Statistics from the Eastern Regional Fire Service show that eleven bushfires were recorded out of the 23 fire outbreaks that occurred between the 1st and the 7th of January this year.
The Eastern Regional Fire Commander, ACFOI Jennifer Quaye advised farmers to seek the expertise of fire volunteers when preparing their farms for the planting season to avoid fires from spreading to other farms.
From January 1st 2023 to January 7th 2023, the Eastern Region recorded twenty-three fire outbreaks and three road accidents. Bushfires topped the category of fires with eleven incidents due to the harmattan season as farmers prepare their farms for cultivation after the dry season. Four domestic, one industrial, as well as three commercial fires were all recorded within the first week of this month. Other fires recorded include two vehicular and two refuse dump fires.
Six casualties were recorded out of the three road accidents.
The Eastern Regional Fire Commander, ACFOI Jennifer Quaye said ”with these alarming figures in just 7 days in the month of January, farmers are advised to consult fire volunteers as they prepare their farms for the farming season”.
While calling on the public to continue to adhere to the fire safety protocols to prevent undesired fires, she urged drivers to obey the traffic rules and regulations to prevent loss of lives.
ACFOI Quaye promised the command’s readiness to continue to educate the public to understand the messages on safety they send across as well as deal with all fires and other related incidents likely to occur in 2023.
Meanwhile, Authorities have announced that at least 16 people have been killed by flooding caused by the storm raging in California, LA Times reports.
“These floods are deadly and have now turned to be more deadly than even the wildfires here in the state of California,” Governor Gavin Newsom said during a news conference over the weekend.
While it’s too early to know exactly how much the damage from these storms will cost California, it could reach or exceed $1bn, according to Adam Smith, an applied climatologist and disaster expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Last year the US experienced 18 weather and climate disasters costing at least $1bn, putting 2022 in a three-way tie with 2017 and 2011 for the third highest number of billion-dollar disasters in a year, according to a report published by the agency.
Early Tuesday, the Merced County sheriff issued a mandatory evacuation order for the town of Planada just east of Merced, affecting 4,000 residents, after Bear Creek began to flood amid heavy rain.
A day earlier, Merced city officials had issued evacuation orders and warnings along a number of residential neighborhoods along Bear Creek, which runs through the heart of the city.
Merced is bisected by Bear Creek, a tributary for the Mokelumne River that starts in the Sierra Nevada. Bear Creek’s water levels reached the major flood stage early Tuesday, sending muddy water into neighborhoods and stranding motorists.
