The Ferguson and Carr fires are terrifying glimpses into California’s future
As we face yet another summer of towering firestorms and overmatched first responders, it is becoming clear that we must radically improve emergency preparation in California. Summer has been a death march and August’s heat is just about to start.
Last week the wind-driven Carr Fire rushed into residential neighborhoods in Redding, bringing a one-two punch of thick smoke and unpredictable “firenados” that overwhelmed firefighters. At least six people were killedand 515 buildings had been destroyed as of Monday morning. That number is expected to rise.
Closer to home, the Ferguson fire near Yosemite claimed a second firefighter over last weekend. Brian Hughes was on the fire line Sunday morning, working a tactical operation on the east side of the blaze when he was struck by a tree. He was treated at the scene but died before he could be transported to a hospital, according to the National Park Service. The 33-year-old was a captain with the Arrowhead Interagency Hotshots.
As of Monday morning, the Ferguson fire had scorched 56,600 acres but only damaged one structure. Its cause remains under investigation. Yosemite National Park remains closed this week.
This past month shows climate change for real and in real time. Scientists have been warning that the atmospheric buildup of man-made greenhouse gas would eventually be an existential threat.
It is sobering to witness how swiftly that prediction has come true, from the lethal heat wave gripping Japan to the record temperatures in Europe to the flames exploding near the Arctic Circle. And it is terrifying to watch as ideologues in the Trump administration block action on this gathering crisis.
With fires at opposite ends of California, from Redding to Yosemite to the Southern California mountain town of Idyllwild, the White House is reportedly trying to revoke a decades-old waiver that has allowed California to impose strict rules on auto emissions, a leading cause of greenhouse gas pollution. President Donald Trump couldn’t be more wrong, and this irresponsible push just underscores the need for Californians to double down on our convictions. But it also means that the need to plan is even more urgent than we imagined.
That means not only figuring out whether PG&E will be liable for the billions of dollars in property damage from wildfires along the path of its utility equipment, but also fundamentally changing the way we live, and the way we prepare for and recover from natural disasters.
Many in Redding, for example, weren’t ready for a wildfire capable of creating its own weather in their neighborhoods. They thought flames could never jump the Sacramento River and get into the city, in large part, because it had never happened.
But old rules no longer apply. Now everyone in California needs a plan to escape a natural disaster, and cities in fire zones especially need better emergency notification systems, public education and evacuation routes.
Thankfully, some of this is already happening. Last October, when the wine country fires swept through Santa Rosa in the middle of the night, residents said they had no warning. Many barely had enough time to pack a few things and jump in the car.
The old methods of distributing emergency information didn’t work because of damaged cell towers and a system tied to land-line phones, which many residents no longer have. The result was chaos: bumper-to-bumper traffic, unwieldy lines at gas stations and, tragically, people who never made it out alive.
In Redding, many residents reported getting robocalls and text messages on their cellphones, telling them to evacuate. The result was better, but still chaotic. Police swarmed neighborhoods, running door to door. Again, there was bumper-to-bumper traffic, as residents who underestimated the wildfire’s reach waited to leave.
Don Anderson, who escaped his Redding home, said: “People at the end of that line, that fire was on their tail.”
If this is the new normal for wildfires, then California must do better. But prevention is only part of the equation. There’s also what happens next.
California must plan now for these and other aspects of global warming, as more of the state becomes too hot, too dry, or too fire- or flood-prone to safely live in, and as more of the world braces for the era of climate refugees.