By Michael Brand
Those who live in the Western United States are used to the wildfire season. It consists of a season full of raging fires that burn through forests, emitting particulate matter and displacing hundreds of families. What we are not used to is literal flying debris that puts airplanes fighting the fires at risk of crashing. On July 7th, the Washburn Fire started in Mariposa Grove, California (CalFire). Mariposa Grove lies in Yosemite National Park and is home to the park’s landmark giant sequoias.
During the weekend the “community of Wawona - which is located in the park and includes Wawona Hotel and a campground - was evacuated” (Hay). Though several sequoias have been scarred by the flames, none have been found dead. Firefighters started making progress at containing the fire early Monday morning, taking every measure possible to ensure extremely vulnerable sequoias do not burn down. Trees were “wrapped in fire-resilient blankets while a network of sprinklers has been running in the grove since Friday to help keep the trees from burning” (Alexander). These precautionary steps were key, as according to Nancy Phillipe, a park ranger with Yosemite Fire, the “combination of the removal of the hazard fuels and the prescribed burning that we’ve done, with the temporary sprinkler system that is in place, we are confident that’s giving those giant sequoias the best protection available” (Wolfe et al). These firefighting techniques should keep the trees and community left relatively unscaved.
However, the fire threatens our skies in more ways than one. When firefighters were flying airplanes and dropping water on the fire during the weekend, they noticed large pieces of debris above them and falling towards them. Fortunately, no firefighters or airplanes were hurt by the flying debris, but it begs the question: how do branches over two feet long end up hundreds of feet in the air?
The answer is convection which is “caused when rising hot air is replaced by cooler air rushing in at ground level. The force can be so great that it can carry ground debris up into the sky in a reverse tornado” (Whiting). Much smaller pieces of debris pose a much larger threat however. As the fire continues to burn more and more particulate matter is getting released into the air making it hard to breathe for those with respiratory issues. What makes particulate matter much more threatening is that wind patterns may bring it up to major cities like San Jose and San Francisco forcing residents to stay indoors.
While as a Californian, I am used to wildfires, this one serves as a reminder that anthropogenic climate change puts all of us at risk. The dryer climate has increased the amount and severity of wildfires over the past decade and our wildfire fighting techniques have not been able to keep up with them. It is vital to use precautionary steps like prescribed burning to ensure wildfires do not grow too large. It is also vital to remember that national parks like Yosemite will only stay national parks if we continue to protect them. Large wildfires that put toxic particulate matter in our air should not be something we are used to; it should be something we are used to preventing.
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