[C10T4P1]The Megafires of California
Wildfires are becoming an increasing menace in the
western United States, with Southern California being the hardest hit area.
随着南加利福尼亚州成为受灾最重的地区，疯狂的大火成为美国西部越来越大的威胁。
There’s
a reason fire squads battling more frequent blazes in Southern California are
having such difficulty containing the flames, despite better preparedness than
ever and decades of experience fighting fires fanned by the ‘Santa Ana Winds’.
尽管对于火灾有比以往更好的防范和数十年与由“圣安娜风”助势所产生的大火斗争的经验，但是与大火作战更频繁的南加州消防队仍有相当的困难去控制火灾。
The wildfires
themselves, experts say, are generally hotter, faster, and spread more
erratically than in the past.
专家认为，大火本身比过去热度更高、蔓延更快、传播更不规律。
Megafires, also called ‘ siege fires’,
are the increasingly frequent blazes that burn 500,000 acres or more - 10 times
the size of the average forest fire of 20 years ago.
特大火灾，也称“围攻火灾”，指的是造成损失面积达 50 万英亩甚至更多（是 20 年前森林火灾的 10 倍）的日益频繁的火灾。
Some recent wildfires
are among the biggest ever in California in terms of acreage burned, according
to state figures and news reports.
据官方数据和新闻报道，就燃烧面积而言，一些最近的火灾是加州有史以来最大的。
One explanation for the trend to more superhot fires is
that the region, which usually has dry summers, has had significantly below
normal precipitation in many recent years.
关于出现更多的超高温火灾趋势的一个解释是通常该地区夏季干燥，最近几年降水量显著低于正常水平。
Another reason, experts say, is
related to the century-long policy of the US Forest Service to stop wildfires
as quickly as possible.
专家认为，另一个原因同美国长达一个世纪的森林服务政策相关，这个政策要求尽可能快地熄灭火灾。
The unintentional consequence has been to halt the
natural eradication of underbrush , now the primary fuel for megafires.
这带来的意外后果是阻止了矮树丛的自然消亡，这种矮树丛现在是大火的主要燃料。
Three other factors contribute to the trend, they add.
造成这种趋势的其他三个因素如下：
First is climate change, marked by a 1-degree Fahrenheit rise in average yearly
temperature across the western states.
首先是气候变化，在西部地区气温以每年平均 1华氏度上升。
Second is fire seasons that on
average are 78 days longer than they were 20 years ago.
第二是火灾季节比 20 年前平均超出 78 天。
Third is increased
construction of homes in wooded areas.
第三是在树木繁茂的地区房屋的建设增加了。
‘We are increasingly building our homes in fire-prone
ecosystems,’ says Dominik Kulakowski, adjunct professor
of biology at Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Worcester,
Massachusetts.
“我们在易燃生态系统内建立越来越多的家园，”马萨诸塞州克拉克大学伍斯特地理研究生学院的兼职生物学教授 Dominik Kulakowski 说，
‘Doing that in many of the forests
of the western US is like building homes on the side of an active volcano.’
“在美国西部的森林里建房屋就如同把房屋建到了活跃的火山上。”
In California, where population growth has averaged more
than 600,000 a year for at least a decade, more residential housing is being
built.
在加利福尼亚，至少十年里平均每年的人口增长超过了 60 万，更多的住宅房屋正在被建设。
‘What
once was open space is now residential homes providing fuel to make fires burn
with greater intensity,’ says Terry McHale of the
California Department of Forestry firefighters, union.
“曾经开阔的空地现在建满了住宅，这为火灾提供了更大强度的燃料。”加州森林消防联盟部门的 Terry McHale 说，
‘With so much dryness, so many communities to catch fire, so many
fronts to fight, it becomes an almost incredible job.’
“干燥度如此高，加上许多社区着火，有这么多前线要去战斗，这几乎成为一个令人难以置信的工作。”
That said, many experts give California high marks for
making progress on preparedness in recent years, after some of the largest
fires in state history scorched thousands of acres, burned thousands of homes,
and killed numerous people.
尽管如此，在加州历史上某些大火烧焦了数千英亩的面积、烧毁了数以千计的房屋、夺走了无数人的生命以后，许多专家还是为加州近年来防备工作方面的进步打了高分。观察家认为，由于在过去一些拙劣的应对导致明明能够被控制的火灾还是蔓延开来，这种情况受到了批评。
Stung in the past by criticism of bungling that
allowed fires to spread when they might have been contained, personnel are
meeting the peculiar challenges of neighborhood—and canyon —hopping
fires better than previously, observers say.
在这样的刺激下，人事部门在面临社区以及峡谷带来的特殊挑战时，处理火灾方面比从前做得更好了。
State promises to provide more up-to-date engines,
planes, and helicopters to fight fires have been fulfilled.
州政府对于提供最新的发动机、飞机和直升机用以对抗火灾的承诺已经被履行。
Firefighters'
unions that in the past complained of dilapidated equipment, old fire engines,
and insufficient blueprints for fire safety are now praising the state’s commitment , noting
that funding for firefighting has increased, despite huge cuts in many other
programs.
消防员过去经常抱怨设备破旧、引擎落后和消防安全的详细规划不足，现在他们赞扬政府的承诺，并指出尽管其他许多方面经费有大幅削减，但是消防经费增加了。
‘We are pleased that the current state
administration has been very proactive in its support of us, and [has] come
through with budgetary support of the infrastructure needs we have long sought,’ says Mr. McHale of the firefighters' union.
“我们很高兴当前的政府一直积极支持我们，并且已经批准了我们长期以来一直寻求的基础设施建设的财政预算，”消防员联盟的 McHale 先生说。
Besides providing money to upgrade the fire engines that
must traverse the mammoth state and wind along serpentine canyon roads, the
state has invested in better command-and-control facilities as well as in the
strategies to run them.
除了提供资金来升级必须横跨整个加州和蜿蜒的峡谷道路的消防引擎，州政府已经在更好地指挥控制设施以及运行它们的策略上进行了投资。
‘In the fire sieges of earlier years, we
found that other jurisdictions and states were willing to offer mutual-aid
help, but we were not able to communicate adequately with them,’ says Kim Zagaris, chief of the state’s
Office of Emergency Services Fire and Rescue Branch .
“在早些年大火灾时，我们发现其他辖区和州愿意提供互助性质的帮助，但我们无法与他们充分地沟通。”火灾紧急服务和救援部门的 Kim Zagaris 说。
After a commission
examined and revamped communications procedures, the statewide response ‘has become far more professional and responsive,’ he says.
在一次委员会审查和修订通信程序之后，全州范围内的回应“已经变得更专业和互动”。
There is a sense among both government officials and
residents that the speed, dedication , and coordination of firefighters from
several states and jurisdictions are resulting in greater efficiency than in
past ‘ siege fire’ situations.
政府官员和居民都有一种感觉，那就是来自于各个州和司法管辖区的消防员的速度、奉献与合作使面对大火攻城时的效率比过去更高了。
In recent years, the Southern California region has
improved building codes, evacuation procedures, and procurement of new
technology.
近年来，南加州地区已经改善了建筑规范和疏散程序并且采购了新技术。
‘I
am extraordinarily impressed by the improvements we have witnessed,’ says Randy Jacobs, a Southern California-based lawyer who has had
to evacuate both his home and business to escape wildfires.
“我对我们所见证的进步印象非常深刻，”一名为躲避火灾而不得不撤离他的家和生意的圣地亚哥律师 Randy Jacobs 说，
‘Notwithstanding all the damage that will continue to be caused by
wildfires, we will no longer suffer the loss of life endured in the past
because of the fire prevention and firefighting measures that have been put in
place,’ he says.
“尽管火灾还会带来损失，但是我们无需再遭受人员伤亡的损失，因为防火和消防措施已经很到位了。
