Controlled Fires Cut Wildfire Risk by 60%, Study Shows

Follow Drugslib on

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Nov 14, 2023.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Nov. 14, 2023 -- Controlled forest burns can prevent the sort of high-intensity wildfires that have plagued the Western U.S. and Canada as a result of climate change, a new study argues.

A low-intensity fire in the mixed conifer forests of California provides an estimated 60% reduction in the risk of a catastrophic wildfire, and that effect lasts at least six years, researchers report in the journal Science Advances.

Controlled burns also could provide a smaller but still significant reduction in risk in oak-dominated forests, researchers added.

“I’m hopeful that policymakers will rely on this work as motivation and support for the scale-up of beneficial fire as a key strategy in preventing wildfire catastrophes,” co-author Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, said in a Stanford news release.

“Beneficial fire is not without its own risks – but what our study shows is just how large and long-lasting the benefits are of this crucial risk reduction strategy,” Wara said.

The U.S. Forest Service has proposed treating about 50 million acres of forest through a mixture of "fuel treatment strategies," which can include burns as well as thinning, pruning and logging to reduce the amount of combustible vegetation, researchers noted.

For the study, researchers reviewed two decades of satellite monitoring of wildfires covering nearly 25 million acres of California forests, looking at fire intensity and fire severity.

Previous studies have shown that prescribed fires and unplanned low-intensity wildfires also can reduce the risk of a larger blaze.

These smaller fires clear away vegetation and smaller trees, helping forests achieve a more fire-resilient mix of trees and preventing fires from growing too intense, while still leaving the high tree canopies intact, researchers said.

They created a model that assembled unburned areas into a synthetic landscape that closely resembled the attributes of previously burned landscape, taking into account conditions like weather patterns, elevation and vegetation type.

This approach allowed them to estimate how much a low-intensity burn would reduce the risk of larger, more devastating wildfires.

The study comes almost exactly five years after the Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California’s history. Rising temperatures and a history of fire suppression have allowed tinder-dry trees and brush to build up, providing fuel for future blazes.

Previous Stanford-led research has indicated that California needs prescribed burns or vegetation thinning on nearly 20% of the state’s land area – about 5 million acres – to create more resilient, fire-resistant forests.

“Wildfires present substantial threats to both our ecosystems and human well-being. As scientists, our constant goal is to find practical solutions,” lead researcher Xiao Wu, an assistant professor of biostatistics at Columbia University who worked on the paper as a data science fellow at Stanford, said in the news release.

Sources

  • Stanford University, news release, Nov. 10, 2023

    • Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

    Source: HealthDay

    Posted : 2023-11-15 01:13

    Read more

    Disclaimer

    Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Drugslib.com is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Drugslib.com information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Drugslib.com does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Drugslib.com's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Drugslib.com's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners.

    The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Drugslib.com does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Drugslib.com provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

    Popular Keywords