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    • Fears of new wildfires grow amid record-breaking dry conditions in US | New Jersey
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    Fears of new wildfires grow amid record-breaking dry conditions in US | New Jersey

    Vaseline Posted on

    Record-breaking dry conditions in some parts of the US are raising fears of new wildfires and could also threaten drinking water supplies if substantial rain does not fall in the coming months.

    Firefighters battled wildfires from California to New York on Wednesday, hampered by high winds and arid landscapes.

    “Please take this seriously,” New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said Wednesday as he issued a drought warning. “We have a very dry winter ahead of us.”

    Crews in California were making good progress battling a large wildfire in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, that broke out a week ago and quickly exploded in size due to dry Santa Ana winds. The mountain fire was 60% contained on Wednesday.

    “The fire will remain contained and no growth is forecast,” the state agency Cal Fire said in a Wednesday report, adding that firefighters would be down there and residents could return when it is “safe to do so ”.

    The 83-square-kilometer fire forced thousands of residents to flee and has destroyed more than 215 structures, most of them homes, and damaged at least 210.

    Conditions in California were “abnormally dry” but had not reached severe drought levels in most of the state, the Nebraska-based National Drought Mitigation Center said.

    It was more difficult on the East Coast, where efforts to start a wildfire on the New Jersey-New York border essentially stalled overnight.

    The Jennings Creek fire remained 30% contained Wednesday morning – the same as Tuesday evening.

    There were 2,283 acres burned in New Jersey’s Passaic County and 2,100 acres in New York’s Orange County.

    Short manual

    American wildfire terms explained

    Show

    Acres burned

    US wildfires are measured in hectares. While the size of a wildfire does not necessarily correlate with its destructive impact, area provides a way to understand a fire’s footprint and how quickly it has grown.

    There are 2.47 acres in an acre, and 640 acres in a square mile, but this can be difficult to visualize. Here are some simple comparisons: One hectare is approximately the size of an American football field. London’s Heathrow Airport covers approximately 3,000 hectares. Manhattan covers approximately 14,600 hectares, while Chicago covers approximately 150,000 hectares, and Los Angeles approximately 320,000 hectares.

    Megafire

    A megafire is defined by the National Interagency Fire Center as a wildfire that has burned more than 100,000 acres.

    Containment level

    The containment level of a wildfire indicates how much progress the fire department has made in controlling the fire. Containment is achieved by creating perimeters that the fire cannot cross. This is done through methods such as laying fire retardants on the ground, digging trenches or removing brush and other flammable fuels.

    Containment is measured as the percentage of the fire surrounded by these control lines. A wildfire with a low containment level, such as 0% or 5%, essentially burns out of control. A fire with a high containment level, such as 90%, is not necessarily extinguished, but rather has a large protective perimeter and a growth rate that is under control.

    Evacuation orders and warnings

    Evacuation warnings and orders are issued by officials when a wildfire causes immediate danger to human life and property. According to the California Emergency Services Agency, an evacuation warning means it is a good idea to leave an area or prepare to leave quickly. An evacuation order means that you must leave the area immediately.

    Red flag warning

    A red flag warning is a type of forecast issued by the National Weather Service that indicates when weather conditions are likely to start or spread wildfires. These conditions typically include drought, low humidity, high winds and heat.

    Prescribed combustion

    A prescribed burn, or a controlled burn, is a fire that is deliberately ignited under carefully managed conditions to improve the health of a landscape. Prescribed burns are performed by trained experts, such as members of the US Forest Service and indigenous firefighters. Prescribed burns help remove flammable vegetation and reduce the risk of larger, more catastrophic fires, among other things.

    Prescribed burning was once a common tool among Native American tribes who used “good fire” to improve the land, but was limited for much of the last century by a U.S. government approach based on fire suppression. In recent years, U.S. land managers have begun to embrace the benefits of prescribed burns again, and now manage thousands of people across the country every year.

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    Greg McLaughlin, an administrator with the New Jersey Forest Fire Department, said steep mountainous terrain and high winds, combined with few road access points, made it difficult to fight the fire from the ground. A water-dropping helicopter was also deployed, but the usual array of bulldozers and plows were ineffective on this particular fire.

    That fire claimed the life of a New York state parks employee who was assisting firefighters this weekend.

    Dry conditions in New Jersey and New York are a growing concern, not only for firefighting efforts, but also for the continued availability of drinking water.

    New Jersey officials issued a drought warning Wednesday, asking for additional voluntary conservation measures and saying they wanted to avoid imposing mandatory water restrictions.

    Two major reservoirs in the state were at 51% and 45% of capacity on Wednesday, enough to keep the taps flowing but low enough to raise concerns about what might happen if there are weeks or months of little rain to come . One river that is a supplementary source of drinking water was 14% of normal.

    Murphy, the Democratic governor of New Jersey, asked people to take shorter showers, only run the dishwasher when it is full, and turn off the water tap while brushing teeth.

    September and October were the driest two-month period on record in New Jersey. Since August, the state has received 2 inches of rain, when it should have received 0.3 feet.

    There was no significant rainfall in the foreseeable forecast, officials said.

    The soil is also bone dry, McLaughlin added. This makes forest fires even more dangerous because they can burn through dry soil and root systems and last for months.

    On a scale of soil dryness where 800 is the highest possible score, New Jersey ranks at 748, meaning the soil is dry almost 8 inches below the surface. That level had never been reached before, McLaughlin said.

    A wildfire that broke out in New Jersey’s Wharton State Forest on July 4 due to someone using illegal fireworks has long been considered under control. But it has been smoldering underground for four months and could flare up again above ground, McLaughlin said.

    “We have to keep an eye on these fires for weeks or months,” he said.

    Conditions are also dry in New York, which issued a drought warning last week. Mayor Eric Adams urged residents to take shorter showers, fix dripping faucets and otherwise conserve water.

    Just 0.02 inches of rain fell last month in the city’s Central Park, which normally receives 4.5 inches of precipitation in October, National Weather Service data show. Rohit Aggarwala, the city department’s environmental protection commissioner, said it was the driest October in more than 150 years of records.

    Massachusetts declared a drought on Tuesday after more than a month of reduced rainfall.

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