Waldbrände in Washington 2012

Satellitenaufnahme der NASA von den Bränden in Washington am 19. September 2012

Die Waldbrände in Washington 2012 waren eine Serie von 1.342 Waldbränden die im Lauf des Jahres 2012 insgesamt 1.050 km² des Bundesstaates Washington erfassten und von der Feuerwehr bekämpft wurden.[1] Die Brände wüteten vorrangig im Okanogan National Forest und im Wenatchee National Forest im September und Oktober 2012. Ein schweres Gewitter am 8. September verursachte hunderte Feuer an der Ostflanke der Kaskadenkette. Der Rauch verursachte eine katastrophale Luftqualität in den Städten Ellensburg und Wenatchee,[2] und war noch in Seattle wahrnehmbar. Die Kosten der Bekämpfung für die vier größten Feuer werden auf 67,5 Mio. US$ geschätzt.[3]

Taylor Bridge Fire

Das erste große Feuer in der Waldbrandsaison 2012 begann am 13. August östlich von Cle Elum zwischen der Interstate 90 und der U.S. Route 97 im Kittitas County. Das Feuer war am 28. August unter Kontrolle, nachdem 95,1 km² niedergebrannt und 61 Häuser zerstört waren. Die Ursache wird weiterhin untersucht, doch werden Bauarbeiten als Auslöser vermutet.[3]

Durch Blitzschlag verursachte Brände am 8. September

  • Okanogan Complex[4] – 24,97 km². Drei Feuer im unteren Methow River Valley, beidseits der Washington State Route 153 im Okanogan County.
  • Wenatchee Complex[5] – 227,8 km². Die größten Feuer gab es südlich der U.S. Route 2 nahe der Stadt Wenatchee hauptsächlich im Chelan County. Weitere Feuer in diesem Komplex gab es in den Einzugsgebieten des oberen Entiat River und des Wenatchee River.
    • Byrd Fire – 57,14 km²
    • Canyon Fire – 30,58 km². Weniger als eine Meile (1,6 km) westlich von Wenatchee in den Canyons Nr. 1 und 2.
    • Cashmere Fire – 10,73 km². Südlich des Icicle Creek bis in die Alpine Lakes Wilderness hinein.
    • Peavine Canyon Fire – 78,78 km². Das Peavine Canyon Fire wuchs mit dem Table Mountain Fire im Süden zusammen.
    • Poison Canyon Fire – 23,92 km²
  • Table Mountain Fire[6] – 171,2 km². Östlich der U.S. Route 97 nahe Blewett Pass im Kittitas County bedrohte das Table Mountain Fire Häuser und historische Objekte nahe Liberty. Das Feuer wuchs mit dem Peavine Canyon Fire im Norden zusammen.
  • Yakima Complex[7] – 9,3 km². Etwa 75 kleinere Feuer in den Countys Kittitas und Yakima. Das Wild Rose Fire war das größte und wütete nördlich der U.S. Route 12 und östlich des Rimrock Lake.
  • Cascade Creek Fire[8] – 81,09 km². An den Süd- und Westhängen des Mount Adams im Gifford Pinchot National Forest, einschließlich eines Teils der Mount Adams Wilderness in den Countys Skamania und Yakima.

Weitere Brände

  • Goat Fire[9] – 29,86 km². Das von Menschen verursachte Feuer begann am 16. September und wütete südlich der Washington State Route 153 und westlich der U.S. Route 97 im Okanogan County.

Einzelnachweise

  1. ↑ 2012 year-end fire statistics. In: National Interagency Fire Center. Abgerufen am 3. September 2015.Vorlage:Cite web/temporär
  2. ↑ Nicholas K. Geranios: Heat, winds, low moisture make Wash. fires grow. In: Seattle Times, 22. September 2012. Abgerufen am 8. Oktober 2012. Vorlage:Cite news/temporär
  3. ↑ a b Dan Catchpole: Big Central Washington fires push up firefighting tab. In: Seattle Times, 18. November 2012. Abgerufen am 19. November 2012. Vorlage:Cite news/temporär
  4. ↑ Okanogan Complex. InciWeb: Incident Information System. 1. Oktober 2012. Archiviert vom Original am 1. September 2015.Vorlage:Cite web/temporär
  5. ↑ Wenatchee Complex. InciWeb: Incident Information System. 8. Oktober 2012. Archiviert vom Original am 17. September 2012.Vorlage:Cite web/temporär
  6. ↑ Table Mountain Fire. InciWeb: Incident Information System. 7. Oktober 2012. Archiviert vom Original am 8. Oktober 2012.Vorlage:Cite web/temporär
  7. ↑ Yakima Complex. InciWeb: Incident Information System. 24. September 2012. Archiviert vom Original am 8. Oktober 2012.Vorlage:Cite web/temporär
  8. ↑ Cascade Creek Fire. InciWeb: Incident Information System. 7. Oktober 2012.Vorlage:Cite web/temporär
  9. ↑ Goat Fire. InciWeb: Incident Information System. 28. September 2012. Archiviert vom Original am 8. Oktober 2012.Vorlage:Cite web/temporär

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2012-Sept-19 NASA Washington smoke.jpg
Smoke from wildfires in Washington state, USA, on September 19, 2012. Fires in this image include the Okanogan Complex, Goat, Wenatchee Complex, Table Mountain, Yakima Complex, and Cascade Creek fires. This image was created using the MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite.
Original caption
  • The summer of 2012 will unfortunately be known as the "Summer of Devastating Western Wildfires" and practically not one state out west was spared. Washington State has been hardest hit of late. This satellite image shows a rash of wildfires currently burning in the middle of the state.
  • The Wenatchee Complex Fire started with a lightning strike on September 8, 2012. It has grown to over 39,000 acres and is currently 22 percent contained. This complex of fires contains the following smaller fires within it: Canyon Fire: 7,601 acres; Byrd Fire: 13,978 acres; Poison Canyon: 5,999 acres; Peavine Canyon: 7,540 acres; First Creek: 1,237 acres; Pyramid: 431 acres; Klone: 1,013 acres; Cashmere: 658 acres; Basalt: 136 acres; Misc: 737 acres. There seven active fires and 8 fires in patrol status included under the Miscellaneous Category. The Sears Creek and Maverick fires are included in the Miscellaneous fire category at 140 and 30 acres, respectively and both are 0 percent contained.
  • The Okanogan Complex Fire started with a lightning strike (in three of the four fire locations) on September 8, 2012 and is has currently burned over 5,000 acres. The Buckhorn, Leecher, and Hunter Fire are all part of this complex. The Goat Fire started a week later on the night of September 15, 2012 and its cause is still under investigation. Terrain is extreme with this fire complex making it much more difficult to fight.
  • The Table Mountain Complex Fire had a lightning strike start as well on September 8, 2012. It is currently 9500 acres in size. This complex consists of four larger fires or groups of larger fires and some smaller fires as well. The fire behavior increased due to the inversion lifting overnight resulting in hold over lightning strikes to become active. An inversion is smoke and warm gases which are generated by a fire that rise only until the temperature equals that of the surrounding air; then, the smoke flattens out and spreads horizontally because it has lost its lift. It is a very stable condition which may trap smoke or fog near the earth's surface. The stable conditions caused by an inversion are not favorable for turbulent surface winds or erratic fire behavior. But when an inversion lifts, it allows the air masses to rise and the instability can cause wind shifts and more erratic fire behavior.
  • The Yakima Fire Complex started on Saturday, September 8th during a significant lightning storm. Over 3,000 strikes occurred in Eastern Washington, igniting well over 100 fires. Three thousand acres are currently burning in this complex fire and it is over 40 percent contained.
  • The Cascade Creek Fire is burning on the south slope of Mt. Adams. It is nine miles north of Trout Lake, WA. The fire was started by a lightning strike from that same storm that ignited most of the fires burning in Washington State. Currently over 9,300 acres have been affected and the fire is 50 percent contained. The highest priority remains keeping the fire from moving east onto the Yakama Nation, state and private lands.
  • This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on September 19, 2012. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS’s thermal bands, are outlined in red.