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Nahar Net
5 days ago
- Climate
- Nahar Net
Fast-moving brush fire on Hawaii's Maui island evacuates about 50 people
by Naharnet Newsdesk 17 June 2025, 17:06 A fast-moving Hawaii brush fire fueled by fierce winds forced the evacuation of about 50 Maui residents on the opposite side of the same island where a devastating blaze killed over 100 people two years ago. The fire started Sunday in a sparsely populated area with land set aside for Native Hawaiians. Here's what we know about the fire so far: Fire size now estimated at 330 acres The Kahikinui was initially estimated at 500 acres (202 hectares), but aerial surveys overnight put the estimate at about 330 acres (134 hectares), Maui's fire department said. The fire is 85% contained. The remote, challenging terrain made it difficult to estimate the fire's size, the department said in a statement. A police drone showed hot spots, but none flared overnight. No injuries or structural damage was reported. Weather conditions were mostly sunny Monday with a high of 67 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Celsius) and east winds of about 15 mph (24 kph), gusting up to about 25 mph (40 kph). The U.S. Drought Monitor says all of Maui is in drought. Authorities conducted door-to-door evacuations and part of a highway remains closed. Flashbacks to an earlier fire Warren Aganos was on his family's Hawaiian Homelands lot preparing to go on a Father's Day hunt when a neighbor called him around 9 a.m. telling him a fire had broken out. "I hung up and raced out, I didn't let her finish," said Aganos, who has been slowly rebuilding the three structures his family lost in a 2016 brush fire that burned over 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares) in the same area. "I was thinking about the last one," he said. "It was super emotional." Aganos said he rushed in his truck to make sure first responders knew where the community's water storage tanks were before navigating Kahikinui's dirt roads down to the highway where he could see smoke billowing over the hillside. The community lacks electrical and water infrastructure, and some of the roads are only navigable by four-wheel drive. State and local leaders signed emergency proclamations so that the Hawaii National Guard can help and counties can access assistance. What is the region like? Kahikinui is less populated and developed than Lahaina, which was the Hawaiian Kingdom's capital in the 1800s and is now a popular tourist destination. Kahikinui was used for cattle ranching for many years and is near a state forest reserve. The fire department sent engines, tankers and a helicopter to battle the blaze. Three bulldozers cut firebreaks in the lower part of the community, Desiree Graham, co-chair of Kahikinui's firewise committee, said. The area has 104 Hawaiian homeland lots of 10 to 20 acres (4 to 8 hectares) each. About 40 lots have homes, including 15 with full-time residents. Some lots have more than one home, Graham said. A state agency issues lot leases under a program Congress created in 1921 to help Native Hawaiians become economically self-sufficient. Those with at least 50% Hawaiian blood quantum can apply for a 99-year lease for $1 a year. Fire devastated Lahaina nearly two years ago Maui is still recovering from the massive inferno that enveloped Lahaina in August 2023. That fire was the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. It destroyed thousands of properties and caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damage. University of Hawaii researchers say unemployment and poverty rose after the blaze. The Kahikinui fire may seem small compared to continental U.S. fires, but it's significant for an island of 735 square miles (1,903 square kilometers). Other Western fires Crews also are battling wildfires in the Pacific Northwest, around the Great Basin, in California and the Rockies. National Weather Service forecasters and federal land managers have warned in recent weeks that fire danger is escalating in many places amid rising daytime temperatures and single-digit humidity levels. The risks won't start to wane — at least in the southwestern U.S. — until the monsoon starts to kick in, bringing much-needed rain. In southern New Mexico, a wildfire ballooned to nearly 30 square miles (78 square kilometers) over the weekend in the Gila National Forest. The flames forced the evacuations of homes that dot the mountains north of Silver City, blocked access to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument and prompted air quality warnings as smoke drifted north. Campgrounds and access points to the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail also were closed. In Oregon, several dozen homes in Wasco County were destroyed by a fire that started last Wednesday. Some evacuations remained, but fire managers said Monday that the threat to structures had diminished. So far this year, the nation has seen double the number of fires as last year but the acreage is less, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. More than 2,700 wildland firefighters and support personnel were assigned to 15 large wildfires across the country.
NBC News
5 days ago
- Climate
- NBC News
Fast-moving brush fire on Hawaii's Maui island evacuates about 50 people. No structures have burned
HONOLULU — A fast-moving Hawaii brush fire fueled by fierce winds forced the evacuation of about 50 Maui residents on the opposite side of the same island where a devastating blaze killed over 100 people two years ago. The fire started Sunday in a sparsely populated area with land set aside for Native Hawaiians. Here's what we know about the fire so far: Fire size now estimated at 330 acres The Kahikinui was initially estimated at 500 acres, but aerial surveys overnight put the estimate at about 330 acres, Maui's fire department said. The fire is 85% contained. The remote, challenging terrain made it difficult to estimate the fire's size, the department said in a statement. A police drone showed hot spots, but none flared overnight. No injuries or structural damage was reported. Weather conditions were mostly sunny Monday with a high of 67 degrees Fahrenheit and east winds of about 15 mph, gusting up to about 25 mph. The U.S. Drought Monitor says all of Maui is in drought. Authorities conducted door-to-door evacuations and part of a highway remains closed. Flashbacks to an earlier fire Warren Aganos was on his family's Hawaiian Homelands lot preparing to go on a Father's Day hunt when a neighbor called him around 9 a.m. telling him a fire had broken out. "I hung up and raced out, I didn't let her finish," said Aganos, who has been slowly rebuilding the three structures his family lost in a 2016 brush fire that burned over 5,000 acres in the same area. "I was thinking about the last one," he said. "It was super emotional." Aganos said he rushed in his truck to make sure first responders knew where the community's water storage tanks were before navigating Kahikinui's dirt roads down to the highway where he could see smoke billowing over the hillside. The community lacks electrical and water infrastructure, and some of the roads are only navigable by four-wheel drive. State and local leaders signed emergency proclamations so that the Hawaii National Guard can help and counties can access assistance. What is the region like? Kahikinui is less populated and developed than Lahaina, which was the Hawaiian Kingdom's capital in the 1800s and is now a popular tourist destination. Kahikinui was used for cattle ranching for many years and is near a state forest reserve. The fire department sent engines, tankers and a helicopter to battle the blaze. Three bulldozers cut firebreaks in the lower part of the community, Desiree Graham, co-chair of Kahikinui's firewise committee, said. The area has 104 Hawaiian homeland lots of 10 to 20 acres each. About 40 lots have homes, including 15 with full-time residents. Some lots have more than one home, Graham said. A state agency issues lot leases under a program Congress created in 1921 to help Native Hawaiians become economically self-sufficient. Those with at least 50% Hawaiian blood quantum can apply for a 99-year lease for $1 a year. Fire devastated Lahaina nearly two years ago Maui is still recovering from the massive inferno that enveloped Lahaina in August 2023. That fire was the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. It destroyed thousands of properties and caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damage. University of Hawaii researchers say unemployment and poverty rose after the blaze. The Kahikinui fire may seem small compared to continental U.S. fires, but it's significant for an island of 735 square miles. Other Western fires Crews also are battling wildfires in the Pacific Northwest, around the Great Basin, in California and the Rockies. National Weather Service forecasters and federal land managers have warned in recent weeks that fire danger is escalating in many places amid rising daytime temperatures and single-digit humidity levels. The risks won't start to wane — at least in the southwestern U.S. — until the monsoon starts to kick in, bringing much-needed rain. In southern New Mexico, a wildfire ballooned to nearly 30 square miles over the weekend in the Gila National Forest. The flames forced the evacuations of homes that dot the mountains north of Silver City, blocked access to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument and prompted air quality warnings as smoke drifted north. Campgrounds and access points to the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail also were closed. In Oregon, several dozen homes in Wasco County were destroyed by a fire that started last Wednesday. Some evacuations remained, but fire managers said Monday that the threat to structures had diminished. So far this year, the nation has seen double the number of fires as last year but the acreage is less, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. More than 2,700 wildland firefighters and support personnel were assigned to 15 large wildfires across the country.
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.
New York Post
12-06-2025
- Climate
- New York Post
Thousands evacuated in Oregon as 3,500-acre wildfire scorches homes
The Rowena Fire in northern Oregon continued to burn Thursday after having scorched thousands of acres, destroying at least 20 homes and other structures and forcing many residents to evacuate. Located about 75 miles east of Portland along the Columbia River, the Rowena Fire has burned more than 3,500 acres and is 0% contained. The Oregon State Fire Marshal said the wildfire began Wednesday near the community of Rowena, where 30-mph winds helped the fire to quickly spread. The Rowena Fire has been fueled by record-low moisture, along with gusty winds, according to the OSFM. The winds have also been shifting, leading officials to expand the evacuation zones early Thursday morning. Officials warned of more wind shifts, poor visibility and hazardous conditions that will continue to create dangerous circumstances, particularly for drivers. They also urged residents to follow evacuation instructions promptly and stay up-to-date on the wildfire. 3 A fast-moving wildfire in northern Oregon threatened homes in Wasco County on June 12. Oregon State Fire Marshal via Storyful 3 Map and data on the Rowena Fire in northern Oregon. FOX Weather 3 Fire crews from multiple counties were deployed to fight the Rowena Fire in Wasco County, Oregon. Wasco County Sheriff's Office via Storyful 'This is only the beginning of what could be a difficult year,' said Travis Medema, chief deputy with the Oregon State Fire Marshal. 'This fire is occurring under unseasonable conditions and record-low fuel moistures – combined with unstable wind patterns, all of which signal a long and potentially dangerous fire season across the state.' According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, about 34% of Oregon is experiencing abnormally dry conditions with nearly 18% of the state in a Level 1 drought.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Thousands evacuated in Oregon as 3,500-acre wildfire scorches homes
ROWENA, Ore. – The Rowena Fire in northern Oregon continued to burn Thursday after having scorched thousands of acres, destroying at least 20 homes and other structures and forcing many residents to evacuate. Located about 75 miles east of Portland along the Columbia River, the Rowena Fire has burned more than 3,500 acres and is 0% contained. The Oregon State Fire Marshal said the wildfire began Wednesday near the community of Rowena, where 30-mph winds helped the fire to quickly spread. The Rowena Fire has been fueled by record-low moisture, along with gusty winds, according to the OSFM. The winds have also been shifting, leading officials to expand the evacuation zones early Thursday morning. Officials warned of more wind shifts, poor visibility and hazardous conditions that will continue to create dangerous circumstances, particularly for drivers. They also urged residents to follow evacuation instructions promptly and stay up-to-date on the wildfire. How To Watch Fox Weather "This is only the beginning of what could be a difficult year," said Travis Medema, chief deputy with the Oregon State Fire Marshal. "This fire is occurring under unseasonable conditions and record-low fuel moistures – combined with unstable wind patterns, all of which signal a long and potentially dangerous fire season across the state." According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, about 34% of Oregon is experiencing abnormally dry conditions with nearly 18% of the state in a Level 1 article source: Thousands evacuated in Oregon as 3,500-acre wildfire scorches homes
