Communities across the West typically have wildfire plans. They lay out how to evacuate, where to send people and what to do. But those may need an update.
鈥淲e need to step up and start planning for worse scenarios than we鈥檝e planned for in the past,鈥� said Thomas Cova, a University of Utah geography professor.
Cova led recent research published in the journal that found wildfires are getting bigger, moving faster and often igniting closer to town than locals planned for.
鈥淭he last couple of years we鈥檝e had areas burning that aren鈥檛 even on anybodies鈥� fire hazard map. That鈥檚 really strange,鈥� he said. 鈥淟ike was never in a high-severity wildfire area, and yet the whole entire place burned down.鈥�
So he said these more extreme fires could require more extreme planning. He said they need to reimagine fire scenarios that are much worse than what they鈥檇 planned for in the past, including the fact that some residents may not have time to evacuate.
鈥淭hink about having only half an hour. What are you going to do?鈥� he asked. 鈥淒o we have any safety zones or water bodies, or are residents willing to build their own fire shelters? This is what they do in countries like Australia, they build fire bunkers.鈥�
Cova said some creative planners in California are pointing to large parking lots as safe havens from flames. And while he said it might seem like science fiction, we could even plan to have fire suits in garages.
But that takes some serious planning and funding.
Cova said there was a lot of talk about the need for wildfire mitigation funding in 2019, but COVID-19 redirected much of the focus over the last year. Now, he said some new disaster planning money coming from the federal government could be a major help.
鈥淪ome of the resources for hurricanes and wildfires will make a difference in terms of both the research side of things and also in the grants to local communities to do planning in their own backyard,鈥� he said.
The Biden administration is doubling federal emergency funds to $1 billion to help communities prepare for natural disasters. As many experts have expressed, though, that鈥檚 still only of the costs storms, fires and floods are costing the country.
Beyond the planning and the research, Cova said communities just have to be nimble and continually think outside the box.
鈥淟ike the military transport helicopters they used last summer in the Creek Fire near Yosemite in California. That鈥檚 nothing I鈥檇 ever seen,鈥� he said. Pointing to another incident during the Paradise fire,鈥淭here was a (California Department of Transportation) employee who had a bulldozer and he used it to remove cars that had been abandoned and were blocking traffic. I doubt that was in anybody鈥檚 plan.鈥�
Of course, it takes individual actions, too. He said there鈥檚 endless stories about altruism and neighbors helping neighbors during a wildfire.
鈥淲hich is something we don鈥檛 represent very well in our plans but has been super beneficial,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 not all dark, it鈥檚 just getting people to think about these things as much as possible in advance.鈥�
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, 九色网 in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the .
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