LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS RUSSIA PART 5: WILDFIRES Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA
Natural Phenomena that Cause Disasters Planet Earth’s atmospheric- hydrospheric- lithospheric interactions cause: W\ilefires
RUSSIA
Russia, the largest country in the world, and the only one surrounded by twelve seas and spread out on two continents, has wildernesses—urban interfaces at risk from wildfires.
NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED DISASTERS IN RUSSIA FLOODS WINDSTORMS EARTHQUAKES WILDFIRES ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE HIGH BENEFIT/COST PROGRAMS FOR BECOMING DISASTER RESILIENT GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES
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 typically contain national forests, national parks, or resorts, and the adjacent urban areas typically contain large, expensive homes and, some times, government centers.
ELEMENTS OF RISK AND DISASTER
HAZARDSHAZARDS ELEMENTS OF WILDFIRE RISK EXPOSUREEXPOSURE VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY LOCATIONLOCATION RISKRISK
THE WILDFIRE HAZARDS ARE POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS
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 LOCAL CHANGES IN AIR QUALITY LOCAL CHANGES IN WEATHER CAUSED BY A CONFLAGATION
A DISASTER CAN HAPPEN WHEN THE POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS OF A WILDFIRE INTERACT WITH THE WILDERNESS--URBAN INTERFACES OF RUSSIA’S COMMUNITIES
LIGHTNING STRIKES WILDFIRES MANMADE FIRES PROXIMITY OF URBAN AREA TO THE WILDLAND FIRE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION (DAY/NIGHT) DRYNESS HIGH TEMPERATURES LOCAL FUEL SUPPLY CAUSES OF DAMAGE DISASTER LABORATORIES
A DISASTER is the set of failures that overwhelm the capability of a community to respond without external help when three continuums: 1) people, 2) community (i.e., a set of habitats, livelihoods, and social constructs), and 3) complex events (e.g., wildfires, earthquakes,..) intersect at a point in space and time.
Disasters are caused by s ingle- or multiple-event natural hazards that, (for various reasons), cause extreme levels of mortality, morbidity, homelessness, joblessness, economic losses, or environmental impacts.
THE REASONS ARE... When it does happen, the functions of the community’s buildings and infrastructure will be LOST because they are UNPROTECTED with the appropriate codes and standards.
THE REASONS ARE... The community is UN- PREPARED for what will likely happen, not to mention the low-probability of occurrence— high-probability of adverse consequences event.
THE REASONS ARE... The community has NO DISASTER PLANNING SCENARIO or WARNING SYSTEM in place as a strategic framework for early threat identification and coordinated local, national, regional, and international countermeasures.
THE REASONS ARE... The community LACKS THE CAPACITY TO RESPOND in a timely manner to the full spectrum of expected and unexpected emergency situations.
THE REASONS ARE... The community is INEFFICIENT during recovery and reconstruction because it HAS NOT LEARNED from either the current experience or the cumulative prior experiences.
RUSSIA HAS SOME OF PLANET EARTH’S NOTABLE “WILDFIRE LABORATORIES” EACH WILDFIRE PROVIDES VALUABLE LESSONS FOR BECOMING WILDFIRE DISASTER RESILIENT
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT MEDVEDEV DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY 600 WILDFIRES KILL 34 AND BURN 309,000 ACRES IN 7 REGIONS JULY 29 – AUGUST 13, 2010
LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE ALL WILDFIRES PREPAREDNESS FOR ALL OF THE LIKELY HAZARDS IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE
Wildfires happen in Russia about once every 30 to 40 years, so Russian communities generally lack readiness capability for fighting a wildfire.
The hottest temperatures in 130 years across much of western and central Russia topped 35 degrees C (95 F) during a 5-week period, causing 19 peat bog fires and creating conditions that exacerbated wildfires and drought.
On July 29, forests in the Moscow region's Kolomna district caught fire.
600 WILDFIRES WERE BURNING IN 7 REGIONS
14 regions were declared an emergency situation and nearly 86,000 people were evacuated.
The fires destroyed more than 1,800 homes, leaving nearly 5,000 people homeless.
Several villages in the Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh and Ryazan regions were reduced to ashes.
PRIME MINISTER PUTIN: “VILLAGES TO BE REBUILT BEFORE WINTER”
Russia deployed nearly a quarter of a million people (comprised of the military, professionals, and volunteers) and 25,000 pieces of equipment (including planes and helicopters) to fight the fires.
STRONG WINDS AND 32 C – 42 C TEMPERATURES HINDERED FIREFIGHTING
VORONEZH WILDFIRE
ONE OF 14,000 FIREFIGHTERS : VORONEZH FIRE
MOSCOW IN SMOKE: AUGUST 6
Moscow was veiled in acrid smoke from the fires, causing landmarks to disappear from view and commuters to hold handkerchiefs to their faces
Russia received help from the following countries: France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Turkey, and the USA, as well as from former Soviet Republics: Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
The USA delivered firefighting equipment (valued at $2.5 million (euro 2 million)) and the State of California contributed fire-protective clothing.
RUSSIA’S NEXT WILDFIRE IS INEVITABLE ---SO, DON’T WAIT FOR ANOTHER REMINDER OF THE IMPORTANCE OF BECOMING WILDFIRE DISASTER RESILIENT..
THE ALTERNATIVE TO A WILDFIRE DISASTER IS WILDFIRE DISASTER RESILIENCE
RUSSIA’S COMMINITIES DATA BASES AND INFORMATION HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS WILDFIRE HAZARDS INVENTORY VULNERABILITY LOCATION WILDFIRE RISK RISK ACCEPTABLE RISK UNACCEPTABLE RISK WILDFIRE DISASTER RESILIENCE PREPAREDNESS PROTECTION FORECASTS/SCENARIOS EMERGENCY RESPONSE RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION POLICY OPTIONS
DISASTER RESILIENCE STRATEGIES FOR WILDFIRES PURPOSE PROTECTION THREAT IDENTIFICATION; WARNING PURPOSE PROTECTION THREAT IDENTIFICATION; WARNING TECHNIQUE FIRE RETARDANT MATERIALS FOR CONSTRUCTION REMOTE SENSING; COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES TECHNIQUE FIRE RETARDANT MATERIALS FOR CONSTRUCTION REMOTE SENSING; COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE ALL WILDFIRES TECHNOLOGIES THAT FACILITATE THREAT IDENTI- FICATION FOR SMART COUNTER- MEASURES IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE
THREAT IDENTIFICATION:
LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE ALL WILDFIRES PREPAREDNESS FOR ALL THE LIKELY WILDFIRE HAZARDS IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE
LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE ALL WILDFIRES TIMELY EMERGENCY RESPONSE IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE