I denne tirsdag, 17. august, 2021, fil foto, i langtidseksponeringsbillede, gløder flyver fra brændende træer, mens Caldor-ilden vokser på Mormom Emigrant Trail øst for Sly Park, Californien Californien har allerede overgået det areal, der blev brændt på dette tidspunkt sidste år, hvilket endte med at sætte rekord. Nu går det ind i en periode, hvor kraftige vinde ofte har drevet de mest dødbringende flammer. Kredit:AP Photo/Ethan Swope, Fil
Røg fra Californiens naturbrande kvalte folk på østkysten. Flammer udslettede en by fra guldfeberen. Ask dækker et område, der ville dværge Rhode Island.
Billeder af hjem opslugt af flammer og bjerge, der gløder som lava, ville gøre det nemt at konkludere, at Golden State er et forkullet sort landskab.
Det er næppe tilfældet, men den skræmmende virkelighed er, at det værste kan være endnu ikke kommet.
Californien har allerede overgået det areal, der blev brændt på dette tidspunkt sidste år, hvilket endte med at sætte rekord. Nu går det ind i en periode, hvor kraftige vinde ofte har drevet de mest dødbringende flammer.
"Her er vi - det er ikke slutningen af august, og størrelsen og udbredelsen og ødelæggelsen af sommerbrande fra sommeren 2021 lover ikke godt for de næste måneder, " sagde Bill Deverell, en historieprofessor ved University of Southern California, der underviser i ild i Vesten. "Forslaget om mønstre gennem de sidste to årtier i Vesten er dybt foruroligende og bekymrende:varmere, større, flere brande."
Mere end et dusin store skovbrande brænder i californisk græs, busk og skov, der er usædvanligt tør efter to års tørke, sandsynligvis forværret af klimaændringer.
Brandene, hovedsageligt i den nordlige del af staten, har brændt næsten 1,5 millioner acres, eller cirka 2, 300 kvadrat miles (6, 000 kvadratkilometer).
I denne tirsdag, 17. august, 2021-filbillede fra et U.S. Forest Service-overvågningskamera for skovbrande, røgfaner stiger fra Caldor-branden i El Dorado County, Californien Californien har allerede overgået det areal, der blev brændt på dette tidspunkt sidste år, hvilket endte med at sætte rekord. Nu går det ind i en periode, hvor kraftige vinde ofte har drevet de mest dødbringende flammer. Kredit:U.S. Forest Service/ALERTWildfire Network via AP, Fil
Brandmænd er vidne til ekstrem brandadfærd, da gløder, der bæres kilometervis af vindstød, antænder vegetation, der er moden til at brænde i barske landskaber, hvor det er svært at angribe eller bygge en perimeter for at forhindre det i at sprede sig. Brande, der førhen ville køle ned om natten, stiger nogle gange flere kilometer i mørket.
Dixie-ilden, den største i øjeblikket brændende og næststørste nogensinde, udslettet den historiske by Greenville og fortsætter med at true tusindvis af hjem omkring 282 kilometer nordøst for San Francisco. Caldor-ilden, brænder omkring 100 miles (161 kilometer) mod syd, sprængt i luften siden 14. august, brændte dele af landsbyen Grizzly Flat og tygger sig gennem tæt skov.
Vindstød og lav luftfugtighed i vejrudsigten, der kunne udvide ilden voldsomt, førte til lukningen fredag af en 40-mile (64 kilometer) motorvejsstrækning, der løber langs ildens omkreds og forbinder Sacramento med Lake Tahoe.
I denne onsdag, 4. august 2021, fil foto, Way Station Bar brænder, mens Dixie Fire river gennem Greenville-samfundet i Plumas County, Californien Californien har allerede overgået det areal, der blev brændt på dette tidspunkt sidste år, hvilket endte med at sætte rekord. Nu går det ind i en periode, hvor kraftige vinde ofte har drevet de mest dødbringende flammer.Kredit:AP Photo/Noah Berger, Fil
John Hawkins, en pensioneret brandchef for staten og nu vildmarksbrandkonsulent, sagde, at han ikke havde set så eksplosiv brandadfærd i 58 brandsæsoner.
En brand for 60 år siden, der satte 100 hjem i brand og dræbte to mennesker i nærheden af Yosemite National Park, havde engang rekorden for den hurtigste ekspansion, dækker næsten 31 kvadrat miles (80 kvadratkilometer) på to timer. Men den form for spredning bliver mere almindelig i dag.
"Harlow-branden i 1961 var enestående på sin tid, " sagde Hawkins. "Når vi sammenligner i dag, det er ikke enestående, det er den ene efter den anden. Noget har ændret sig."
Hawkins sagde, at han så en tilsvarende hurtig vækst i Caldor-branden.
Dramatisk time-lapse-video viste en massiv fane, der voksede over tyk skov. Søjlen rejste sig, og mørk røg væltede ud over himlen, før skyen brød ud i flammer, der skød hundredvis af fod i vejret.
I denne fredag, 6. august, 2021, fil foto, Hjorte vandrer blandt huse og køretøjer ødelagt af Dixie-branden i Greenville-samfundet i Plumas County, Calif. California has already surpassed the acreage burned at this point last year, which ended up setting the record. Now it's entering a period when powerful winds have often driven the deadliest blazes. Kredit:AP Photo/Noah Berger, Fil
"It wasn't a slow deal, " Hawkins said. "When you see one of those develop that fast in heavy timber and already see another dozen fires in California running crazy it doesn't take much to light your lightbulb or ring your bell."
Ten of the state's largest and 13 of the most destructive wildfires in the top 20 have burned in the last four years.
The largest of those fires, the August Complex, a group of lightning-sparked blazes that merged, began a year ago this week. The deadliest and most destructive, the Camp Fire, killed 85 and destroyed nearly 19, 000 buildings in November 2018.
I fortiden, forest fires have been dominant in late summer and fires in the fall have burned in chaparral and woodlands, driven by powerful dry winds created by high pressure over the Great Basin, said Malcolm North, a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service.
I denne onsdag, 4. august 2021, fil foto, buildings burn as the Dixie Fire tears through the Greenville community of Plumas County, Calif. California has already surpassed the acreage burned at this point last year, which ended up setting the record. Now it's entering a period when powerful winds have often driven the deadliest blazes. Kredit:AP Photo/Noah Berger, Fil
The offshore winds, known as Diablos in Northern California and Santa Anas in Southern California, usually have powered some of the worst blazes as they sap vegetation of moisture and pick up speed as they squeeze through mountain passes and canyons, becoming warmer and even drier.
With much of California experiencing exceptional drought, the highest intensity, according the U.S. Drought Monitor, large fires in the north could burn into early December, said Anthony Scardina, deputy regional forester for the Forest Service. Southern California could expect to see fires in September that could last to the end of the year.
Erratic infernos like the Creek Fire last year, the fifth-biggest ever, could be blamed in part on a 2012-16 drought. It is estimated to have killed more than 100 million trees in the Sierra Nevada, the state's largest mountain range and the setting for many of the fires, sagde Nord.
I denne onsdag, 18. august, 2021, fil foto, a partially melted street sign marks the end of a Tyler Drive as the Caldor Fire burns through Grizzly Flats, Calif. California has already surpassed the acreage burned at this point last year, which ended up setting the record. Now it's entering a period when powerful winds have often driven the deadliest blazes.Credit:AP Photo/Ethan Swope, Fil
North was co-author of a 2018 scientific paper that predicted Sierra wildfires could burn at the intensity of blazes lit by fire bombings in Dresden, Germany and Tokyo during World War II.
"I do think that's what we're seeing, " said North. "The current models we have for how fires are going to behave don't cover this because it's just off the charts. It's hazardous to firefighters and hard as hell to predict what it's going to do."
Fires have intensified across the entire West, creating a nearly year-round season that has taxed firefighters. Fire patterns used to migrate in seasons from the Southwest to the Rockies, to the Pacific Northwest and then California, allowing fire crews to move from one place to the next, Scardina said.
"But the problem is all of those seasons are starting to overlap, " Scardina said. "We start to get stretched thin."
I denne onsdag, 18. august, 2021, fil foto, a deer walks in the ashes left by the Caldor Fire which burned through Grizzly Flats, Calif. California has already surpassed the acreage burned at this point last year, which ended up setting the record. Now it's entering a period when powerful winds have often driven the deadliest blazes.Credit:AP Photo/Ethan Swope, Fil
I denne tirsdag, 17. august, 2021, fil foto, a sculpture rests in front of a Grizzly Flats home destroyed by the Caldor Fire in El Dorado County, Calif. California has already surpassed the acreage burned at this point last year, which ended up setting the record. Now it's entering a period when powerful winds have often driven the deadliest blazes.Credit:AP Photo/Ethan Swope, Fil
I denne 25. juli, 2018 filbillede, Hannah Whyatt poses for a friend's photo as smoke from the Ferguson fire fills Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, Calif. California has already surpassed the acreage burned at this point last year, which ended up setting the record. Now it's entering a period when powerful winds have often driven the deadliest blazes. Kredit:AP Photo/Noah Berger, Fil
As the Caldor inferno erupted, firefighters were diverted from the Dixie Fire. Repositioning crews, fire engines, and water- and flame retardant-dropping aircraft takes time, allowing newer blazes to advance and leaving communities near older ones vulnerable.
"Every time a new one starts it's like going to Toys R Us on Christmas Eve expecting to get a gift, " Hawkins said, "and finding nothing on the shelf."
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