7 ms·

If there isn't any "critical infrastructure" which can be damaged nearby the fire, smaller intentional burns can keep fuel accumulation low.

lazide 5y ago
Except no one wants to take the risk that the small fire becomes a huge one - or the smoke will aggravate someone’s asthma then next town over and get sued. Yes, that is a real reason I was quoted from a CalFire rep as to why they had to stop prescribed burns in a major fire risk area in the Sierra Foothills.
- dogorman 5y ago
  > Except no one wants to take the risk that the small fire becomes a huge one Generally controlled burns are scheduled during wetter seasons for this reason. But the difficulty of getting the general public to understand this and go along with it is probably hard to understate.
  - lazide 5y ago
    It still happens that they get away from the firefighters sometimes [https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/escaped-prescribed-fire/ https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/escaped-prescribed-fire/] With very high fuel loads, the consequences get worse as time progresses, and the odds of it happening get higher - at least without tons of manual shredding and other fuel work first, which is expensive, and what a prescribed fire should alleviate the need for. In the modern legal/liability environment, it’s tough to do - if you do the inexpensive thing (still expensive) like prescribed fires to reduce the catastrophic risk, you get sued. If you do the safer option (mastication, lop and scatter, etc) you can only touch tiny areas at a time - and the catastrophic risk rises. Logging can help, but it also requires management and care to not make the problem worse long term, and in many of these areas it’s a non-starter due to environmentalist pushback. Even if we ignore the cost in money, it delays things for decades sometimes - and by then it’s probably burned down.
- s1artibartfast 5y ago
  Still a very problem. In pre 1800 California, Forests burned every 3 years and summer was a perpetual haze. Historic burn acreage was around that of 2020. The intensity of these fires is what is new
  - dylan604 5y ago
    Is it the instensity, or the fact that people are now trying to live in these prone areas? In pre 1800 California, this area was just wild lands. In post 2020, the humans are like cock roaches crawling in every crevice of the lands (just a slight exaggeration).
    - forgotmypw17 5y ago
      I'm part cockroach on both my mom's and my dad's side, and I take slight offense at that statement, and wiggle my whiskers in disapproval.
    - s1artibartfast 5y ago
      There multiple problems. One is the fire intensity for people who enjoy the outdoors and using them. High intensity fires destroy the natural resource and some will take a century to grow back. This is especially worry some because we are essentially locked into all of our forests burning down at this point. Impact on people and homes is an entirely different one that I honestly care less about, because it affects me less.
kayfox 5y ago
Good luck getting permits for a proscribed burn in California.
- epistasis 5y ago
  Is it that hard? Or maybe it varies by area? I see prescribed burns happening all the time where I live in California and also frequently get notifications about them, so that people don't call in the smoke. And I live in an area that is both considered to have the very most extreme environmentalists and the most NIMBY of people you will find anywhere.
- jjeaff 5y ago
  Seems like the fire department would be the one signing off on permits and they would probably be the ones overseeing that same prescribed burn. If you can get permits all over the state to have huge fireworks shows during fire season, I don't see why they couldn't do prescribed burns.
  - bluGill 5y ago
    While the fire department can (might or might not) issue permits, courts are known to stop the burns for years while various parties sue to stop them. All the while things build up worse and worse.

lazide 5y ago

Except no one wants to take the risk that the small fire becomes a huge one - or the smoke will aggravate someone’s asthma then next town over and get sued. Yes, that is a real reason I was quoted from a CalFire rep as to why they had to stop prescribed burns in a major fire risk area in the Sierra Foothills.

dogorman 5y ago
> Except no one wants to take the risk that the small fire becomes a huge one Generally controlled burns are scheduled during wetter seasons for this reason. But the difficulty of getting the general public to understand this and go along with it is probably hard to understate.
- lazide 5y ago
  It still happens that they get away from the firefighters sometimes [https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/escaped-prescribed-fire/ https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/escaped-prescribed-fire/] With very high fuel loads, the consequences get worse as time progresses, and the odds of it happening get higher - at least without tons of manual shredding and other fuel work first, which is expensive, and what a prescribed fire should alleviate the need for. In the modern legal/liability environment, it’s tough to do - if you do the inexpensive thing (still expensive) like prescribed fires to reduce the catastrophic risk, you get sued. If you do the safer option (mastication, lop and scatter, etc) you can only touch tiny areas at a time - and the catastrophic risk rises. Logging can help, but it also requires management and care to not make the problem worse long term, and in many of these areas it’s a non-starter due to environmentalist pushback. Even if we ignore the cost in money, it delays things for decades sometimes - and by then it’s probably burned down.
s1artibartfast 5y ago
Still a very problem. In pre 1800 California, Forests burned every 3 years and summer was a perpetual haze. Historic burn acreage was around that of 2020. The intensity of these fires is what is new
- dylan604 5y ago
  Is it the instensity, or the fact that people are now trying to live in these prone areas? In pre 1800 California, this area was just wild lands. In post 2020, the humans are like cock roaches crawling in every crevice of the lands (just a slight exaggeration).
  - forgotmypw17 5y ago
    I'm part cockroach on both my mom's and my dad's side, and I take slight offense at that statement, and wiggle my whiskers in disapproval.
  - s1artibartfast 5y ago
    There multiple problems. One is the fire intensity for people who enjoy the outdoors and using them. High intensity fires destroy the natural resource and some will take a century to grow back. This is especially worry some because we are essentially locked into all of our forests burning down at this point. Impact on people and homes is an entirely different one that I honestly care less about, because it affects me less.

kayfox 5y ago

Good luck getting permits for a proscribed burn in California.

epistasis 5y ago
Is it that hard? Or maybe it varies by area? I see prescribed burns happening all the time where I live in California and also frequently get notifications about them, so that people don't call in the smoke. And I live in an area that is both considered to have the very most extreme environmentalists and the most NIMBY of people you will find anywhere.
jjeaff 5y ago
Seems like the fire department would be the one signing off on permits and they would probably be the ones overseeing that same prescribed burn. If you can get permits all over the state to have huge fireworks shows during fire season, I don't see why they couldn't do prescribed burns.
- bluGill 5y ago
  While the fire department can (might or might not) issue permits, courts are known to stop the burns for years while various parties sue to stop them. All the while things build up worse and worse.