Even before the Southern California wildfires, more than eight million acres of land in the American West had gone up in smoke in this year. According to Tom Boatner, Chief of Fire Operations for the federal government, speaking on the TV series ‘60 Minutes,’ the intensity and number of forest fires each year has increased dramatically over the past ten years. In 1997, a fire that burned 100,000 acres was unusual. Now, fires that engulf 200,000 acres are common, and the 500,000-acre mega-fire – unheard of 10 years ago – is occurring at the rate of at least two per year.

There is little doubt that global warming is one of the factors behind this dramatic change in fire ecology. Professor Tom Sweatner of the University of Arizona, one of the world’s leading fire ecologists, published a report claiming that climate change is responsible for a 400% increase in forest fires over the past 15 years. According to Sweatner, the 1 degree temperature rise has led to an earlier spring, an increase in the amount of time that underbrush and vegetation have to dry after the winter snows, and a longer fire season.

But global warming is not the only reason for the increase in fire damage. The historic drought that the region has endured for the past 15 years has killed trees and left dried out vegetation, inviting the infamous Santa Ana winds to spread flames ever more quickly. Faster fires are harder to contain, and are more likely to expand into residential neighborhoods, causing damage to homes and other property.

The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it own responsibility for another of the factors that has led to an increase in the intensity of fires. From the inception of the Service in the early 1900’s and for the first 100 years, they held to the belief was that it was in the best interest of the environment to extinguish all forest fires immediately. This had the unfortunate result of permitting underbrush to build up out of control, providing almost unlimited fuel for the wildfires that erupt now.

Wildland-Urban Interface
The Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) is the area where people have built homes that meet or intermingle with wildland vegetation, and is where wildfires pose the biggest risk to lives and property. The expansion of the WUI in recent decades has significant implications for the impact of wildfires.

The recent fires in Southern California are a prime example of this phenomenon. Nearly half a million acres of land – 765 square miles – have burned, fanned by Santa Ana winds that approached 100 miles per hour. The fires caused the largest evacuation in California history, with over half a million people forced to flee for their lives. Many had only minutes to escape. An estimated 1,600 homes burned to the ground. At least 85 people were injured, including 61 firefighters, and 7 people died.

Over 8,000 firefighters worked around the clock in attempts to control the flames and prevent further destruction; but in the end, relief came from Mother Nature, in the form of rising humidity and calming winds. According to Boatner, we are reached the point where current resources are inadequate to fight mega-fires, because of the severity of the burning conditions and the size of the fires.

Implications for the forests
According to Sweatner, the intensity of mega-fires is causing centuries-old forests to disappear. Sweatner forecasts that ultimately the West may lose as much as half of its forests, which will not be able to recover, ever, as the super hot fires burn the soil down to rock. Already 2 million acres have been destroyed. Even the robust ponderosa pines, which in the past were able to withstand the flames of the ‘average’ forest fire, are being lost in incredible numbers.

Education & Preparation
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) is urging local fire departments to take a leadership role in ensuring their communities are educated and prepared for the threat of wildland fire. The current situation in southern California and continuing drought conditions in many parts of the U.S. serve as reminders for the fire and emergency services to stop and evaluate wildland fire planning in their community.

IAFC has prepared a handbook to help WUI communities manage the issues involved, offering an eight-stepguide to help develop a plan. “Preparing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan” may be downloaded at http://www.stateforesters.org/pubs/cwpphandbook.pdf. The eight steps are:

• Convene Decisionmakers, with representatives from local government, local fire authorities, and the state agency responsible for forest management.
• Involve Federal Agencies, including local representatives of the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
• Engage Interest Parties, including neighborhood associations, community forest organizations that work in forest management, and others with a commitment to fire protection.
• Establish a Community Base Map, to provide a visual information baseline form which community members can assess and make recommendations regarding protection and risk reduction priorities
• Develop a Community Risk Assessment to help prioritize areas for treatment and highest priority uses for available financial and human resources. Hazards/risks will include vegetative fuels that pose a threat; risk of wildfire occurrence, based on historical data and local knowledge; homes and other structures at risk; wildlife at risk; and capabilities of local firefighters and other preparedness.
• Establish Community Hazard Reduction Priorities and Recommendations to Reduce Structural Ignitability
• Develop an Action Plan and Assessment Strategy
• Finalize the Community Wildfire Protection Plan