论文部分内容阅读
2013年6月，美国亚利桑那州中部发生野外火灾。野火迅速蔓延，威胁到当地一个城镇，19名消防队员在救火过程中不幸遇难。痛定思痛，两年后的今天，我们能从火灾中得到什么样的教训呢？另外，我们也应该学点森林火灾的自救技巧：在森林火灾中对人身造成的伤害主要来自高温、浓烟和一氧化碳，容易造成热烤中暑、烧伤、窒息或中毒，尤其是一氧化碳具有潜伏性，会降低人的神经敏锐性，中毒后不容易被察觉。因此，一旦发现自己身处森林着火区域，应当使用沾湿的毛巾遮住口鼻，附近有水的话最好把身上的衣服浸湿，这样就多了一层保护。然后要判明火势大小、火苗燃烧的方向，应当逆风逃生，切不可顺风逃生。
Lessons in the Ashes
Eric Westervelt （Host）： Two years ago this week， 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots， a team of 1）elite firefighters from Prescott， Ariz.， were killed in the foothills of Northern Arizona. The Yarnell Hill Fire was one of the deadliest incidents for wildland firefighters in U.S. history. As the wind shifted and the fire closed in， the Hotshot’s radio transmissions grew increasingly panicked.
（Soundbite of archived Recording）
Unidentified Firefighter： OK， we’re here at Granite Mountain Hotshots. Our escape route has been cut off. We are preparing a deployment site. We are burning out around ourselves in the brush.
Westervelt： Today， there are still questions about what happened and what lessons can be gained from the tragedy. Kyle Dickman， a former Hotshot himself， has written a new book about the Yarnell Fire called On the Burning Edge. He joins us now from Santa Fe. Kyle Dickman， welcome to the program.
Kyle Dickman： Thanks for having me.
Westervelt： So， take us back to late June， 2013. Weather and winds shifted on the Yarnell Hill Fire. Nineteen of the crew were in the forest battling this two-day-old blaze when their commander had a huge decision to make. Take us through what you know about what happened next.
Dickman： So the fire was burning very intensely. It was burning to the north all day. And about 4 o’clock， a number of 2）thunderstorms developed overhead. And the fire suddenly changed directions. There was 30- to 40-mile-an-hour winds that were put out， and what had been a relatively sleepy 3）flank of the fire suddenly jumped and became， you know， 20-foot and then 30-foot and then 40-foot flames. And that wall of fire was rushing toward the town of Yarnell. And Eric Marsh， who was the 4）superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshots， was forced to make a decision. He had to decide whether or not he wanted to leave the safety of what’s called the black， which is the already burned fuel， and move into the town of Yarnell where they could presumably do something to protect the houses. Or he would keep his crew in the safety of the black and watch this town burn. Ultimately， of course， he decided to move the crew back into the town of Yarnell， and they never made it. The fire caught them before they reached the houses. Westervelt： There was only one survivor， Brendan McDonough， nicknamed Donut. How’s he doing two years after this tragedy？
Dickman： He’s still coping， you know. He lost 19 of his closest friends. I mean， he calls them his brothers. And his experience that day was also mind-bogglingly intense. He was pushed off of his lookout. He was serving as a lookout， and he came very close to being burned to death. The investigators later found that if things hadn’t have changed， he would’ve been the first 5）casualty on the Yarnell Hill Fire except that he was 6）swooped up by a guy in a four-wheeler and sort of rushed away from the advancing wall of flames. So it’s not only that he’s dealing with the survivor’s guilt of being the only guy who survived from his crew， but he’s also dealing with 7）PTSD.
Westervelt： Of these widows and family members who spoke to you about the tragedy， does one family and their story stick out for you？
Dickman： Yeah. I think so. One boy’s name was Grant McKee. He was the youngest guy in the crew. And Grant McKee was really hesitant. He didn’t necessarily want to join the crew， and he didn’t want to be a Hotshot. He wanted to be a 8）paramedic. And so he had a really hard time sort of fitting into the—you know， to the rough-andtumble culture of the Hotshot crew. And， well， I think what touched me about Grant’s story was watching him come into it， you know， so reluctant to join the crew and then， you know， go from being an outcast to being an accepted member and actually sort of falling in love with the job.
Westervelt： To some， this was bad luck and a dramatic wind shift； to others， it was an unforgivable human error by the commander. Where do you fall down on this？
Dickman： I don’t know that I would call it unforgivable， but I also would certainly say that it’s a human error. I think more important than looking and dwelling on the mistakes that were made that day， I think it’s worth taking a bigger picture perspective on what happened and asking ourselves， well， why did these men die？ And what can we do in the future to prevent more wildland firefighter deaths？ And I think many of the agencies’ answers to that is to invest more funding into technologies like better fire shelters， which were the last-ditch aluminum blankets that the men ultimately died under， and then also to equip some of the firefighters with GPS devices so that they can be tracked. But what we’re not seeing a lot of is much discussion of potential policy changes. Westervelt： And given America’s long history of fire 9）suppression and now severe drought in the west， wildfires have the risk of getting bigger and more destructive than ever.
Dickman： That’s right. In the last 40 years， we’ve seen fire size increase sixfold. During that same time span， we’ve seen three times the number of—average number of houses getting burned every year. There are now 140 million people living in the path of fires. So the threat of fires is real. And despite spending 4.7 billion dollars every year， we’re not seeing much evidence that that spending is doing anything to control fire size or destructiveness. What I would like to see is a larger percentage of that money going toward preparing for wildfires. So instead of spending billions fighting them， we should be spending， you know， billions preparing for them by thinning the forests， by using more 10）prescribed fire， by letting more wildfires burn.
Westervelt： Kyle Dickman. His new book is On the Burning Edge. Thank you so much for speaking with us.
Dickman： Thanks for having me.
埃里克·维斯特维尔（主持人）：两年前的这个星期（编者注：指的是6月底），来自亚利桑那州普莱斯考特的精英消防队员团队“格拉尼特山高手队”中的19人在北亚利桑那州的山脚下殉职。亚纳尔山火对于野外消防队来说是美国史上最致命的事件之一。随着风向转变、山火逼近，高手队无线电传送的声音变得越来越恐慌。
（存档录音片段）
某消防员：好的，我们是格拉尼特山高手队。我们撤离的路线被切断了。我们正准备一个部署基地。我们都快要把周围的丛林烧光烧尽了。
维斯特维尔：今天，我们还会发问，当时发生了什么事，以及从这次悲剧中我们可以获得什么教训。凯尔·迪克曼作为曾经的高手队成员，写了一本关于亚纳尔山山火的新书，名为《燃烧的边缘》。他在圣达菲参与我们的节目。凯尔·迪克曼，欢迎来到我们的节目。
凯尔·迪克曼：谢谢你们邀请我来。
维斯特维尔：请将我们带回到2013年6月下旬。亚纳尔山火发生时，天气和风向都发生了变化。19名团队成员在森林里与熊熊燃烧了两天的火焰作战，彼时指挥官要作出一个重大的决定。根据你所了解的，告诉我们接下来发生了什么。
迪克曼：当时火势非常猛烈。它燃烧了一整天，蔓延到北部。大概4点的时候，头顶上袭来阵阵雷暴，火突然转了方向。时速30到40英里的风扑来，而此前相对不活跃的侧面火势突然跃升成20尺，30尺，然后40尺的火焰。而那道火墙正冲向亚纳尔镇。埃里克·马什当时身为格拉尼特山高手队的主管，被迫作出决定。他必须决定是否离开那片燃料已烧成灰烬、被称作黑色地带的安全区域，转移到亚纳尔镇，在那里他们可能可以找到保护房子的方法，还是应该命令他的团队停留在安全的黑色地带，眼睁睁地看着整个镇被烧掉。当然，最终他决定将团队转移到亚纳尔镇，但却永远到达不了。他们还没到达那些房子，已经被火势扑倒了。
维斯特维尔：只有一位幸存者，布兰登·麦克多诺，昵称甜甜圈。这场悲剧过了两年，他现在过得怎样？
迪克曼：他还在适应中，你明白的。他失去了19位最亲密的朋友。我的意思是，他把他们称为兄弟。他对那天的感受仍然是让人震惊的强烈。他的那班岗被推迟了。他是负责站岗的，相当逼近被烧死的边缘。调查人员后来发现，如果事情没有变化，他本来已经是亚纳尔山火的首个伤亡人员。但是他当时被一辆四轮车里的人迅速带走，可以说是从不断攀升的火墙中死里逃生。所以他不仅要面对作为团队里唯一生还者的内疚感，还要应付创伤后压力心理障碍症。
维斯特维尔：和你谈及这场悲剧的遗孀和家人中，有没有一个家庭和他们的故事让你觉得特别难忘？
迪克曼：有，我认为有的。有个男孩名叫格兰特·麦基。他是团队中最年轻的。格兰特·麦基相当犹豫不决。他其实并不想加入团队，他不想成为高手队队员。他想当护理人员。你知道，为了融入高手队这种打打闹闹的文化，他过了一段相当艰苦的日子。我想格兰特的故事感动我的地方是看着他慢慢融入了，本来当时那么勉强地加入团队，像个局外人一样，到成为被大家接纳的成员，再到确确实实地爱上这份职业。
维斯特维尔：对有些人来说，这事件是因为厄运和风向突转导致；而对其他人来说，则是因为指挥官犯下难以原谅的人为错误。对此你怎么看？ 迪克曼：我想我不会称之为不可原谅，但我确实会说这是人为的错误。与其盯着那天犯下的错误思前想后，更重要的是，我们应该从更宏观的角度看待已发生的事情，扪心自问，为什么他们丧生了？未来我们可以做些什么来防止野外消防员的牺牲？我想当局多数会回答，增加对技术的资金投入，如提供更好的火灾庇护物——铝毯，在最后关头，这些消防员最终死在铝毯之下，还有为一些消防员配备GPS装置，便于追踪。但我们很少会听到人们谈论可能的政策转变。
维斯特维尔：鉴于美国火灾扑救的长久历史，以及现在西部的严重旱灾，野火存在的风险越来越大，具有前所未有的毁灭性。
迪克曼：的确如此。在过去40年，我们看到火灾的规模增大了6倍。与此同时，我们看到每年被烧毁的房屋的平均数量是以前的3倍。现在有1亿4000万人生活在容易发生火灾的环境中。所以火灾的威胁是确实存在的。尽管每年的经费有47亿美元，我们却没有看到很多证据证明这笔费用用于控制火灾的规模或其破坏性。我想看到的是那笔经费的更大部分用于为野外火灾做准备。所以与其花费数十亿与它们搏斗，我们不如花费这笔钱修整森林、使用更多计划火烧、让更多野火燃烧，来预防火灾。（编者注：计划火烧又称计划烧除，人们常称之为黑色防火工程。它是在事前选定的地段内，在有效的控制下，有计划地用低强度火烧除林下和林缘可燃物，以达到和消除火灾隐患，降低森林火险等级，提高森林对森林火灾的自防能力的一种防火手段。）
维斯特维尔：凯尔·迪克曼。他的新书为《燃烧的边缘》。十分感谢你跟我们聊天。
迪克曼：感谢你们邀请我。
小链接
历史上特大森林火灾
1825年发生在美国的缅因州和加拿大新不伦瑞克省，烧毁森林120万公顷。
1871年发生在美国的威斯康星州和密执安州，烧毁森林152万公顷。
1915年发生在西伯利亚，5个月烧毁森林1200万公顷。
1976年发生在澳大利亚，烧毁森林及草原1.2亿公顷，占国土面积的1/7，这次大火灾曾有“世界火海”之称。
1983年发生在印度尼西亚的加里曼丹，烧毁森林350万公顷。
1987年5月6日至6月2日，发生在我国大兴安岭，烧了28天。
1997年夏季被称为“世纪灾难”的印度尼西亚的森林大火烧了几个月，烧毁森林30多万公顷。
1998年4月澳洲东南部的森林大火，烧毁森林150万公顷。
Lessons in the Ashes
Eric Westervelt （Host）： Two years ago this week， 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots， a team of 1）elite firefighters from Prescott， Ariz.， were killed in the foothills of Northern Arizona. The Yarnell Hill Fire was one of the deadliest incidents for wildland firefighters in U.S. history. As the wind shifted and the fire closed in， the Hotshot’s radio transmissions grew increasingly panicked.
（Soundbite of archived Recording）
Unidentified Firefighter： OK， we’re here at Granite Mountain Hotshots. Our escape route has been cut off. We are preparing a deployment site. We are burning out around ourselves in the brush.
Westervelt： Today， there are still questions about what happened and what lessons can be gained from the tragedy. Kyle Dickman， a former Hotshot himself， has written a new book about the Yarnell Fire called On the Burning Edge. He joins us now from Santa Fe. Kyle Dickman， welcome to the program.
Kyle Dickman： Thanks for having me.
Westervelt： So， take us back to late June， 2013. Weather and winds shifted on the Yarnell Hill Fire. Nineteen of the crew were in the forest battling this two-day-old blaze when their commander had a huge decision to make. Take us through what you know about what happened next.
Dickman： So the fire was burning very intensely. It was burning to the north all day. And about 4 o’clock， a number of 2）thunderstorms developed overhead. And the fire suddenly changed directions. There was 30- to 40-mile-an-hour winds that were put out， and what had been a relatively sleepy 3）flank of the fire suddenly jumped and became， you know， 20-foot and then 30-foot and then 40-foot flames. And that wall of fire was rushing toward the town of Yarnell. And Eric Marsh， who was the 4）superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshots， was forced to make a decision. He had to decide whether or not he wanted to leave the safety of what’s called the black， which is the already burned fuel， and move into the town of Yarnell where they could presumably do something to protect the houses. Or he would keep his crew in the safety of the black and watch this town burn. Ultimately， of course， he decided to move the crew back into the town of Yarnell， and they never made it. The fire caught them before they reached the houses. Westervelt： There was only one survivor， Brendan McDonough， nicknamed Donut. How’s he doing two years after this tragedy？
Dickman： He’s still coping， you know. He lost 19 of his closest friends. I mean， he calls them his brothers. And his experience that day was also mind-bogglingly intense. He was pushed off of his lookout. He was serving as a lookout， and he came very close to being burned to death. The investigators later found that if things hadn’t have changed， he would’ve been the first 5）casualty on the Yarnell Hill Fire except that he was 6）swooped up by a guy in a four-wheeler and sort of rushed away from the advancing wall of flames. So it’s not only that he’s dealing with the survivor’s guilt of being the only guy who survived from his crew， but he’s also dealing with 7）PTSD.
Westervelt： Of these widows and family members who spoke to you about the tragedy， does one family and their story stick out for you？
Dickman： Yeah. I think so. One boy’s name was Grant McKee. He was the youngest guy in the crew. And Grant McKee was really hesitant. He didn’t necessarily want to join the crew， and he didn’t want to be a Hotshot. He wanted to be a 8）paramedic. And so he had a really hard time sort of fitting into the—you know， to the rough-andtumble culture of the Hotshot crew. And， well， I think what touched me about Grant’s story was watching him come into it， you know， so reluctant to join the crew and then， you know， go from being an outcast to being an accepted member and actually sort of falling in love with the job.
Westervelt： To some， this was bad luck and a dramatic wind shift； to others， it was an unforgivable human error by the commander. Where do you fall down on this？
Dickman： I don’t know that I would call it unforgivable， but I also would certainly say that it’s a human error. I think more important than looking and dwelling on the mistakes that were made that day， I think it’s worth taking a bigger picture perspective on what happened and asking ourselves， well， why did these men die？ And what can we do in the future to prevent more wildland firefighter deaths？ And I think many of the agencies’ answers to that is to invest more funding into technologies like better fire shelters， which were the last-ditch aluminum blankets that the men ultimately died under， and then also to equip some of the firefighters with GPS devices so that they can be tracked. But what we’re not seeing a lot of is much discussion of potential policy changes. Westervelt： And given America’s long history of fire 9）suppression and now severe drought in the west， wildfires have the risk of getting bigger and more destructive than ever.
Dickman： That’s right. In the last 40 years， we’ve seen fire size increase sixfold. During that same time span， we’ve seen three times the number of—average number of houses getting burned every year. There are now 140 million people living in the path of fires. So the threat of fires is real. And despite spending 4.7 billion dollars every year， we’re not seeing much evidence that that spending is doing anything to control fire size or destructiveness. What I would like to see is a larger percentage of that money going toward preparing for wildfires. So instead of spending billions fighting them， we should be spending， you know， billions preparing for them by thinning the forests， by using more 10）prescribed fire， by letting more wildfires burn.
Westervelt： Kyle Dickman. His new book is On the Burning Edge. Thank you so much for speaking with us.
Dickman： Thanks for having me.
埃里克·维斯特维尔（主持人）：两年前的这个星期（编者注：指的是6月底），来自亚利桑那州普莱斯考特的精英消防队员团队“格拉尼特山高手队”中的19人在北亚利桑那州的山脚下殉职。亚纳尔山火对于野外消防队来说是美国史上最致命的事件之一。随着风向转变、山火逼近，高手队无线电传送的声音变得越来越恐慌。
（存档录音片段）
某消防员：好的，我们是格拉尼特山高手队。我们撤离的路线被切断了。我们正准备一个部署基地。我们都快要把周围的丛林烧光烧尽了。
维斯特维尔：今天，我们还会发问，当时发生了什么事，以及从这次悲剧中我们可以获得什么教训。凯尔·迪克曼作为曾经的高手队成员，写了一本关于亚纳尔山山火的新书，名为《燃烧的边缘》。他在圣达菲参与我们的节目。凯尔·迪克曼，欢迎来到我们的节目。
凯尔·迪克曼：谢谢你们邀请我来。
维斯特维尔：请将我们带回到2013年6月下旬。亚纳尔山火发生时，天气和风向都发生了变化。19名团队成员在森林里与熊熊燃烧了两天的火焰作战，彼时指挥官要作出一个重大的决定。根据你所了解的，告诉我们接下来发生了什么。
迪克曼：当时火势非常猛烈。它燃烧了一整天，蔓延到北部。大概4点的时候，头顶上袭来阵阵雷暴，火突然转了方向。时速30到40英里的风扑来，而此前相对不活跃的侧面火势突然跃升成20尺，30尺，然后40尺的火焰。而那道火墙正冲向亚纳尔镇。埃里克·马什当时身为格拉尼特山高手队的主管，被迫作出决定。他必须决定是否离开那片燃料已烧成灰烬、被称作黑色地带的安全区域，转移到亚纳尔镇，在那里他们可能可以找到保护房子的方法，还是应该命令他的团队停留在安全的黑色地带，眼睁睁地看着整个镇被烧掉。当然，最终他决定将团队转移到亚纳尔镇，但却永远到达不了。他们还没到达那些房子，已经被火势扑倒了。
维斯特维尔：只有一位幸存者，布兰登·麦克多诺，昵称甜甜圈。这场悲剧过了两年，他现在过得怎样？
迪克曼：他还在适应中，你明白的。他失去了19位最亲密的朋友。我的意思是，他把他们称为兄弟。他对那天的感受仍然是让人震惊的强烈。他的那班岗被推迟了。他是负责站岗的，相当逼近被烧死的边缘。调查人员后来发现，如果事情没有变化，他本来已经是亚纳尔山火的首个伤亡人员。但是他当时被一辆四轮车里的人迅速带走，可以说是从不断攀升的火墙中死里逃生。所以他不仅要面对作为团队里唯一生还者的内疚感，还要应付创伤后压力心理障碍症。
维斯特维尔：和你谈及这场悲剧的遗孀和家人中，有没有一个家庭和他们的故事让你觉得特别难忘？
迪克曼：有，我认为有的。有个男孩名叫格兰特·麦基。他是团队中最年轻的。格兰特·麦基相当犹豫不决。他其实并不想加入团队，他不想成为高手队队员。他想当护理人员。你知道，为了融入高手队这种打打闹闹的文化，他过了一段相当艰苦的日子。我想格兰特的故事感动我的地方是看着他慢慢融入了，本来当时那么勉强地加入团队，像个局外人一样，到成为被大家接纳的成员，再到确确实实地爱上这份职业。
维斯特维尔：对有些人来说，这事件是因为厄运和风向突转导致；而对其他人来说，则是因为指挥官犯下难以原谅的人为错误。对此你怎么看？ 迪克曼：我想我不会称之为不可原谅，但我确实会说这是人为的错误。与其盯着那天犯下的错误思前想后，更重要的是，我们应该从更宏观的角度看待已发生的事情，扪心自问，为什么他们丧生了？未来我们可以做些什么来防止野外消防员的牺牲？我想当局多数会回答，增加对技术的资金投入，如提供更好的火灾庇护物——铝毯，在最后关头，这些消防员最终死在铝毯之下，还有为一些消防员配备GPS装置，便于追踪。但我们很少会听到人们谈论可能的政策转变。
维斯特维尔：鉴于美国火灾扑救的长久历史，以及现在西部的严重旱灾，野火存在的风险越来越大，具有前所未有的毁灭性。
迪克曼：的确如此。在过去40年，我们看到火灾的规模增大了6倍。与此同时，我们看到每年被烧毁的房屋的平均数量是以前的3倍。现在有1亿4000万人生活在容易发生火灾的环境中。所以火灾的威胁是确实存在的。尽管每年的经费有47亿美元，我们却没有看到很多证据证明这笔费用用于控制火灾的规模或其破坏性。我想看到的是那笔经费的更大部分用于为野外火灾做准备。所以与其花费数十亿与它们搏斗，我们不如花费这笔钱修整森林、使用更多计划火烧、让更多野火燃烧，来预防火灾。（编者注：计划火烧又称计划烧除，人们常称之为黑色防火工程。它是在事前选定的地段内，在有效的控制下，有计划地用低强度火烧除林下和林缘可燃物，以达到和消除火灾隐患，降低森林火险等级，提高森林对森林火灾的自防能力的一种防火手段。）
维斯特维尔：凯尔·迪克曼。他的新书为《燃烧的边缘》。十分感谢你跟我们聊天。
迪克曼：感谢你们邀请我。
小链接
历史上特大森林火灾
1825年发生在美国的缅因州和加拿大新不伦瑞克省，烧毁森林120万公顷。
1871年发生在美国的威斯康星州和密执安州，烧毁森林152万公顷。
1915年发生在西伯利亚，5个月烧毁森林1200万公顷。
1976年发生在澳大利亚，烧毁森林及草原1.2亿公顷，占国土面积的1/7，这次大火灾曾有“世界火海”之称。
1983年发生在印度尼西亚的加里曼丹，烧毁森林350万公顷。
1987年5月6日至6月2日，发生在我国大兴安岭，烧了28天。
1997年夏季被称为“世纪灾难”的印度尼西亚的森林大火烧了几个月，烧毁森林30多万公顷。
1998年4月澳洲东南部的森林大火，烧毁森林150万公顷。