A high-pressure heat dome that is moving over the southern United States and a succession of days with temperatures that shatter records have combined to spark a spate of “unprecedented” wildfires in the state of Louisiana.
Over 31,000 acres have been destroyed by the Tiger Island Fire, which is now barely 50% contained despite being the largest wildfire in the documented history of the state.
During an interview on Tuesday, Dr. Mike Strain, who serves as the agriculture and forestry commissioner for Louisiana, said that the state has had more than 511 wildfires this month.
“This is a firestorm,” said Veterinarian Strain, who has been assisting in the leadership of the state’s response. “Picture a wall of fire that is eight miles long and eight miles wide in every direction; that is what you are up against.”
The state of Louisiana, which is typically one of the wettest, has had an unusually dry year. The officials do not believe that the bigger of the two fires will be extinguished unless there is significant rainfall, which is not expected for some time at this point.
In recent days, the state has acted quickly to prevent the growth of the Tiger Island Fire, despite the fact that the little rural communities in southern Louisiana lack both the expertise and resources necessary to combat the blaze.
However, at a news conference held on Tuesday, Governor John Bel Edwards issued a warning that additional major breakouts are probable in the following days since the little rainfall that occurred over the weekend did not “materially change the conditions.”
Last week, many villages were forced to be evacuated owing to the high risk of wildfires; however, after getting some rain, many inhabitants have been allowed to return to their homes. Edwards warned the public to be vigilant despite the fact that the smoke and flames are no longer as visible as they once were.
He stressed the fact that “red flag conditions” would continue to exist. The state of Louisiana is going through its worst drought on record, and the fuel that was left behind in the state’s forests by Hurricanes Laura and Delta is just adding gasoline to the fires that have been started. When you take everything into consideration, you have a situation that has the potential to detonate.
This fuel is composed of hurricane-uprooted trees from Louisiana in the year 2020, as well as other plant debris and waste products. The protracted drought has caused the grasses, shrubs, and small trees that used to cover the marshy regions of southern Louisiana to become completely tinder dry.
Allison Coons, a fire behavior expert who works for the National Interagency Fire Center, is now on the scene. She has stated that the fire burned in a “mosaic” pattern, which means that it left pockets of the terrain unburned or just very lightly scorched. The fact that the fire may still get fuel while being contained means that it is still in a dangerously near proximity to reigniting.
The water levels in the marsh have been going down, which has exposed roots and other flora, offering a hiding spot for embers until the conditions are right for them to be rekindled.
According to Coons, “You’ve got a lot of burnable material that is now available for that fire,” and he emphasized that a sustained rain was necessary to extinguish the fire. To paraphrase what the author had to say about the phenomenon, “It can creep through that area, and then once it gets hit by a good amount of sun or the wind hits it just right, then it can get up and start making some movement.”
As a result of the rarity of fires in the region, the first responders, who were largely comprised of volunteer fire fighters in this isolated part of Louisiana, were hindered by a lack of resources in the early phases of the fire.
According to Bonnie Strawser, the federal public information officer for the Tiger Island Fire, local residents assisted the fire departments in the region before the government began providing assistance. To assist in the construction of containment lines, farmers and lumberjacks used bulldozers and other forms of heavy equipment.
She said that she wished she could “go hug each one of those guys” since they seemed to be “worn down and beaten to death” as a result of working 20-hour days and only receiving four hours of sleep each night. They had been working around the clock for four days straight to create dozer lines that would encircle the fire.
There are already over a thousand firefighters that have traveled in from a variety of locations to help in fighting the flames. Strain said that Louisiana has been in contact with the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Forest Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The state of Louisiana sought help as a result of a lack of prior experience with drought.
Barry Keim, a professor of meteorology at Louisiana State University, called it “the summer from hell.” Because of a high-pressure system that has been fixed over the area, he noted, the South has been experiencing months of weather that is both hot and dry. The effects of El Nio, climate change, and even “just natural climate variability,” as he put it, all contribute to making the situation worse.
According to Keim, “it seems as though everything came together to make this the worst summer that south Louisiana has ever seen.”
On the 18th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and as a large storm approaches Florida, the fact that the pressure system that assisted the fires seems to have kept storms at bay is excellent news for Louisiana.
It’s catastrophic in many other ways, but at least we don’t have that, he added. “It’s apocalyptic in many other ways.”