Armed with a drip torch and clad in protective gear, wildlife biologist Emily Rapach set fire to the dry brush and fallen leaves littering the ground beneath the winter-bare forest canopy.
“Fire is a really good way to get rid of non-native species on the landscape, because they are not fire-adapted,” said Rapach, who works for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
The Jan 16. controlled burn at the Allatoona Wildlife Management Area, about an hour northwest of Atlanta, was Rapach’s first, but one of many carefully planned fires carried out every year in the state.
Controlled burns like these are a key to Georgia’s strategy of preventing the kind of wildfires that are devastating the Los Angeles area, which so far have burned tens of thousands of acres, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and killed at least 28 people as of Friday.
The fires in LA, fueled by historic drought and powerful Santa Ana winds, have raised questions about the vulnerabilities of other communities, particularly as human development spreads into wildlands. More frequent and more costly natural disasters, such as wildfires, have also contributed to surging home insurance costs nationwide.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Across the country, but particularly in Western states, development in fire-prone areas has increased risk, while higher temperatures and more intense periods of drought due to climate change are stretching the window when wildfires can ignite.
Georgia is not nearly as vulnerable as California, with its arid climate and high winds. But experts say in the Southeast, overdevelopment or poor management of wooded areas combined with shifts in climate could increase the threat to lives and livelihoods.
While large fires can have negative consequences for people and the environment, smaller fires play a crucial role in fire-adapted forest ecosystems like Georgia. Not only does fire help maintain the balance of native plant and animals species, it also clears out dried brush and other fuel that could otherwise accumulate and cause far more destructive blazes.
Georgia lately has been averaging about 1,200 wildfires a year — a historical low, said Johnny Sabo, director of the Georgia Forestry Commission, which issues permits for controlled burns under proper conditions. He credited the state’s overall response and management for preventing most of those fires from getting out of hand.
In Georgia, more than 90% of the state’s woodlands are in private hands, including commercial timberland that generates billions in economic impact each year, according to the forestry commission.
That also means managing the risk of wildfire largely comes down to individual landowners who are willing to spend the time and money. Sabo said his agency works closely with property owners to encourage them to mitigate the risk of wildfire through forest management and controlled burns.
In 2016, severe drought and high winds exacerbated a series of fires that broke out across the southern Appalachian Mountains, burning tens of thousands of acres across four states and killing 14 people in Tennessee. In Georgia, roughly 40,000 acres and about a dozen homes burned, but no one was killed.
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
“We’re not immune from extreme fire weather,” Sabo said. “We’ve seen that — we will see it again.”
Currently, Sabo said he’s eyeing the southeastern part of the state, where potential wildfire fuel load was already high when Hurricane Helene tore through, leaving a swath of downed trees and other combustible debris.
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Several studies have found that climate change increased the intensity of Helene and made such a storm more likely. Climate scientists say global warming from burning coal, oil and gas is fueling more destructive storms and altering rainfall patterns.
These changes have implications for wildfires as well, said Doug Aubrey, a forest ecologist at the University of Georgia.
“We’ll have more intense periods of rain, and the corollary to that is that we’re going to have longer periods between rains,” Aubrey said. “Georgia’s wildfire risk could increase in the future.”
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A 2022 analysis by the climate risk and data analytics firm First Street found about 187,600 Georgia properties — about 4% of the total in the state — that have at least a 1% chance of being damaged by wildfire within the next three decades, or at least a 0.03% chance of being damaged by wildfire each year. By 2050, that number is expected to grow to 530,000 properties.
The risk now and in the future is forecast to be greatest in South Georgia counties, where the bulk of the state’s commercial timberlands are. First Street says the growing risk is due to the expected higher temperatures, more persistent drought conditions, shifting humidity patterns and increased availability of fuel from dry vegetation.
“We’re going to end up seeing much more consistent wildfire risk in the southeastern part of the country, and, in particular, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia,” said Jeremy Porter, First Street’s head of climate implications research.
The risk is particularly acute for sparsely populated rural areas, many of which rely on volunteer firefighters.
James Reed, the fire chief of Rabun County in North Georgia, remembers well the fires of 2016, when firefighters from across the country arrived to provide critical backup.
He said his department has added a few new paid staff since then, but he worries he still doesn’t have adequate resources to handle a major fire. He’s also seen a boom in mountain tourism with little consideration for fire safety, with limited road access to vacation homes surrounded by trees.
“I know I’ve been to several places here and said, ‘Wow, if this place ever catches on fire, it’s going to burn down — we can’t get here,‘” Reed said. “There’s more than one like that in this county.”
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Reed called on property owners to be more attentive in maintaining a defensible space around buildings and ensuring clear access for emergency vehicles. The National Fire Protection Association publishes more advice on its website, firewise.org.
Rapach, the wildlife biologist, echoed other experts who said prescribed burns remain one of the most important tools for maintaining healthy forests and preventing wildfires from burning out of control.
She said participating in the burn gave her a new appreciation for the complexity of the ecosystem. Fire clears competition for native plants that are fire-resistant, like longleaf pine, which in turn become food and habitat for native animals, including quail, turkey and red-cockaded woodpeckers, whose status was recently upgraded from endangered to threatened.
“Getting on prescribed fires, you’re looking at the environment a lot more holistically,” Rapach said. “It’s really given me a bigger-picture outlook on wildlife management.”
Note of disclosure
This coverage is supported by a partnership with Green South Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners. You can learn more and support our climate reporting by donating at ajc.com/donate/climate.
