海角大神

On a chain-link fence along Route 39 hangs a homemade poster, peppered with hearts, thanking firefighters and police.

The sign, one of a handful scattered across town, salutes efforts to battle the San Gabriel Complex fire, twin blazes that had erupted on June 20 in the mountains of Angeles National Forest just to the north of the city. Within a day of igniting, the fire聽聽and forced hundreds to evacuate.

聽passed before the US Forest Service and local and state authorities managed to contain even half of the inferno.

鈥淭hree days in, you could still see the flames,鈥� says Jasmine Perez, a teacher鈥檚 assistant and resident of Azusa, which sits northeast of Los Angeles. And because of the smoke, she adds, 鈥淚n the mornings, it kind of looked like nighttime still.鈥�

The San Gabriel Complex was one of聽聽that about 4,000 firefighters were battling across California as of Thursday. Such numbers so early in the fire season are a testament to the growing frequency and intensity of wildfires in the western US, fire officials say 鈥撀燼 shift that many experts say is likely intertwined with climate change and聽its associated consequences, such as drought.

But climate, however critical, is only part of the problem, scientists say. A growing body of evidence suggests that聽other聽human activity and policy have at least as much impact on wildfires as climate change. To effectively address a longer and more intense wildfire season 鈥� and ensure the safety of residents in fire-prone areas 鈥� both environmental and human factors have to be taken into account in more holistic ways, they say.

That means more than just sweeping dry brush off the front porch. Though such steps are an important part of the process, officials and researchers alike are calling for a comprehensive approach to wildfires: one that incorporates fire safety and behavior in key policy decisions and legislation. Such an effort would also聽recognize that fire can be helpful as well as harmful and embrace fire鈥檚 place in human society.

鈥淲e need not just a policy shift but also a cultural shift in the dialogue around fires in our landscape and how to manage them,鈥� says Jennifer Balch, director of Earth Lab and a professor of geography at the University of Colorado in Boulder. 鈥淔ire is not something we can remove. A large majority of the country is living in fire-prone areas. How do we live with wildfire? How do we manage?鈥�

鈥淢ore and more researchers are arguing that anthropogenic influences are really important [to understanding wildfires],鈥� adds Max Moritz, a specialist in fire ecology and management and a professor at the College of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley. 鈥淏y leaving them out we鈥檙e missing a critical piece of the solution.鈥�

Changing attitudes on fire

Though often viewed as a problem for western states, the growing frequency of wildfires is a national concern because of its impact on federal tax dollars, Professor Moritz and others say.

In 2015, the US Forest Service for the first time spent聽聽of its $5.5 billion annual budget fighting fires 鈥� nearly double the percentage it spent on such efforts 20 years ago. In effect, fewer federal funds today are going towards the agency鈥檚 other work 鈥� such as forest conservation, watershed and cultural resources management, and infrastructure upkeep 鈥� that affect the lives of all Americans.

Another nationwide concern is whether public funds from other agencies, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development, are going into construction in fire-prone districts. As Moritz puts it, how often are federal dollars building homes that are likely to be lost to a wildfire?

鈥淚t鈥檚 already a huge problem from a public expenditure perspective for the whole country,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e need to take a magnifying glass to that. Like, 鈥榃ait a minute, is this OK?鈥� Do we want instead to redirect those funds to concentrate on lower-hazard parts of the landscape?鈥� 聽

Such a pivot would require a corresponding shift in the way US society today views fire, researchers say.

For one thing, conversations about wildfires need to be more inclusive. Over the past decade, the focus has been on climate change 鈥� how the warming of the Earth from greenhouse gases聽(including human carbon emissions)聽is leading to conditions that exacerbate fires.聽

While climate is a key element, Moritz says, it shouldn鈥檛 come at the expense of the聽rest聽of the equation.

鈥淭he human systems and the landscapes we live on are linked, and the interactions go both ways,鈥� he says. Failing to recognize that, he notes, leads to 鈥渁n overly simplified view of what the solutions might be. Our perception of the problem and perception of what the solution is [becomes] very limited.鈥�

At the same time, people continue to treat fire as聽an event聽that needs to be wholly controlled and unleashed only out of necessity, says Professor Balch at the University of Colorado. But acknowledging fire鈥檚 inevitable presence in human life is an attitude crucial to developing the laws, policies, and practices that make it as聽safe as possible, she says.

鈥淲e鈥檝e disconnected ourselves from living with fire,鈥� Balch says. 鈥淚t is really important to understand and try and tease out what is the human connection [with fire] today.鈥�

Role for citizens ... and for policy

After nearly 30 years in the state fire service, Janet Upton understands the value of that connection.

During her early days with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), veterans would tell war stories of huge fires that happened once in a career, she recalls.

鈥淏ut in my generation, those of us who鈥檝e come up through the '80s, '90s, 2000s 鈥� 聽we feel like we don鈥檛 have the license to use the word 鈥榰nprecedented鈥� any more. We鈥檝e seen it all in the last few years,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e probably had 15 once-in-a-career fires.鈥�

And people caused most of them, Ms. Upton says. About聽聽of all fires in California can be traced to human activity, whether it鈥檚 a stove left on or a campfire left burning. Which is why public education has been Upton鈥檚 main goal since 2008, when then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed her Cal Fire鈥檚 deputy communications director.

The department has since made strides, playing a major role in launching聽聽that underscore the public鈥檚 role in fire safety. But people鈥檚 tendency to put danger out of their minds until it鈥檚 too late continues to pose serious challenges, Upton says.

鈥淭his is going to sound cold. But if someone chooses to live in a rural area and continues to not be responsive to [fire-safety] education, sadly, the worst punishment they鈥檙e going to get is they鈥檙e going to lose their home in a fire,鈥� she says.

A paradigm shift, some researchers hope, can聽address that gap between education and action. Environmental policy specialist Ray Rasker, for instance, envisions whole communities designed around the concept of fire safety, and a slate of fire-prevention policies at the local, state, and national level.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e telling the public now is, 鈥楻educe the risk of fires 鈥� if you so choose.鈥� Imagine if we tried driving our cars like that,鈥� says Dr. Rasker, who is also executive director of Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research firm based in Bozeman, Mont. 鈥淲hy not use regulations, building codes, and subdivision design standards, development codes and ordinances that say, 鈥楲ook if you鈥檙e going to build there, there are certain conditions you have to meet first鈥�?鈥�

Some places are聽. San Diego鈥檚 municipal code, for instance, requires property owners to maintain landscape and vegetation standards 鈥� or face a penalty equivalent to the cost of hiring a private contractor to do so. Austin, Texas, has set aside close to 30 percent of city land as conservation areas, curbing the number of new structures that can be built within the fire-prone 鈥渨ildland-urban interface鈥� (WUI) 鈥� the space between unoccupied natural land and human developments. Flagstaff, Ariz., Boulder, Colo., and Santa Fe, N.M., have all enacted similar policies.聽

But the need for action continues to grow. As bad as wildfires have been in recent years, research shows they鈥檙e likely to get worse as the US population increases and people build more homes in the WUI, more than 80 percent of which remain undeveloped.

鈥淲e keep building more and more homes in harm鈥檚 way,鈥� Rasker notes. 鈥淯nless we get a handle on development, we鈥檙e really not addressing the problem.鈥�

Mind-set matters, too 鈥� for everyone, says Upton at Cal Fire.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a mitigation issue. You can take the lens we鈥檙e looking at [in California] and take it to Tornado Alley or the Eastern Seaboard,鈥� she says. In the end, 鈥渋t鈥檚 about informing yourself as a member of the public or a policymaker. How can you do something comprehensive?鈥�