Temperatures falling, fires still burning in B.C.

[ShintoMale]

Temperatures falling, fires still burning in B.C.

Updated Fri. Sep. 4 2009 8:10 AM ET

The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER -- Summer may be coming to an end, but British Columbia's forests minister says the province isn't out of the woods just yet when it comes to raging wildfires.

B.C. has already seen more than 2,900 wildfires since April, about 1,000 more than average. Those fires have spanned 2,200 square kilometres and have forced the province to raise its forest firefighting budget from $62 million to $409 million.

Though temperatures have begun to dip as the days grow shorter, Pat Bell said his ministry is still recording significant wildfire activity.

CTV.ca | Temperatures falling, fires still burning in B.C.

 

[petros]

News Flash!

Wood will burn in all 12 months of the calendar.

 

[AnnaG]

News Flash!

Wood will burn in all 12 months of the calendar.

News flash! In order to burn something, you need heat, oxygen, and fuel. Take away any one of those and you have no fire.
The lower the temperature is, the harder it is for fire to continue burning. Stick a piece of wood in your oven and heat it. Stick another in your freezer to cool off. Pull them out and light them up. The warmer one will ignite and burn with ease. It's not as easy with the cooler one.

 

[petros]

News flash! In order to burn something, you need heat, oxygen, and fuel. Take away any one of those and you have no fire.
The lower the temperature is, the harder it is for fire to continue burning. Stick a piece of wood in your oven and heat it. Stick another in your freezer to cool off. Pull them out and light them up. The warmer one will ignite and burn with ease. It's not as easy with the cooler one.

Every bit of forest you see above ground is duplicated underground. "Forest fires" sometimes burn for hundreds of years UNDERGROUND.

 

[petros]

The lower the temperature is, the harder it is for fire to continue burning. Stick a piece of wood in your oven and heat it. Stick another in your freezer to cool off.

No matter the temperature 1kg of wood has the exact amount of calories. Facts are facts.

 

[AnnaG]

Every bit of forest you see above ground is duplicated underground. "Forest fires" sometimes burn for hundreds of years UNDERGROUND.

Underground fire has fuel, heat, and air. Otherwise you have no fire.

 

[petros]

Yeah there is no shortage of all three under the snow and in the soil. Your point?

Towns in PA have been moved to avoid undergound fires. Parts of Canada, Kazakestan and Siberia to name a few have been burning for hundreds of years.

Go ahead look it up. Forest burn no probelms undground. It is one of the biggest problems in fighting a forest fire.

 

[AnnaG]

No matter the temperature 1kg of wood has the exact amount of calories. Facts are facts.

Go back to school, kid. You are arguing with the wife of a firefighter.
Temperature DOES make a difference. Try the thing with the sticks.

 

[taxslave]

No matter the temperature 1kg of wood has the exact amount of calories. Facts are facts.

Actually wood does not burn. It is the gases coming off from heating that burn.
The fire equation is no longer a triangle as most of us were taught in school. It is a tetrahedron consisting of fuel,oxidizing agent(air), heat, and chemical chain reaction. Removal of any one extinguishes the fire.

 

[petros]

YouTube - "Footage from the real Silent Hill" Centralia, PA

 

[petros]

Actually wood does not burn. It is the gases coming off from heating that burn.
The fire equation is no longer a triangle as most of us were taught in school. It is a tetrahedron consisting of fuel,oxidizing agent(air), heat, and chemical chain reaction. Removal of any one extinguishes the fire.

Yup and it works great underground. YOUR point?

 

[AnnaG]

Actually wood does not burn. It is the gases coming off from heating that burn.
The fire equation is no longer a triangle as most of us were taught in school. It is a tetrahedron consisting of fuel,oxidizing agent(air), heat, and chemical chain reaction. Removal of any one extinguishes the fire.

Right. Petros is only right that fire can burn anytime. But it won't burn as well when the temperature drops; IE, in winter.

 

[taxslave]

It is raining nicely on the Island right now. Fires will soon all be out for this year.
Petros: I believe the town in Pa. you refer to was moved because of an underground coal fire. Not the same as a wood fire as coal requires very little o2 to burn.

 

[petros]

Sorry temp has nothing to do with the amount of fuel consumed and released as heat energy.

 

[petros]

It is raining nicely on the Island right now. Fires will soon all be out for this year.
Petros: I believe the town in Pa. you refer to was moved because of an underground coal fire. Not the same as a wood fire as coal requires very little o2 to burn.

Ligum...EVERY forest is based upon it and so is coal. Loose organic materia is lignum compressed as coal is lignite. No difference in the way it will burn underground.

 

[Kakato]

The fires will get worse with the pine beetles infesting the mature pine that should have been harvested years ago.Beetle wood drys out very quickly as the tree trys protecting itself by increasing sap flow to kick out the bugs.
I'm seeing major infestations just over the border here in Alta where there was none last year.
I did a total of 1 week man up for firewatch last month and they just started manning up again a few days ago here.
I got asked yesterday if I would go run cat in the kananaskis this week on fire watch but declined,the forestry is one big beuracratic animal to work for or with.
Our fireline crew would head up north towards elbow in Calgary and rocky mountain house and the fire crew from that area would get sent down here to mobilize,so we haul 3 cats,a water truck and some hoes all the way up there and we pass them hauling all their equipment down here.it would rain for an hour,enough to bring the index down a notch and they would de mob us and send us home and expect us to be ready to go in 4 hours.
No wonder they have to bring in peeps from Australia and mexico to fight fires.

 

[Kakato]

I have a few coal fires burning near me,they tried everything to put them out.China has thousands of square miles of underground seams burning.
Most coal fires are started by lightning and will burn for thousands of years,the rock on top of burning seams is sought after for its colors that have been altered by the gasses coming from the burning coal.
A pile of coal left sitting in the open air will spontaneusly ignite if not turned often,and if you look closely at any coal outcrop you will see its white,thats ash from the oxidization or it burning being more exposed to oxygen.Thats why the surface of any coal seam is usually classed as thermal coal and it turns in to metallurgical coal as you get deeper into the seam where their is a lack of oxygen.

 

[AnnaG]

Sorry temp has nothing to do with the amount of fuel consumed and released as heat energy.

Did anyone say it did?

 

[petros]

I have a few coal fires burning near me,they tried everything to put them out.China has thousands of square miles of underground seams burning.
Most coal fires are started by lightning and will burn for thousands of years,the rock on top of burning seams is sought after for its colors that have been altered by the gasses coming from the burning coal.
A pile of coal left sitting in the open air will spontaneusly ignite if not turned often,and if you look closely at any coal outcrop you will see its white,thats ash from the oxidization or it burning being more exposed to oxygen.Thats why the surface of any coal seam is usually classed as thermal coal and it turns in to metallurgical coal as you get deeper into the seam where their is a lack of oxygen.

Yuuup. Lignum, and dead critters becomes inertinite, liptinite, and vitrinite. Once the "chemical reaction" of oxidization starts it feeds it's self because it is a hydrocarbon as well as carbon. It's same reaction with "peat" aka lignum.

 

[petros]

Did anyone say it did?

You did.