Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

Daniel Swain

@weatherwest.bsky.social

A sign of the times: Wildfire Predictive Services (in conjunction with Cal Fire and CalOES) have issued a "fuels and fire behavior advisory" for Southern California. The details are extraordinary, and highlight the relevance of unprecedented antecedent conditions. #CAwx #CAfire

Snapshot of fuels and fire behavior advisory from Southern California GACC. The first portion of the text reads: "Prolonged dry conditions, coupled
with extended periods of warm, dry weather and frequent Santa
Ana wind events, have caused fuels in Southern California to
reach unprecedented levels of dryness The resultant level of fuel
volatility would be notable in summer months, and is
extraordinary for January.
Recent fires have shown high resistance to control, with rapid
spread and frequent spotting, with retardant often proving
ineffective in the current fire environment.
Little to no change in the weather pattern is expected through
the end of the month, with warm, dry conditions and periodic
Santa Ana winds persisting. Fuels will remain highly receptive to
ignition and spread, maintaining the risk of large fires."

January 18, 2025 at 10:00 PM

danjs112.bsky.social

@danjs112.bsky.social

🔥🔥🔥

As the fires continue, please consider supporting the Community Brigades that are being piloted by the LA Emergency Preparedness Foundation

laepf.org/community-br...

#LACounty
#wildfire
#Palisadesfire
#Hurstfire
#Eatonfire
#WoodleyFire
#MutualAid
#MABoost
#HelpSky
#SignalBoost

🔥🔥🔥

laepf.org

January 14, 2025 at 4:56 PM

Reposted

Alec Luhn

@alecluhn.com

Why did this LA house survive while those around it burned?
- It has a metal roof with no attic vents
- No eaves to catch embers
- Sides of heat-treated wood
- Tempered glass windows
- Walled yard with no vegetation or loose items

Tragedy is a chance to rebuild smarter 🏘️

January 14, 2025 at 10:28 AM

Reposted

Climate Psychology Alliance of North America

@climatena.bsky.social

Inequity and privatization find its way through every single part of climate change … (1/3) www.nytimes.com/2025/01/12/u...

‘Will Pay Any Amount’: Private Firefighters Are in Demand in L.A.

Hiring a private fire crew costs thousands of dollars a day, and most work through government contracts or with insurance companies. Some wealthy property owners are calling them in directly.

www.nytimes.com

January 13, 2025 at 1:37 PM

Reposted

Brad Plumer

@bradplumer.bsky.social

Nice brief history of prescribed burning (and why we don’t do more of it to reduce wildfire risk): jabberwocking.com/why-dont-we-... by @kdrum.bsky.social

Why don’t we do more prescribed burning? An explainer. - Kevin Drum

Prescribed fires—or the lack of them—are on everybody's lip these days. Most people are just parroting talking points for political purposes, but perhaps you'd actually like to be a little smarter abo...

jabberwocking.com

January 12, 2025 at 10:53 PM

Reposted

Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

@fkearns.bsky.social

I proposed a project on water supply and wildfires after the 2017 Tubbs Fire - first time I’d seen wildfire directly impact urban water infrastructure. There was little information out there so I partnered with @gregspierce.bsky.social to hold a multidisciplinary + multi-sectoral expert workshop.

Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · Jan 8

One of the main issues wee outlined in our fire/water report was about water availability during fires. Despite article focus on this being an LA problem, it’s a widespread problem. Many recommendations here for addressing (hint: during a fire is too late) innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/u...

January 12, 2025 at 7:10 PM

danjs112.bsky.social

@danjs112.bsky.social

🔥🔥🔥

As the fires continue, please consider supporting the Community Brigades that are being piloted by the LA Emergency Preparedness Foundation

laepf.org/community-br...

#LACounty
#wildfire
#Palisadesfire
#Hurstfire
#Eatonfire
#WoodleyFire
#MutualAid
#MABoost
#HelpSky
#SignalBoost

🔥🔥🔥

Community Brigade — Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation

laepf.org

January 12, 2025 at 8:45 PM

danjs112.bsky.social

@danjs112.bsky.social

Interesting article here about wildfires, emergency management and misinformation.

www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

One of the reasons I think the Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation's Community Brigades are a good concept that should be expanded.

Opinion: In crises like wildfires, Angelenos want to help. We need better coordination

A request from the fire department was misconstrued online, illustrating the untapped resource of civic-minded neighbors eager to pitch in.

www.latimes.com

January 12, 2025 at 12:14 AM

Reposted

Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis

@kendrawrites.com

It's worth pointing this out because this is summer in Australia i.e. fire season. Historically the us, Australia and iirc Canada have shared resources and personnel which you know we're not in a great position to do right now since California is taking in firefighters from other states

Cam Walker @camwalker.bsky.social · Jan 9

During our Black Summer, more than 1,000 people came from North America to assist in firefighting efforts.

The overlap in fire seasons in both hemispheres has huge implications for how we fight fire.

Australia needs its own fleet of Large Air Tankers (LATs).

www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...