Fire safety

California wildfires: Everything we know and how you can help

An unprecedented fire season is wreaking havoc across the West, with wildfires tearing across multiple states and air quality plummeting. At least 10 people have been killed and over 3,000 homes destroyed since the season began. California's wildfires, driven by extreme blazes in August and September, have already burned more acres than any year on record. In a sign of things to come, the fire season is yet to peak, and fires have broken out in both Oregon and Washington. The images and stories coming out of the US west are eerily reminiscent of those experienced by Australians in early 2020.

In January, vast swaths of Australia burned. The skies turned orange, and smoke blanketed the country's largest cities. Entire cities were flattened. Now, across the Pacific, this grim history is repeating. San Francisco has turned red and orange, smoke blotting out the sun. In Oregon, hundred of homes have been lost to growing wildfires. In only 24 hours, more of Washington state burned than in 12 of the previous 18 fire seasons. 

Fire safety

Australia's fires could change the country forever

Wildfires are a part of the natural rhythms of Australia’s environment. But scientists haven’t seen anything like this before.

The country is grappling with some of the worst wildfires in its history. At least 12 million acres of land have already been scorched and more than 100 blazes are still active — and the season has yet to reach its peak.

The blazes threaten to reshape Australia’s ecology even in places where plants and animals have adapted to yearly fires.

“If species are adapted to one set of climatic conditions and are now being forced to regenerate in climatic conditions that are very different, it’s going to be a lot harder to come back,” said Camille Stevens-Rumann, an ecologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, who focuses her research on how ecosystems recover after major disturbances.

Fire safety

Waiting for a megafire: the battle against Australia's biggest blaze

That worry for the hundreds of firefighters on the fringes of Sydney on Saturday is what is now known as The Gospers Mountain “megafire”. Made up of five separate fires which joined, it is now so big it has consumed more than 468,000 hectares of bushland and forest over the past few weeks.

Australian bushfires: death toll rises as fires sweep across South Australia and NSW

 

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It has thrown fire at thousands of people and communities, and now covers so many different regions of New South Wales that there are mountain residents, river people, and central coasters all battling the same beast.

Elsewhere in NSW and Victoria other fires have been just a fierce, some even making their own storms - a terrifying and uncontrollable effect of nature. But none are on the scale of Gospers.

Fire safety

Fire at Siberian plant producing ballistic missiles put out — emergencies ministry

The fire at the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant (Krasmash), producing ballistic missiles and space rocket components, has been put out, the Russian emergencies ministry said on Saturday.

"The blaze was completely extinguished at 04:17 Moscow time," the ministry’s press service said.

According to earlier reports, the fire broke out at a warehouse, rented by a local manufacturer of refrigerators, and engulfed the area of about 24,000 square meters. The roof of the building, where about 50,000 refrigerators were stored, has partially collapsed.

The regional branch of the emergencies ministry said no casualties had been reported. An emergency source told TASS that the fire posed no danger to the workshops where the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and Sineva submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) were made.

The Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant, established in 1932, produces rocket and space equipment, including ballistic missiles and base booster modules for the Zenit and Proton carrier rockets.

Fire safety

Notre Dame was 'no accident' – why France believes Paris cathedral blaze was Europe’s 9/11

The iconic landmark was consumed by flames last Monday night in a massive blaze which destroyed its wooden roof and spire and sparked an outpouring of goodwill across the globe. Firefighters managed to saved the cathedral’s main bell towers and outer walls from collapse before bringing the fire under control. City officials declared the fire started accidentally and ruled out a criminal investigation, sparking accusations in some quarters of a cover-up.

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, who heads a political movement called "Stand Up, France” and is a former presidential running mate of Marine Le Pen, said he was not satisfied with official explanations.

He demanded on live TV to know whether the fire had been accidental or the result of an "attack."

He said: “When you’re on the other side of the cathedral you feel as if you’re in a war zone.”

The Paris prosecutor's office has stressed from very early on there is no evidence suggesting "a deliberate act" and there will be no criminal investigation.

Fire safety

Notre Dame Fire: The Treasures Inside the Cathedral

As a fire raged at the great cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France was mourning the destruction of one of the most prominent symbols of its national heritage—and Christians and art buffs the world over were lamenting the potential loss of a thousand years of history and faith. Fire officials have said many precious works of art were saved, but the structure was full of masterpieces, some of which may have perished.

High Altar

Among the treasures inside the famous cathedral, where every day Parisians celebrate weddings, funerals and baptisms, is the high altar with a Nicolas Coustou sculpture of the Descent from the Cross from 1723.

Treasure Room

Many of the religious relics, from communion chalices to vials of saintly blood, are kept in the small Treasure Room that visitors could pay around $5 to see.

Easter Trilogy

While they are not authenticated, and many Catholic churches around the world have similar relics, Notre Dame takes pride in its three Easter relics. Part of the cross on which Jesus was crucified, some nails that were used to affix him to the cross and part of the crown of thorns he wore are kept inside the cathedral and used for Easter celebrations.

Fire safety

Unusual Method to Extinguish Forest Fires

An unusually dry summer has touched off dozens of forest fires across Sweden, including in a number of hard to reach and potentially dangerous areas. The fire around a military training range has been burning for two weeks already, threatening nearby communities and forcing evacuations.

To try and halt the spread of one blaze in and around the military shooting range in the municipality of Älvdalen, Swedish emergency management authorities used an original method – air bombing the fire.

A JAS 39C Gripen fighter jet from the Swedish Air Force’s F 17 wing dropped a single 500-pound class GBU-49/B Paveway precision-guided bomb on a part of the burning forest, in attempt to remove the oxygen from the fire. The fire response authorities said their view was that the unique fire necessitated the use of unconventional extinguishing methods.

The most immediate problem is that the range is potentially littered with unexploded ordnance, posing a hazard to firefighters on the ground. The danger is not just that individuals fighting the blaze might stumble across something and get injured, but that the intense heat from the fire might just set off any leftover shells or bombs. Swedish authorities halted the firefighting for a period, based on these concerns.

As water bombing aircraft and helicopters had little impact on the conflagration, another solution was required.

The GBU-49/B, a dual-mode weapon with laser- and GPS-assisted Inertial Navigation System (INS) guidance systems, would have allowed the Swedish Air Force to focus their attention on a very specific point.

Fire safety

Russia fire: Children caught in deadly Kemerovo mall blaze

At least 48 people have died in a fire that tore through a shopping and entertainment complex in the Siberian coal-mining city of Kemerovo.

A further 27 people are missing and as many as 41 children may be among the victims, Russian officials say.

The blaze started on an upper floor of the Winter Cherry complex while many of the victims were in cinema halls.

Video posted on social media showed people jumping from windows to escape the flames on Sunday.

Some 660 emergency personnel have been deployed in the rescue effort.

The cause of the blaze is not yet known but authorities have launched an investigation.

Kemerovo, a key coal-producing area, lies about 3,600km (2,200 miles) east of Moscow.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has offered his condolences to the families and friends of the victims, as did Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs.

Fire safety

Trump orders federal aid to California as raging wildfires continue to grow

President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration Friday and ordered federal aid to California as residents under siege from a series of wildfires were being urged to wear face masks amid deteriorating weather conditions.

As of Friday morning, the Thomas fire – the largest and most destructive in the state – had grown to 132,000 acres with 10 percent containment. The fire, which started Monday, has destroyed 430 buildings and lessened the air quality in a region north of Los Angeles.

“Hazardous is the worst classification that air quality has,” Polly Baldwin, medical director at Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, said Thursday night during a packed town hall meeting in the Carpinteria High School gym.

She urged locals to don face masks outside as the air quality in the city continues to deteriorate. Residents of Carpinteria, an oceanside city near Santa Barbara, fear they could be next in the path of the Thomas fire, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Santa Barbara County fire officials said the fire has not yet reached county lines, but residents should be prepared, according to the newspaper.

Fire safety

Russia: Fire flares at spy agency headquarters; no injuries

Russia's spy agency says a fire broke out at its Moscow headquarters but no one was hurt.

The Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, said the fire started on Wednesday at a technical facility at the headquarters.

Agency spokesman Sergei Ivanov said in a statement carried by Russian newswires that the blaze was extinguished and caused no injuries.

Russian news reports said the fire erupted in a tunnel housing cables under the SVR's headquarters in Moscow's southwest. The reports said a short circuit likely caused it.

SVR oversees Russian spy operations abroad. It is a top successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB.

Fire safety

Why can't California control the wildfires?

The wildfires raging across northern California are already the most fatal in the state's history; at least 40 people are dead and thousands of homes have been razed.

Wildfires are a common occurrence in California towards the tail end of the state's long, hot, dry summers, but this year a combination of extremely high temperatures, strong winds, a long drought, and population growth have produced lethal, fast-moving blazes.

The fires are burning in one of the world's most developed countries though. Arrayed against the flames are more than 10,000 firefighters, 880 fire engines, 134 bulldozers, 14 helicopters, and more. So why is this blaze so difficult to control, and the death toll so high?

Fire safety

California fires: Scores missing as death toll rises to 15

More than 150 people are missing in wildfires that have ravaged northern California's wine region, police say.

At least 15 people are confirmed dead and more than 1,500 homes have been destroyed by the fires which broke out on Sunday.

Nine of the deaths have been in Sonoma County.

One of the worst affected towns there is Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco, where entire districts have been razed to the ground.

The Sonoma County sheriff's office said 155 people were still unaccounted for, although that could be due to the chaotic pace of the evacuations.

In neighbouring Napa County, victims included 100-year-old Charles Rippey and his 98-year-old wife, Sarah, police said.

Fire safety

Grenfell Tower fire: Thousands may be forced to flee homes as seven towers test positive for 'combustible' cladding

Hundreds of tower blocks in England have similar cladding to that used in the Grenfell Tower fire disaster, Downing Street has admitted.

So far tests have revealed that combustible cladding was used on seven tower blocks in four areas across the UK, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said.

But English councils have estimated that 600 high-rise buildings used cladding similar to Grenfell Tower in west London, where at least 78 people died last week after the building was engulfed in flames.

Fire safety

79 people confirmed dead in London tower fire as 1st interior images emerge (VIDEO)

London Metropolitan Police say 79 people are confirmed dead in the Grenfell Tower fire. Commander Stuart Cundy said five victims had been formally identified but would not give further details.

The revised death toll comes as images showing the burned-out interior of the London tower block are released.

The video of homes reduced to ash and twisted metal were released by the Metropolitan Police on Sunday.

Cundy said earlier on Monday that due to conditions in the tower, which “verge on indescribable,” it could takes weeks to locate bodies and there was a likelihood some of those lost would never be properly identified.

Fire safety

South Korea to strengthen battery safety rules after Note 7 fires

South Korea said on Monday it will strengthen lithium-ion battery safety requirements and conduct regular inspections to avoid repeats of fires which forced Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to withdraw its premium Galaxy Note 7 handset.

Manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries, commonly used in portable devices, would be subjected to greater oversight and regular inspections, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement. Devices using lithium-ion batteries also would be subjected to more regular safety tests, it added.

"We ask that the industry shares the view that making efforts to ensure safety is equally as critical as developing new products through technological innovation," Vice Minister Jeong Marn-ki said in the statement.

Fire safety

Samsung Shaken by Galaxy Note 7 Woes

Samsung Electronics Co.’s recall of one of its most advanced smartphones descended further into confusion, as the technology giant halted production and distribution of the Galaxy Note 7 while investigators probed recent reports of overheating batteries on devices that were supposed to be safe.

The company late on Monday U.S. time said it was asking all telecom carriers and retailers that sell the Note 7 globally to stop sales and exchanges of the device pending investigation into the latest incidents. Major U.S. carriers already had made that move on their own.

Fire safety

This Technology Could Help Predict Where Wildfires Strike Next

Firefighters are familiar with the nearly unpredictable nature of forest fires. But researchers now say they could be better prepared. After years of development, Janice Coen and her colleagues at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) say they’re preparing to launch technology that integrates data on weather, topography and other factors to predict how fires spread in a way previously unimaginable.

Fire safety

California Wildfires Take Heavy Toll As Firefighter Budget Runs Short

The tally of property losses from California's most destructive wildfire this year nearly doubled on Wednesday as the week-old blaze raged on through dry scrubland north of Napa Valley wine country.

The higher damage figures from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (Cal Fire) coincided with an ominous U.S. Forest Service report that more than half its total budget is, for the first time, being spent on fire suppression across the country.