Fire news this week

If you just read one thing:

"Disaster" investors talk about their motivation to create funds specifically targeting fire. “So far, Convective's portfolio includes companies using drones and other robots like BurnBot and Rain; vegetation management startups like Overstory and Instinct; wildfire underwriting companies like Delos; power pole monitoring startups like Gridware; and wildfire detection outfits like Pano AI.”

And, kind of a big deal

California is backing good fire with a new fund to cover potential damages from prescribed or cultural burns. “Despite low risk of escape fires, lack of liability coverage has reduced opportunities for ‘good fire’ to mitigate risks of catastrophic fires.”

Environment and Climate

In this NYT story, the author laments the loss of the daytime sky. “But I also have to find another way to feel. I have to find ways to hold joy alongside anger, hope alongside grief.” WorldBank researchers have ideas about how to accelerate economic growth while saving the planet. Some critters have specifically adapted to fire, with such amazing abilities as infrared sensors, and use of fire-sterilized soil to increase offspring survival rates by up to 80%.

FireGen Collaborative advocates for centering Indigenous knowledge and younger generations to do fire climate work. “Our generation needs to be part of a cultural shift toward living with fire and not fearing it.” Farmers (and our food supply) are threatened from fire, ash, smoke, black fields. “In the past, and sometimes to a certain extent today, we take each emergency as it comes, each event, and we deal with that,” says Eaton. “But I think, increasingly, there’s an understanding that a single wildfire event doesn’t start when the fire burns and it doesn’t end when the fire goes out. It’s connected to a lot of other hazards.”

The Center for Foreign Relations has this deep dive into fire, its implications, consequences and trajectory. “When it comes to wildfires, communities and homeowners should prepare for bigger and more intense conflagrations, including those across U.S. borders.” The Hill offers some fire season forecasting (everyone wants a crystal ball right now). “The fact that we may be headed for a breather in 2023 is a great break and we should be grateful for that,” Field said. “But we can’t take our eye off the big picture, which is — we really need to be continuing to work to reduce the fire risk across the whole region.”?

Firefighting & Firetech

This researcher is turning synthetic radar toward wildfire monitoring. “Capable of penetrating clouds and smoke, and imaging day and night, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) can play a critical role in wildfire monitoring.” A Swiss research group has built a fireproof drone out of mostly air for firefighting use. Canadair is scrambling to fulfill orders for their amphibious firefighting aircraft and delivery of orders is delayed from the original 2026 timeline to 2027. LA County has a new water tank to refill helicopters from, filling a 1,000 gallon tank in three to four minutes, and refilling in fifteen from a nearby hydrant. PG&E is sharing a Black Hawk with Marin County Fire. Utah is breaking ground on a Wildland Fire Operations Center to better house firefighters in their area. “That's important for the many communities up and down Utah with homes that border wild spaces, much like Elk Ridge and Woodland Hills. Many of these areas are growing in population.”

What’s burning

Idaho and Spain are reading the tea leaves (dry conditions and robust grass growth has people worried for July & August). Conditions are still very dire in Canada, smoke returns to parts of the US, and their fires may continue to intensify—2023 is officially their worst fire season on record and smoke from the fires there has crossed the Atlantic and is impacting Europe. Because of these tough conditions and a tight labor market, Canada is facing a firefighter recruitment problem. But, these fires, one scientist remind us, do have a precedent. “Montoro Girona says that doesn't mean human-caused climate change is not playing a role—it is. But, he says, to better predict the future, we also need to remember the past and recognize that fire, even ones as widespread as this year, have always been a part of Canada's boreal forests and will be going forward.”

ICYMI

In case you missed it: a few stories are getting renewed attention as the smoke in the Northeast abates a bit while just whetting the appetite for fire content. This week Quartz summarized the 5x increase in CA fires over the past four decades. NPR continues coverage of California’s home insurance problem as two major insurance companies previously announced that they would no longer offer new home insurance policies in the state, citing climate change and rising construction costs. And, lastly, scientists have been able to tie Australian bushfires to La Ni?a events on the other side of the world.

Thanks for reading, and let me know if you found this helpful.