Firecane refers to a hypothetical confluence of meteorological and man-made disasters, whereby a hurricane crossing an oil-laden expanse of water generates lightning which ignites the flammable fossil fuel, creating a vortex of fire.[1] A fearful imagining born of recent cataclysms in the Gulf of Mexico, the term has gained currency in New Orleans, the city inundated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and which in 2010 was near the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[1] The likelihood of such an occurrence has been dismissed by meteorologist Dr. Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground commercial weather service, who contends that wave action and rain water would quickly douse a fire set by a lightning strike on fresh oil.[2] Lightning strikes from thunderstorms may cause isolated fires, as happened on a drill ship near the spill.[3]
Another proposed scenario is that oil from the spill would be carried by hurricane winds and deposited over land, where hot weather could subsequently kindle flammable materials that have been strewn over a dry wooded landscape. In addition to being spread by rain and wind, there is concern that oil will be moved inland by a storm surge.[4]
Absent apocalyptic visions of a firestorm, the Deepwater Horizon spill, coupled with the onset of the 2010 hurricane season, has generated speculation as to the possibility of increased ecological damage in the event of a powerful tropical storm in the region.[5][6] Since such an event has not yet occurred, there is uncertainty as to whether a hurricane would exacerbate the effects of the spill, or as to how the presence of massive volumes of oil would alter the course of a major storm.[4]