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When people think of wildfires, burning trees are probably the first image that comes to mind.
So, when the city burns and the trees remain standing, it may seem unusual at first glance.
Several large wildfires have been raging through Los Angeles since Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and burning more than 10,000 homes and other structures 40 kilometers north of the city center.
As images of the fires dominate the media this week, some are questioning why trees, including the state’s iconic palm trees, survived next to charred homes and cars.
This is fuel conspiracy theories on social networks of homes and structures being targeted — with some people saying there was no way for the fire to naturally leave the trees standing and suggesting the structures were instead directly attacked by secret weapons.
Internet personality The Patriot Voice announced to his 141,000 followers on the social media platform X that the photos showing trees standing provide evidence that the US government is “INTENTIONALLY starting fires using military DEWs (Direct Energy Weapons) in these areas to initiate a MASSIVE LAND GRABBING . “
Others claimed it was evidence of HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program) microwaves, and one X user said they were “flammable to metal” in homes, but, “Trees don’t have metal inside, so trees tend to burn from microwave ovens.”
Mads Palsvig, leader of Denmark’s right-wing Prosperity Party, wrote on X, “Forest (sic) fires where the trees don’t burn. It’s called DEW. Always beautiful places prime real estate.”
It all comes down to moisture
The claim that the trees don’t burn is simply not true, as evidenced by numerous videos and photos showing many of them engulfed in flames, in some cases wreaking havoc on nearby buildings.
But scientists say there is a simple explanation why some are spared that fate.
“I mean, it’s pretty obvious to me. The trees are filled with thousands and thousands of liters of water,” said biology and biotechnology professor Miranda Hart of the Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience and Ecosystem Services at the University of British Columbia.
“Of course trees burn when fires are big enough and hot enough. But if there’s a tree filled with water and something very dry next to it, what was dry will burn first. So, in that way, you can imagine that the fire could just go around if there is enough fuel on both sides.”
Similar questions arose after the town of Paradise, California, burned in a wildfire in 2018. At the time, retired US Forest Service the scientist told CBC News that while some people might imagine a wildfire as a wall of flame, burning embers ignite many points of fire over a wide area — which helps explain why in some photos it almost looked like there were hundreds of individual house fires, rather than one large fire.
After a wildfire in 2007, the fire department in Escondido, California, recommended restrictions on the planting of palms specifically after determining that certain species, due to their shape or lack of maintenance, were particularly dangerous.
Palms that are not well maintained “can explode into a giant flare,” document he says, a phenomenon that can be seen in videos from the current wildfires in LA. He says flying embers can also lodge in the fibrous tissue or base of the leaves along the trunk of the palm.
Another major hazard is leaf bases and dried leaves on trees that are not maintained and can become detached from the trunk and carried by the wind, acting like a fireball.
Kevin Hanna, director of UBC’s Center for Environmental Assessment Research, said certain trees are more prone to fire than others — deciduous trees and shrubs, for example, are less flammable because of their moist leaves and lower resin content, while conifers are favored by ornamental cedars. or junipers are highly flammable.
Fires in LA continue to spread at a devastating rate, fueled by abundant fuel and strong winds — conditions BC is also familiar with. As Michelle Ghoussoub reports, wildfire experts say the situation holds preparedness lessons for BC
As for why some trees and buildings survive and others don’t, he said it often comes down to current conditions and “what some might call coincidence or chance,” such as a quick change in wind that can redirect embers.
Keeping your lawn wet or having a wet or fire-resistant roof can make a difference, Hanna said, although in extreme enough conditions, almost anything will burn.
“There is no conspiracy – just some politicians resorting to callous opportunism, denying the reality of climate change and shifting the blame to others in the hope of gaining a passing advantage,” he said.
Climate change, development that increases risk
Hanna said residential construction has expanded further into fire-prone areas in recent years, increasing the risk of house fires, while wildfires are becoming larger and more frequent, in part due to droughts and warmer weather exacerbated by climate change.
While some have blamed a lack of fire protection and brush removal, UBC’s Hart says the truth is that conditions were perfect for the fires to spread and little can be done to prevent similar devastation in the future, short of trying to reverse climate change. .
“Fire isn’t that mysterious. It just needs the right conditions and the right fuel,” Hart said.
“We can rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic for a few more years, but we can’t build a climate-resilient society. It’s too powerful and it’s too diverse.”
