PBS高端访谈:消防队员谈加州森林大火的巨大影响

 　　MORI ROTHMAN: Battalion¹ chief Mike Brown has been fighting fires in California for 26 years. But he's never seen a fire quite like the Blue Cut Fire in southern California's San Bernardino county, 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

　　MIKE BROWN: It was like an angry fire. These were 50 to 100 foot flame lengths, and I was just amazed to see the volume of the fire.

　　MORI ROTHMAN: In an ever lengthening² wildfire season, Brown is dispatched to fires like this more often — for days at a time. This is his second wildfire in two weeks.

　　MIKE BROWN: Fires are year round, and we've kinda come to the point that we understand that it's a year round fire season for us.

　　MORI ROTHMAN: California's wildfire season traditionally began in the summer, when vegetation dried out, and forests became more flammable. But five years of drought and hotter than average temperatures, have shrunk the break between one year's fire season and the next. Drier conditions also contribute to the rapid spread and destructiveness of the fires.

　　MORI ROTHMAN: What makes a fire like this so dangerous?

　　加州森林大火对消防队员影响巨大

　　MIKE BROWN: The reason why it's so dangerous is the intensity³ that it's burning. The vegetation was very dense⁴. We had 70 year brush that hadn't been burned. No fire history in this area. Everything was in alignment⁵.

　　MORI ROTHMAN: Volatile⁶ conditions like those in the Blue Cut Fire are becoming more common in other parts of the state — like the Cedar⁷ Fire at Sequoia⁸ National Forest last week.

　　Thousands of firefighters have been battling massive wildfires across California this summer, and experts warn this year could be worse than ever. That's because drought, intense heat and tree-eating beetles⁹ are causing a dramatic rise in the number of dead trees, turning forests like this one into a tinderbox.

　　Paul Gibbs is a spokesman for the US Forest Service.

　　PAUL GIBBS: We've never seen anything at this level and this type of mortality in recorded history that we have. To have 50 to 75 percent of your forest and dead trees — that's unprecedented¹⁰.

　　MORI ROTHMAN: Last week, Gibbs deployed¹¹ to the "cedar fire" in central california to study how the dried out trees fueled the blaze. He says the weather pattern "El Ni?o" — which typically means wetter conditions for northern and southern california — mostly missed central california. With less rain, grasses and logs dried up earlier in the summer, creating more tinder for fires.

　　MORI ROTHMAN: People thought maybe El Ni?o would make this year's wildfire season a little calmer. Has that been the case?

　　PAUL GIBBS: No, no, we're seeing just the opposite. We did get a pulse of rain, so we have a very healthy grass crop this year. But as we get temperatures in the 90s and over 100, 105, the grass dies. Then you have a combination of the dry grass, which will carry fire and start fires a lot easier.

　　MORI ROTHMAN: Gibbs is looking for that combination of dry grass and dead trees — hoping to anticipate where the next big wildfire might spark.

　　PAUL GIBBS: I think we're in store for a pretty active fall. But we've already got folks who've been out for a few days and have to start worrying about fatigue¹² of firefighters, and really pace ourselves because then you realize this is a more like marathon race than a sprint¹³.

　　MORI ROTHMAN: A marathon that's become the new normal for firefighters like Mike Brown.

　　MIKE BROWN: We've had numerous fires over the last few months. We have crews coming off of fires, you know coming on to this fire. So crews are taxed we have families that are taxed, so it's been cumbersome¹⁴ not only for firefighters but their families as well.

1 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

2 lengthening   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长

参考例句：

• The evening shadows were lengthening. 残阳下的影子越拉越长。
• The shadows are lengthening for me. 我的影子越来越长了。 来自演讲部分

3 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

4 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

5 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

6 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

7 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

8 sequoia   

n.红杉

参考例句：

• The sequoia national forest is at the southern end of the sierra nevada range.红杉国家公园位于内华达山脉南端尽头处。
• The photo shows the enormous general Sherman tree in California's sequoia national park.照片显示的是加利福尼亚州红杉国家公园内巨大的谢尔曼将军树。

9 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

11 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

12 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

13 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

14 cumbersome   

adj.笨重的，不便携带的

参考例句：

• Although the machine looks cumbersome,it is actually easy to use.尽管这台机器看上去很笨重，操作起来却很容易。
• The furniture is too cumbersome to move.家具太笨，搬起来很不方便。