PBS高端访谈:美国西部的毁灭性大火开创了消防新时代

Firefighters in parts of the Western U.S. were hoping for help from cooler weather today,

驻扎在美国西部部分地区的消防队员盼着今天的天气能够转凉，

but there's still no end in sight to a plague of wildfires, including one in Northern California that keeps growing. Stephanie Sy has our report.

但野火仍在肆虐，包括北加州的野火也在继续蔓延。下面由斯蒂芬妮·赛为我们报道。

In Indian Falls, California, charred¹ homes, cars and keepsakes are all that's left, after the Dixie Fire tore through the enclave north of Sacramento.

在加州的印第安瀑布，南部大火席卷萨克拉门托北部的飞地后，只剩下烧焦的房屋、汽车和纪念品。

It's the largest active fire in the state, and one of more than 85 wildfires burning across the nation, mostly in the drought-stricken West.

这是该州最大的火灾，也是全国85起火灾之一，大部分发生在干旱的西部地区。

Unlike the sprawling² Bootleg Fire in a sparsely³ populated area of Southern Oregon, California's Dixie Fire is threatening more than 10,000 homes.

此次火灾和发生在南俄勒冈州的非法纵火不同，那里人口稀少，而加州的迪克西火灾正威胁着一万多户人家。

Cal Fire spokesman Jon Heggie says they're trying to get ahead of fire behavior that can turn aggressive quickly.

加州消防局发言人乔恩·赫吉表示，他们正努力防止火灾的迅速蔓延造成更大的破坏。

We're really being cautious to ensure that the safety of the public is taken care of, to make sure that we're giving ourselves enough lag time,

我们非常谨慎，我们要确保公众的安全，确保能有足够的滞后时间，

because what we have seen is, throughout the summer and throughout the last few years, really, is that fires have that potential to grow exponentially within a few hours, really.

因为我们所看到的是，在整个夏季和过去的几年里，真的，火灾有可能在几小时内呈指数蔓延，真的。

The fire ignited nearly two weeks ago.

大火是大约两周前发生的。

California's Pacific Gas & Electric utility said its equipment may have played a role in starting the fire, which has been fueled by a prolonged drought and erratic⁴ winds in steep hard-to-reach terrain⁵.

加州太平洋燃气电力公司表示，该公司的设备可能是引发火灾的原因之一，长期干旱和难以企及的陡峭地形上的怪风使得火灾加剧。

Heggie says it's all part of the perilous⁶ new reality firefighters face in wildfire season.

赫吉表示，这些都是消防员在野火季节面临的部分危险的现实。

The lack of rain we received last winter is really showing itself this summer as aggressive fires and big devastating⁷ fires.

去年冬天我们缺少雨水，今年夏天却发生了严重的火灾和毁灭性的大火。

And, really, the 10-year drought that we saw, we're still paying a price for that, because all that fuel that was stressed and died during that 10-year drought is still on the landscape and still is available fuel.

事实上，我们看到的10年干旱，我们仍在为此付出代价，因为所有在10年干旱期间耗尽的燃料仍然在地表上，仍然是可用的燃料。

We're in a new era of firefighting. And understanding that environment and making that preparations for it is key.

我们正处在消防的新时代。了解这种环境并为之做好准备是关键所在。

In Indian Falls, at least three dozen homes and structures have been lost, but with the Dixie Fire less than 25 percent contained, the worst wreckage⁸ may lie ahead. For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

印第安瀑布至少有30多座房屋和建筑物被毁，但由于南部大火只有四成得到了控制，所以毁坏还会更加严重。这里是PBS新闻一小时，我是斯蒂芬妮·塞。

1 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

3 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

5 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

6 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。