The US state of California has the world’s fifth largest economy, but going by the way it has handled the wildfires that have been raging for the past 11 days, money isn’t everything.
To date, the fires have killed at least 76 people and more than 1,200 people are reported to be missing. More than 247,000 acres have been burned since Nov. 8 when the blaze began, 13,500 structures destroyed and the air quality in northern California has been rated the world’s worst, even worse than in India and China. It is the deadliest US wildfire in a century and many people, not least of whom is President Donald Trump, are wondering why this is happening at all.
Leaving for California to survey the destruction, Trump again focused on forest management as a cause of the blazes. In a couple of tweets, he had previously suggested that the state had not managed its forests properly, despite receiving “billions of dollars” each year. It is a claim that has been disputed by experts who say that Trump is ignoring the bigger picture of weather, climate change and population shifts in the state.
There are many causes for the fires, from population growth to equipment failures to climate change. Low humidity, warm winds, and dry ground after a rain-free month have produced a prime fire-spreading environment. The fires are burning hotter and more intense, due in part to hot and dry weather and in part to the fuels that overload the forests. There are also too many trees in California’s forests; forests need to be thinned out. The large number of dead trees in parts of California, due to drought and disease, is a serious fire risk that needs to be addressed. Concerns have been voiced about whether there’s been enough emphasis on longer-term fire prevention. More focus needs to be put on more sensible management of the environment and better land use to avoid catastrophic burning.
Malfunctioning equipment and downed power lines could be behind many of the blazes; equipment failures by utility companies could have sparked the two large California blazes. Careless campers, too, are responsible for some fires.
The common factor seems to be climate change. Climate change has made things worse, leading to higher temperatures, lower humidity and changes in wind and rainfall patterns. Drier, warmer conditions lead to vegetation drying out and becoming more flammable. Add to that the fact that winter seasons when it rains or snows are getting shorter. Historically, California’s wildfire season starts in summer and runs into early autumn but experts have warned that the risk is now year-round.
The fires are complicated by shifts in population. California is one of a number of US states where more and more people are moving out of the main urban centers and into rural or semi-rural areas. In 2010 more than 11 million people out of a population of some 37 million in California were living in such areas and flagged the fire risks this posed. Americans have built millions of homes within or adjacent to forests and grasslands, making accidental, human-caused fires more likely, and putting property and people at substantially greater risk. Also, houses are often built of combustible materials such as wood.
Major disaster and emergency declarations signed by Trump will cover up to 75 percent of the state’s costs for removing debris, providing transitional housing and more. A public health emergency declared by the Department of Health and Human Services will let Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and their health-care providers meet their immediate health needs. But the flames in California, which might not come under full control before the end of the month, have become the latest symbols of a seemingly perennial challenge of fighting fires in the state. All it takes these days is one stray ember to start an inferno.
