SPONSOR: Adrian A.
For my independent study I focused on developing my writing while delving into my interest of wildfire in the form of Op-Eds. The goal of the project was both to learn about how opinion pieces are formed but also develop and share my thoughts on different important aspects of wildfire. Topics I wrote about included what to do in case of a wildfire, wildfire in climate change, PG&E, and wildfire in quarantine.
Wildfire in Quarantine
The topic of fighting wildfires has become increasingly present in the news over the past decade or two, however it is surprisingly out of the news as we head into what could be a bad fire season. This is obviously due to COVID-19 dominating people's everyday lives and the news cycle.
Not only has our situation greatly changed but the approaching fire season is also more threatening than we usually see. For all of February, certain areas, such as Big Sur and San Francisco, had not a drop of rain. The snowpack in California is about 44% of what it usually is at this time of year. The minimal snow pack partnered with record high temperatures will ultimately dry out the soil, making less moisture available to plants and increasing the risk of wildfire. There have already been 35% more calls to report wildfires than the average at this time of year.
In normal times, when major fires occur an incident management team of about 30-60 people gather to coordinate the response, in addition to the people going out in the field and fighting the fire. The managers tend to be the more experienced, and therefore older. Fire engines carry usually at least three firefighters during any incident response. When a fire occurs, the citizens in the areas are told to evacuate based on how at risk they are. If someone lives in a high risk area they are given a mandatory evacuation, while someone living close but not in as much danger is given an evacuation warning. After people evacuate there are shelters that open up for them to stay in, often housing over 100 people in warehouses or community centers or school gyms. People sleep on cots and get communal meals for days at a time waiting to hear the outcome of the fire and the state of their homes. However the prospect of 30 older incident managers crowding into a room to plan a fire response or hundreds of people sheltering in a school gym together seems unthinkable during today's coronavirus situation.
Another significant concern associated with wildfires during COVID-19 is what will happen to all of the people who have been more permanently displaced from their homes and towns. There is going to be an ethical dilemma about how these people will get shelter and a place to stay. There are no public plans for housing such people, but it seems that either people will have to break the rules around isolation during COVID-19 or there will have to be some alternative to keeping people sheltered at least 6 feet apart. Either of these are likely to lead to a spike in the virus in that town because having people in the same building, whether they are 6 feet apart or not, still puts a large group of people, who are potentially carrying the coronavirus, in danger.
Firefighters are also placed at a disadvantage right now before the fire season even occurs. Usually firefighters inspect brush and prepare for a fire season as well as have essential training during spring; both of these are being delayed. This is especially impactful for volunteer firefighters or newer firefighters who are less experienced or also have other jobs, making firefighting less of a constant priority. Also, this lack of action to inspect and clear brush means that the firefighters will not know as much of what to inspect when fires inevitably roll around. Currently there is a law saying that no more than 10 people can gather, however, as previously established, incident command teams are 30-60 people and some other crews, such as hotshot crews tasked with digging and cutting firebreaks, attempting to slow the fire, are 20 people strong, potentially exposing the entire group. Another issue is reciprocal aid; in the past, countries like Australia and New Zealand have requested firefighting aid from other countries, but in today's conditions this is unlikely to happen and the country will need to be able to stretch its resources for itself. San Jose, California has already had a fire during COVID-19 and 10% of the people who responded to that fire contracted coronavirus. The last major concern when fighting large fires is where the response teams will stay; usually during fires there are large “fire camps” where people stay to help fight the fire in tents or other easily set up structures, near the command post from which incident management coordinates the response. This format of housing firefighters will likely also have to be altered to spread everyone out or move them farther from the command post, possibly requiring more space.
While wildfire in the time of COVID-19 is terrifying and may leave us feeling helpless, it is problematic that it is not in the news cycle because there needs to be a call to action to individuals and families. This could finally be the catalyst to make people clear brush from around their homes and otherwise become more fire safe. It is going to take the agency and advocacy of the individual to create their own plan for escaping a fire rather than relying on their town or government, because as of now there is no overall plan. It is healthy to have this fear because it will inspire people to attempt to solve their individual problems, hopefully lessening the risk of a big group of people gathering because of the fire, and minimizing exposure to covid-19 as much as possible.
Pierre-Louis, Kendra. "California Had Its Driest February on Record. Here's How Bad It Was." The New York Times (New York City, NY), March 3, 2020, Accessed May 20, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/03/climate/dry-california.html.
Pierre- Louis, Kendra "How the Coronavirus Crisis May Hinder Efforts to Fight Wildfires." The New York Times (New York City, NY), March 20, 2020. Accessed May 20, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/climate/coronavirus-firefighters-wildfires.html.