Terry McLaughlin: Dixie and Paradise fires
17 November 2022
Published by: https://www.theunion.com
USA – In a late October visit to Lassen Volcanic National Park we had the opportunity to visit Paradise, which was devastated by fire in 2018, and the areas surrounding Mt. Lassen that fell victim to the Dixie Fire in 2021. Over a 65-mile stretch heading north toward Mt. Lassen, the burned area was visible in all directions. It was a surreal experience to be surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of trees, standing erect like burnt matchsticks on the gray landscape. The loss of life in Paradise is still painful for us to recall, and the loss of community was very apparent in the little towns of Taylorsville and Greenville, which were almost entirely destroyed in the Dixie Fire.
So how did we get here? One reason may be that “years of aggressive firefighting have allowed brush to flourish that would have been cleared away by wildfires”, as reported in the Los Angeles Times as far back as August of 1999.
In 2005, Tim Ingalsbee, a wildland firefighter since 1980 with a doctorate in environmental sociology, started Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology, and has been trying ever since to educate Congress and anyone else who would listen about the misguided fire policy which has led to the megafires we have seen in California in the past decade. “It’s horrible to see this happening” he said, “when the science is so clear and has been for years. . . Every year I warn people: Disaster’s coming. We’ve got to change. And no one listens. And then it happens.”
The pattern he describes is one of overzealous fire suppression across California landscapes where the fire poses little risk to people and structures. As a result, forests are overgrown, with large buildups of fallen trees and other plant fuel, at the same time that the climate is growing hotter and drier. This leads to destructive, high-intensity fires that move into the trees’ crowns, killing mature trees. The only solution, Ingalsbee said, is “We need to get good fire on the ground and whittle down some of that fuel load.”
It is estimated that in prehistoric California between 4.4 million and 11.8 million acres burned each year. Between 1982 and 1998, California’s agency land managers burned an average of 30,000 acres a year. Between 1999 and 2017, that number dropped to 13,000 acres. In 2018 California passed a few laws designed to facilitate greater intentional burning, but few experts are optimistic that this will lead to significant change because we are living with a deathly backlog. In February 2020, Nature Sustainability published a terrifying conclusion: California would need to burn 20 million acres, about the size of Maine, to restabilize in terms of fire.
But there is some good news, as it appears at least some progress in the form of new policy is being made. National Park literature at Lassen states that “Today, the goal is to allow periodic, less intense fires that move quickly across the forest floor leaving most mature trees unharmed. Park fire personnel manage natural fires and initiate controlled burns to reintroduce fire into the landscape and help reestablish healthy, biologically rich forest ecosystems. Fires that pose a threat to life or property are suppressed by firefighters.”
Wildfire is just one of the many powerful forces that shaped Lassen, which was formed by volcanoes, carved by ice, and altered by hydrothermal activity. As explained in Lassen’s literature, “Fire is necessary to ensure a healthy life cycle for plants and animals in the forest, meadows, and shrub lands of the park. Fires help recycle nutrients, cleanse forests, and enhance wildlife habitats. After a natural, low to moderate-intensity fire, new growth abounds.” Understory plants have already begun to occupy most burned areas of the park, and certain trees such as manzanita, lodgepole pine, and aspen historically regenerate very quickly after fire.
The visitor center at the National Park hosts a bulletin board inviting visitors to post notes reflecting their feelings about the fire. While notes such as “Sad and scary, even if it is a natural part of ecological renewal”, were common, the following message stood out:
“As a firefighter fighting the Dixie fire in my water truck, it came fast, and it came hot. We all took cover here at the Lodge and let the head of the fire burn through. We saved the lodge and no one else was injured. I look at fire as a natural event. The wildlife and the land have fire in its DNA. Everything recovers from fire, and it is a renewal process that Mother Nature is so good at. This area has burned many, many times. This is not the first rodeo. People like to cast blame on climate change, human behavior, etc. All we do as humans is put more fuel in fires path. Fire is a natural, beautiful process that will always be here renewing our great earth.”
In Nevada County we live each day with the thought of catastrophic fire, managing our risks by removing dangerous vegetation and creating safe perimeters around our homes and businesses. We value our firefighters for their courageous efforts to preserve life and property in our community, while at the same time acknowledging that fire is a natural part of our ecosystem. Rather than despair, may we find, as one visitor to Lassen eloquently wrote, “Renewal, Hope, and Beauty, even in the devastation.”
