Wildfires, Air Quality, and Health

Blame it on the Bear

A reflection on the raging wildfires by Fire Ecologist, Dr. Scott Kinnes (Professor of Biology)

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In 1944 the US Forest Service selected Smokey Bear as their “spokesbear” for their campaign to suppress fires wherever and whenever they appeared. Unfortunately, what scientists did not understand at the time was the important role that fire played in the natural ecosystem. By the time it was realized, considerable damage had been done as subclimax fire-maintained ecosystems such as the Everglades and Sequoia/Redwood forests had been significantly altered and unusual amounts of fuels had accumulated as dead leaves, branches and entire trees remained on the forest floor. These problems have been exacerbated in California due to continued poor land management as environmentalists, politicians and residents have prevented controlled burns, maintenance of access roads and removal of dead trees. Poor zoning regulations have also allowed building in areas that God never intended homes to be built in.

Having the opportunity to work and conduct research on the Santee experimental forest in SC during the 1970s and 1980s allowed me to work on the longest continually prescribed burn plots in existence at the time. I was able to see the dramatic differences between ecosystems that were burned annually, periodically or never burned over the 30 years that the study had been conducted in terms of fuel accumulation and the substantially different responses those plots had to the same types of fires.

California, and most of the West, is now suffering from the same basic problems compounded by the extreme drought and deluges we have been subjected to recently, which both have their down sides re: fires. While California has experienced warmer summers over the last decade those temperatures are only 4 or so degrees higher and, as UC Berkeley fire scientist Scott Stephens recently stated, those increased temperatures account for a probable 30% to a possible 50% of the increased fire risk. The rest of the increased risk is due to land management decisions. His studies into the dramatic differences between California forests and the forests of Baja California during the same periods show how the naturally managed Baja forests have much fewer and much less severe fires than do ours.

The good news is that, as far as the vegetation goes, fire is a natural part of these ecosystems and the native plants fare quite well in the “natural” fires. In fact, the native’s growth and survival is dependent on periodic fires throughout most of California. Even the majority of animals have little problems with these periodic fires. Unfortunately, the wildfires that are occurring now are totally different beasts that burn hotter, faster and higher and can destroy even the native trees with their crown fires. Humans and their structures are obviously subject to death and destruction from any sort of fire. However, it is the large-scale effects of the smoke and ash that are affecting the majority of California residents, creating air quality indexes that have not been seen since the 70s and 80s during Stage One SMOG alerts. Such effects are usually not damaging if exposure is fairly short but long-term exposure, particularly to those suffering other respiratory issues (COVID??), could be severe.

The good news is that the Forest Service’s realization of the benefits of fire to the ecosystem and the danger of accumulated fuels has led to a change of their fire-fighting motto from “Only YOU can prevent forest fires” to “Only you can prevent wildfires”!

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Wildfires, Air Quality, and Health

Blame it on the Bear

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