disaster – California Climate and Energy Collaborative

Mapping Fire Risk and Planning for Recovery in Sonoma County

September 6, 2018

“In the State of California, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CALFIRE, maps Fire Hazard Severity Zones based on fuels, terrain, weather, and other relevant factors. These areas are classified into three zones: Moderate, High, and Very High. While CALFIRE data provide an essential baseline for assessing and mapping fire hazard zones, the…

Enormous wildfires spark scramble to improve fire models

September 6, 2018

Sarina Soor

disaster, wildfires

No Comments

“Researchers have been at a loss to explain a flurry of unusual fire behaviour in California in recent years: wildfires that burn hot throughout the night instead of settling down, as many used to; blazes that race down hillsides faster than before; and fires that torch suburban neighbourhoods once considered safe from such events. And…

Roads, bridges and utilities slammed by Carr Fire

August 2, 2018

Sarina Soor

carr fire, disaster, utility repair

No Comments

“The work along Highway 299 is just one of the many projects underway to repair roads, utility and water lines, bridges, culverts and rebuild public buildings destroyed by the fire. In addition to damage to private property, officials estimate repairs to public infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water lines, buildings and other facilities could cost…

Cal Fire: PG&E violated state law, causing 3 wildfires last year

June 4, 2018

Sarina Soor

disaster, PG&E, wildfires

No Comments

“Pacific Gas & Electric power lines started four Northern California wildfires that burned over 14 square miles last year, California fire officials announced in their first completed investigations into 170 blazes that engulfed the state last fall. Each of the fires in Butte and Nevada counties was caused by trees coming into contact with PG&E…

Avoiding another California electricity crisis

May 10, 2018

Sarina Soor

CPUC, disaster, PG&E, wildfires

No Comments

“The judges who made those rulings thought they were providing an efficient and equitable way to spread costs of natural disasters, by having all utility customers contribute the “just compensation” and eliminating any need to prove that utilities were at fault for widespread damage to which their equipment contributed. But there is substantial doubt whether…

The California fires are a climate-driven catastrophe

December 22, 2017

Sarina Soor

climate change, disaster, wildfires

“Based on the U.S. National Climatic Data Center, average temperatures in California have been steadily increasing since the early 1900s. As drought conditions become more frequent and vegetation more dry, the risk of major wildfires will only grow. According to a 2006 study of wildfires in the western U.S., recent decades have seen a four-fold…