Nancy Colleton

Nov 8, 2023 | thebulletin.org | Beverly Law |Ralph Bloemers |Nancy Colleton |Mackenzie Allen

Wildfires started by people and lightning have been part of the North American landscape since the retreat of ice sheets in the Pleistocene. As settlers colonized the American West, they viewed fire as a destructive force to be controlled and eliminated. In 1850 the US government passed legislation outlawing indigenous fire practices that had been used for thousands of years. As fire suppression ramped up, a cool, wet period from the 1940s to the 1980s gave firefighters a helping hand.