* Three people were killed by wildfires in Napa County, and one in Solano County.
* Evacuees seeking shelter must weigh risk of the coronavirus.
* Smoke is making the air unhealthy to breathe in many places.
* The University of California, Santa Cruz, is put under an evacuation order.
* The historic Big Basin Redwoods State Park has been badly damaged by fire.
* Poor planning by grid managers and regulators led to rolling blackouts.
* California’s ‘lightning siege’ has connections to climate change.
A state fire official described it as a “historic lightning siege” — the nearly 11,000 bolts of lightning that struck California over 72 hours this week and ignited 367 wildfires.
Such a flurry of strikes is unusual in California, where it normally takes a full year to tally up 85,000 or so lightning flashes, said Joseph Dwyer, a physicist and lightning researcher at the University of New Hampshire. That is far fewer than Florida, one of the most lightning-prone states, which averages about 1.2 million flashes a year.
Lightning occurs during storms with strong updrafts. During these storms, charged ice particles in clouds collide, generating an electric field. If the field is strong enough, electricity can arc to the ground as lightning, which can ignite dry vegetation: Nationwide, about 15 percent of wildfires start this way.
Strikes across the United States are expected to increase with climate change, as warmer air carries more water vapor, which provides the fuel for strong updraft conditions. A 2014 study estimated that strikes could increase by about 12 percent per 1.8 degree Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) of warming, or by about 50 percent by 2100.
Australia's biggest general insurer, IAG, has identified the Blue Mountains local government area as the region in NSW with the most property at risk from bushfires.
Separately, a new report by a dozen experienced firefighters has identified key problems, such as lack of proper research into how to supress fires, as a new fire season begins in the state's north.
IMAGE The Blue Mountains tops the list of local government areas in NSW with a high bushfire insurance premium, IAG says. Nick Moir
The Blue Mountains region would "compete with some of the riskiest" anywhere in Australia because so many houses were built along ridge tops, surrounded by bushland on either side, said Mark Leplastrier, the insurer's executive manager for natural perils.
The next most at-risk regions in NSW were the Central Coast, Sutherland Shire, Wollongong and Wollondilly.
"Bushfire risk is increasing across the country mainly due to higher temperatures coupled with lower humidity and higher evaporation rates," Mr Leplastrier said.
According to IAG estimates, rebuilding a typical four-bedroom home in a high-risk bushfire area can cost more than $100,000 extra to meet upgraded bushfire standards.
Homeowners may not be prepared for the costs of cleaning up if they are hit by fires. The average cost for removing debris is $46,000 per house, rising to $68,000 if asbestos is found, IAG estimated.
Recent wet weather does not mean this season's fire risks have been eliminated. "It may have been headed off, but it's still there," Mr Leplastrier said.
IMAGE The 'Tutti Frutti' shop at Bilpin in the Blue Mountains goes up in flames in December 2019. A report says the public should get access to more information to understand what has worked and not worked during big bushfire events. Nick Moir
Meanwhile, the report by former firefighters said tackling long-term threats required greater transparency to identify what worked and didn't during major events.
The dozen, boasting a combined 400-plus years in roles at the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service and as volunteers in the Rural Fire Service, said Australia "must do better in managing increasingly dangerous bushfires" as the climate warms and dries.
Ian Brown, one of the members of the Independent Bushfire Group responsible for the 179-page report, said many issues "were not getting talked about", even at the bushfire Royal Commission.
IMAGE Ian Brown, one of the report's authors, in a part of the Blue Mountains National Park near Mount Victoria, which burnt because an RFS backburn got out of control. Janie Barrett
These include the general lack of research into the most effective ways to suppress a fire, how agencies decide which blazes get priority, the poor performance of fire-behaviour models, and the absence of objective post-fire analysis.
"Things are getting worse and we need to review what we're doing," said Mr Brown, who has helped fight more than 100 bushfires.
The report comes as the Berejiklian government prepares to release the results of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry report, possibly within days.
That report, by former deputy NSW Police commissioner Dave Owens and the chair of the Independent Planning Commission Mary O'Kane, is expected to detail the increasing bushfire risks from climate change and the efficacy of prescribed burning to moderate those threats.
[Gee. With covid clogging tv news i didn't even know that fire was on.]
Mr Brown's group said more planned burns to reduce fuel loads may actually exacerbate fire risks.
For instance, burning usually moist forests when conditions permit can alter their species mix, making them more fire prone while reducing natural fire breaks in the landscape.
"Analysis of vegetation across the landscape shows that the North Coast region has only 33 per cent of 'treatable' vegetation [or planned burns]," the report said. For the Sydney Basin, the share is about two-thirds, and just under half for the South Coast and Tablelands.
IMAGE At least 20 homes were destroyed when the Mt Wilson backburn got away. A new report says specialist training is needed for teams conducting such potentially high-risk operations during the bushfire season. Nick Moir
The group also took aim at the so-called "after action reviews", typically conducted by the RFS.
"There is no public reporting, independent expert advice, objective research or outside oversight," the report said. "Fire controllers report on fires they themselves have managed."
Unlike for similar government functions such as the police and the military, the RFS "is both the lead agency and also the chief reporter to government on outcomes", it said.
So it seems we would be better served allowing the loggers in there to thin the forests to some desired spacing between trees. Stipulating they clear the brush while leaving enough patches for the critters. Under the oversight of the forestry service.
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