I used to live in Boulder and so the danger from wildfires like those occurring in Fourmile canyon since Labor Day were always a potential threat.
Firefighters intensified their battle Tuesday against a 7,000-acre blaze that destroyed at least 92 structures and damaged another eight, driving residents out of densely populated canyons in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains just outside this outdoors-crazed town. […]
Even with calmer winds, the fire doubled in size overnight and officials cautioned that residents still could not return to see whether their homes were saved. “This is a very volatile situation,” Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. told reporters after touring the fire scene.
But the fires that are out of control in Detroit, MI today, possibly due to downed power lines caused by high winds and falling trees, are not something one would normally expect.
Detroit firefighters had to battle strong winds, hot and dry conditions, downed power lines and a lack of equipment and manpower at the same time they fought about 85 fires that erupted in four hours Tuesday afternoon.
Fire officials blamed most of the fires on downed electrical wires, though the cause of some fires remained under investigation. DTE Energy, which reported as many as 50,000 people without power due to the winds, said Tuesday night it had launched its own investigation.
The National Weather Service said wind gusts up to 40-50 m.p.h. had combined with a lack of rain and other factors to create “explosive fire growth potential.”
Lack of enough firefighters in Detroit has hindered the Detroit FD’s response to the fires and required them to call for assistance from other departments, apparently a rare occurrence in the past.
Some video:
those shots of detroit are just profoundly disturbing.
there’s an old song about the baltimore fire that this reminds me of.
In the late 70’s, the Bronx seemed to be perpetually on fire. Now it’s Motown’s turn.
with all the brownouts and closed fire stations, that could be Philly. we have a lot of abandoned property, all those old factories. one kid died already due to the closed fire stations, even if the mayor won’t admit it.
During the ’80’s Reagan recession the country saw fires in many of the city settings and my dad used to refer to them as Jewish lightning…
The wildfires I’ve noticed here are treated as a big business decision. Under Bush’s reign we saw that they were not attacked by bombers or hot shot crews until they reached 500 acres or more which meant that they often raged out of control and the full role of big business could roll in with their semi’s, firefighting tent cities erupted and millions of acres ended up scorched. Whether there’s a correlation or not I don’t know, but the last two seasons the fires here are attacked quickly at 50 acres and we’ve not seen the big eruptions that put so many people and natural resources in danger.
Move along folks, nothing to see here. These high winds are not due to global warming, just God punishing the home of the UAW, whose members actually, at one time, expected to be compensated with a living wage for their labors. Have a nice day.