Wildfire fun facts

Question 1

Camp details

Answer 1

Paradise, California
8th November 2018
06.25 ignition
Took 4 hours to destroy the town
Burned for 2 weeks, until it rained for the first time in 200 days
Covered 153,000 acres (80 football fields a minute)
45 m/h winds

Question 2

Camp cause

Answer 2

Vegetation fire
PG&E- a high voltage electric fire caused by an element (which was 100 years old) failing, dropping molten metal onto the ground
200 days of drought and summers in California being 1.4C warmer than 50 years ago
Low humidity

Question 3

Camp secondary hazard

Answer 3

Propane tank explosions (which were irresponsibly kept in people’s gardens)

Question 4

Camp impacts

Answer 4

Primary- 50,000 evacuated, 85 died, ember burns, burnt cell towers, 85% of buildings destroyed (18000)
Secondary- 30,000 displaced, poor phone signal, traffic gridlock, $15.5b damage (1/4 not insured)

Question 5

Camp vulnerability

Answer 5

There were insufficient plans in place that would allow the whole town to evacuate (as found after a 2008 fire)
Despite having CODERED in place, less than 1/2 of the town had signed up, and it did not send out warnings to everyone during the fire