Timing. Timing is everything. These articles on Fire Weather would have been more helpful before the fire season. But I gave other topics priority. The current fire conditions make the argument for advanced planning better than anything I could write. The US Forestry Service, MN Forestry, and DNR are well prepared, although changing fire behavior is a new and sometimes overwhelming development. Trained fire departments are spread across northern Minnesota and ready to do their duty on behalf of all of us. Therefore, my comments and suggestions are aimed at individual and community planning for wildfire in changing times.
There are things we can do on the individual level that give us a sense of preparedness and control over what is essentially uncontrollable. So why bother, you might ask, if it is uncontrollable? Just look at aerial photos of burned-over areas containing structures or drive by the recent Stewart River Fire. Some properties were spared even in the worst cases. So which of the two options, destroyed or preserved, do you want as an outcome? The “precautionary principle” is why people wear seat belts, buy insurance, submit to vaccinations, and prepare for fire.
The FireWise protocols designed to make our homes defensible in a wildfire suggest we remove trees and landscape shrubbery within thirty feet of all structures. The aesthetic desire for that vegetation is at odds with defining it as picturesque fire fuel. Firewise also has recommendations for driveway design to allow access of fire trucks and ambulances. It does little good to call for emergency services if responders can’t access and turn around. Clearing brush to make fire numbers clearly visible from both directions ensures help can find us.
Get informed. Sign up for your county’s Code Red alert system. Know your water sources and stress test your water delivery system. Practice an evacuation process and route with complete evaluation of “go bag.” A theory is tested and refined only with practice. Mushers in our area have long had a joint plan to evacuate their dog teams and meet at a designated location. That plan appears to be dusty with age and changed membership. A deeper dive into longterm helpful information can be found at “First Street” (climate risk) and “Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire.” Volunteering in community preparedness organizations is a way to find out what is being done at the community level. Some of that is replicable for your individual planning. Find out which local, state, and federal legislators are acting and voting for long-term sustainability of our fire suppression efforts, including greenhouse gas emissions. Converting to renewable energy is the only way to combat the increasing threat from fire activity. Find out who, then vote for them regardless of what party. Wildfire threat knows no party.
Counties, towns, and villages are at a disadvantage in planning as there are conflicting priorities on their governing boards. Budget issues arise due to the cost of advanced planning, training, and equipment. The basic argument is to spend tax dollars for what we might not need versus those same dollars for immediate and foreseeable needs. The unknown cost of recovery after a fire event is a deterrent to preventative spending. Zoning could be used to enforce Firewise protocols on all new construction as a way to lower individual and community risk. But governing boards are reticent to be that directive and costly to homeowners, even though zoning boards already do that in other ways and so does the state with enforced building codes. Adding Firewise requirements is a community benefit that only increases with each new build.
All rural areas of Northern Minnesota need road improvements. Many residents are living with very narrow forested roads sometimes containing aged, one-lane bridges managed by the DNR. It would be an improvement if the St. Louis, Lake, and Cook counties could take over management of DNR roads that serve residents. The DNR has legitimate, different priorities than the counties that serve their residents. This would be an expensive transition for the counties, but the benefits to tax-paying property owners would be obvious.
As far as I know, our northern towns and villages don’t have mass evacuation plans in case of fire overrunning our clustered houses and business structures. It would be good to ask civic leaders about evacuation plans. Developed forest and lake neighborhoods might form evacuation strategies amongst themselves. Homes and business structures are not included in the fuel load analysis of towns. The fuel load of Grand Marais as described in Cook County’s emergency plan is as follows: “This area is primarily composed of hardwood vegetation types that fall within fuel model 8. There are also a few mixed hardwood stands with balsam that fall within fuel model 10. There are very few hazardous fuel areas within this community area.” Google Fire Behavior Fuel Models for a definition of 8 and 10. You will notice there is no mention of houses, fences, domestic firewood, or vehicles. All of which are densely concentrated fire fuel as exemplified by the numerous towns and cities ruined by fire. No one wants their home defined as fire fuel by insurance companies. A raging fire doesn’t care.
Communities with pressurized water systems used in firefighting might conduct a stress test to see what water is still available should domestic water lines be ruptured by multiple house fires. This was a major problem in the Fort McMurray fire of 2016, forcing fire crews to hastily assemble backup systems. Do our communities have a backup plan for lost water pressure?
Information is power and ignorance is bliss. Two competing ways to live. Civic leaders are always caught in that bind. The public deserves to know, but how much causes panic? That is a tough line to walk. I certainly appreciate the efforts of our civic leaders, other professionals working on our behalf, and concerned citizens nudging us to do better. All of us can always do a little better.
In the epilogue of John Vaillant’s book “FIRE WEATHER,” he writes about “revirescence” as nature’s capacity to regenerate. To recover with new growth over the scars of natural catastrophe. That capacity lives in the human spirit also. Many stories are told of people committed to rebuilding a life and home after loss from flood, hurricane, or great fire. I think human revirescence is a requirement to living in our northland. It is innately required to fully witness and appreciate the beauty, power, and potential destruction of the boreal forest on the shores of Lake Superior.
