Wildfires have always been a part of the Central California landscape. But in recent years blazes like the Detwiler Fire (2017) and the Erskine Fire (2016) have been different. In each case, veteran firefighters who have been on wildland blazes for decades say they saw the fires demonstrating “extreme” behavior like they haven’t seen before. They burned hotter, faster, and didn’t die down at night as fires typically do. As Michael Kodas describes in his new book “Megafire: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame” this disturbing trend is the result of warmer temperatures brought about by climate change, and forests that have suffered after years of fire suppression policies. Kodas is the Deputy Director of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He joined us to talk about his book and why “megafires” are here to stay.
http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kvpr/files/styles/big_story/public/kodasfire.png