvi.html

It seems to me that if people live in bush areas they should be protected by a clear area around the habitation and that the powers-that-be should do proper fuel-reduction burns too.

Can I suggest that the eruption of Mt. Tambora 1815 was a pyro-tornado 27 miles high (sea-level 12ft above high tide 25 miles away, what was the central pressure??, good description in wiki).

Can I also suggest that the 100s miles of lava flows seen in flood basalt events would have set off a pyro-hurricane of Red Spot scale.

Hollywood at its most extravagant could not do justice to the energies unleashed in these events.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=12373&oldid=11799

Much of Mt Palomar burned in the 2003 fire– the name of which I forget– although I can’t tell you exactly how much of the mountain was burned. I remember going up to a high point in in my community perhaps 15 miles to the north east and watching the mountain burn. Luckily the observatory, which I had visted previous to the fires, was not impacted. 2003 was, if I recall correctly, the most destructive fire year in Southern California history.

More CO2 results in more growth.
More growth results in more fire.
More fire results in more smoke.
More smoke results in cooling.

“”The fire has burned much of Big Tujunga Canyon Road in the mountains, and the canyon opens into the Sunland neighborhood.”

Perhap the fuel reduction has been accomplished for the 500 acres…as it has with about 145,000 additional acres…for the next 15 years or so.

Yes the President said that private companies can compete with government monopolies; citing how UPS and FedEx successfully compet with the US government run Post Office; so that is the standard to compoare your health care program with.

So that’s another whole fire season, till they get their stuff in gear.

http://www.eatonbuilding.com/g2/main.php?g2_itemId=869

» Fuels Reduction — Sunland area
The Los Angeles River Ranger District (LARRD) of the Angeles National Forest (ANF) is conducting an environmental analysis under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to evaluate a fuels reduction project north of the City of Sunland, in the ANF. We are soliciting public input of the issues to be addressed in the environmental analysis. Initiation of this fuels reduction project is proposed to begin in FY2011 and involves vegetation treatments on 500 acres.

Comments should be submitted in writing and will be accepted until September 29, 2009. Issues and concerns should be addressed to:

Mike McIntyre, District Ranger
Los Angeles River Ranger District
12371 N Little Tujunga Canyon Road
San Fernando, CA 91342
Comments may also be submitted via FAX to (818) 8896-6727 or electronically to mmcintyre@fs.fed.us

KLA (10:34:30) :

From my experience:

I do live in a fire-prone area in SoCal. My community is located in the middle of a National Forest. The fire authorities and insurance company requires (otherwise we will be fined) to clear the brush around our properties to 30 ft.

However, if we do that, the forestry department (greens) will fine us because this is supposed to be undisturbed wilderness and you should not even move a leaf. After all, clearing the brush might interrupt the mating dance of the slightly spotted dung moskito or something like that.

That is where creative design of the home comes in. Build a really large patio on the most exposed (usually down hill side) and set up your driveway so that it is a circular drive that goes all the way around the house.

Then you put in a small pond (the fire fighters will see this as a fire engine magnet and draft water from your pond). Make sure the drive is big enough that they can easily turn their big engines around and you can turn your home into the one they choose to defend when they have to make tough choices about where to send their crews.

As mentioned above, sidewalks and low rock walls also make good defensible lines for fire fighters to fall back to if they have a blow up and have to go to a defensive position.

I think a class action suit needs to be filed by someone that the regulations and laws are inconsistent and it is physically impossible for the home owner to be in compliance with both sets of rules.

Larry

A couple years ago there was a B-17 out here at RMR airport (then called Jeffco). It was the “sentimental journey”. During the discussion someone asked what the history of the airframe was and they mentioned it has served in a fire fighting roll but never in combat, then they pointed to the leading edges of the wings to draw everyone’s attention to the dozens of small dings on the leading edges.

Those dings were due to airborne cinder impacts when flying through the air column over the fires. Rather large cinders get carried aloft by the updrafts and at air speeds over 100 mph made some very evident impact dings on the leading edge.

I am not sure the jet engines in the super tankers would like a steady diet of that sort of fire debris, and if they did not fail outright due to an impact the service expenses to keep the engines healthy would be significant.

The old prop and turbo-prop aircraft still have their place in fire fighting if someone would just fund a proper refit program and select a reliable airframe like the C-130 to do the job.

In really rough country the ability to get down in the weeds with the slower planes can sometimes be very useful. That of course is why they also fly the smaller airdrop planes which are about the size of a crop dusting aircraft for close in work or spot fire control.

Larry