Wildfire: A Modern-Day Paradox

Firefighters use pickaxes clearing between trees.

Hotshot crew from Shasta Lake, California, strengthening a containment line in a dense forest area on the Smith River Complex Fires, September 22, 2023. (USDA photo by Andrew Avitt)

Andrew Avitt
Pacific Southwest Region
October 5, 2023

Wildfire is both simple and complex. It is restorative and destructive. It burns areas completely and partially. Wildfires are natural and they are human caused. Contained and uncontained. All of this nuance is often summed up with red asymmetrical shapes on a map. 

To understand the meaning behind those maps, we talked with a fire behavior analyst with California Incident Management Team 4 and a fuels planner with the Six Rivers National Forest about the Smith River Complex Fires

They shared their perspectives on the role of wildfire in our ecosystems, the driving factors of extreme wildfire behavior, and how to reduce the risk of future destructive wildfires.  

An Inevitable Return 

Billowing smoke over a fiery forest with road leading in.

Smith River Complex Fire on the Six Rivers National Forest on Aug. 24, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Bill Steven/Inciweb)

“Fire is a natural part of our ecosystem and it’s there to do good things. And I love watching fire clean up the forest and help restore the landscape,” said Linda Ferguson, a fire behavior analyst with California Incident Management Team 4. 

Ferguson is referring to fire that has evolved ecosystems since the beginning of time. The type of wildfire that is essential for clearing away the old, recycling nutrients, opening canopy cover, and making way for new growth. 

“Each forest, each ecosystem, is meant to burn once every so many years. Depending on where and what kind of ecosystem, that interval can range from one year to decades. These are specific timeframes called fire return intervals.”   

In the area where the Smith River Complex Fires are currently burning (84% contained at time of writing) in northern California, the fire return interval ranges every six to 35 years.      Map with heavy areas of red with green on the edges, indicating high fire severity for vegetation.

This map of the Siskiyou National Forest offers a look at vegetation against the composite burn index which assesses on-the-ground fire effects on vegetation and soil.

However, during the early and mid-20th century, this was not a popular perspective. Instead, land managers sought to protect areas from fire, to exclude fire from the land

“And when they excluded fire from the forest, the vegetation became dense and continued to build and build and would eventually fuel these large fires that we’ve seen across the California and the country — the Dixie, August Complex, and Creek fires all of which burned more than 100,000 acres.” 

These fires don’t just burn large areas. They also burn hot and are not restorative but instead damaging to landscapes. These are the wildfires that damage or destroy ecosystems, soil, watersheds, and homes and take lives.  

Influencing the Wild in Wildfire 

“I was always interested in fire behavior and the science behind it and what fire does for nature,” said Ferguson who has been a hotshot, engine captain, prevention specialist, and fuels planner over the past 32 years. 

Now as a fire behavior analyst, she and her team consider several factors to predict wildfire behavior to help firefighters safely suppress a fire. Among those factors, one in particular can be modified to reduce fire behavior and future fire risk. 

“When we model fire behavior, we’re looking at the interaction of a wildfire with terrain, weather and fuel. We can’t change terrain. We can’t change weather. The amount of fuel is the only factor we can change.” Person in hard hat with ax in one hand, using torch to set controlled burn along tree line.

Strategic firing operation on the southeastern corner of the Kelly Fire, Smith River Complex South on Sept. 14, 2023, in the Six Rivers National Forest. (USDA Forest Service photo)

Fuel treatments can come in many forms but are ultimately aimed at reducing the amount of vegetation across the landscape by pile burning, broadcast burning, and mechanical thinning. Reducing vegetation can also be a tactic used to contain a fire, often referred to as a back fire or a burn out operation. 

“Putting fire on the ground, when the conditions are right, consumes vegetation before the main fire arrives at a location. So that when it does, there is less to burn, and the wildfire slows and sometimes stops there,” said Ferguson. 

This type of preemptive fire doesn’t burn as hot and typically mimics fire’s natural role on the landscape — a low intensity burn consuming fuel.  

The burn severity of a large fire area like the Smith River Complex may seem hard to quantify from the ground, but the big picture becomes apparent with satellite data. 

“Burn severity maps can tell us a lot about a fire — it’s behavior, movement and potential effects on the landscape,” said Ferguson. “Looking at the burn severity map, you can see a few places where firefighters engaged in back firing. They burned it right and they burned it cool, in a way good for the trees and good for the land.” 

“The green around the edges of the burn severity map are a subtle sign that the firefighters are doing a great job,” said Ferguson. “They’ve identified where they can box in the fire.” 

A Proactive Approach 

Removing fuel can also be a proactive measure, a part of routine landscape maintenance, that reduces future wildfire risk. Aerial view of billowing smoke over heavy forest.

Fire managers keep an eye on operations, such as this firing operation to remove fuels from near the control line on the Smith River Complex Fires. (Photo courtesy of Karen Scholl/Inciweb)

Sheila Balent, a fuels planner with the Forest Service on the Smith River National Recreation Area, has been collaborating with communities and partners to create these fuels treatments across the landscape.  

One of those treatments was completed along French Hill Road in December 2022, just eight months before the Smith River Complex Fires. It would become a textbook example of how fuels treatment can influence fire behavior and protect important sites — in this instance, the town of Gasquet, CA, population 657, and a critical communication site on a nearby ridge. 

“The fire actually burned through that whole communication site. And if that fuel break would have not been in place, it would have been a different story,” said Balent. “It is the perfect time to really reflect on how critically important the preparation work is. We are planning to continue more of that work this summer, all the way out to the Big Flat community.” 

Reducing Future Fire Risk  

This year the Klamath River Basin was selected to receive an unprecedented level of funding to reduce wildfire risk using these fuel treatments with partners across the landscape. 

“There’s a lot of thought that goes into where these fuels treatments are planned. They are prioritized for community defense, wildlife, water, heritage sites, threatened and endangered species, and infrastructure,” said Balent. “This funding and the added national emphasis on reducing wildfire risk will help with our efforts on the Six River National Forest greatly.” 

The selected area, partly burned in the Smith River Complex Fires, spans 10 million acres, 55% on five national forests with the remainder across tribal, state and private lands. 

According to a Forest Service report, “In addition to reduced wildfire exposure and risk for communities within the Klamath Basin, we will improve watershed conditions and salmonid habitats in the face of climate change. These improvements will support underserved communities and local economies. We will treat up to 52,080 acres in [Fiscal Year] FY 2023: 37,510 in California and 14,570 in Oregon. At least 217,000 acres will be treated through FYs 2023–31.” 

Firefighter Recalls Close Calls 

Ferguson knows fuel treatments will never completely eliminate risk, but they are the best way for land managers to moderate extreme wildfire behavior, slow a fire’s spread and make it easier for firefighters to contain. 

“I’ve been in situations driving through areas that had not been treated, where the vegetation was thick and you can’t see through the forest. I’ve had close calls driving through fire and it gets really smoky and you can’t see. It’s scary and you think to yourself, ‘please, please be clearer on the other side of this smoke, so I can get to a safe area.’ 

“On the other hand, when I know I’m going into a fire that’s had treatment, I’m feeling more comfortable and calmer. I know I can do it and I know I’m not putting people at unnecessary risk.” 

Learn more about the Forest Service’s “Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests.”