The introduction to an in-depth story on Santa Ana winds in Los Angeles Magazine says the predictable and powerful hot desert winds that annually fan Southern California fires "push tempers toward violence." That comment may have been prompted by reporter David Gardetta's telephone interview for the article with the co-director of the UC Berkeley Fire Center, Max Moritz.
As quoted in the story, Moritz strongly lamented the fact that fire research has largely focused on fuel instead of wind.
“This is the source of my frustration and the story of my latest crusade. I’ve been yelling for years that winds like the Santa Anas are one of the key missing pieces in understanding fire," Moritz was quoted.
“Right now (June 2008) we have a thousand fires burning in California, and we can’t say what the fire weather will be in two weeks," Moritz continued. "The California Department of Forestry throws billions of dollars at wildfire, they’re losing every year, and not a scrap of funding goes to the question of wind.”
Gardetta wrote that Moritz "reeled off" what scientists could know, if research had been funded:
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Where will Santa Anas blow?
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When will Santa Anas hit?
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How bad will Santa Anas be for fire crews?
"It's amazing," Moritz was quoted, "we don’t even have fire severity maps that include weather patterns like the Santa Anas. The last comprehensive study was done in the ’60s.”
Moritz's comments are found on the fifth of six full pages of text in the story's online version.
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