WILDFIRES IN
COLORADO (USA)
March 20-31 – JULY 13, 2012
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for
Disaster Reduction, University of
North Carolina, USA
BACKGROUND
Natural Phenomena that Cause
Disasters
Planet Earth’s
atmosphericlithospheric
interactions
cause:
Wildfires
RISK ASSESSMENT
•WILDFIRE HAZARDS
•INVENTORY
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
DATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
ACCEPTABLE RISK
RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
YOUR
COMMUNITY
RISK REDUCTION FOR
WILDFIRES
POLICY OPTIONS
HAZARDS:
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS
•PREVENTION/MITIGATION
•PREPAREDNESS
•EMERGENCY RESPONSE
•RECOVERY and
RECONSTRUCTION
• EDUCATIONAL SURGE
SCIENCE OF WILDFIRES
WILDFIRES
are conflagrations caused by
lightning discharges (or acts of
man) in wilderness areas close
enough to one or more urban
interfaces that they threaten
people, property, infrastructure,
and business enterprise.
THE WILDERNESS AREAS
prone to wildfires typically
contain national forests,
national parks, or resorts,
and the adjacent urban areas
typically contain large,
expensive homes.
WILDFIRE HAZARDS
(AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)
•
•
•
•
FIRE
HOT GASES AND SMOKE
HOT SPOTS
BURNED OUT SLOPES (with
increased susceptibility to insect
infestation, erosion, and
landslides)
WILDFIRE HAZARDS
(AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)
•
•
•
•
SUNDOWNER WINDS
SANTA ANNA WINDS
REDUCED AIR QUALITY
LOCAL CHANGES IN WEATHER
CAUSES
OF
DAMAGE
LIGHTNING STRIKES
MANMADE FIRES
PROXIMITY OF URBAN AREA
TO THE WILDLAND FIRE
WILDFIRES
DISASTER
LABORATORIES
WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION
(DAY/NIGHT CHANGES)
DRYNESS
HIGH TEMPERATURES
LOCAL FUEL SUPPLY
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR
FIGHTING WILDFIRES
• FORECASTS OF
WEATHER
CONDITIONS
• MONITORING
TECHNOLOGIES (E.G.,
REMOTE SENSING,
TEMPERATURE,
HUMIDITY, WINDS)
• WARNING SYSTEMS
• DATABASES FOR
EACH WILDFIRE
• COMPUTER MODELS
OF WILDFIRES
• EVACUATION
• FIRE RETARDANTS
NATURAL HAZARDS FOR WHICH
EVACUATION IS TYPICAL
FLOODS
GOAL: MOVE PEOPLE OUT
OF HARM’S WAY
HIGH BENEFIT/COST FOR
SAVING LIVES, BUT LOW
BEMEFIT/COST FOR
PROTECTING PROPERTY
HURRICANES
TYPHOONS
TSUNAMIS
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
WILDFIRES
THE 2012 SEASON
WILDFIRE WARNING:
SPRING 2012 WAS
PREDICTED TO BE DRIER
THAN NORMAL FROM THE
SOUTHERN PLAINS TO THE
SOUTHWEST
DURING MARCH, PARTS OF
TEXAS, OKLAHOMA, NEW MEXICO,
KANSAS AND COLORADO WERE
UNDER A HIGH WILDFIRE ALERT
AS A RESULT OF HIGH
TEMPERATURES, HIGH WINDS,
LOW HUMIDITY, AND DRY
VEGETATION
THE WILDFIRE SEASON BEGINS:
MARCH 2012
LOWER NORTH FORK WILDFIRE,
SW OF DENVER; MARCH 27
LOWER NORTH FORK WILDFIRE:
MARCH 27
SLURRY FIRE RETARDENT: LOWER
NORTH FORK WILDFIRE; MARCH 27
BELLVUE, CO: HIGH PARK FIRE;
JUNE 30
INITIAL REPORTS
• Mandatory evacuation was ordered
for residents of 7,400 homes
• 28 homes destroyed.
• 4,500 acres burned near Conifer, a
foothills community 33 km (20
miles) southwest of Denver
• High winds hindered slurry flights
• Two deaths reported
NATIONAL RESPONSE
• Firefighters from across the
country were dispatched to
Colorado to increase the number
of firefighters on the ground from
100 to 450.
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
• Waldo Canyon fire started June 25th.
• More than 32,000 evacuated, but
more than 21,000 evacuation
messages were NOT delivered.
• Air Force Academy threatened
• 350 homes burned.
• President Obama visited: June 29.
WALDO CANYON FIRE: 21,000 EVACUATION
MESSAGES UN-DELIVERED; JUNE 27
WALDO CANYON FIRE BURNED 15,000
ACRES NEAR AIR FORCE ACADEMY
PRESIDENT OBAMA VIEWS DAMAGE:
COLORADO SPRINGS; JUNE 29
WALDO CANYON FIRE: COLORADO
SPRINGS; JUNE 30
WALDO CANYON FIRE: COLORADO
SPRINGS; JUNE 30
A SURVIVOR OF WALDO CANYON FIRE:
COLORADO SPRINGS; JUNE 30
BURNED HOMES: COLORADO
SPRINGS: JULY 1
BURNED OUT HOMES: COLORADO
SPRINGS: JULY 1
BURNED CARS AND HOMES:
COLORADO SPRINGS: JULY 1
32,000 EVACUATED FROM COLORADO
SPRINGS: JULY 2
WALDO CANYON FIRE: COLORADO
SPRINGS: JULY 2
WALDO CANYON FIRE: COLORADO
SPRINGS: JULY 2
EASTWARD MOVEMENT OF WALDO
CANYON FIRE STOPPED: JULY 5
WE WILL REBUILD: COLORADO
SPRINGS; JULY 5
STATUS OF COLORADO FIRES
JULY 8, 2012
A NEW THREAT:
FLASH FLOODS AND
MUDFLOWS
JULY 7
MUDSLIDE BLOCKS HIGHWAY: HIGH
PARK BURN AREA; JULY 8
MUDSLIDE BLOCKS HIGHWAY: HIGH
PARK BURN AREA; JULY 8
WALDO CANYON FIRE
EXPECTED TO BE
CONTAINED
JULY 13
The blaze will have consumed 18,247
acres as of Friday morning and will have
cost approximately $15.3 million to fight.