VOA慢速英语2016--消防员与美国西部野外火情战斗

AS IT IS 2016-08-19 Firefighters Battle Western U.S. Wildfires 消防员与美国西部野外火情战斗

This week, a fast-moving fire forced American officials to order the removal of more than 82,000 people from an area north of San Bernardino, California.

Twelve hours after the fire began, it had already burned more than 6,000 hectares. Because of the fire and smoke, officials closed roads, including part of the one that connects the Los Angeles area and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hundreds of people are working to contain the fire. The job is even more difficult because of the hot, windy, and dry weather.

Wildfires are common in the western United States during the warm summer months.

In northern and central California, wildfires have destroyed more than 100 structures. The fires have forced more than 1,000 people to flee from their homes.

Four years of drought — little or no rainfall — has helped fires spread in northern California. There are six major fires still burning in California and others burning throughout the West.

In Los Angeles, many homes are just a short drive from wilderness¹ areas. The drought conditions make the dry plants and grasses catch fire quickly. But officials say they are ready to fight the seasonal² fires with newly-leased aircraft.

These include helicopters known as “super-scoopers,” which are able to collect water supplies without landing.

VOA spoke⁵ with fire officials and pilots near the aircraft.

Richard Licon is with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

"(On) rivers, lakes, they can scoop⁴ up the water and be ready to go and fight fire continuously without having to ground (land) unless they have to refuel."

The huge helicopter carries 10,000 liters of water. But it takes skill to fly it through fire areas. Natalie Jones knows this. As a pilot, it is her job to fly the helicopter and help put out fires.

"We're in an environment that's inherently⁶ dangerous to begin with, so making sure that you can see other aircraft in the flight path, in the area around you, and making sure you have good communications, safety first with everything. And making sure that we're not dropping water on anything that's going to harm anybody below us."

She and other pilots wait to be called into action in Los Angeles. They talk about the issues around keeping themselves, firefighters and their equipment ready for the fires they know will come.

Paul Gottwig is with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

"It's very difficult, given the amount of pilots that you have, to continue 24-hour operations, rotate⁷ those pilots through rest periods, rotate them back onto the fire, is one of the biggest challenges. Also, another big challenge for helicopters and all the airplanes is maintenance⁸, keeping the aircraft flying continuously."

In northern and central California, officials say the fire season could continue until November. But in the southern part of the state, the season could last even longer because of the current drought.

Words in This Story

drought – n. a dry period in the weather with little or no rainfall

lease³ – v. agreement that lets someone use a car, plane or house for a period of time in return for payment

rotate – v. regularly change the person who does a job so that each takes the place of another in a group

1 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

2 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

3 lease   

n.租约，租期，租；v.出租，租出，租得

参考例句：

• When does the lease of the house run out?这房子的租约何时到期？
• He signed the lease yesterday.昨天他在租约上签了字。

4 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 inherently   

内在的，固有的

参考例句：

• There is nothing inherently improbable in the idea. 这个想法本身没什么不可能的。
• All business activities are inherently risky. 所有的商业活动本质上都有风险。

7 rotate   

v.（使）旋转，转动；使轮流

参考例句：

• The doctor asked the patient to rotate his eyes.医生叫病人转动一下眼球。
• You can rotate the wheel with your hand.你可以用手转动轮子。

8 maintenance   

n.维修，保养，扶养费，维持，保持

参考例句：

• His small farm provides maintenance,but not much more.他的小农场能使他们维持生活，但仅此而已。
• He has to pay maintenance to his ex-wife.他必须给前妻赡养费。