Northern California Preemptively Turns Off Power to Thousands Preparing For Dangerous Fire Conditions
The Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) has preemptively cut off power to roughly 87,000 customers in Northern California to prepare for dangerous fire conditions. The move is unprecedented in the region but the power company is being extra cautious after last year’s devastating fires.
The Devilish (and Dare We Say Brilliant) Way Australia’s Feral Cats Use Fire to Hunt Down Prey
It’s hard to imagine your housecat as a particularly savvy killer. Sure, it may swat at a shoelace dangled in its face, or bunny-kick its favorite fish toy when it’s in, you know, a mood. It may even catch a bug now and then. But your cat probably spends most of the day delicately curled up on the couch, seemingly…
Border Agent Who Started Wildfire With Explosive 'Gender Reveal' Party Must Pay $220,000
An Arizona border patrol agent started a wildfire during a “gender reveal” party involving a firearm and explosives, likely making it the most expensive such celebration in the history of the ridiculous ritual.
A Giant Wildfire Has Cut off Yellowstone's Southern Gateway
All summer long, national parks have been lit up, shut down, and damaged by destructive wildfires. Now, it seems the trend has continued into fall.
Canadian Firenado Steals Firefighters’ Hose, Hits Them With Burning Logs
It is becoming increasingly clear the planet is trying to tell us it is sick of our crap and it is done playing. The latest example? A firenado sucking a team of firefighters’ hose into the sky.
Feud Week, Dungeons & Dragons, Shooting Bigfoot, and IFA 2018: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week
Here at Gizmodo, we’ve just wrapped up Feud Week: A series on personality and business clashes in the tech world, scientific disputes, and whether or not to shoot Bigfoot. (I say let the big guy do his thing, unless it turns out it’s kidnapping people with mind-waves to make more Bigfoots.) Some have said that a Nice…
Here's How the Pros Fight Wildfires
If the summer of 2018 has proven one thing, it’s that fighting large wildfires is serious business. But how exactly do we do it? Contrary to what some politicians might think, it takes a lot more than rivers of water.
American Wildfire Forces Canadian National Park to Shut Down
Canada and the U.S. share a lot of things, chief among them a border. To commemorate said border, there’s a peace park that ceremonially joins Glacier National Park in the U.S. and Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada.
Earth Is on Fire. It's Always on Fire
A new satellite image of our planet shows fires raging across the world, from Canada to Australia to South America to Sub-Saharan Africa. But despite its striking appearance, much of this is actually quite ordinary.
As the World Burns, There Will Be Fewer Firefighters to Share
As out-of-control wildfires raged across the West, U.S. firefighting authorities took a seemingly unusual step late last month: they called up Australia and New Zealand and asked for help.
Verizon Throttled Fire Department's 'Unlimited' Plan While They Were Fighting Mendocino Complex Fire
Verizon throttled the Santa Clara County Fire Department’s supposedly “unlimited” data plan while the agency was fighting the record wildfires that have burned over one million acres of the state, Ars Technica reported on Tuesday.
Folks, I'm Not Sure This Plan to Blow All the Wildfire Smoke Into Canada Is Gonna Work
Massive, ravaging wildfires are now the norm on the West Coast, with the state of California now regularly breaking fire records, Canada’s British Columbia experiencing the third-worst fire season in recorded history, and all the smoke from those fires spreading across much of the continent and even further. But don’t…
Can We Afford to Keep Rebuilding in the Line of Wildfires?
Jessica Wentz escaped the concrete confines of New York for her childhood home of Santa Rosa, California last year. At the time, the decision seemed like a no brainer, leaving behind a landscape dominated by humans for one where homes mingled with the forest and rolling chaparral hills of Northern California.
Canada's Wildfires Have Turned Day Into Night
Just when you think this wildfire season can’t get worse, something new comes along to remind you this year is truly one of rare horrors.
Ryan Zinke Has Taken His Rambling, Confused Thoughts on Climate Change and Wildfires All Over the Country
Park ranger cosplay enthusiast Ryan Zinke has had himself a couple of weeks. In the midst of a catastrophic summer of wildfires, the Secretary of the Interior has tied himself in knots trying to figure out how to talk about the role of climate change in driving those fires.
Watch This Terrifying New Footage of California's Fire Tornado
The Carr Fire is in the record books as one of California’s largest and most destructive fires. But it will also forever live in nightmares for unleashing one of the most terrifying spectacles on Earth in the form of a firenado.
Great, Now Canadian Wildfire Smoke Is Crossing the AtlanticÂ
Some personal news: I’m about done with wildfires.
Glacier National Park Is on Fire
Weeks after Yosemite Valley closed due to wildfires for the first time in decades, parts of Glacier National Park in Montana have been evacuated thanks to an explosive fire.
Hotter Fires Could Mess With Entire Food Webs
As photos of charred forest remains emerge from California’s latest round of explosive wildfires, it’s becoming clear that a worsening wildfire season will have ecological consequences. And not just for the trees: Understory plants and fungi, and the food webs that depend on them, are also feeling the burn.
