Before The Fire !FULL!
Some fires were extinguished, but many were left to die out on their own. Many of these fires burned underground, devouring roots, peat, and humus. Trees fell over from weakened roots or occasionally burst into flames. Father Peter Pernin writes about hunting in the woods accompanied by a 12-year-old boy:
Before the Fire
On September 24 (about two weeks before the Great Fire), the woods west of town were burning. Sparks ignited the pile of sawdust next to the woodenware factory. The factory sounded its alarm whistle, and men from the town put out the fire with buckets of water from the river. On the same day, a fire ignited in Marinette and was put out by the new volunteer fire department. Other small towns on both sides of the bay also fought fires the week before the great fire.
Because of the constant fires, the air was often full of smoke. Some days school was closed because of it, and lamps were lit during the daytime because the sun was blocked. Ships in the bay blew foghorns and navigated by compass even during the day. Some people became ill from breathing all the smoke.
This report considers the costs of protecting U.S. communities that are vulnerable to wildfires. It then highlights current efforts to help these communities, as well as how these efforts can be strengthened. The final sections of the report outline specific state and federal policy recommendations that would help ensure that the most vulnerable communities and populations receive the support they need to prepare for catastrophic wildfires.
The devastating effects of wildfires over the past several years make a clear and urgent case for proactively preparing for fires. But the amount of work needed to effectively do so will take years to implement fully. Policymakers must act now to ensure that resources are delivered to the most at-risk communities, regardless of socio-economic status or demographics, and that incentives are in place to direct future development away from the areas that are most at risk of wildfire.
The fire started in Queen Victoria's Private Chapel, where a faulty spotlight ignited a curtain next to the altar. Within minutes the blaze was unstoppable and had spread to St George's Hall next door. The fire was first spotted around 11:30 in the morning and within three hours 225 firefighters from seven counties were battling the flames. At the peak of the operation they were using 36 pumps, discharging 1 million gallons of water.
Fortunately the fire break at the other end of St George's Hall remained unbreached, so the Royal Library was undamaged. Meanwhile staff were removing works of art from the Royal Collection from the path of the fire. The Castle's Quadrangle was full of some of the finest examples of French 18th-century furniture, paintings by Van Dyck, Rubens and Gainsborough, Sèvres porcelain and other treasures of the Collection.
Amazingly, only two works of art were lost in the fire - a rosewood sideboard and a very large painting by Sir William Beechey that couldn't be taken down from the wall in time. Luckily works of art had already been removed from many rooms in advance of rewiring work.
The fire was finally extinguished at 2:30am on Saturday, 21 November, but it had burned for 15 hours. The next step was the huge restoration task to restore the Castle back to its former glory. There were several different options for the Restoration Committee, chaired by The Duke of Edinburgh, to consider. Should the Castle be restored to its appearance on 19 November 1992, the day before the terrible fire or should a new approach be taken?
A combination approach was taken with a new room called The Lantern Lobby created in the space where the private chapel had previously stood and where the fire had started. This created a formal passageway between the private and State Apartments. St George's Hall was restored to a design close to the room's original 14th-century appearance, but with a 20th-century reinterpretation. A new hammer-beam roof was constructed from sustainable English oak using traditional methods and tools.
The official completion date for the restoration project was 20 November 1997, 5 years to the day after the outbreak of the fire and the 50th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The iconic church in Paris, France became engulfed in a massive fire on Monday. Although it remains unclear what caused the fire, firefighters said the blaze may be "potentially linked" to renovations to the building, per Huffington Post France.
The project to repair the building's spire and work on the statues cost 6 million euro ($6.8 million) the Associated Press reported. On Monday, the iconic spire caught fire, causing the building's frame to set ablaze.
The International Ladies' Garment Workers Union organized workers in the women's clothing trade. Many of the garment workers before 1911 were unorganized, partly because they were young immigrant women intimidated by the alien surroundings. Others were more daring, though. All were ripe for action against the poor working conditions. In 1909, an incident at the Triangle Factory sparked a spontaneous walkout of its 400 employees. The Women's Trade Union League, a progressive association of middle class white women, helped the young women workers picket and fence off thugs and police provocation. At a historic meeting at Cooper Union, thousands of garment workers from all over the city followed young Clara Lemlich's call for a general strike.
Last month, the town of Paradise was ravaged by the most destructive wildfire in the history of the state. The fire destroyed nearly 14,000 homes in Paradise and neighboring towns, and burned 18,804 structures in total.
Recently, the Butte County Sheriff's Office sent a drone over Paradise to capture aerial images of the fire-ravaged area. When compared to images from Google Maps from before the fire, the images become all the more striking. Businesses and homes are leveled, entire streets wiped off the map.
NFPA 20 prefers BFP's/RPZ's on the discharge side of the booster pump. However many jurisdictions such as ours require the BFP on the suction side. If the device is on the suction side the following rules apply:1. Devices must be installed per NFPA 20 4.292. The device (BFP) must be a minimum of 10 pipe diameters to the suction flange of the pump (with the installation of a OS&Y type BFP). 3. If the BFP has butterfly control valves the BFP is required to be at least 50 feet from the pump suction flange measured along the route of the pipe in accordance with 4.16.5.4.*Both types of BFP's will have check assemblies, however, OS&Y's are the preferred type of valve as they cause less turbulence than a butterfly style valve.* 5. Pay attention ti the increased suction pressure loss from the BFP when sizing the pump based off the system demand.6. When a BFP is installed the final arrangement shall provide effective pump performance at the lowest permissible suction pressure.7. ***The discharge flow rate shall meet or exceed the fire protection system design flow.***8. The discharge flow rate shall meet or exceed 100% of the fire pump rated flow rate.9. Determination of effective pump performance is to be documented by engineering calculations and tests.Pay attention to any retroactive BFP installations on the suction side of a booster pump as outlined in 4.29.4.1.6 & 4.29.4.1.7Lastly pay close attention to the technical performance & installation data for the BFP itself, and ensure you have enough space for clearance and removal. I would personally recommend to add a bypass meter on the BFP even if not required by the local waterworks authority.
On Jan. 27, a week before the fire, the company issued a "customer service action" for a small group of vehicles to have parts replaced to "prevent performance degradation" of the high-voltage battery. Ford Motor said the problem only affected about 100 vehicles so far and is not believed to be connected to the Feb. 4 fire. Ford said it is monitoring the vehicles remotely and proactively contacting customers when the company spots the problem.
Toyota Motor last year had to recall its first mass-produced global EV because of a risk the wheels could come loose. General Motors two years ago recalled all of its Chevrolet Bolt EV models due to fire issues. Others such as Hyundai, BMW and Volvo also have recalled electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, due to fire risks in recent years.
To be clear, fire concerns are not exclusive to EVs, they've historically been problems for the auto industry and continue to occur. Stellantis' Ram Trucks this week announced a recall of 340,000 large diesel pickup trucks to replace an electrical connector after reports of six fires.
Ford's Jan. 27 notice was issued for a battery module problem, which can first show a "wrench" warning on the dash before slowing down into a restrained performance mode or, at worst, becoming immobile by not shifting into drive.
Regarding the issue that caused the fire and prompted Ford to halt production and shipments of the vehicle early last week, Ford said it is unaware of any incidents or issues associated with vehicles already delivered to dealers or customers.
Ford said Wednesday it believes engineers have found the root cause of the fire. The investigation into the problem is expected to be completed by the end of next week, followed by adjustments to the truck's battery production process that "could take a few weeks."
During these three decades, Chicago grew from a small city of 109,000 into a large one with a population of more than 1,000,000. It is often said that no city of the Western world had ever grown so quickly. Chicago's growth was in part associated with its status as the most important node in the American railroad system, which reached the Pacific in 1869. Industries prospered, particularly those involving the transformation of the raw materials of the West into products destined for the East. The Union Stockyards (1865), the South Works steel mills (1875), and the Pullman railway-car plant (early 1880s) were iconic examples. Growth was only barely interrupted by the catastrophic fire of 1871 in which perhaps a quarter of Chicago's dwellings and most of its business district were burned. The Fire did force the city to establish a new building code and perhaps encouraged a new self-consciousness about planning. The years after the Fire saw the implementation of the city's "boulevard" system and the inauguration of parks along the Lakefront of which Lincoln Park (institutionalized in 1864) is perhaps the best known example. 041b061a72