Scientists say more fires could help

California’s forests could benefit from more fires, according to scientists and state officials tasked with protecting people and property from high-intensity blazes.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s office recently held the first in what’s expected to be a series of private meetings with scientists, conservationists and fire professionals to discuss how to prevent massive blazes in the face of climate change and prolonged drought.

The state’s ongoing epidemic of dead or dying trees — the latest count is more than 66 million — has stoked fears about increased wildfires, but scientists and state officials agreed the dead wood may not be the threat many believe.

Rather, they expressed the need for longer-term strategies to protect backcountry homes and businesses.

“This unfortunate event is galvanizing us to have these conversations,” said Ken Pimlott, director of Cal Fire and the state’s forester.

He agrees with an emerging body of science that has found dead trees don’t significantly increase the likelihood of wildfires.

“Something across the board everyone is agreeing on is use of fire, whether it’s prescribed fire or natural fire,” Pimlott added. “Either way, putting fire back on the landscape in a managed, controlled setting to mimic wildland fire is key.”

State and federal officials have long expressed apprehension that too much fire suppression has led to overgrown forests prone to massive conflagrations.

Only about 2 percent of fires nationwide escape containment measures, but battling those out-of-control blazes accounts for 97 percent of firefighting costs, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Add nearly five years of drought conditions in California to that equation and concerns are at an all-time high.

“This accumulation of fuels and vegetation now exacerbated by ... years of well-below normal precipitation that’s just turned all of this into a tinder box and predisposed it to large damaging fires,” Pimlott said.

The somewhat counterintuitive tactic of allowing fires to naturally thin forests in order to prevent larger fires in the future has often raised public concerns about air pollution and the potential for runaway blazes.