(This article is longer than I had intended it to be... I would suggest that if you don�t want to commit to the whole thing, you read the first section, at least scan through the subsequent section headers for whatever might be relevant to your own situations, and then please be sure to read the last section!)
One of the basic rules of living in an earthquake zone is to avoid having loose objects that would cause great danger if they fell, right? Do you store unsheathed swords sitting loose on the top shelf, or unattended loose boxes of live rattlesnakes on the coffee table, or armed land mines sitting loose on the kitchen counter? Certainly not. Got unattended fire on the table while you are in the other room or away from home? Of course not! ...Except that many people do, even near earthquake faults, in the form of holiday or commemorative candles.One poorly timed earthquake, and those people will have to consider themselves lucky if they just burned down their own home and not the entire city block.Consider: candles in jack-o�-lanterns, candles in menorahs, memorial candles, etc., can change in an earthquake from fun, beauty, and devotion, to destruction and death; not just by falling themselves and starting fires, but also if some other object falls onto the candles and catches on fire. |
Catholic votive candle and Jewish
Yahrzeit candle (M. Springer) |
Think I'm overly worried? San Francisco is no stranger to killer fires caused by earthquakes, as much of the city burned after the 1906 earthquake thanks to "broken gas lines and toppled candles and lamps that fueled raging fires" according to historynet.com. In fact, fires after earthquakes "are often caused by ruptured gas lines, electrical shortages and fallen candles, among other things," according to Dr. Rachel Davidson of the University of Delaware, who is studying how fires start and spread after earthquakes. It's not new; according to a UC Berkeley study, after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, "several fires broke out, mostly started by cooking fires and candles." The resulting catastrophic fire burned Lisbon for five days. The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network points out that "Fire has long been recognized as a major hazard following earthquakes. Before the 20th Century, earthquakes would often upset burning candles and lamps and stoves and fireplaces with dangerous fuels were common. Today in the US ruptured gas lines and arcing electrical wires are the most common sources of ignition." But the candles are still there.
The purpose of this article is to get you thinking about things that you may have taken for granted your entire life, but that could cause a destructive fire in the event of an earthquake; and about strategies for avoiding that risk.
