california history. ahh! lucky for us, the fires hadn t made it to where my family lives in oakland, but the air had gotten so bad that it wasn t safe to breathe. so my wife and i took me, the asthmatic, our elderly parents and kids straight to vegas. not because we wanted to gamble, but because it was close and there were cheap flights. back then, it seemed like a once in a lifetime thing, but every year since, the fires in california have gotten worse. the dixie fire. the hill fire. there are more towns being burned to the ground, more people whose lives are devastated, and more wildfire refugees. this episode is about californians and fire, because we ve got to learn how to get along. now, if you re thinking that you re safe because you live outside of california, nope. wildfires happen across america, from alaska to florida, and they happen all over the world. wildfires sweeping across australia cape town sonia and turkey. all the way to the north pole
fire to reproduce, for real. but once white caolonizers came west, timber became a precious commodity, and the fire enemy to be stamped out. then in 1910, wildfires destroyed 3 million acres across the u.s. west, so the u.s. forest service made it their policy to put out any fire as soon as it started. as a result, forests became dense and overgrown. there were too many small young trees and dead leaves and dry brush accumulated on the forest floor. add drought and climate change to the mix, and you have the perfect kindling for a wildfire. isn t it also part of the wildfires started to do things that people haven t seen fires do before? one thing i ve noticed is how fast the wildfires move. you could look at it one hour, and in the next hour, the situation is completely changed. i think we definitely saw that on the cal dor fire this past year. the best way to think about is