Why Wildfire Is Not Just A Western Problem
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 8 July 2021
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
The fastest such growth is in the Southeast, where few consider wildfire much of a threat. Molly Samuel with member station WABE reports from Tate City, Georgia.
Additional reporting in this episode from Annie Ropeik of New Hampshire Public Radio and from NPR's Nathan Rott, who reported on fire risk in Wisconsin, home to the deadliest fire in American history.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | American forest actually used to burn a lot more often. |
| 0:04.3 | See the creases? |
| 0:05.6 | Uh-huh. |
| 0:06.6 | Fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire. |
| 0:08.4 | Jed Mune in ecologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is showing |
| 0:12.9 | NPR the rings on a slab of wood in his lap. |
| 0:16.1 | These were stumps that were harvested 150 years ago. |
| 0:19.8 | Written next to creases in the rings a year. |
| 0:23.0 | So it burned in 1664 for sure in 1683, 1717, 15, 1726, 45, 63. |
| 0:31.4 | In fact, the deadliest wildfire in US history happened in Wisconsin in 1871, a killed more |
| 0:37.6 | than 1200 people. |
| 0:39.9 | The next two deadliest fires in US history were in Minnesota, forests from Maine to South |
| 0:45.4 | Carolina have burned. |
| 0:47.1 | And the first wildland firefighting crew in the country was in upstate New York. |
| 0:51.4 | And there's a reason for that. |
| 0:53.6 | There was a lot of fire in the Adirondacks. |
| 0:56.2 | Crystal Kolden is a fire ecologist at the University of California, Merced. |
| 1:00.3 | It's just sort of forgotten in the modern era. |
| 1:03.3 | Fire can happen anywhere in this country. |
| 1:06.3 | And with climate change, it is going to happen more frequently in places like the northeast, |
| 1:14.6 | in places like Appalachia, in places like the Upper Midwest. |
| 1:20.2 | Which is why lately, when Laura Hayes speaks to people about wildfires, she usually starts |
... |
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