Once common policy of letting forest fires burn no longer an option
(CBS News) LOS ANGELES - Fourteen wildfires are burning Wednesday night in the west, including the largest New Mexico has ever seen. It's burned 400 square miles in the Gila National Forest.
There has long been a debate about whether letting fires is in the long run healthier for the forest. But in much of America today, that's not an option anymore.
Few structures are threatened in New Mexico's Gila National Forest, so firefighters are following longstanding U.S. Forest Service policy: They're letting the fire burn through remote wilderness. It's nature's way of removing dense underbrush and renourishing the forest. But as development out west pushes deeper into woodlands, this kind of fire management is the exception, not the rule.
"[In] the Angeles National Forest and all the other southern California forests, we're not allowed to let fires burn," said James Hall, acting fire chief of the Angeles National Forest, pressed against the suburban sprawl of Los Angeles. "Our policy is to suppress those fires on the national forest so they don't get into those communities."
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In the 1990s, some 60 percent of new houses in the U.S. were built in forested areas. In California alone, more than 6 million houses are in wild areas. After more than a decade of drought, fire danger out west will be red hot this summer.
"This is called the sumac bush, and when the fire hits it, it explodes," said Richard Brown, who owns Topanga Brush Clearing, indicating the dense brush. His crews work year round cutting the stuff that feeds wildfires away from houses.
In Los Angeles, homeowners are required to clear brush from within 100 feet of their houses. But in wild areas like this, that's often that's not enough.
In 2009, 89 houses were destroyed when wildfire raced out of the Angeles National Forest and through L.A.'s suburbs. Fire conditions are similar now. But California has 730 fewer firefighters. The cash-strapped state has cut $80 million from its wildfire budget since January of last year.
"Sometimes there's nothing you can do, depending on the conditions," said Brown. Asked if one is taking a risk in living in an area like this, Brown replied, "Definitely."
As the western population grows, so does the chance of disasters like this.
