第1段

Wildfires are becoming an increasing menace in the western United States, with Southern California being the hardest hit area. There’s a reason fire squads battling more frequent blazes in Southern California are having such difficulty containing the flames, despite better preparedness than ever and decades of experience fighting fires fanned by the ‘Santa Ana Winds’. The wildfires themselves, experts say, are generally hotter, faster, and spread more erratically than in the past.

    第1段：

野火在美国西部地区日益成为一个越来越严重的威胁，而南加州是受灾最严重的地区。尽管与以往相比，消防队员们在应对越来越频繁的南加州大火时准备更充分、具有数十年的灭火经验，并有“圣安娜风”的助力，但专家表示，野火本身通常比过去更炽热、更快速，并且传播更加不规律。

第2段

Megafires, also called ‘siege fires’, are the increasingly frequent blazes that burn 500,000 acres or more – 10 times the size of the average forest fire of 20 years ago. Some recent wildfires are among the biggest ever in California in terms of acreage burned, according to state figures and news reports.

第2段：

“巨型火灾”，也被称为“围城火灾”，是指燃烧面积达到50万英亩或更大的火灾，是20年前普通森林火灾规模的10倍。根据州级数据和新闻报道，最近的一些野火在燃烧面积上创下了加利福尼亚历史上最大的记录。

第3段

One explanation for the trend to more superhot fires is that the region, which usually has dry summers, has had significantly below normal precipitation in many recent years. Another reason, experts say, is related to the century-long policy of the US Forest Service to stop wildfires as quickly as possible. The unintentional consequence has been to halt the natural eradication of underbrush, now the primary fuel for megafires.

第3段：

对于出现更多超高温火灾的趋势，有一种解释是该地区通常在夏季干燥，而近年来很多年份的降水明显低于正常水平。专家表示，另一个原因与美国森林管理局长达一个世纪的政策有关，即尽快扑灭野火。这种无意中导致的结果是阻止了自然清除底层灌木丛的过程，而这些底层灌木丛现在成为巨型火灾主要的燃料。

第4段

Three other factors contribute to the trend, they add. First is climate change, marked by a 1-degree Fahrenheit rise in average yearly temperature across the western states. Second is fire seasons that on average are 78 days longer than they were 20 years ago. Third is increased construction of homes in wooded areas.

第4段：

他们还补充说，另外三个因素也导致了这一趋势。首先是气候变化，西部各州年均气温上升了1华氏度。其次是火灾季节比20年前平均长出78天。第三是在林地区修建住宅的增加。

第5段

‘We are increasingly building our homes in fire-prone ecosystems,’ says Dominik Kulakowski, adjunct professor of biology at Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Worcester, Massachusetts. ‘Doing that in many of the forests of the western US is like building homes on the side of an active volcano.’

第5段：

马萨诸塞州伍斯特市克拉克大学地理研究生院生物学兼职教授多米尼克·库拉科夫斯基表示：“我们越来越多地在容易发生火灾的生态系统中修建住宅。在美国西部的许多森林地区这样做就好像是在活火山的一侧建房子一样。”

第6段

In California, where population growth has averaged more than 600,000 a year for at least a decade, more residential housing is being built. ‘What once was open space is now residential homes providing fuel to make fires burn with greater intensity,’ says Terry McHale of the California Department of Forestry firefighters’ union. ‘With so much dryness, so many communities to catch fire, so many fronts to fight, it becomes an almost incredible job.’

第6段：

在过去的十年里，加利福尼亚的人口增长平均每年超过60万。不断有更多的住宅被建造。“曾经是开阔空间的地方现在变成了提供更高燃烧强度的燃料的住宅区，”加利福尼亚林业部消防工会的特里·麦克哈尔说。“在如此干旱的情况下，这么多社区都可能发生火灾，有这么多战线要打，这几乎成为了一个难以置信的工作。”

第7段

That said, many experts give California high marks for making progress on preparedness in recent years, after some of the largest fires in state history scorched thousands of acres, burned thousands of homes, and killed numerous people. Stung in the past by criticism of bungling that allowed fires to spread when they might have been contained, personnel are meeting the peculiar challenges of neighborhood—and canyon—hopping fires better than previously, observers say.

第7段：

尽管遭受了加州历史上一些最大规模的火灾肆虐，烧毁数千英亩土地，烧毁成千上万栋房屋，并造成了众多人员伤亡，但许多专家对加利福尼亚近年来在预防准备方面取得的进展给予高度评价。观察人士表示，在过去允许火灾蔓延而本可以控制的情况下出现的失误批评之后，人员在应对邻里和峡谷大火这种特殊挑战方面比以往更好。

第8段

State promises to provide more up-to-date engines, planes, and helicopters to fight fires have been fulfilled. Firefighters’ unions that in the past complained of dilapidated equipment, old fire engines, and insufficient blueprints for fire safety are now praising the state’s commitment, noting that funding for firefighting has increased, despite huge cuts in many other programs. ‘We are pleased that the current state administration has been very proactive in its support of us, and [has] come through with budgetary support of the infrastructure needs we have long sought,’ says Mr. McHale of the firefighters’ union.

第8段：

州政府承诺提供更时效性的引擎、飞机和直升机来对抗火灾，并已兑现了这一承诺。过去曾抱怨装备老旧、消防车陈旧以及消防安全蓝图不足的消防工会现在对州政府的承诺表示赞赏，并指出尽管许多其他项目都大幅削减，但用于消防的资金有所增加。“我们对当前的州政府在支持我们方面非常积极，并且在改善我们长期以来一直寻求的基础设施需求方面给予了预算支持，”消防工会的麦克哈尔先生说。

第9段

Besides providing money to upgrade the fire engines that must traverse the mammoth state and wind along serpentine canyon roads, the state has invested in better command-and-control facilities as well as in the strategies to run them. ‘In the fire sieges of earlier years, we found that other jurisdictions and states were willing to offer mutual-aid help, but we were not able to communicate adequately with them,’ says Kim Zagaris, chief of the state’s Office of Emergency Services Fire and Rescue Branch. After a commission examined and revamped communications procedures, the statewide response ‘has become far more professional and responsive,’ he says. There is a sense among both government officials and residents that the speed, dedication, and coordination of firefighters from several states and jurisdictions are resulting in greater efficiency than in past ‘siege fire’ situations.

第9段：

除了提供资金升级必须穿行广袤州境并曲线通过峡谷道路的消防车辆外，该州还投资于更好的指挥与控制设施以及相应的运行策略。“在之前的火灾围城事件中，我们发现其他司法辖区和州愿意提供互助援助，但我们无法与他们进行充分的沟通，”该州应急事务办公室消防救援部门主管金·扎加里斯说。在一项委员会审查和改进通信程序之后，全州的响应“变得更加专业和敏捷”，他说。无论是政府官员还是居民都感到，来自多个州和司法辖区的消防人员的速度、奉献精神和协调配合比过去的“围城火灾”情况下更加高效。

第10段

In recent years, the Southern California region has improved building codes, evacuation procedures, and procurement of new technology. ‘I am extraordinarily impressed by the improvements we have witnessed,’ says Randy Jacobs, a Southern California-based lawyer who has had to evacuate both his home and business to escape wildfires. ‘Notwithstanding all the damage that will continue to be caused by wildfires, we will no longer suffer the loss of life endured in the past because of the fire prevention and firefighting measures that have been put in place,’ he says.

第10段：

近年来，南加州地区改进了建筑规范、疏散程序和新技术的采购。“我对我们目睹到的改进印象非常深刻，”居住在南加州并曾不得不撤离自己的家庭和企业逃避野火的律师兰迪·雅各布斯说。“尽管野火将继续造成所有的破坏，但由于已经采取的防火和灭火措施，我们将不再遭受过去那样的人员伤亡。”