Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii 40

[3DDave]

Another wild fire sweeping through a residential area - it leads me to wonder if exterior sprinkler systems, particularly for roofs, would be sufficient to slow the progress of such fires.

I noted a multi-story apartment or hotel that was generally intact, suffering some interior fire which the sprinkler system may have stopped. The roof was untouched simply from height and the exterior which appeared to be brick - likely the windows or their frames failed in the heat. It was surrounded by ash.

As they are on the ocean the supply of water suitable to the use is well available as long as power for pumps is available. Besides electric pumps, pumps directly driven by diesel and the possibility of adding fire boats pumping water to the system seems worth considering. It's along the ocean so additional salt water should be more acceptable than fire.

 

[3DDave]

The wiring is to the antennas which are also not fire resistant.

 

[TugboatEng]

A warning system is supposed to sound BEFORE the issue of fire resistance arises.

 

[3DDave]

"supposed to"

It is possible that the cellular system which requires contact with authentication and routing servers was cut off from those servers long before the fire was near enough to be seen as a threat that required notifications and evacuations.

The local phones would see signal from the local towers, but the towers would have no place to relay the calls.

 

[enginesrus]

dik,

The video is about fires that happened in Italy in 2004, and what the cause was. I and others find it strange that cars burned the way they did close to the beach with no structures or vegetation near them. The Italy incident may point to why.

 

[dik]

...parched and dry; they didn't get a chance to rake the brush, and aggravated by very high winds...

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[hokie66]

"Didn't get a chance to rake the brush" is not the same as having no intention to reduce the fire loading.

 

[3DDave]

The video is about fires that happened in Italy in 2004, and what the cause was. I and others find it strange that cars burned the way they did close to the beach with no structures or vegetation near them. The Italy incident may point to why.

Or it could be that radiant heat from burning buildings set the plastics on fire inside the cars as the convected heat broke the windows then the fuel tanks ruptured and spilled gasoline to set other cars ablaze.

The lack of structures is because the structures all burned to a crisp and ash. Level ground on an island is precious.

https://www.google.com/maps/@20.874...pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

 

[TugboatEng]

I have heard this from firefighters. The outsides of Hines and small building are relatively fire resistant but the heat ignited the interior furnishings.

 

[TugboatEng]

The same genius that wanted people to shelter in place during a conflagration now knows the cause of the fire.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ha...bal-warming-caused-conditions-deadly-wildfire

 

[SnTMan]

But not, apparently, what started it.

Regards

Mike

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[3DDave]

The comments on that are amazing - rather than note that a good part is due to capitalist abandonment of a destroyed ecosystem, they attack it as a political problem. These same people would complain about their tax dollars being spent on the fixes they propose. Should be renamed the Fux News.

 

[hokie66]

What fixes did they propose in that Fox News article? I read it, and didn't see any proposals.

 

[3DDave]

The comments. Sigh.

 

[TugboatEng]

The climate scientists must be super smart. They know the cause without knowing what started the fire. They operate on a level above the rest of us.

 

[SnTMan]

But, on the other hand...

LOL.

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[3DDave]

A single governor isn't "climate scientists."

 

[dik]

It was likely a combination of several things including poor land management and climate change. This includes poor emergency procedures in place. Just like so much with climate change, we'll just have to wait and see...

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Lou Scannon]

Exactly. Natural fires will be with us as long as there is vegetation. The only thing to do is plan and be prepared for them. Good strategies include culling the fuel supply near civilisation, if possible, and separating civilisation from the fuel supply to a prudent extent, according to the local situation.

"Schiefgehen wird, was schiefgehen kann" - das Murphygesetz

 

[dik]

Natural fires can have a 'helping hand' if climate change aridifies the area and creates exceptional wind conditions. Both of these occurred and would likely increase the damage done.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[TugboatEng]

It was likely a combination of several things

Likely is a strong word. Where did you get such confident information? Has there been any aridification on Maui? Climate studies tend to indicate an increase in precipitation with increasing temperatures. It's only the "climate scientists" that claim otherwise. The same ones that seem to know the cause of a fire without knowing what started it. Do you trust that?