Wildfires on the east coast of Australia

[Mark Rippetoe]

Two of the most destructive CA fires in 2018 (Camp and Carr Fires) started in areas (shrub, woodland, and forest) that had burned and/or had burned/been heavily managed 10 years prior. You could make the case that fuel hazard was reduced significantly. Why then did we have unprecedented rates of spread, including a fire tornado in the Carr Fire, in those fires?

Brush grows back in 4-5 years. From your original post:

Weather has been growing more unfavorable for stopping large fires for the last decade or more out West.

"Unprecedented rates of spread" caused by "weather that has been growing more unfavorable ... for the last decade or more..."

Ten years. This is like an Exercise Science study. But I have Dunning Kruger's.

[Drewcar]

But I have Dunning Kruger's.

Maybe you should be an AGU fellow. I’ll also nominate you for the Fire Science Consortium while I’m at it.

[wal]

Not the issue at all. Obviously dry fuels burn better than wet fuels. Duh. Why are the dry/wet, have they ever been this dry/wet before, and why are the fuels there? These are the questions.

Mark, that is the big question the Federal Gov will be looking into shortly among other things including climate, but the question remains: why were the fuel loads left to accumulate over the years? In Australia, Eucalyptus trees are explosive, in hot weather the leaves contain an oil which vaporizes in the heat, and the gaseous cloud can explode in flames like an oil refinery explosion when sparked by dry lightning strikes or during a wildfire. I think you have these types of trees growing in California, they should get rid of them. Why anybody wants to build among those type of trees I have no idea.

YouTube

[markus1]

Don't forget that arson was a factor providing the "spark" as it were to many of these fires.

Incorrect. The vast majority of fires were not deliberately lit.

Despite what you may heard on the news these last few months Australia has not burned to the ground. We lost about 20% of the forests and national parks and about 1500 homes, mostly confined to the east coast of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. We have also had a lot of rain which has put most of those fires out. Even where I live out west we had bad smoke haze for weeks.

This is typical Australian weather, drought, heat and neglect by government agencies who did not manage the build up of years of undergrowth which meant the fires were a lot hotter this time. Also arsonists started a lot of the fires. By the way what is the penalty for arson in Texas?

Aussies also are grateful for those folk from the US that came over to help fight the fires, three of which died in a plane crash on a fire ground. It was dangerous work.

Arsonists started a lot of these fires? Define "a lot".

[wal]

Incorrect. The vast majority of fires were not deliberately lit.



Arsonists started a lot of these fires? Define "a lot".

Your right "a lot" is ambiguous, it is more than a few and just short of "many". It is not easy to put figure on it as investigations for suspicious fires are still ongoing, in NSW there was 24 charges for deliberately lighting a fire in a total fire ban day. Other states had a similar problem. Some arsonists were responsible for multiple fires, some of those folk will never be found, some will not be charged as they are under age.

Here are some links if you want to check it.

NSW fires: NSW police to step up bushfire investigations

Bushfires deliberately lit by 'cunning, versatile criminals', more common in school holidays, expert warns - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Arson, mischief and recklessness: 87 per cent of fires are man-made

We don’t just have a bushfire crisis. We have an arson crisis, too - General News - nsane.forums

Causes of investigated fires in New South Wales | Australian Institute of Criminology

An arsonist by their very nature always light more than one fire and are repeat offenders. Where I live arson accounts for multiple house fires and car burnouts and those that commit this crime are mostly under 20 years of age, urban terrorists, we do not need to import them we grow our own. When I working full time there was a combined police and emergency service radio hut that had a stick of gelignite hooked across the front door, Muslim terrorists no! Just some of the younger folk round here who had removed some explosives from a rock quarry. So this fire season I say one person is a lot as far as arson goes.

[Lawrie Abbott]

Incorrect. The vast majority of fires were not deliberately lit.



Arsonists started a lot of these fires? Define "a lot".

Well here's 183 charged in NSW alone.

NSW fires: 183 people charged by NSW Police this bushfire season

Admittedly most were not for deliberately lighting fires but discarding cigarette butts and lighting fires in contravention of total bans.

Fires happen every year (we call it the fire season). It doesn't matter how they started. Lightning or matches the outcome is still the same if the fuel load is left to grow for years.