As demand for housing grows and urban development expands into wild areas, the risk of wildfires becomes a much bigger issue, threatening not only forests and wildlife, but also human lives.
About American Forest Fires: Are government policies and bureaucracy the REAL fire starters in America? Are answers to a major crisis staring us in the face? Learn what brought us to this point, and the innovative solutions which could keep disaster from setting nature ablaze.
This clip comes from Season 1, Episode 2: "Jump Into the Fire"
EarthX & EarthXtra Love Our Planet. The Official Network of Earth Day.
About Us: At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.
EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
00:00Mega fires wreak havoc on the forests but increasingly that is becoming a human
00:09problem too. Thanks in part to high prices and urban areas over the last 40
00:14years rural America has seen the most significant increase in housing
00:18development and now these areas are at risk. Almost 45 million units of housing
00:25have been constructed in what fire scientists call the wildland urban
00:31interface. The wildland urban interface it is the area where structures and other
00:39human development meet undeveloped wildland. Since 1980 40% of the homes
00:48constructed in the United States have been built in such areas.
00:55And so when you you know have 25 to 30 million more homes that's more power
00:59lines more infrastructure more everything that makes fires more expensive more
01:03complex and more dangerous more more damaging. When wildfire enters these
01:08communities the effects can be catastrophic loss of life overwhelmed
01:13response capabilities an environmental and socio-economic devastation. Yet the
01:19wildland urban interface or WUI continues to grow by 2 million acres a year.
01:24So in Colorado there is an increasing demand for housing of all kinds.
01:32People want to build their homes in the forest. They want to be close to nature.
01:38Over the last 25 years WUI areas have experienced extreme amounts of home building. Over 30 million units were constructed.
01:46And that's not necessarily a bad thing but it means two things that first it means that there are a lot more people in the forests now than there were before and 85% of our fire ignitions are human caused and the second problem it creates is that when you build a nice house in the woods if there's a fire the fire department's going to show up and put it out. The whole
02:16dynamic of both fire suppression as well as fire fighting it makes the fire fighting part
02:24of it extremely expensive as compared to fighting fires in uninhabited or less inhabited areas.
02:32Billions and billions of dollars of suppression costs property damage loss of life it's the perfect storm.
02:39Billions and billions of dollars I think it's the perfect storm.
