CNN: How California is using AI to snuff out wildfires before they explode. “Firefighters want every leg up they can get to knock out a blaze before it becomes an inferno. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says it has a new tool to battle wildfires before they explode – artificial intelligence.” And remote sensors.
Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Lahaina’s 150-year-old banyan tree has sprouted green leaves. “The 150-year-old banyan tree in Lahaina is showing signs of life more than a month after its leaves were singed by fire. Clusters of green leaves have since grown from the iconic tree’s branches, as well as on the ground beneath it at Lahaina’s courthouse square.”
Gizmodo: Salacious Chinese Disinformation Campaign Blames Maui Fires on Deadly American ‘Weather Weapon’. “Researchers say they’ve discovered 85 social media accounts and blogs originating from China and working in tandem to amplify a conspiracy theory claiming the deadly fires in Maui were caused by a secretive “weather weapon” unleashed by the US military. NewsGuard, which has previously uncovered other online influence operations from China and Russia, claims the new ‘coordinated online campaign’ represents the most expansive Chinese operation it has uncovered to date.” Did I intentionally put these two articles together? No.
KITV: Interim MEMA head launches new ‘Maui Recovers’ website, an online hub for wildfire survivors. “The Interim administrator for the Maui Emergency Management Agency has launched a new website aimed at providing information on re-entry to Lahaina. Darryl Oiverira, who took his post on August 28, launched Maui Recovers for residents and businesses seeking information and resources on how to safely return to Lahaina.”
California Natural Resources Agency: California Launches Online Tool to Track Wildfire Resilience Projects. “The dashboard offers a one-stop-shop to access data, provide transparency, and align the efforts of more than a dozen agencies to build resilient landscapes and communities in California. It reports treatment activities such as prescribed fire, targeted grazing, uneven-aged timber harvest, mechanical and hand fuels reduction, and tree planting. Users can sort treatments by region, county, land ownership and more.”
NIST: NIST Issues New Guidance for Emergency Response During Wildfires. “NIST has launched a new website intended to help community leaders and first responders in wildfire-prone areas make buildings and other structures more resistant to fire. The website is based on the Hazard Mitigation Methodology (HMM), which was developed by researchers at NIST, CAL FIRE and other agencies and organizations. While traditional strategies focus on hardening individual structures, the HMM takes a community-wide approach to addressing wildfire risks.”
State of Hawaii: DLIR News Release: State Activates Disaster Recovery Jobs Portal. “The Hawaiʻi State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations (DLIR) today announced the availability of a disaster recovery jobs portal for Maui to help workers and businesses impacted by the wildfires. The portal provides access to all currently available jobs on Maui as maintained by the DLIR.”
Cabin Radio: Google and Apple aren’t sure if the highway’s open, either. “Head spinning from the number of recent NWT highway closures brought on by nearby wildfires? You aren’t alone. Major tech companies seem to be struggling to stay on top of the situation, too. Early on Saturday, several Yellowknife residents reported an inability to plan any Google Maps route to or from Yellowknife involving Highway 3.”
ALERTCalifornia: ALERTCalifornia Launches to Provide Essential Tools to Understand and Adapt to Wildfires and Natural Disasters in the Golden State. “Fire and emergency management personnel input was essential to create the new, mobile friendly, public website interface, which now features a camera view “quilt” or collection of camera views targeting a specific area of interest as well as panoramas that show a high-resolution stitched-together 360-degree view for each camera.”
NPR: Firefighters and researchers are turning to AI to help fight fires. “Climate change. Firefighters and researchers hope to spot fires more quickly and cut response times using artificial intelligence. Zachary Wells is a deputy chief with the Kern County Fire Department in California’s Central Valley.” This is a transcript of a radio interview.
CBC: Black Loyalist museum was prepared to save artifacts by ‘any means’ during wildfire. “When a massive wildfire started moving north toward the Town of Shelburne last week, Andrea Davis couldn’t help but think back to another fire that had traumatized the community. Davis, the executive director of the Black Loyalist Heritage Society, operates its museum in Birchtown, only a few kilometres southwest of Shelburne.”
Associated Press: Social media helps invent, then circulate info on DIY air purifiers amid wildfire smoke. “Social media users are sharing a surprisingly effective way to protect yourself indoors from the toxic wildfire smoke blanketing much of the East Coast: a box fan, four air filters and a whole lot of duct tape.”
CNBC: Google tells employees in New York and along the East Coast to work from home as wildfire smoke fills the air. “According to NBC, the company issued advisory notices to workers in the Detroit area; Washington, D.C.; Reston, Virginia; Pittsburgh; and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. In Canada, which is on track to experience its worst-ever wildfire season, Google notified employees in the Ontario cities of Toronto and Waterloo.”
Canada’s National Observer: Wildfire conspiracy theories spread faster than flames. “Emergency responders and some politicians are exasperated and say this kind of disinformation hinders efforts to keep people safe during extreme weather events like the fires and to deal with climate change, which climate researchers say has fuelled the fires.”
Washington State Department of Health: DOH unveils free teacher resources to bring public health and climate change data into the classroom. “In an effort to engage students with local health and climate data, DOH is unveiling a free professional development course for teachers that uses DOH tools and data to explore the connections between asthma and wildfires, which are one of the most obvious impacts of climate change on Washington state.”
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