We have all seen the news footage of wildfires raging through our wild places, threatening homes and lives. Many of us have even been impacted by the threat of these fires or lost our homes to them. Others will have experienced the mid-afternoon blanket of smoke that blots out the sun and turns on the streetlamps. As a society, we are becoming more and more aware of wildfire as a threat. But how did we get here? Why are fires so rampant today? And how do we learn to live in this new reality? How can we learn to live with fire?
Resources
Mike Flannigan on BC Wildfires
Mapping Canadian wildland fire interface areas
Sponsors
Giveaway
Enter YourForest10 at checkout at the Damaged Timber store for a 10% discount!
Quotes
10.15 - 10.20: “Much of our life and existence is based on fire in one form or another.”
11.13 - 11.16: “There’s no vaccine for wildfire.”
57.37 - 57.41: “Fire is a multifaceted problem, it needs a multi-pronged solution.”
Takeaways
Fire people (05.33)
Mike has been interested in fire since childhood, as well as the weather. He trained with Environment Canada and worked as a forecaster, doing fire weather forecasts. He studied fire with the Canadian Forest Service till 2012. He then moved to the University of Alberta, where he has been researching fire, weather and climate change ever since. His students have been employed across the world with fire management agencies and forest services.
Fuel, ignition, weather (09.18)
Mike lists the three ingredients of a fire - fuel, ignition and weather. Since these have been around forever, there is no way to eliminate fire. He believes the way forward is to have an educated, knowledgeable public so we can make informed decisions, and he works to share his knowledge with the world to that effect. Wildfires have increased today due to human actions. Global warming dries the grass (fuel), and increases lightning (ignition), so fires increase.
Fuel build-up (19.27)
Mike explains what fuel build-up can mean in different situations and landscapes and how often prescribed burning can be done. Forest services are taking an active approach to appropriate fire response by increasing prescribed burning. When a wildfire begins, the distance to communities is assessed to determine the best course of action. The boreal forest survives and thrives in a regime of semi-regular, high-intensity, renewing, stand-replacing fire.
How we manage the landscape is important (25.43)
Mike blames climate change and humans in equal part for the increase in wildfires. Different ecosystems recover differently from fires. Many portions of the boreal forest are untouched by commercial forestry operations, and fire management agencies allow fires on the landscape, which Mike says is healthy to create a patchwork mosaic of different sizes. A wildfire will go out or reduce its intensity when it comes across a burn patch in a mosaic.
Fire preparedness (29.52)
Mike says that not much can be done on a personal level about the weather or fuels as a cause of fire. Being one of the two main ignition agents, humans can prevent fires by decreasing activities that can ignite them. He suggests increasing fire bans, forest closures and education in communities using programs like FireSmart and building fire-resilient dwellings. As a last resort, evacuation from fire sites may be necessary to minimize health concerns.
Pros and cons of fire (35.10)
Mike notes how large fires have created the public perception that fire is bad, but it “is just the cycle of life”. Parks Canada views fires as an educational opportunity. Mike reiterates that fire is natural and at times, healthy and beneficial. However, smoke travels thousands of kilometres and the older it is, the more toxic because only the finer particles remain with time and get sucked into and stay in the lungs. Wildfire smoke kills 330,000 people globally every year.
Good fire (38.30)
Prescribed burning prevents wildfires, and Mike claims that massive fires in the past occurred due to settlers burning at the wrong time. Fires get a lot of media attention, and modern firefighting in Canada has ramped up after World War II. Communicating the message that fire is beneficial can pale compared to the powerful visuals people see of fire destruction, Mike observes. However, he believes public education will dispel the myths and provide context.
Bringing fire back (46.15)
Mike explains that Indigenous peoples have been using fire for thousands of years and see it as natural and beneficial. He warns people against believing the misconception that fire is bad and war needs to be waged against it. He discusses how some provinces are also accepting fire as natural and letting it burn. COVID made this tricky since smoke suppresses immunity. He believes we need to do more research on how to get more fire on landscapes, where fitting.
Once burned, twice shy (53.33)
Mike recounts how prescribed burning was abundant when he first started working in fire, but there were powerful groups who didn’t want smoke. The burning window is also quite short, and getting shorter due to climate change, creating less opportunity to burn. Many forest departments won’t do prescribed burnings if they are within 3 km of a town due to the fear of smoke. Smoke and loss of life present huge challenges to prescribed burning.
Let it burn (59.28)
Mike lists the appropriate responses to a fire - allowing patchwork mosaic prescribed burning in the appropriate burning window, timely fire response, and reporting a fire when seen. Although fire management costs are very high in Canada, there is resistance to letting fires burn since tourists don’t want smoky skies. He hopes to move toward more acceptance and encouragement for prescribed fires and to create a fire community.
The circle of wildfire (1.09.30)
Mike notes some examples where Indigenous peoples are in charge of burning programs and believes it is up to the landowners to promote, encourage, foster and listen to good fire. There has been more investment in social sciences, including fire, but there is a long way to go. Areas burnt are decreasing due to their conversion to agricultural land. A warmer climate means more fire, which means more greenhouse gases, which makes the climate warmer.
Human contribution (1.17.34)
Mike highlights how peats are huge carbon banks, and peat fires can have massive fossil fuel emissions. Permafrost thawing will be 20 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. He emphasizes the role humans play - if we stopped producing greenhouse gases today, we are going to continue to warm for the next 50 years, because there are a lot of lags in the climate system and ocean system.
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