Earth, Wind, and the Fire Next Time
Climate Change or Smoke Screen?
By Mark Heckey
Mankind has a strange relationship with fire. We both fear and revere it. We are both mesmerized and terrified, inspired and dispirited. We find fire comforting in the hearth but intolerable in the wild. We rose from our primitive nature through the controlled use of fire. Modern man thinks he has replaced it with fossil fuels and electricity. Fire persists in nature and in our common psyche. Every time we attempt to snuff it out, it returns in a different form.
Fire is the result of a combustion process from fuel, oxygen, and heat. It is generally a good thing. A simple chemical reaction. Tell that to thousands of families injured by rampaging fire that destroys lives and property every year. When controlled, fire saves us from exposure and death. Uncontrolled it brings cataclysmic destruction. Due to human influence, three primary ingredients of wilderness fires are on the rise: the accumulation of biofuels in the forest, rising heat of the planet as a whole, and an ineffective political system of fire management. This article will address all three of these factors.
In the last five years, we have seen the increasing and unbridled power of wildland fires on display. Today, I opened my Sacramento Bee and the headline shouted out––Thousands Flee as Fire Threatens Lake Tahoe (August 31, 2021). It’s the continuing conflagration of the Caldor Fire. The City of South Lake Tahoe is under threat and potentially up to 34,000 people will scramble to evacuate. The Caldor has burned approximately 180,000 acres (280 square miles) and 500 structures are damaged. The Caldor Fire is spreading with a new phenomenon in wildfires-wind and atmospheric fluctuations that create cyclonic embers that project fire over a vast area. The fire has also impacted air quality throughout the region and suppressed the Tahoe visitor economy. At this time, the cause of the Caldor Fire is undetermined.
The number and size of wildland fires continues to grow. What is contributing to the mammoth size and duration of California and the Western United States fire season? The easy answer is climate change. Rising summer heat has intensified California’s hot summers and ongoing drought conditions. But fire officials and fire scientists caution us on relying on the climate change blame game. The data is more complicated and nuanced than the simply the proven rise in the Earth’s temperature. Cal Fire, the leading state public agency for fire data recently published it’s “Top 20 Largest California Wildfires” list. These large-scale fires have mostly occurred in recent history, the last seven years. Seven out the ten largest fires in the recorded history of California have happened since 2015. There have been confirmed determinations of cause in all but three fires on the list. These fires have been caused by lightning strikes (8), human activity (5) and powerline failure (4). The largest fire on the list, the August Complex, was caused by lightning and burned over 1,032,648 acres in August 2020. The Dixie Fire, still raging northeast of Chico, has burned over 800,000 acres. PG and E has indicated that a power line failure near Paradise was once again the cause. In 2020, California recorded over 14,000 lightning strikes. According to Emily Denny of the digital science journal EcoWatch: “In August of 2020, over two hundred lighting strikes were recorded during a four day ‘fire siege’. Seven hundred wildfires followed.”
The data on ignition seems very solid. However, the question still remains to the other elements of the fire equation––fuel and oxygen (or wind). Does bio fuel impact the size and range of wildfire? Many of us think that trees are the main fuel in a forest fire. Actually, the smaller trees, shrubs, and grasses are more significant in a wildland fire. Many mature trees have a natural defense system in their fire-resistant bark. It has long been known that elimination of the bio fuels of the forest floor is key to controlling the size and duration of a fire. In fact, the entire concept of “controlled” fires is meant to reduce the accumulation of the dried flora that can turn a “normal” fire into a raging beast. Forest Science has long advocated the use of “good” fires to clean out the fuel sources, fertilize the forest floor, and stimulate regrowth. This practice has historical roots in California. Native tribes practiced extensive use of controlled burns to limit lightning fires, create space for agriculture, and move animals into desired areas for hunting. Indigenous peoples perfected controlled fires to create travel routes, communicate, and perform pest control.
Rising temperatures have made this natural kindling of bio fuels even more hazardous. Climate change is only partially responsible. The changing politics and policies of fire management is a major reason for the increasing accumulation of materials and over growth of forests. Before the U.S. government went to a suppression-oriented approach, many natural lightning strike fires were allowed to burn out naturally. In the early 60’s, the U.S. Forest Service utilized extensive controlled fire management. In 2013, the use of controlled fire helped to mitigate and control the size of the Rim Fire in Yosemite National Park. But this controlled fire practice has been controversial in the United States and recently has come under attack and disfavor. As more high-end housing and development occurs in and near forests, public officials and fire agencies feel compelled to quickly extinguish natural fires. California is responding with some new zoning and building regulations to require clear zones and fire-resistant building materials. In the long run, this approach has a tendency to reenforce human habitation into remote and forested areas.
It is clear that allowing fires to follow a natural cycle and not putting all of our forest management resources into fire suppression is not well understood. It will take extensive public education and political will to change forest management practices. In the meantime, state officials have put up the “smoke screen” of climate change, stating that nothing can be done until climate change is reversed by global wide programs and projects. This philosophy ignores some basic management approaches that could help in the short term. We need to change the components of the wildfire ingredients that are under our direct control––utility infrastructure improvements, forest fuel reduction programs, limiting urban encroachment into the forest, and use of “good” fires in comprehensive forest management. We also need a better method of supporting firefighting operations and financing. Climate change (or disruption) is very real. Not all of our fire problems can be attributed to the world-wide climate crisis. But solving global warming, with all its’ urgency, is complex and will take several international agreements. California and the West need to act now to reduce the mega fires and catastrophic impact of their destructive force.
Sources:
NPR, “With Extreme Fires Burning, Forest Service Stops ‘Good Fires’ Too. “,
8-10-21, by Lauren Sommer.
History Channel, “Native Americans Used Fire to Protect and Cultivate Land”
8-29-21 by Dave Roos.
Forbes Magazine, “Stop Blaming Climate Change for California’s Fires”
8-24-20 by Michael Shellenberger.
The Wilderness Society, “Three Reasons Wildfires are Getting More Dangerous, and Three Ways to Make Things Better”, 5-21-19, by Josh O’Conner USFWS.
AEON.COM, “The Planet is Burning”, 9-17-14, by Stephen J. Pyne.