Expert: Wildfires Are Predictable and Preventable

A forest historian is saying Western wildfires burn more intensely and cause more damage than they did 20 years ago but that can be addressed.

Forestry expert Thomas Bonnicksen says massive wildfires are both predictable and preventable.

“All you have to do is lok for the most overgrown forest, the one with the most trees in the overstory, young trees underneath, lots of logs on the ground. You know that´s where the next fire is going to be. It may not be tomorrow, but it will burn,” says Bonnicksen.

Bonnicksen, a visiting professor at U-C Davis, says modern forests are often overcrowded and often should be thinned.