Green Resources

WVPE is your gateway to green and sustainable resources in Michiana. Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This is accomplished by finding a balance between businesses, the environment, and our society (people, planet, and profit).State, National and International resources on sustainability include:The Environmental Protection AgencyThe Natural StepSustainability Dictionary45 Sustainability Resources You Need to Know Explore ways to support sustainability in the Michiana area through the Green Links Directory.Sept. 17, 2019 from 2-3:30pm"Global Warming: A Hot Topic"Sept. 17, 19, 24, and 26All sessions are from 2-3:30pmGreencroft Goshen Community Center in the Jennings Auditorium1820 Greencroft Blvd.Goshen, IN 46526The event will look at possible solutions and suffering as well as consequences beyond warmer weather. The event will examine what other civilizations have or haven’t done when faced with environmental problems. Plus there will be an exploration of the biggest unknown in the climate system: What will the humans do? Paul Meyer Reimer teaches physics, math and climate change at Goshen College. The events are presented by the Lifelong Learning Institute. The Institute can be reached at: (574) 536-8244lifelonglearning@live.comhttp://life-learn.org/

Dixie, Bootleg, Goose. How Wildfires Get Their Name

By Josie Fischels

Published August 9, 2021 at 3:37 PM EDT

Following the Dixie Fire, flames burn in a tree in the Canyondam area of Plumas County, Calif., Friday, Aug. 6.

Natural disasters have names and labels. Hurricane names are selected from a predetermined list. Diseases, at one point often named for where they originated, now follow a specific set of naming guidelines.Wildfires get names too.

The Dixie Fire, California's second-largest wildfire in history, is named for the road where it started nearly four weeks ago. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, "Cal Fire," fires are often named for their geographic location. Nearby landmarks, like roads, lakes, rivers and mountains, can also become the fire's namesake.

"If a fire is called into the 911 center off of Main Street, this fire would be called the Main Fire," explains Cal Fire's Assistant Deputy Director Daniel Berlant in an informational video. "If a caller calls in and says, 'I'm at Monterey Park and there's a fire at the park,' dispatchers would likely name this fire either the Monterey Fire or the Park Fire."

Wildfires need to be named quickly in order to start fighting them efficiently, which tends to leave the responsibility of naming the fire to the dispatcher or the first firefighters to arrive on the scene.

"All fires get a name. That allows the firefighters that are responding to them to quickly understand where they're going, and allows those back in our emergency command centers to prioritize our resources and to quickly track them down," Berlant explains.

Of course, this kind of pressure can be the cause for some pretty interesting names. In 2015, Idaho's 57th wildfire was named "Not Creative" by exhausted firefighters who couldn't come up with a name on the spot, according to firefighter Besty Haynes, who spoke with NPR's Morning Edition that year.

And after 39,402 wildfires that have blazed so far this year, some interesting names are bound to happen. Among the 108 wildfires burning in the U.S. right now are the Lava Fire and Tango Fire in California, the Goat and Goose fires in Montana, and the Walrus Fire in Oregon.

But while these names can seem fun, wildfires are anything but. Wildfires now burning in the U.S. have scorched over 2,325,263 acres, and more than 25,200 wildland firefighters are out fighting them.

Josie Fischels is an intern on NPR's News Desk.