Burning for the Better

Ryan Modafe

July 12, 2024

In recent years, California has been running rampant with wildfires, exponentially increasing in both severity and pollution. As such, California and the West Coast contribute majorly to the over-pollution of smoke in the environment due to wildfires. The path to fixing this issue is not a straightforward one, but it must start with greatly increasing the number of prescribed burns employed across the states. 

Prescribed burns or controlled fires are intentionally set by firefighters to reduce dry grubs and other fuels that could feed future wildfires and make them drastically larger. They are supposed to be done every 4 - 6 years which is the average time it takes for vegetation to build up. Native American tribes used to utilize this technique and performed prescribed burns fairly frequently to sustain their lands. However, as a Harvard study suggests, we are currently in a “fire deficit.” Unlike one might believe, fires are essential to maintaining forest health. These burns help many trees retain moisture and gain more nutrients from the soil because of the faster breakdown of organic materials as opposed to allowing them to naturally decompose. They can even reduce the amount of disease and parasite-linked species like ticks that live in forests and may be a danger to other species in the area. Most importantly, by using prescribed burns the forests experience a healthy amount of fire that removes excess buildup of dry and dead plants that it would have removed anyway through natural means that have been prevented by humans. 

There are three types of prescribed burns. First are pile burns. Pile burning is when forest debris such as leftover wood from logging operations, dead vegetation, and branches is burned in piles, thus eliminating the excess fuel for future fires. There are also understory burns. Understory burning is a process in which firefighters use lighting equipment to light the ground level of a forest area to remove excess vegetation and maintain its healthy state. Burns like these are done in very controlled settings and operations cannot take place under high winds, high temperatures, low humidity, and many other relevant factors. These precautions are put in place to ensure that the fire does not spread to unintended areas. It is important to understand that fire by nature is an unpredictable phenomenon and these operations must be carefully planned to prevent as much unpredictability as possible. Finally, there are broadcast burns which are not done under trees but rather in open areas that are still highly prone to wildfires. These burns are conducted similarly to understory burns and serve to mitigate any future fire breakouts. 

Prescribed burns are critical to improving the health of forests and the quality of life for thousands of residents who live near these high-threat areas. By doing more prescribed fires promptly, the looming threat of another wildfire taking away people’s homes and lives can be eliminated and make California and many other states a safer place.