LAND ON FIRE with its subtitle, How Extreme Wildfire Is
Reshaping the West, is an accurate description of the
contents. If you live near a forest and have smelt smoke,
you are probably well informed about the risk in your
immediate neighbourhood. But fires are becoming more
frequent as the North American continent dries out from
warming air and lack of underground, or aquifer, water as
well as glacial melt. Giant fires are becoming much more
frequent than in previous years. This timely read will help
us to understand what is happening to forests and why.
Gary Ferguson has been writing nonfiction combined with
environmental science for 35 years. He's had to pack up and
evacuate his home several times. Combining stunning
photographs and concise writing, he provides a lesson in
fire hazards, history and fire forensics, as well as a look
at the future.
When I drove through Arizona in 2002, the sky was hazy and
grey with smoke. We were not allowed to park anywhere off-
road or light any campfires. Humans still start most
wildfires whether accidentally or deliberately; we learn
that power tools and faulty electrical lines have sparked
major fires in recent years. Lightning is the other major
source, although not every tree struck by lightning goes on
fire. The fire season has lengthened by ten weeks over the
last couple of decades, as frost leaves earlier and returns
later, and if the same amount of rain falls per year, it
now falls over just a few days, running off quickly,
instead of a steady rain all year long. Recent long
droughts are producing ominous dead forests, as the photos
show.
Historically, says Ferguson, fires were suppressed, which
allowed dead brush and harmful insects to accumulate until
a fire found so much fuel that there was no stopping it.
This then tended to leave a stand of major trees all of the
same species and age, not a healthy varied forest. Major
trees had thick enough bark to survive a swiftly passing
fire, and deadwood got burned up to release nutrients for
seedlings that would sprout in clearings. He explains how
pyro-forensics, the science of reading fire ignition and
history, can trace where a fire started and how the wind,
soil, lie of land or type of forest affected the direction
and spread. Today fire-fighters concentrate on preserving
homes.
With annual costs of fire suppression in the billions,
hundreds of homes damaged, lives lost, air quality lowered,
business disrupted, insurance hard to gain, forest
management and wildlife affected, wildfires are a huge
issue for us to face. One thing for sure, if reading LAND
ON FIRE inspires you to look into the matter further you
would appear to be guaranteed a job. Even if it's
photographing fire whirls; piloting; creating fabrics
firefighters can wear; or developing computer models to
process all the data and create predictions so that fire
chiefs can make decisions. We meet a man who is a
firefighter and a geek; we meet a lady who is a
meteorologist on the at-risk mountains; another lady who is
a medical first responder.
We also see what happens to the ecology of the woods after
a fire, and how soil is destabilised and water fouled. A
major concern is that in the future, forests may no longer
be able to regenerate due to lack of water. Invasive
cheatgrass has been fuelling fires and is less nutritious
than native grasses which it outcompetes. And we learn how
to take precautions around your home and yard. Gary
Ferguson has packed the account with dramatic photos
balanced by combustion science, Standard Firefighting
Orders, incredible human efforts and beautiful scenery. I
highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the
issue.
Wildfire season is burning longer and hotter, affecting more
and more people, especially in the west. Land on Fire
explores the fascinating science behind this phenomenon and
the ongoing research to find a solution. This gripping
narrative details how years of fire suppression and chronic
drought have combined to make the situation so dire.
Award-winning nature writer Gary Ferguson brings to life the
extraordinary efforts of those responsible for fighting
wildfires, and deftly explains how nature reacts in the
aftermath of flames. Dramatic photographs reveal the terror
and beauty of fire, as well as the staggering effect it has
on the landscape.
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