Harsh Facts of the Week
As I write this post, massive wildfires are raging in Arizona. Nineteen firefighters lost their lives yesterday fighting a wildfire in Yarnell, AZ, which earlier this morning had spread across 6,000 acres. In their honor, this week’s “Harsh Facts” will be based around wildfires.
In 2012, there were a total of 67,774 recorded wildfires, which collectively burned 9,326,238 acres of land. To see the totals from other years, click here.
The total cost to suppress 2012’s wildfires came to $1,902,446,000, almost 2 billion dollars. In comparison, $239,943,000 was spent in 1985 on wildfire suppression.
In 2011, one outside fire was reported every forty-six seconds in the United States.
In the United States and Australia, the two most common causes of wildfires are lightning and human activities. On average in the U.S., humans cause six times as many wildfires as natural causes do.
Wildfires thrive best in hot, dry, and windy conditions. 2012 was the hottest year recorded in the U.S. since records began in 1895. The summer of 2012 was the third warmest summer on record.
On January 17th, 2013, Australia experienced its hottest day in 103 years with a 105˚F average and with the hottest temperature being 118˚F.
