Free Republic

President Biden said Friday massive wildfires like the one that swept across parts of Colorado last week are being fueled by global warming. "Because a combination of extreme drought – the driest period from June to December ever recorded – unusually high winds, no snow on the ground to start, created a tinderbox, a literal tinderbox," Biden said in Louisville, Colorado, after touring damage left behind from the fire with local and state officials and first lady Jill.

Boulder County Office of Emergency Management has just announced an Evacuation Order for ALL of Superior, Colorado residents. Evacuation point is the South Boulder Recreation Center. The Superior Community Center is not an official evacuation location.

Several small grass fires have sparked due to downed power lines and transformers blowing, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities have also closed roads near the fires and thousands of people are reportedly out of power. The entire town of Superior and the City of Louisville have be3:10 p.m.: UCHealth Broomfield Hospital reports that it has received six patients who need fire-related medical treatment. 3 p.m.: The City of Arvada and many communities north of Denver are dealing with power outages caused by the wind and fires.en evacuated as have some nearby neighborhoods.

LACERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A father and son charged with starting a massive California wildfire that destroyed many homes and forced tens of thousands of people to flee Lake Tahoe communities earlier this year pleaded not guilty in court Friday. The El Dorado County prosecutor's office charged David Scott Smith, 66, and Travis Shane Smith, 32, with reckless arson. The office also charged the son with illegal conversion or manufacture of a machine gun and both men of illegal possession of a firearm silencer. ...The criminal complaints do not specify how the machine gun and silencer tie into the Caldor...

Wildfires in Oregon, California, and Washington State this summer made for spectacular headlines. The media took their lead in press releases issued from the respective state capitals to blame drought—allegedly induced by man-caused climate change—for what they called the worst fires in history. But was climate change really the underlying cause? And were the fires really the worst in history? A bit of real history can be enlightening. Peshtigo is today a small city in northeastern Wisconsin, but 150 years ago it was the site of the largest and deadliest single wildfire in North American history. On October 8, 1871,...

Wildfires in Oregon, California and Washington State this previous summer made spectacular headlines. The media took their leads from press releases issued by officials in the respective state capitals. They blamed drought, allegedly induced by man-caused climate change, that affected habitually dry terrain where the fires broke out. But is it appropriate to label changing climate as the primary cause with precedents recorded much earlier? Peshtigo today is a small, peaceful city in northeastern Wisconsin that once was the site of the largest (areal) and deadliest single wildfire in North American history. On October 8, 1871, a great wildfire destroyed...

Palo Alto woman Alexandra Souverneva is suspected of lighting a fire near where the Fawn Fire started, Cal Fire announced on Thursday. Employees working near the JF Shea and Mountain Gate Quarries reported seeing a woman trespassing at the property and acting irrationally. Snip According to her LinkedIn profile, Souverneva was enrolled as a Ph.D. student in the environmental chemistry program at State University of New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry. Also on her page, she lists her current occupation as “shaman.”

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Fire officials ordered more evacuations around the Tahoe Basin as a two-week old blaze encroached on the threatened mountain towns surrounding glimmering Lake Tahoe. By nightfall, all residents on the California side of the Lake Tahoe Basin were warned to evacuate the region, after fire officials had stressed for days that protecting the area was their top firefighting priority. “Today’s been a rough day and there’s no bones about it,” Jeff Marsoleis, forest supervisor for El Dorado National Forest, said Sunday evening. A few days ago, he thought crews could halt the Caldor Fire's...

More than 42,000 Californians have been forced to flee their homes as nine large wildfires continue to burn out of control in the northern part of the state, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to request a major disaster declaration from President Biden. The Caldor Fire, which has scorched 106,562 acres, is the top firefighting priority in the nation, according to Chief Thom Porter of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (Cal Fire). Officials fear the fire, which is just 5% contained, may push its way into the populated Lake Tahoe Basin, and they warned all Californians to be ready...

For nearly three years, ABC10's Fire - Power - Money team has been at the forefront covering California's wildfire crisis, the danger of PG&E's power lines, and how the company avoids accountability. Now, ABC10’s award-winning investigative series reveals how California’s state government, under Governor Gavin Newsom, responded to PG&E’s deadly crimes by giving the company rewards and protection.

Santa Claus isn't supposed to see smoke. For the first time in recorded history, hazy smoke from raging wildfires in the Arctic has reached the North Pole, and NASA satellites have the images to prove it. On Aug. 6, the space agency's MODIS, an imaging sensor on the Aqua satellite, captured true-color images of what NASA called a "vast, thick, and acrid blanket of smoke" that clouded the North Pole. The smoke originated from enormous blazes in the Siberian region of northern Russia. According to China's Xinhua news agency, the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar was blanketed in "white smoke,"...

The dog days of summer have arrived as much of the country faces above-average temperatures. “It’s going to be a real oppressive week with dangerous heat and hot conditions across much of the U.S. Excessive heat watches are up across much of the Pacific Northwest for mid to late week, including in the Portland and Seattle metro areas. Meanwhile, heat advisories are in effect for a good part of the south-central U.S. and parts of western New York state,” according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Great Plains and Upper Midwest states could see triple-digit temperatures and daily record high...

Firefighters working the massive Dixie Fire burning in several Northern California counties are having to deal with another challenge: residents who refuse to evacuate and are brandishing guns at fire crews. Flames from the Dixie Fire advanced into the town of Greenville, burning an estimated 75% of homes and businesses in the historic Gold Rush-era town of about 1,000 residents. Meanwhile, the fire has aready destroyed another town: Canyondam, Ca. Fire crews have encountered property owners who were refusing to leave their homes as the flames approached and threatening firefighters with weapons. California Incident Management operations section chief Jake Cagle...

A dangerous heat wave is ravaging parts of southeastern Europe resulting in wildfires across Turkey, Greece, and Italy, according to VOA News. Firefighters across the European Union arrived in Turkey on Monday. The wildfires have burned for at least one week as political opposition mounts against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his sluggish fire response. Turkey doesn’t have firefighting planes and has had to rely on other countries, including several EU members, for aerial fire support. Southern Europe continues to see devastating wildfires fueled by soaring temperatures. Tourists and residents in some parts are still being evacuated. The European Union...

At least six people have died in dozens of blazes that started earlier this week, amid scorching summer temperatures and fires that experts say have been worsened by climate change. Among the victims are two firefighters who were killed battling the flames on Saturday, according to the Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Ministry. Since Wednesday, 88 fires have broken out across the country, said the ministry. Ten fires were still burning on Saturday, it added. . The largest fire, in Manavgat, Antalya Province, killed at least three people, according to the Turkish Natural Disaster and Emergency Directorate... Holidaymakers were also evacuated...

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are currently on a meeting with seven governors to talk about how states are responding to a devastating Western wildfire season — and how the federal government can assist. According to some sources’ details, the virtual meeting will last an hour with governors whose states are experiencing wildfires and drought: Govs. Greg Gianforte of Montana, Jay Inslee of Washington, Gavin Newsom of California, Brad Little of Idaho, Kate Brown of Oregon, Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Mark Gordon of Wyoming. Biden and Harris will discuss efforts to strengthen wildfire prevention, preparedness, mitigation, and response efforts,...

A study published in the Nature science journal found that heavy wildfire smoke could be linked to an increase in COVID-19 cases. Researchers looked at Washoe County in northern Nevada, which saw a simultaneous increase in COVID-19 cases while also being exposed to wildfire smoke last year. “We had a unique situation here in Reno last year where we were exposed to wildfire smoke more often than many other areas, including the Bay Area,” Gai Elhanan, co-lead author of the study, told the Reno Gazette Journal.

A remarkable situation is evident right now. Fires over the western U.S. are producing a dense veil of smoke that moved across the continent and then descended over the East Coast. And there is a great irony in all this: most of the West Coast has excellent air quality while the air is unhealthy over the northeast U.S. To illustrate this strange situation, here is the latest AIRNOW air quality map showing the air quality based on PM2.5, small particles that can move deep into your lungs. ( I want to acknowledge UW Bothell professor Dan Jaffe, who brought this...

This is the forecast for the distribution of wildfire smoke at 3 a.m. MDT July 19, 2021.

The world is burning like hell! Oregon wildfire becomes Megafire and biggest in the US after burning over 200,000 acres, while more than 60 wildfires are burning in 10 states on the US West Coast. In the meantime, flames are tearing across 800,000 hectares of forest, and the hardest-hit region of Yakutia in the north has been in a state of emergency for weeks… Terrible! Siberian inferno Russia’s army has sent water-bombing planes to support 2,600 firefighters battling huge wildfires in Siberia. Flames are tearing across 800,000 hectares of forest, and the hardest-hit region of Yakutia in the north has...