It’s not mother nature, it’s human nature

Everyone living in Northern California knows a horror story from the horrific fire season two years ago. While scrolling through social media, I found a “Go Fund Me” page for a boy’s family. The donations went to a family who were victims of the fire in Redwood Valley. The speed of the fire caught the family by surprise. By the time they reached their car, it was too late. The only solution was to run. The fire showed them no mercy.

The flames engulfed the 14 year old boy, and inflicted severe burns on the daughter and mother. All these horror stories could’ve been prevented by collective action— the government and community work together to prevent human deaths. We can do something about it, but sadly, we do not.

At time of writing, the government and many homeowners have not been taking any action to prevent and minimize forest fires. With climate change, summers have become warmer and dryer. With Indian Summer around the corner, expect more dry brush. Therefore, expect worse wildfires.

We can do something about this. The city and county should send out people to advise residents before fire season starts. As a side bonus, such employment can help out the economy during this deep recession.

At this moment, communities are unprepared for fire season. Families do not know evacuation routes, do not stock up on resources, and do not take precautionary measures such as cutting down trees and dry bushes. Afflicted by ignorance, people panic. Paid professionals go to homes, schools, and workplaces to educate people on prevention, minimization, and evacuation. My solution relies on everyone following the same plan. This standardization makes it easier for people to follow under extreme stress.

Last year my friend’s relative woke up in the middle of the night with the police at their door ordering them to evacuate. With no time left, all they could do was to leave everything behind including their valuables.

The flood of people rushing to leave created chaos. I saw videos online of cars waiting to move with the fire enclosing onto them from both sides. Those scenes showed pets and erderly people struggling to leave. Last year, emergency services attempted to escort an ederly woman out of the danger zone; however, they were too late due to the poor planning. The same paid professionals will alert the government on which residents need help with evacuation.

Efficient coordination will distribute the volume of traffic across time and different exit points. This solution will ensure everything is done beforehand in an orderly fashion.

Further, these paid community workers can act as firepreventors: they would go around homes and businesses and ensure both residents and owners are prepared for fire season. For both new and old homes, firepreventors will work with residents to create defensive zones by cutting down vegetation that can burn down easily to prevent fire hazards.

Local governments have a large role to play as well. For older homes, the government should help replace residents by modifying the roofs with fire resistant foam or covering. Governments could issue rebates or tax benefits. For new homes, inspectors need to make sure contractors build roofs with fireproof materials. Local municipalities need to create access points for water and large scale fire-breaks. These municipalities need to create a new plan for more destructive fires to be more prepared when the time comes.

As climate change takes hold, these images may become more common. The government and community need to take action now to prevent a disaster worse than the current coronavirus pandemic.occurring With that said, we can control whether or not fires become a huge fiery demon from hell.