Latest news with #JanNull
Miami Herald
7 days ago
- Climate
- Miami Herald
Which parts of California are at highest wildfire risk this summer?
SAN JOSE, Calif. - After two years of devastating wildfire in 2020 and 2021, California experienced three relatively mild years in a row. But this year began with historic blazes in Los Angeles when months of extremely dry winter conditions combined with 100 mph Santa Ana winds, destroying more than 16,000 homes and killing 30 people in a disaster that shocked the nation. Does that mean California is in for another bad year as summer temperatures heat up and vegetation dries out? Not necessarily, fire experts say. But here's a clue: How much rain and snow fell during the previous winter? Since 1993, seven of the 10 worst fire years in California, ranked by total acres burned, have occurred after drier-than-normal winters. By contrast, eight of the state's 10 mildest fire years occurred after wetter-than-normal winters, according to an analysis by the Bay Area News Group and Golden Gate Weather Services, a Half Moon Bay company. "Generally, we see that wet years have fewer large fires" said Craig Clements, director of the Fire Weather Research Laboratory at San Jose State University. "And big years with lots of acres burned often come after dry winters. If you have less water and lower soil moisture, the plants dry out quicker and earlier in the season." To be sure, more grass grows after wet winters. And grass is flammable. But when trees and shrubs contain more moisture, experts say, it's more difficult for fires to spread quickly into out-of-control infernos. "Fire agencies always say it's going to be a bad fire year," said Jan Null, a meteorologist with Golden Gate Weather Services, who has examined fire and rain patterns for decades. "If it's wet, they say there are a lot of fuels. If it's dry, they say everything is bone dry. But it can't be worse-than-normal every year." Null and Clements noted that unexpected variables, such as huge dry lightning storms, multiple arsonists or extreme wind events, can spike fire danger in any year. But generally speaking, wet winters lower wildfire risk and dry winters increase it. What does that mean this year? It's a tale of two states. Northern California received much more rain and snow this winter than Southern California. From Oct. 1 through Thursday, Santa Rosa received 123% of its historical average, while San Francisco was at 87% and Los Angeles was at just 58%. San Diego was even lower, at 48%. While none of the nine Bay Area counties are currently classified as being in any kind of drought, all of Southern California from Santa Barbara to San Diego is, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly federal report. "We are expecting high fire activity in Southern California," said Battalion Chief Jess Torres, a spokesman for Cal Fire, the state's main firefighting agency. "We have vegetation that is drying out more and more. Southern California could potentially be worse than Northern California. But we don't want people to let their guard down anywhere." After the Los Angeles fires, state lawmakers introduced a dozen bills aimed at increasing readiness and wildfire response. One of the main bills, SB 581, by Sen. Mike McGuire, a Santa Rosa Democrat, would convert roughly 3,000 seasonal Cal Fire firefighters who work nine months a year to full-time staff. That bill, which would cost about $175 million a year, passed the state Senate 39-0 this month with support from Republicans and Democrats. It now goes to the Assembly. Cal Fire also continues to expand. The agency has nearly doubled its fire protection staff since 2019, from 5,829 to 10,741 positions, and nearly doubled its fire protection budget from $2 billion to $3.8 billion. In April, Cal Fire rolled out a new C-130 Hercules cargo plane, a massive former Coast Guard aircraft retrofitted to carry 4,000 gallons of fire retardant - more than triple the capacity of the other tankers that Cal Fire has been using for years. The agency also has been acquiring new Nighthawk helicopters, which can drop water and fire retardant at night. Working with the University of California, San Diego, Cal Fire has helped create a system of 1,144 remote video cameras perched statewide on hills and mountain tops to detect wildfires, called ALERTCalifornia. Using AI, the cameras report fires to emergency dispatchers, sometimes faster than humans do, and can complete 360-degree sweeps every two minutes out to 60 miles away. Firefighters say that it's critical every year that homeowners clear brush and flammable materials away from their homes. "Give us a fighting chance to save your home or business," said Matt Thau, a battalion chief with the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department. There are other concerns. Climate change has made heat waves and droughts more severe. The 10 hottest years on record globally since 1880 all have occurred since 2014, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. President Donald Trump's administration fired 3,400 workers at the U.S. Forest Service - about 10% of the agency's staff - in February as part of Elon Musk's DOGE cuts. Since then, the administration has reduced Forest Service staffing by another 4,000 people through early retirement offers. Firefighters have been exempt from those cuts. But many "red cards" - employees who hold certifications for firefighting skills and can deploy during major wildfires - have left, some taking early retirement or let go as probationary employees as part of an effort to trim the federal workforce. Tom Schultz, a former timber industry executive whom Trump named to run the Forest Service, has asked some of those workers to come back. On Wednesday, Schultz told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee not to worry. "I do believe they're ready," Schulz told Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. "When it comes to the wildfire season, yes ma'am, we do have the critical folks in place." California has 18 national forests in the Sierra Nevada, Big Sur, and mountains around Los Angeles, covering 20 million acres, or one-fifth of the state. Murray and other Democratic senators were skeptical. "The stakes are life and death here," Murray said. "It feels like we are not prepared for this wildfire season. You just said we were. We'll see what happens. But I fear I'm going to be right." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
3 children have died in hot cars in the US in 2025. How to prevent it amid Texas heat wave
No one wants to be called a bad parent or be accused of being a malicious person. Over the past 25 years, more than 970 children have died from heatstroke because they were left or trapped in a hot car for too long, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. So far in 2025, there have been three hot car deaths with one in California, Maryland and New Jersey, according to data from the National Safety Council. While there have been no reported child hot car deaths in Texas yet, it's always a concern with rising temperatures. Here is what people can do to prevent this tragedy. Jan Null, CCM, from the Department of Meteorology and Climate Science at San Jose State University, has compiled data on child heatstroke deaths in hot vehicles. This information is presented through a program backed by the National Safety Council. The data is sourced from continuous online searches of electronic media, using platforms such as Google News and Lexis-Nexus. The interactive chart allows people to explore vehicle-related heatstroke deaths among children by year, month, outside ambient temperature and state. Some may wonder how people can forget a child in a car. According to the National Library of Medicine, Forgotten Baby Syndrome is real. Based on limited research, NIH found that the adults who were unaware or had forgotten a child had perfectly intact psychic and cognitive functions. Here's what you can do to avoid these situations: Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended for any length of time. Rolling windows down or parking in the shade does little to change the interior temperature of the vehicle. Make it a habit to check your entire vehicle — especially the back seat — before locking the doors and walking away. Ask your childcare provider to call if your child doesn't show up for care as expected. Place a personal item like a purse or a bag in the back seat, as another reminder to look before you lock. Write a note or place a stuffed animal in the passenger's seat to remind you that a child is in the back seat. Store car keys out of a child's reach and teach children that a vehicle is not a play area. Place a reminder on your phone with an alarm that you have a child who needs to be taken out of the car. NHTSA suggests that if you see a child locked in a car, act immediately and call 911. A child in distress due to heat should be removed from the vehicle as quickly as possible and rapidly cooled. According to data from Kids and Car Safety, since 1990, Texas has led the nation in child heatstrokes, with 156 deaths in total. Almost 90% of children who die are 3 or younger, according to their data. In 2018 and 2019, we saw a record number of hot car deaths — 53 children died each year in the U.S., the most in at least 25 years, according to In 2023, 29 children died of heatstroke in vehicles in the U.S. A child's body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult's. When a child is left in a vehicle, that child's temperature can rise quickly, and the situation can quickly become dangerous. Heatstroke begins when the core body temperature reaches about 104 degrees. A child can die when their body temperature reaches 107 degrees. Here are the symptoms to watch for: Cramping Fatigue Diarrhea Dizziness Headache Irritability Coordination problems Nausea Vomiting Fainting Weakness Heatstroke and heat exhaustion are both heat-related illnesses that occur due to prolonged exposure to high temperatures, especially when combined with high humidity and physical exertion. However, they differ significantly in severity and symptoms. Heat exhaustion is a condition resulting from excessive loss of water and salt through sweating, leading to an imbalance in the body's electrolytes. Heatstroke is a severe, life-threatening condition that occurs when the body's temperature regulation system fails, causing body temperature to rise to dangerous levels (104°F or higher). Heavy sweating Weakness or fatigue Dizziness or lightheadedness Nausea or vomiting Headache Muscle cramps Cool, moist skin with goosebumps when in the heat Rapid, weak pulse Low blood pressure upon standing High body temperature (104°F or higher) Hot, dry skin (absence of sweating) or heavy sweating Altered mental state or behavior (confusion, agitation, slurred speech) Seizures Loss of consciousness Rapid, strong pulse Nausea and vomiting Flushed skin Today, several devices can remind drivers that a child is in the rear of the car so they won't forget. Here are some of the listed technologies: Driver's Little Helper Sensor System: The Driver's Little Helper Sensor System, available at several major retailers, is designed to be placed in a car seat. Positioned under the seat padding where the child sits, the sensor connects to a battery pack and syncs with an app. Users can configure the app to send notifications after stopping the car, with intervals as short as one minute. Waze: Waze, a popular traffic app, features a setting that reminds drivers to check their back seat upon reaching a destination entered into the app. However, it does not provide alerts for impromptu stops. SensorSafe: SensorSafe, a technology featured in some Evenflo car seats, includes a receiver that plugs into your car's diagnostics port. This port inside the vehicle connects to various subsystems and allows small receivers to access the car's computer system. The receiver communicates with the car seat's smart chest clip, alerting the driver with a series of chimes if a child remains in the seat after the car is turned off. Toyota Cabin Awareness: Toyota's Cabin Awareness is an advanced in-cabin monitoring system designed to prevent hot car fatalities, particularly for children and pets. This technology uses high-resolution 4D imaging radar to detect minute movements, such as heartbeats and respiration, covering the entire vehicle cabin, including the cargo area and footwells. The radar can even sense occupants under blankets or other coverings. General Motor's Rear Seat Reminder System: This feature in certain GM vehicles uses sensors on the back doors that activate when the rear door is opened or closed within 10 minutes of the vehicle starting or while it is running. If these conditions are met, a reminder appears on the dashboard, accompanied by an audible chime, when you reach your destination. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 3 kids have died in hot cars in 2025. How to prevent during Texas heat
