I always assumed if you live in an metropolitan area with fire hydrants and a professional, full-time fire department, you’re probably safe from wildfires. Climate change seems to have altered that assumption.
The wind-whipped wildfire erupted Thursday in and around the communities of Louisville and Superior at the base of the Rocky Mountains. The fire by Saturday had scorched entire neighborhoods from Denver to Boulder, a distance of about 30 miles.
Officials, who initially believed no one was killed in the fire, are now preparing cadaver teams to search for the missing, they said.
I always assumed if you live in an metropolitan area with fire hydrants and a professional, full-time fire department, you’re probably safe from wildfires. Climate change seems to have altered that assumption.
The important change has been in settlement patterns. Many more people/homes/structures are now built in what is called the wildland-urban interface (WUI) – developed areas that meet or intermingle with undeveloped land. In California, for example, it is estimated that a quarter of the population now live in the WUI.
I always assumed if you live in an metropolitan area with fire hydrants and a professional, full-time fire department, you’re probably safe from wildfires.
Not in Caracas, we have the fire hydrants and the professional, full-time fire department but no water.