Talk:Firestorm

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	Fire Portal Firestorm is part of WikiProject Fire Service, which collaborates on fire service-related subjects on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
Start	This article has been rated as Start-class on the quality scale.
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.
Assessment comments This article has been rated for quality and/or importance but has no comments yet. If appropriate, please review the article and then leave comments here to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article and what work it will need.
Suggested article edit guidelines: To help us prioritise our workload, and in readiness for Wikipedia:1.0, we need to assess our articles for Quality. If this article is Unassessed, please assess it. See the Article Classification for instructions. If you disagree with a rating, you can change it or discuss it at Article Classification. After assessing this article's quality, please make sure it to add it to the Lists at Article Classification, following the grading scheme detailed there.

	This article related to droughts or wildfires is part of the Droughts and Fire Events sub-project of WikiProject Meteorology and Weather Events, an attempt to standardize and improve all articles related to weather or meteorology. You can help! Visit the project page or discuss an article at its talk page.
Start	This article has been rated as start-Class on the assessment scale.

	This article is part of WikiProject California, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to California on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit this article, or visit the project page to join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
Start	This article has been rated as start-Class on the quality scale.

~

Contents 1 Firestorm 2 Nagasaki 3 Firetornado vs. Firestorm 4 Deliberate 5 Fire of London death toll 6 Hancock, Michigan 7 San Francisco 8 Guernica 9 what does this mean? 10 lower size limit 11 Firestorms in cities 12 Graphic 13 Firestorm meaning

[edit] Firestorm

This article should be cleaned up. Vedantdotcom 20:25, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nagasaki

I was only aware of a firestorm in Hiroshima. Although very large fires erupted in Nagasaki I do not believe they were sufficient to create a firestorm Pietas

True, rainy wheather prevented firestorm. Thus far fewer dead by the bomb. Seniorsag 18:04, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Firetornado vs. Firestorm

Why does the article suddenly change the terminology used? If these are slightly different phenomena then the differences should be explained. If they are the same then the article should be made consistent.Victah 02:56, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

It was a recent change by an anon. I reverted it. Rmhermen 05:00, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deliberate

I would like to see more sourcing on to what extent and in what instances firestorms were/are deliberate effects of aerial bombardment, because this might not be necessarily true in every case that resulted in a firestorm. Could anyone get a cite on this issue? --Daniel C. Boyer 16:03, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

The article never says to what extent they are deliberate effects. I think the describtion is clear enough to show that it has been deliberate, and the technique was never used before World War II. How do you show extent in willful intent? Maybe they kind of felt bad about it, but decided to use a tactic that might kill thousands of people anyway? Maybe they firebombed an urban area to hit a military instalation or a radio tower. --67.172.10.82 08:57, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

When you drop 650'000 fire-bombs like over dresden, of course there will be a firestorm. So it is deliberate. Also, it was not to destroy a military objective, but to break the german will to fight. Ketsa 03:33, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fire of London death toll

I'm fairly sure the death toll was a suprisingly low 6. It's one of those questions which people get wrong in quizes a lot, expecting 10,000 or similar high figures. The fire initially spread so slowly that most people just got out of the way and let the place burn, not to mention large numbers of people had left the city or died due to the Black Death the previous year. I've not added it into the main page, but thought someone might have heard similar. AlphaNumeric 20:18, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hancock, Michigan

There was a firestorm there during its conflagration. If further info can be obtained it might be included in the article. --Daniel C. Boyer 16:05, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] San Francisco

The fire in San Francisco lasted for more than one day and burned slowly,, there were no reports of high winds, thus no firestorm. Seniorsag 18:01, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Guernica

I just read about the bombing of Guernica. In the paragraph Outcome it is said that the bombings had caused a firestorm. Maybe Guernica should be added to the list. Vinnivince 10:43, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] what does this mean?

"its also recidnosed with fire placement directed inward." What word is that supposed to be? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 4.249.45.138 (talk) 06:16, 4 May 2007 (UTC).

[edit] lower size limit

...a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires...

OK. Sounds like a critical mass must be reached for full effects, however please do mention how small a firestorm can be to still be called a firestorm. Jidanni 01:30, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Firestorms in cities

The list provided needs to be examined carefully. Not all those cities listed suffered a firestorm for example the Germans started many large fires in Britain during World War II but they did not create a firestorm. Similarly the number of firestorms that the Allies created in Germany was not as large as is implied in this list for the same reasons, not all large fires are firestorms. --Philip Baird Shearer 11:28, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Graphic

I think this article would benefit greatly from a graphic of some sort illustrating a firestorm. Does anyone know of a possible source for this? -Robert Skyhawk (Talk) 18:51, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Firestorm meaning

The meaning of the term 'Firestorm' in the bombing of the German cities of Hamburg, Dresden, etc. refers to a specific phenomenon that doesn't appear to be present in most of the other examples. In the two named cities the effect of the concentrated bombing, together with the prevailing weather conditions (a temperature inversion), caused a massive inrush of cold air at ground level, causing hurricane-force winds that picked people up off their feet and carried them towards the centre of the fires, as well as uprooting sizable trees. This inrush of air added to the oxygen available to the fires, increasing them further, until eventually there was no more combustible material to burn. There's a description of the process in Alexander Mckee's Dresden 1945: The Devil's Tinderbox [1] Ian Dunster (talk) 13:38, 26 April 2008 (UTC)