Prescribed burning Speech by Jonathan
The Northcliffe fire has had a massive impact on the southwest, it has destroyed thousands of hectares of bush and wildlife. Is there any way that this disaster could have been prevented?
Good morning/good afternoon my name is Jonathan Scriva and today I am warning you about prescribed fire burning. This type of burning is done to maintain biodiversity, mitigate the seriousness of bushfires and to help protect lives and property by reducing the build-up of flammable bush. When a fire goes out of control it’s a disaster as corrupt as war. This is why need to prescribe burn to stop this mayhem from happening.
Years of research show that controlled burning is very effective, especially when managing bushfires such as the Northcliffe fire which has become a disaster. There are thousands of tons of dried grass, leaves and bush which is dangerous fuel for any fire. With huge amounts of fuel, bushfires are virtually unstoppable, it could be your house next. The risks associated with fires in WA are real. The Lancelin fire of 2011 was extinguished within 24 hours, due to the effectiveness of recent back burning. An entire agricultural region was at
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When I go down south for my holiday, I look out the window to see all the dense bush and wildlife. That might not be there next time I go, hopefully it grows back after it’s been burnt, but it would never be the same again. It is better to act now, in advance of a disaster, this is why we need to prescribe burn so we reduce large fires from occurring. Between 2000 and 2008 the average annual area of prescribed burning was around 140,000 hectares, which is 25 percent below the target burn off. This created a backlog of 400 000 hectares and is putting W.A at an even higher risk. We need to prescribe burn to stop this mayhem from
Thousands upon thousands of acres are lost in forest fires every year. We always hear about the dramatic losses caused by forest fires and are often concerned by them. There are so many horrible effects from fires and most of them affect so many people. Studies have shown that out of all of the different methods to decrease fire damage, prescribed burns are the most affective. Many people would argue that they are not as affective because they cause so many health problems. Although that is a very important view and may seem valid, those health issues are not as extreme as one might think. People should look at the majority of the benefits form prescribed burns and they will see how affective and important they are. Prevention is the key to society these days and is definitely an important factor in saving lives. If more lives can be saved as well as land and wildlife, prescribed burns may be the better way to go about forest fires. Although, prescribed burns are better for the environment in order to prevent drastic forest fires, severe damage to timber and extreme death of wildlife; some people feel it affects the health of a firefighter too much and it causes too many long term effects.
Have you ever felt “down in the dumps”? How about sad or unhappy for long periods of time? Has the thought of suicide ever crossed your mind? Between 35% and 50% of adolescents experience depression at some point in their teenage years. Brent Runyon, author of The Burn Journals, experienced a severe type of depression while in middle school. He repeatedly tried to kill himself, and his last attempt ended in third-degree burns over 85 percent of his body, and the next year in recovery at hospitals and rehab facilities. In 1991, Runyon, who was fourteen at the time, covered his bathrobe in gasoline, put it on, and lit himself on fire. In The Burn Journals, Brent Runyon experienced and emotional turning point when he tried to commit suicide by lighting himself on fire, and like other teens who have overcome depression, Runyon began to accept himself afterwards by not caring about what others thought of him.
Fire plays a huge role in natural forests. The let it burn policy allows natural fires to burn unless, they threaten people, property, or endangered species. This policy allows the years and years of kindling that has fallen and piled up on the forest floor to burn up in smaller fires, instead of having huge devastating fire like the ones that burning for months in 1910 and 1988. When the west was first settled, forests were thinned by lumber companies that logged the trees and burned the logging debris, and by ranchers looking to increase pasture land. The last herder coming out of the mountains would set a fire to ensure good forage for the next year.
Australia is currently the driest continent in the world and has a vast history of fire to prove it. Bushfires in the Adelaide Hills were first described and recorded in 1827, and have occurred at frequent intervals since that time. Fire weather can reach extremes in places such as Rudall River National Park in NW Western Australia. Temperatures are often above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), dew points can drop to —37 degrees Celsius, and the winds, uninhibited by trees, can reach speeds of 50-60 km/h (31-37 mph) at any given time in the year. The fuels there may appear to be completely dead, and gaps between plants may be a meter or more (Gill, 1995). In 1966 a massive fire at Brooyar, Queensland had flame heights of 20-25 meters (65-82 feet). In addition to being devastating, the fires are also very unpredictable. A bushfire in the Baulkham Hills in January of 1975 completely destroyed property and some homes, while leaving others untouched. Serious fires occur in the Dandenog Ranges at frequent intervals, and housing there has always been a difficult problem with fire control [3]. Fire has also been used for centuries as an important tool for land management (O’Neill, 1993).
Wildfires started as an annual and seasonal occurrence in the south western region of California since the early 1930’s in part because of the hot dry summers and the hot dry turbulent Santa Ana winds that blow in from the desert during the fall months. Now it has become a yearlong event (Mckay, 2010). These conditions greatly contribute to the “fire season” throughout this area. This set of circumstances in conjunction with downed power lines and humans that ignited fires took place in October of 2007. This led to a series of fires that burned more than 500,000 acres, destroyed 1,500 homes, killed 9, injured 85, and forced the successful evacuation of around 500,000 people out of harm’s way.
Policies regarding the handling of wildland fires continue to change and evolve as new information is learned each fire season. Attitudes have changed between complete wildland fire suppression to no suppression at all. We now seem to have reached a balance between the two schools of thought and fall somewhere in the middle.
This is a problem because of the dry weather that we can have in this area. It doesn’t take much for burning debris to quickly get out of control and affect other areas.
There are many government, state, local and tribal agencies and organizations working together to resolve the aftermath of a massive wildfire. The following will discuss the responsibilities of a Hospital Incident Command Systems (HICS) which is at the forefront for caring and treating individuals and communities affected. The HICS ensures pre-planning, planning, evaluating, and testing of the system has been done prior to an incident (CDC, 2011). The first step when an incident occurs is the hospital needs to assess the situation. Some questions to ask include (CDC, 2011). What geographical area(s) has been or may be adversely impacted? How many people are threatened, affected, exposed, injured, or dead? Have critical infrastructures been affected (electrical power, water supplies, sanitation, telecommunications, transportation)? Is the hospital and surrounding healthcare facilities affected? How will current and forecasted weather conditions affect the situation? Has the local, state, or
As people of the twenty-first century, we are all too familiar with the frequent occurrence of wildfires in our nation’s forests. Each year millions of acres of woodlands are destroyed in brutal scorches. It has been estimated that 190 million acres of rangelands in the United States are highly susceptible to catastrophic fires (www.doi.gov/initiatives/forest.html.). About a third of these high-risk forests are located in California (www.sfgate.com). These uncontrollable blazes not only consume our beautiful forests but also the wildlife, our homes and often the lives of those who fight the wildfires. The frequency of these devastating fires has been increasing over the years. In fact, in the years 2000 and 2002, it has been reported that the United States has faced its worst two years in fifty years for mass destruction fires (www.doi.gov/initiatives/forest.html.). The increased natural fuels buildup coupled with droughts have been a prevailing factor in contributing to our wildfires and unhealthy forests (www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2004/pr040303_forests.html). Due to the severity of these wildfires, several regulations and guidelines have been implemented to save our forests. In fact, the President himself has devised a plan in order to restore our forests and prevent further destruction of our woodlands.
Forest fires kill many animals and usually destroy a large amount of land. Prescribed burns seem like they would be the best idea, but are they? Their claim to fame is to clear out land in order to decrease the burning space for when an actual forest fire occurs. Yet this may seem like a brilliant idea, but one must look at the negative aspects of controlled burnings. People might have a change of heart when they realize the damages and effects of such an interesting act. Keep in mind that not only is your health involved but even such things as the inconvenience of dealing with a smoky town. It is important to understand that prescribed burns cause severe health problems especially to firefighters; these are concerning carbon monoxide poisoning, visibility issues and health risks that will affect the future.
Have you ever thought about wildland fires? Maybe what caused them or how they can be prevented? In the forest service today fire is a big problem. Yes it is true fire can be good for the forest, all the under burden and dead trees is just fuel for a really big fire which is not good. So controlled burning is good for the forest, however these fires are becoming really expensive. Who do you think pays for the water, gas, and the people to put these fires out? The cost on fire suppression by the United States forest service was more than a billion dollars last year. There is always two sides to an issue. Simply don’t do anything and hope that big fires do not occur and destroy the forest, or you can manage it and slow it down. Either way you are spending money, Plans like selective logging and clearing underburden are slowing the issue and are managing it, however it still costs money. Especially when people’s home or life’s are in danger. By not doing anything, and just letting the forest grow and grow causes large fuel loadings, and proved to be more
The intent to perform an arson represent the means of dealing with or expressing a deeper emotional conflict (Rider, 1980). Arson is defined as the willful intent or malicious burning of property. The use of fire shows a premeditated planning to kill, seriously injury, or obliterate an intended target that has causes the individual pain, bring excitement or a mean to an end. The victims of these cases can be an individual person, a group, items, property or a symbol entity. The motives of arson are symptoms of a highly complex behavioral problems that deals with revenge, financial gains, excitement, concealment etc (Rider, 1980).
Fire at any level can be devastating, yet the effects that wildfires have on every worldwide country really has left its mark on the land. As written by world renowned wild fire spokesperson Smokey the Bear, “Every year, wildfires sweeps through parts of the United States setting wilderness and homes ablaze. On average these raging infernos destroy about four to five million acres of land a year. But in 2012, wildfire burned more than 9.3 million acres, an area about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined” (U.S. Wildfires). Destroying homes, crops, towns and of course forests. Yet the effects of these fires can be seen from a negative perspective as well as some positive. Plus there are natural causes as well as manmade that makes these destructive fires erupt and become almost unstoppable in seconds.
The Forest fire is occurring very frequently nowadays, reasons for it are a heavy increase in global warming and an increase in temperature.
...ons have the ability to hurt the economy fatally. Victorian bushfires take a total of $4,369,000,000 out of the government’s money.3 With the expenses of property damage, loss of livestock, death of citizens, forest destruction, recovery, carbon release and infrastructure damage.