Fire International Magazine: September 1998
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Florida,
USA, has been struck by some of the worst wildfires for 13years over 2,000
blazes have led to thousands of people being evacuated, more than 55 people
injured and well over 450,000 acres of land destroyed. The fires, fuelled
by tinderbox conditions, have been worsened by gusty winds and temperatures
of more than 38 íC.
Fires have also
been raging in Texas, Colorado and California.
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More
than 60 forest fires either started by negligence or arson ,according to
authorities have razed the Chimalapas biological reserve in Chiapas and
Oaxaca states, Mexico.
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More than 60 people
have been killed, ten of them firefighters who died when their army helicopter
crashed into a mountain range. Texan environmental health officials
in America were forced to issue several statewide public health alerts
due to the smoke pall making its way over the border.
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The blazes which had been
going for two months as Fire International went to press were described
as smouldering fires burning beneath the forest floor, destroying roots
and re-emerging further away. These fires are said to have seriously affected
the delicate ecosystems of the remaining virgin jungle.
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Professor
Tommy Koh,
Singapore Ambassador at large, has called for a global boycott of logging
and oil palm companies that are involved in the burning Indonesian forests.
Singapore Environmental Consumers in their choice of not buying products
from such companies.
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Malaysia
is to increase the fines for starting fires in forests and open fields.
The new penalty will be US$135,000.There are also moves to stop landowners
blaming fires on their employees or on contractors who have leased the
land.
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Massive
forest fires
have been raging in the Volgograd Region of the Russian Federation.
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Fuelled by strong winds,
firefighters faced difficulties fighting the blaze by helicopter or on
the ground. Another problem was that of water availability there are no
lakes or artificial water sources nearby. Furthermore, the fires were very
near a gas pipeline, triggering fears of an explosion.
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Special planes were sent
to the scene an IL76VAP2 aerial firefighter was considered the only effective
means to prevent further fire spread due to the high winds and the location
of the high winds and the location of the gas line.
