Massive fires should be a wake-up call
More research and experience show that prescribed burning is an excellent remedy for our fire-starved forests. Though the prescribed burn that was partly responsible for the fire’s ignition was very badly timed, in principle, carefully executed prescribed fire is a key answer to our unhealthy forests. Another approach lets large areas burn when lightning starts fires in moderately wet conditions. We need to get our forests back in balance with fire.
Forest Service finds its planned burns sparked N.M.’s largest wildfire
After decades of embracing a policy of putting out fires as quickly as possible, federal and some state officials have come around to the idea of prescribed burns in recent years. The basic concept, backed by science and Indigenous groups’ long history of using intentional fire, is that modest controlled burns can clear flammable vegetation and preempt the kind of destructive megafires that have devastated the West. Experts have called for more fire on the land, and the Biden administration has announced plans to use intentional burns and brush thinning to reduce fire risk on 50 million acres that border vulnerable communities.
But extreme drought and record heat, worsened by climate change, have made it more difficult to use intentional fire as a preventive measure. Longer wildfire seasons have narrowed the window of time when firefighters can set controlled burns safely. Bureaucratic obstacles, combined with public fear that an intentionally set fire could escape, have also prevented some forest managers from using prescribed fires.
Fighting fire with fire: Controlled burns remain essential as US wildfires intensify
"There's a lot of politics in play," said Matthew Hurteau, a professor at the University of New Mexico, who studies the effects of wildfires and climate change on Southwestern forests.
"After a plane crashes, we don't shut down all air travel for three months," he said. "The worst thing that can happen to our wildfire situation is that it get politicized."
The decision will affect the 193 million acres of land managed by the agency. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore called it a pause, "because of the current extreme wildfire risk conditions in the field."
He acknowledged 99.48% of prescribed burns go as planned and said the forest service will conduct a national review and evaluation of its program during the three-month hiatus.
It's the wrong message at the wrong time, said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council.
More evacuations ordered as Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire continues to spread
The other week Ribe snapped a photo of the fire from just outside Santa Fe and between the wind and the sheer size of the fire impressed him, and the fire crews who are holding their own.“I’m actually really impressed with how the firefighters are doing it and holding this all over the place this is an extraordinary fire to deal with I’ve worked on other forest fires over the last 30, 40 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Ribe.
Cerro Grande fire victims were ‘fully compensated’ decades ago. NM gov seeks the same in 2022.
But Tom Ribe, author of “Inferno by Committee,” a book about the Cerro Grande fire, told Source New Mexico recently that there might be some key differences.
For one, many of the Los Alamos fire victims were Los Alamos National Laboratories employees with Ph.Ds. That made it easier for them to draw the nation’s attention and navigate the FEMA aid process.
In the area burned by the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon fire, many of those who suffered losses are low-income.
So finding a way to reach those who were impacted and fully compensate them will potentially be a new challenge from this latest escaped prescribed burn, Ribe said.
In light of all this, Ribe said of the folks affected by the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon fire:
“They’re going to need an advocate.”
Let's Talk: forest management
Prescribed burns are a commonly used land management technique that reduces the amount of combustible material (leaf litter and dead grass naturally occurring in the natural landscape) and performed only when conditions such as humidity, wind, and temperature are ideal for managing fires, and not conducted unless all required weather conditions are met.
Echoes of the Cerro Grande wildfire 22 years later
Tom Ribe, wildland firefighter and author of “Inferno by Committee,” a book about the Cerro Grande fire, said he sees plenty of parallels so far between what happened in 2000 and what happened in early April this year.
The Forest Service’s prescribed burn was “extremely risky,” he said. He recommends agencies only do prescribed burns in the very early spring or the late fall. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham recently called on the federal government to change its prescribed burn rules for the Southwest for that same reason.
In 2000, when the Park Service lost control of Cerro Grande, condemnation was swift about the timing, in particular. Many called the Park Service officials “amateurs,” Ribe said.
“The Forest Service piled on with that, too,” at the time, Ribe said. “And now we’re seeing that anybody can do it. Anybody can make a mistake.”
As feds stay quiet on state’s largest-ever wildfire, theories circulate about its cause
On Monday, Michelle Burnett, a spokesperson for the United States Forest Service, declined to comment on whether investigators are looking into whether the Calf Canyon fire started earlier than April 19. The service also did not answer how it arrived at April 19 as a start date. “The comprehensive internal Declared Wildfire Review of the Las Dispensas prescribed fire is still ongoing, and the cause of the Calf Canyon fire remains under investigation. It would be premature to comment until either of those is complete,” she said.
There are now two investigations unfolding while the merged Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon fire grows: One into Calf Canyon’s origins and another as to how the prescribed burn escaped to become Hermits Peak.
Some answers to the second question lie in the past, said Tom Ribe, a wildland firefighter and author of “Inferno by Committee.” Just look at the last time we were in this mess — 22 years ago.
One month in, New Mexico’s largest-ever fire fuels anger and despair
Prescribed burns are controlled, intentional fires meant to clear vegetation and reduce the risk of disastrous wildfires, and experts say they rarely go awry. When considering a prescribed fire, authorities rely on models that take into account temperature, humidity, fuel moisture, wind speed and direction, said Timothy Ingalsbee, a former wildland firefighter and co-founder of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology. Wind in particular tends to be a wild card, he said. “It’s very often that when these prescribed fires burn beyond their plan, it’s because there was a change in the wind, in wind speed or wind direction,” he said. “It’s extremely rare that it’s a matter of negligence.”
Governor promises a temporary halt to prescribed burns while wildfires rage in New Mexico
An expert and wildland firefighter, Tom Ribe, told Source New Mexico that it was “extremely risky” to ignite a prescribed burn on a windy April day in New Mexico. He also said the forecast conditions should have given a burn boss pause April 6, but he also stressed the decision to ignite a prescribed burn is a complex and difficult one based on many factors.
Governor promises temporary halt to prescribed burns
An expert and wildland firefighter, Tom Ribe, told Source New Mexico that it was “extremely risky” to ignite a prescribed burn on a windy April day in New Mexico. He also said the forecast conditions should have given a burn boss pause April 6, but he also stressed the decision to ignite a prescribed burn is a complex and difficult one based on many factors.
COIC, Heart of Oregon Corps receive nearly $1 million to launch C. Oregon Wildfire Workforce Partnership
(The) Central Oregon Wildfire Workforce Partnership…will train and employ over 140 local youth and young adults in wildfire reduction and related skills. In addition to gaining on-the-job training, certifications, and knowledge in fire fuel reduction practices, youth in the program will receive wages, scholarships, additional workforce training in both soft and hard skills to prepare them to enter the professional workforce.
Why climate change makes it harder to fight fire with fire
Last summer, the Forest Service’s chief, Randy Moore, restricted the use of prescribed fire on agency lands to make sure resources were available to fight wildfires. He also ordered a pause on allowing backcountry fires to burn if they provided ecological benefits and didn’t threaten homes or infrastructure.
The halt was temporary, but it was enough to make some ecologists fear that officials’ recent championing of fire could still go into reverse. If the goal is to return the land to an older ecological state, one in which frequent natural fires kept forests vibrant and resilient, then the scale of the task is staggering.
Cerro Grande fire expert: Feds doing a prescribed burn in spring ‘extremely risky’
The guy who literally wrote the book on the destructive Cerro Grande fire in New Mexico said federal officials ignored the notorious blaze’s lessons when they decided to ignite a prescribed burn on a windy April day this year, sparking what’s now known as the Hermits Peak fire.
“It’s clear that it was an extremely risky time to do that, given that the fuels are so dry this year, given the way the winter was, and given the way springs are always windy here,” said Tom Ribe, author of “Inferno by Committee: A history of the Cerro Grande Fire.”
This app is helping Californians stay on top of wildfire risks
Zeke Lunder, an analyst with two decades of experience mapping wildfires, was already in the habit of sharing his expertise on Facebook, often writing posts providing insights into official announcements. This fire hit close to home, though, and he wanted to expand his offerings. Lunder started a website, The Lookout, which he populated with maps he built based on publicly available data, as well as analysis and interviews. Rather than offering emergency alerts, like Watch Duty, Lunder wanted a space to provide additional context for people interested in, and impacted by, wildfires—context that was not restricted by official protocols or talking points.
Many factors influenced the severity of burns from Oregon's devastating 2020 megafires
"90% of the burning occurred during high winds," said Dr. Cody Every, a Research Associate in the Department of Environmental Science and Management at Portland State and the study's lead author. "But we also found that vegetation structure and canopy height were significant in determining where the fire burned more severely."
The research team found that areas with younger trees and low canopy height and cover were particularly susceptible to high mortality rates. As Holz pointed out, this finding is of particular consequence to lumber production in the state, where trees grown on plantations are typically younger, uniformly spaced and located near communities and critical infrastructure.
Questions raised after controlled burn near Las Vegas, N.M., goes out of control
Given that history, it’s always big news when a prescribed burn turns into a wildfire, said Tom Ribe, a longtime public advocate and author of a book that retells the Cerro Grande Fire with a critical eye about what went wrong.
Ribe said he’s reluctant to criticize forest managers in this situation because he doesn’t want to discourage them from what’s otherwise a healthy practice.
Prescribed burns are tricky because they must be done when forest debris is dry enough for the flames to consume an ample amount, Ribe said. Sometimes fall and winter are too damp, so forest managers opt for the spring, when the debris is drier but also when New Mexico is windy, he said.
“It definitely is risky this time of year,” Ribe said.
How the Indigenous practice of ‘good fire’ can help our forests survive
“There is so much to learn from cultural practitioners — not just about traditions and techniques, but also about stewardship and connectedness,” she says. “Fire is a reflection of culture, and the kinds of fires we’ve been experiencing in California are a projection of our own disconnection and imbalance. It’s time to reclaim the balance, rebuild the relationship. Cultural practitioners can help show us how.”
Forest Service stands firm in dispute on fire retardant
Photos of red or orange retardant being dropped from airplanes make good, but misleading, public relation images, said Tim Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology in Eugene, Ore.
"We used to call them photodrops," said Ingalsbee, a wildland fire ecologist and former firefighter with the Forest Service and the National Park Service.
Ingalsbee said "bureaucratic inertia" keeps the federal government from a deeper examination of fire retardant, for which the Forest Service contracts for helicopters and airplanes, a lucrative arrangement for companies.
Women firefighters from around train in Virginia’s forest
Women make up only about 10% of the national wildland firefighting force. Many are the only woman or transgender person in their division and often feel they have to represent their gender, Quinn-Davidson said. She said she wasn't sure what to expect during the first training exchange.
“We were really surprised by how powerful it was,” Quinn-Davidson said. “It could’ve just been another training event that just had more women. But instead there was this level of camaraderie that we just didn’t anticipate. And it was a pretty emotional event.”