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List of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Nature of Fire
What Is Fire?
The Fire Triangle
Oxygen: Fire Breath
Fuel: Fire Food 8
Heat: Fire Energy
Ignition Sources
Fire Behavior
Weather
Wind
Topography: Lay of the Land
Fire and Life across California
Fire Regimes
Seeds, Sprouts, and "All of the Above"
Vegetation Types and Fire
Chaparral Shrublands
Conifer Forests
Oak Woodlands and Savannas
Sagebrush Shrublands and Pinyon-Juniper Forests
Deserts
Grasslands
Wetlands and Riparian Woodlands
Wildlife
Soil, Water, and Air
The Climate Crisis
The Flames of History
California's Light-Burning Debate
The Big Ones
Extremes after 2010
Burning Issues
Fighting Back: Tactics and Weaponry
Making Peace: Restoring Fire
The Chaparral Dilemma
Logging versus Thinning
Fire Policy and Plans
A Fire-Safe Power Grid
Public Safety Power Shutoffs: Do They Increase Safety?
Getting Ready: Life on the Edge
Wildland-Urban Interface
Becoming a Fire-Adapted Californian
Before the Fire, Be Ember Aware
During the Fire
After the Fire
COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts on Wildfire
Kindling Change
Online Fire Resources
Glossary
References
Art Credits
Index
About the author
David Carle is President of the California State Park Rangers Association, a retired park ranger, and the author of thirteen nonfiction books, including introductions to California's water; air; earth, soil, and land; and fire. He has also written two novels.
Summary
An up-to-date, essential guide to California's long relationship with fire, for the climate-change generation.
What is fire? How are wildfires ignited? How do California's weather and topography influence fire? How did Indigenous people use fire on the land we now call California? David Carle's clearly written, dramatically illustrated first edition of Introduction to Fire in California helped Californians, including the millions who live near naturally flammable wildlands, better understand their own place in the state's landscape. In this revised edition, Carle covers the basics of fire ecology; looks at the effects of fire on people, wildlife, soil, water, and air; discusses fire-fighting organizations and land-management agencies; and explains how to prepare for an emergency and what to do when one occurs.
This second edition brings the wildfire story up to the year 2020, with information about recent extreme and deadly fire events and the evidence that climate change is swiftly changing the wildfire story in California. This update reflects current debates about California's future as a climate-crisis leader facing massive, annual natural disasters; the future of California development and housing; and the critically necessary alternatives to traditional energy options.
Features:
- A larger, more reader-friendly page format
- More than 110 color illustrations and maps
- An overview of major wildfires in California's history
- An updated and expanded discussion of the effect of climate change on fires in natural landscapes
- Tips on what to do before, during, and after fires
- Discussion of utility companies and massive power shutoffs
