Dry Spring=Severe Fire Season
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:05 am
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Widespread severe bushfires occurred as extreme weather conditions began to develop along the NSW eastern seaboard from the Queensland border to Batemans Bay in the south, and as far inland as Bathurst.
In excess of 800 fires started between 27 December 1993 and 16 January 1994. Ultimately over 800,000 hectares were burnt. 204 significant bushfires were burning at the height of the crisis. Worst-affected areas were the Hunter, Blue Mountains and Sydney regions.
The most serious losses occurred in fires in the Sydney region, in particular at Jannali and West Como, where about half of the total homes lost in the State were destroyed. Two fire-fighters and two civilians died. One of the civilians was a woman who sheltered in a swimming pool at Jannali, but died of airway burns due to the intense heat of the air she was breathing.
A total of 225 buildings were destroyed and about 150 homes were damaged, varying from minor to serious. Also thousands of small insurance claims were lodged for minor damage (eg smoke damage to soft furnishings) or food spoilage due to lack of refrigeration caused by widespread blackouts. Approximately 27,250 people evacuated - 20,000 fire-fighters deployed from across Australia and New Zealand for over three weeks as hot westerly winds persisted. Some 40 national parks were affected.
jdray wrote:Still have a long way to go to rival 1998.
I almost got caught up in a huge fire that year in Clay County. We were coming back from Tampa so we went US301 way.
Cutting through down Blanding Blvd, huge fire, detour to CR220.
CR220 gets a major fire going quickly, deupties are redirecting people down to another road, another fire, it jumps the road, quickly sparks fires all around. Had fire surrounding about 300 degrees around, only one road to get out and it was getting backed up. Luckily we all made it, but some homes didnt.
It was insane to watch how quickly those fires exploded. At one point, I95 south of Jacksonville and I-10 west of Jacksonville were closed due to fires.
http://www.flagleremergency.com/er/KBDIindex.asp
Only Broward, Hendy and Palm Beach are even under a burn ban with the drought index. (anything over 500 means burn ban) We still have a longgggg way to rival 1998.
AussieMark wrote:I remember the Sydney fires of 1993/94
I hate fires
wxwatcher91 wrote:yeah New England is going from a record wet fall into a fire-danger spring. red flag warnings for CT, RI and parts of MA
Dr. Jonah Rainwater wrote:The fire season in Texas is essentially over. It rained all weekend, topped off with a 24-hour rain total over 6 inches just for Sunday.
Dr. Jonah Rainwater wrote:The fire season in Texas is essentially over. It rained all weekend, topped off with a 24-hour rain total over 6 inches just for Sunday.
Scorpion wrote:98 was horrible. Hottest and driest summer I ever experienced in Florida. Smoke was in the air alot.
RED FLAG WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
904 AM CST TUE MAR 21 2006
TXZ231>234-241>247-212100-
/O.NEW.KCRP.FW.W.0018.060321T1504Z-060321T2100Z/
LIVE OAK-BEE-GOLIAD-VICTORIA-JIM WELLS-KLEBERG-NUECES-
SAN PATRICIO-ARANSAS-REFUGIO-CALHOUN-
904 AM CST TUE MAR 21 2006
...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON FOR
LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS ACROSS THE
COASTAL BEND AND VICTORIA CROSSROADS...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A RED
FLAG WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON.
WINDS WILL INCREASE OUT OF THE NORTHEAST LATE THIS MORNING ACROSS
THE COASTAL BEND AND VICTORIA CROSSROADS...GUSTING AT TIMES TO 25
MPH. LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF 15 TO 25 PERCENT WILL ALSO OCCUR.
THE COMBINATION OF THE GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS...LOW RELATIVE
HUMIDITY AND VERY DRY FUELS WILL RESULT IN INCREASED FIRE DANGER
TODAY.
IF A WILDFIRE DOES DEVELOP AND ESCAPES AN INITIAL ATTACK...
RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED TO EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY FOR A SAFE ZONE.
MAYORS AND/OR COUNTY JUDGES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO DEMAND
MANDATORY EVACUATIONS WITHIN TEXAS.
PLEASE ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS AND FIRE CREWS IN THE
FIELD OF THIS RED FLAG WARNING.