Fire on the Mountain

Since the 19 wildland firefighters lost their lives fighting the Yarnell Hill blaze in Arizona, the internet has lit up with opinions on where failures may have occurred and how to fix the current state of fire / land management in the US.

Fire is something I know little about: the tactics employed to fight it, the science behind burn rates of certain types of fuel, or the environmental factors that create the tinderboxes that many states seem to be, so I won't pretend to be an expert.

What I do know is that this tragedy has sparked a National debate spurred by President Obama's remarks that "...the Arizona Firefighter deaths shows a need to reassess wildland fire management policy."

I'm a big believer in looking at and learning from past experience, and in January of this year Tasmania experienced a firestorm that may help inform the course of the current conversation around the Fire Management debate. The Guardian created a compelling multi-media story around one families escape from danger and how the blurring of the wildland urban interface is working to put more people at risk.

If a re-examination of fire / land management policies in the US are about to be undertaken, I hope the lessons learned from communities around the world who have gone through this can help shape the conversation.

The "Firestorm" link below will take you to the Guardian piece:

Firestorm - The Guardian UK

The Holmes, taking cover under their doc in Dunally, Tasmania

Singapore Smog

The health concerns smog represents are real and severe. Its ubiquity has become woven into the fabric of urban life, as such air quality indexes have been created to provide guidance on the level of health impacts just by breathing.

While not every city grapples with airborne particulate, what's happening in Singapore right now is really interesting and quite horrible. In the days leading up to the first day of summer here is a visual progression of the air quality in Singapore:

Singapore

The pictures from the 20th and 21st look like they were taken from a sci-fi movie set in a post-apocalyptic land...not Singapore 2013.

The reason the smog level is the highest its been in 16 years is due to naturally occurring fires and plantations clearing land in preparation for another growing season, much of which is happening in Sumatra. Intense winds are blowing wildfire smoke in a northeasterly direction, crushing Singapore...check out this slider image showing the smoke coverage over the course of a few hours, you have to click on the Image Comparison button.

As the Al Jezeera report illustrates, limited resources and the lack of political will to take steps to deal with the causes of these events mean that many will have to endure the potentially hazardous smog until conditions such as: rain, change in wind, or the fires being extinguished take place.

Seeing this unfold and being a resident of Southern California where we're under Red Flag warning, in the middle of a drought, and are already dealing with smog on a daily basis, makes me question how  our urban cities would deal with a similar situation and whether the political would exist to enact swift and substantive changes to remedy the situation.