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The Terrifying Choices Created by Wildfires
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The Terrifying Choices Created by Wildfires

Many Californians are confronting a series of confounding decision – among them, whether they should fight or flee.

Ingfei Chen
The New Yorker, 2022
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9

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  • Eye Opening
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  • Eloquent

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New Yorker writer Ingfei Chen offers a steady look at the threat of wildfires in California, explaining why and how people living in the state’s “wildland-urban interface” can’t rely on the government for warnings and salvation, but must face the decision to flee or fight back largely on their own. People can take some measures to fireproof their homes, but hardening individual dwellings isn’t enough protection unless an entire community cooperates to be “firewise.” Local authorities need to step up. Anyone vulnerable to natural disasters should take note of this powerful report.

Summary

“Fight or Flight” is taking on a new literal meaning for Californians who face wildfires.

Drought has exacerbated the threat of wildfires in California where the fire season has grown from six months to twelve. Blazes occur more frequently and rage more erratically. While past disasters offer many lessons, people are still figuring out the best ways to prepare for a forest fire and to protect themselves and their property. 

Today, more homes are lost to the airborne embers that precede fires than to the main face of the flames.Homeowners are spending tens of thousands of dollars removing flammable trims and other hazards. They trim their trees, since branches can convey a fire to a home unless the tree is cut back properly. Some install rooftop sprinkler systems and maintain tanks of water just in case.

Some Australian findings indicate that “defensible” homes, those prepared to be fire resistant, “are more likely to survive low-intensity fire” if people stay to fight back,&#...

About the Author

Ingfei Chen is a freelance science writer and editor for The New Yorker and other publications.

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