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Dear Reader,

Wildfires are among the first shattering challenges to come our way on the winds of climate change. While wildfire has always been part of California, they have been far worse this century by every measure. Half of the 20 most deadly wildfires in state history have happened since 2000, as well as 15 of the 20 most destructive, and 15 of the 20 largest.

We don't tell you this to frighten you, although I understand it may; I find it frightening. But we're not proposing that California's future is a wall of fire. The purpose of our 8-part wildfire series, which began this week and continues next week, is to show you people who are creating a safer future. In cities and towns across the state, people are using tools we have available now to build safer neighborhoods, manage forests to reduce wildfire severity, and do better planning. We also show you people who are thinking differently about Californians' relationship with fire. We think you will find hope in these ideas. And we hope you start asking big questions, of yourselves and your elected officials—questions that help you shape the values you want to live by as you manage the future of fire in this state. We hope you discover in this series ways to think differently about people, land and fire, and about how, as these relationships change in response to the unpredictable and devastating nature of climate change, Californians can nonetheless work to secure a safer future.

To the elected officials in our audience, the tools are available; we dearly hope we are not telling these same stories 10 years from now.

Please let us know your thoughts about the series here. We'd particularly like to hear what questions the stories raise for you.

Kat Snow
Senior Editor, Science

We Can Make California Wildfires Less Horrific. Will We?

California is in a state of crisis over more frequent, intense and deadly wildfires. But it doesn't have to be this way. Can the state summon the will to fix the problem?

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This California Neighborhood Was Built to Survive a Wildfire. And It Worked

The Crosby neighborhood, intact, from above.

As the 2007 Witch Fire engulfed the small town of Rancho Santa Fe in flames, some neighborhoods managed to escape burning. How did they do it?

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In the Age of Fast-Moving Fires, What's the Best Way to Get People Out?

A road with several burned out cars on it

During the Camp Fire, residents of Paradise, California took to the one main road out of town, and it quickly became a parking lot. So some communities and academics are looking at new ways to evacuate during a fast-moving blaze.

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Town Unites Against Federal Mismanagement to Save Forest

Kelly Sheen, Clarence Rose, Alex Cousins and Bob Morris stand in the Weaverville Community Forest.

Conflicts over logging once tore the town of Weaverville apart. But after missteps by the federal government, all sides found a common purpose: taking local control of the forest to preserve its health and prevent wildfire.

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1 Billion Acres Across US at Risk for Catastrophic Wildfires, Forest Service Warns

Chief Vicki Christiansen says the danger is now year-round, thanks to hazardous conditions in forests, rampant home development and the changing climate.

Read Now

FUNDING FOR KQED SCIENCE IS PROVIDED BY: The National Science Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED.