A burning issue: Wildfire warning systems
This year, California and Australia have experienced major wildfires as a result of similar conditions — extremely dry weather, unusually high temperatures and strong winds.
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In many ways, Australia is far ahead of the United States when it comes to warning its population about bush fires, and this may be playing a role in keeping the death toll there relatively low — at six, so far — considering more than 1.01 million hectares have burned and more than 400 structures have been lost.
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In September 2009, a national agreement established a new framework for bush fire warnings, linked to the Fire Danger Rating.
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Contrast Australia's approach with that of California, where evacuation orders are issued by local law enforcement and different counties use different platforms to disseminate wildfire information.
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