Released Oct. 25, 2007
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Every Kansan knows that High Plains winds can easily equal the Santa Anas that seemed unstoppable in the days following Oct. 20, spreading ravaging wildfires through southern California.
"The High Plains can more than equal California for drought, too, and that could soon be an issue here. We´re entering a La Niña weather pattern," said Jason Hartman, Kansas Forest Service fire prevention specialist. "The Kansas Weather Data Library indicates that typically means dry weather."
The forester admits that he´s getting worried. About 75 percent of Kansas wildfires ignite in the spring. The most recent El Niño (wetter) pattern was relatively short. So, the last time Kansas came under a La Niña influence is in recent memory - 2005-06.
"That´s when Kansans - as well as Texas and Oklahoma residents - learned about the National Weather Service´s new Red Flag warning system," Hartman said. "A Red Flag warning goes out when the weather and environment are combining to make the risk of wildfires extremely high."
Kansas Fire Marshall reports from the last La Niña period show that Kansas´ wildfire totals grew from 130,000 acres in 2005 to an estimated 198,206 acres in `06. The total cost included three lives.
Hartman hopes at-risk Kansans will spend part of winter getting information on longer-term protection against wildfires. They can contact their local fire department or KFS district forester. Needed information is available at http://www.firewise.org/ and under "wildfire" at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/.
He´s particularly concerned because the state´s population is becoming more like the West Coast´s in a strategic way. Kansas has a rapidly developing "I-zone" - a term firefighters use to describe any/all of all those interface areas where suburban and semi-rural housing adjoins fire-prone wilderness.
"The wildland-urban interface is a good part of what we´ve seen go up in smoke in California," Hartman said. "The primary and best protection for property there rests on each homeowner´s shoulders, and many Kansas interface residents are urban transplants who still aren´t savvy about their fire risks."
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http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/
Contact: Mary Lou Peter-Blecha, mlpeter@ksu.edu
