{"id":94015,"date":"2019-11-26T19:32:11","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T03:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?p=94015"},"modified":"2019-11-26T19:32:13","modified_gmt":"2019-11-27T03:32:13","slug":"wildfires-should-california-act-like-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_zh\/environment\/2019\/11\/wildfires-should-california-act-like-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"When it comes to wildfires, should California be more like Australia?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t\n\t\t
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In summary<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

The system Down Under fosters self-reliance, giving homeowners tools to protect themselves when expecting firefighters\u2019 help is not realistic.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n

As California casts about for new approaches to its wildfire crisis, officials could do worse than look to Australia, firefighting\u2019s acknowledged superstar.
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That fire-prone country has turned disaster into a laboratory. While not perfect, Australia has studied fire extensively and crafted policies intended to reduce fatalities and make homes safer. The country also explicitly shares fire chores with homeowners, who are expected to help or get out of the way.
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The two locales have some key things in common: a similar climate, many of the same plants and trees strewn across often-arid landscapes\u00a0\u2014 and residents bedeviled by wildfires that are worsening<\/a> as climate change resets seasonal norms. A large swath of Australia has been plagued by brutal heat and withering drought; wildfires there, as here, rage<\/a> for much of the year in 80% of the country.
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California leads in at least one way: with the depth of its \u201ctoolbox,\u201d the machines and equipment it employs during fires. Australia can\u2019t come close to the squadron of helicopters, large tankers and other aircraft that California dedicates to firefighting. Not even the U.S. Forest Service has anything like it.
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Other differences: Nearly 60% of California\u2019s forests are managed by the U.S. government. Australia has neither vast government land ownership nor a federal fire service. And Australia\u2019s owner-saving-his-property approach may not work well in areas of California dotted with seldom-visited vacation homes.
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Wildfire smoke casts a pall over the Sydney Opera House. AP photo by Rick Rycroft<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But California might find lessons in several key Australian policies, particularly the principle of shared responsibility that underpins them. 
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Focus on self-reliance<\/strong>
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Australia\u2019s view is that government and citizens should work together to keep people safe and homes and property protected. The country has an extensive network of volunteer fire brigades, <\/strong>and not just in rural areas. The service that covers Sydney is staffed by 70,000 volunteers, making it the world\u2019s largest volunteer fire agency. <\/strong>These cadres work alongside paid professionals in a cooperative culture and with an intimate understanding of fire.\u00a0
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The system fosters self-reliance and, critically, provides the tools for homeowners to protect themselves and their property when expecting firefighters\u2019 help is not realistic. 
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Advice to the public pulls no punches. A government statement<\/a> about fires that have been raging near Sydney recently has a brutal honesty that for U.S. agencies would be unthinkable: \u201cThere are simply not enough fire trucks for every house. If you call for help, you may not get it.\u201d
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OFFICIALS TRAIN RESIDENTS TO FIREPROOF THEIR HOMES AND EDUCATE THEM IN WHAT TO DO IF THEY STAY PUT AS FLAMES ADVANCE.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Australian officials were confident that trained amateurs could withstand what “normal” fires could throw at them until a horrific series of blazes on a single day in 2009 that left 173 dead. The event, known as Black Saturday, shook the nation and its fire professionals, who realized that wildly unpredictable blazes had redefined the norm.
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\u201cEven very well prepared people died in that fire \u2014 the wind blew doors open, broke windows, you could hardly stand up outside,\u201d said Justin Leonard, Australia\u2019s leading wildfire researcher at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation<\/a>, the national research institution. In the chaos, people panicked despite their training.
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\u201cConditioning people to the reality of what they are going to see is the absolute key to (preparing) them,\u201d he said.
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After Black Saturday, officials tweaked perhaps the best-known feature of Australia\u2019s approach<\/a> to wildfire: a shelter-in-place option, which teaches residents to either learn to protect themselves and their homes from fire or leave well before the threat becomes acute. 
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Australians are drilled to pay attention during extreme fire weather and, like Californians, to heed evacuation calls. But officials also train residents extensively to fireproof their homes and educate them about what to expect and what to do <\/strong>if they choose to stay put as flames advance.
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