Page 28 - aruba today

A28 SCIENCE
Tuesday 25 sepTember 2018
What ignited many of California's worst wildfires a mystery

By JULIE WATSON Protection.
Associated Press If lightning maps show no
California officials quickly activity in a burn area, the
determined an arsonist assumption is it was started
started last month's huge by humans, and fire inves-
wildfire southeast of Los An- tigators immediately head
geles, and that two weeks to the spot to cordon it off
earlier sparks from a vehicle and protect evidence.
produced a deadly wildfire It's a painstaking process,
in the far northern part of even when fires are small.
the state. Investigators look at how
But causes for many of the vegetation is flattened
California's worst blazes of to determine where the
the past decade remain a flames originated and
mystery. track it to the ignition point
The Associated Press re- — usually the coldest spot.
viewed state data on the But there are challenges,
10 largest wildfires and 10 especially if the fire oc-
most destructive in terms curred along a road or
of homes and buildings other heavily trafficked
burned for each year dat- area. Crews fighting fires
ing to 2008. Lightning was can inadvertently wipe out
the most common cause, key clues, like carbon par-
accounting for about a ticles from a car backfiring
quarter of those fires, fol- or pieces of porcelain from
lowed by incidents involv- an exploded catalytic con-
ing power lines. verter.
However, investigators Cellphone photos and vid-
could not determine a eos from witnesses help in-
cause for about a third of In this July 27, 2018, file photo, cars scorched by the Carr Fire rest at a residence in Redding, Calif. vestigators. Drones provide
those fires. Experts say each Associated Press aerial views of a point of
is a missed opportunity to ignition, showing burn pat-
learn something new. than 80 percent of all wild- Park. The Holy Fire, south- rugged areas where fire terns and strike marks on
"If we don't know what fires in the United States, east of Los Angeles, was danger is high. power lines, which are hard
causes a fire, we don't know according to the National quickly determined to be Three times as much acre- to see from the ground.
how to prevent them," said Interagency Fire Center. arson. Authorities say the age has burned so far this But often it comes down to
Carrie Bilbao, a spokes- So far in 2018, wildfires have suspect was motivated by year in California as last two possible causes, which
woman for the National In- scorched more than 2,000 a feud with his neighbors year, which produced the results in the cause being
teragency Fire Center who square miles (5,180 square in the Cleveland National Tubbs Fire that was the declared undetermined
investigated wildfires in Ida- kilometers) in California. Forest. The fire prompt- most destructive in record- and the case being closed
ho for 26 years. More than 2,000 homes ed evacuation orders for ed state history and the unless new evidence ap-
Finding the trigger aids and buildings have been 20,000 people and nearly Thomas Fire that, until this pears. Tolmachoff can't
criminal prosecutions and destroyed, and at least 11 burned through the com- year, was the largest ever. recall an investigation to
helps determine liability. people killed. munity of Lake Elsinore. And the most dangerous determine a cause ever re-
It also guides campaigns The Mendocino Complex Arson was pegged as the months for California wild- opening.
to change behavior, Fire that burned for nearly cause for only five of Cali- fires are still to come. Last year's Tubbs and
like avoiding mowing on two months, killing one fornia's most destructive or The Carr Fire, the deadliest Thomas fires still are under
hot afternoons when fire firefighter and destroying largest fires of the last de- so far this year with eight investigation.
threat is high. And it leads more than 150 homes, is cade, according to state fatalities, started in July Tubbs, in wine country north
to safety enhancements, the largest ever recorded records, though officials with a spark from a vehicle. of San Francisco, destroyed
like sleeves on power lines, in the state at 720 square say the true number likely Whipped by winds, the nearly 5,700 structures and
which came about when miles (1,865 square kilome- is much higher. That's be- flames exploded into Red- killed 22 people. Thomas,
it was determined that fall- ters), an area more than cause for arson to be the ding, the largest city in far in Ventura and Santa Bar-
ing tree branches and birds twice the size of New York cause, no other possibility Northern California. More bara counties, killed two
cause sparks when they City. No cause has been can exist. than 1,000 homes were de- people and destroyed
hit unprotected electrical determined yet, nor has So, for example, even if in- stroyed. more than 1,000 buildings.
wires. It's estimated human one been pinpointed for vestigators believe an ar- The driver immediately re- A month later, heavy rains
activity — from untended the Ferguson Fire, which sonist was responsible for a ported the fire so there was fell on hills denuded by the
campfires to sparks from prompted the closure of fire next to a rail line, they no mystery about how it fire, unleashing mudslides
vehicles — causes more much of Yosemite National may leave the cause un- started. Such quick confir- that killed 21 and left two
determined because they mation is unusual. others missing.
can't rule out a spark from "Trying to investigate any Lawsuits seeking billions in
a passing train. kind of fire is almost like try- damages have been filed.
Finding causes that can ing to investigate a mur- Concern that California's
lead to preventive mea- der — except most of your largest utility, Pacific Gas
sures has become more evidence has been de- & Electric Co., would go
urgent in drought-plagued stroyed, and everything bankrupt if it's found at fault
California. Even as climate around it has been de- for the Tubbs Fire prompted
change extends the fire stroyed, by fire," said Lynne the Legislature to pass a bill
season and feeds record- Tolmachoff, spokeswoman allowing the company to
breaking infernos, more for the California Depart- raise utility bills to pay off
homes are being built in ment of Forestry and Fire lawsuits.q