The fires in Hawaii cost many lives and destroyed livelihoods. One house was the only one in a neighborhood to survive the blaze unscathed.
Maui – The worst wildfires in US history for at least a hundred years: The fires in the US state of Hawaii left a picture of devastation in their wake. About 100 people lost their lives and over 2000 buildings were destroyed. A home in the hard-hit city of Lahaina is said to have survived the flames while the neighborhood burned to the ground. Experts think they know why.
House on the coast of Lahaina in Hawaii defies the flames: experts call the wind an explanation
Before the accident, 13,000 people lived in Lahaina on the island of Maui. After the fires, the town center was completely destroyed and the tranquil small town is hardly recognizable. According to the authorities, 85 percent of the fires were contained on Monday. An image by US photographer Stephen Lam des San Francisco Chronicles looks like a symbol of hope: The picture is supposed to show a house on the coast of Lahaina that defied the sea of flames against all odds, as reported by the media. It stands in radiant white and bright green in the middle of the soot-black and burned-down neighboring houses. However, the authenticity of the picture and the exact location could not initially be verified.
According to experts, the integrity of the house could be explained by favorable wind currents. “In all likelihood, we are talking about a whirling wind that turned the fire around the building,” said the former head of the civil protection organization Technisches Hilfswerk (THW) Albrecht Broemme Picture-Newspaper. Because the wind determines the direction of spread and the speed of the fires. “In the event of an accident like the one in Hawaii, favorable conditions for the fire can ensure that it – albeit not permanently – spreads easily at a speed of 50 and more kilometers per hour,” the expert continued. information of German Press Agency (dpa) the winds in Hawaii sometimes reached speeds of up to 130 kilometers per hour.
Luck played a major role in the Hawaii home being safe from the fire
At the same time, the expert acknowledged that there was a lot of luck involved. Ironically, in front of a single house, the wind turned and the flames moved on in a different direction. If you wanted to replicate this “by human hands” to protect your property, it would be impossible, according to the expert. “And of course the building must not be made of cardboard. It is extremely hot all around, easily combustible materials can catch fire immediately. We’re probably talking about a solid stone house here,” Broemme estimates aloud Picture, although the exact design of the building spared by the flames was not known. Although the home believed to be in Lahaina was unharmed, people could not have survived the fire, the expert believes: “Fire needs oxygen to burn.”
Climate change: risk of fires like those in Hawaii is increasing
According to experts, the risk of devastating forest fires like those in Hawaii is increasing due to climate change – even in places where they were previously unusual. One can “expect that forest fires will become more frequent, even in regions where they have not occurred before – especially in summer when it is dry and warm,” said climate researcher Mariam Zachariah of Imperial College London dpa. Winds also contribute to this.
“.That too is just a guess, since we don’t know the exact circumstances on site. But people could have suffocated here if the flames all around used up all the oxygen,” said the former THW boss. The residents of the area had previously been evacuated. Survivors spoke out loud New York Times however, that they partly reached the fires, before the authorities ordered evacuations. According to initial estimates by experts, the economic damage amounts to between three and 7.5 billion US dollars. US President Joe Biden has pledged disaster relief to residents of Hawaii. Hundreds of people are still missing, and authorities say the number of deaths could double. (bme/dpa)