California Wildfires Fighting them with Science not Brawn
Posted: Sunday, May 10, 2009
by Highway 101
May 2009 saw 30,000 people evacuated from their homes in Santa Barbara as wildfires spread from the surrounding hills to the heavily populated suburbs. Fortunately no deaths were reported but dozens of houses were burnt to the ground, some of which had been rebuilt after previous fires in recent years. The local dawn to dusk television reported 2,000 firemen, 200 fire trucks, 13 fire fighting helicopters plus the nations' only wide bodied jet, a DC10 dropping 12,000 gallons of fire retardant at a time. Governor Schwarzenegger in a media address promised that the state would find the necessary funds to sustain the firefighting effort. It was all very much a ground hog day event very similar to the many we see each wildfire season in California. Approaching a billion dollars is spent in California each year to put out wild fires, too often in areas which have experienced similar fires in past years. According to the Record Searchlight in Redding, California, in June 2008 alone southern California experienced an unprecedented string of wildfires which cost state and federal agencies approximately $676 million.
It was interesting to note that the May 2009 fires in Santa Barbara were brought under control with the assistance of an unpredicted marine layer that swept moisture in from the sea and dropped the temperature by more than 20 degrees and raised the humidity to 86%. So if nature can do such a splendid job of containing wildfires then maybe man could somehow emulate this phenomenon. Many of the fires in California occur within 30 miles of the coast and that coast is part of the world's largest mass of water the Pacific Ocean.
Imagine if the state of California constructed a network of dry riser pipes between pumping stations on the coast and the many hill ridges and valleys up to 30 miles inland where fires occur regularly. In the areas most susceptible to fires 50 feet high water vapor towers may be constructed each quarter mile. Then when a wildfire occurs the fire brigade starts the pumps on the coast to pump Pacific Ocean sea water through the dry risers and by remote control they open valves on the appropriate water vapor towers. Each vapor tower would spray a fine mist of cold sea water at least one hundred feet above the ground to create a blanket of moist cold ocean air above the fire ravaged areas. This would reduce the risk of fires spreading and make it easier for the fire brigades to contain fires. After each session the pipe network is flushed with fresh water to avoid corrosion.
A water vapor distribution network like the one proposed serving all major fire prone areas in southern California would likely cost less than one year's firefighting budget and surely would attract Federal Government Stimulus money.
Vince Waterson is VP of business development at a telecommunications company in California and can be reached on email vwaterson@aol.com
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