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Professor Urges More Fires to Fight Huge Wildfires

The National Guard
Washington National Guard

In the aftermath of a ferocious wildfire summer, a Western Washington University professor believes we must re-think the way wildfires are fought. He advocates fighting fire with fire, and he questions the increasing use of aerial tankers.

Environmental professor Michael J. Medler has the chops. He worked as a US Forest Service firefigher in the huge Yellowstone fires in 1998.

But he told a US Senate Committee last month that the country cannot afford to keep using suppression policies and fire practices from the last century.

Medler said the big three causes of large wildfires and high suppression costs are climate change, fuel accumulation, and sprawl in the Wildland Urban Interface.

He testified that the way to reduce fuel accumulation is with fire - prescribed burns and letting some wildfires burn until winter weather puts them out. Mechanical thinning just won't work, he said, "Simply put, we can't cut our way out of this."

And he said communities on the edge of forested areas must have a quarter mile buffer zone around them. As he put it - That is where you can stop a fire from burning buildings. He also wants local governments to set tougher standards in zoning for defensible spaces and fire-resistant construction.

As for the efficacy of aerial tankers, Medler said fire retardant can be magic, but it has to be used strategically and carefully. Sometimes, he said, it's a great tactic. Other times you are just painting stuff red.