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North of London | In the west it is drier than normal
Also warmer, much warmer than normal.
A forest fire needs 3 things, fuel (and a pine forest always has lots of that), heat (which Alberta has record amounts of this year) and oxygen (it was windy as the fires began)
Now the fires are so big they create there own wind to bring in oxygen and their own heat too.
Fire officials say they only thing that can stop this fire now is rain and the light showers they had in the area evaporated almost immediately, some before they even hit the ground.
Temperatures have been in the low 30ies C way above normal but a little cooling is moving in now.
Anyone who has been involved with a wheat fire will understand how a forest fire can burn slowly and then suddenly race ahead with a little wind which is sometimes self created by the fire then make those wheat stalks metres high and sending out smouldering pieces in the wind.
The fires sometimes create fire tornadoes from the heat, and some have been seen in this one, which can lift part trees on fire up into the air and on into the unburned areas to start more fire.
Have been in burning wheat fields too many times to not be able to envision what the fire fighters are going through up there. | |
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Fort McMurray is Burning
