, Columnist
The US Could Learn From First Nations Firefighters
Indigenous practices in Australia focus on managing rather than eliminating fire. It reduces damage and protects the environment.
Indigenous know-how is vital in fire management.
Photographer: David Gray/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The devastation from California’s wildfires is unique in its horror — but it has precedents elsewhere in the world. And some time-honored solutions that deserve a comeback.
So far, some 23 people have been killed and more than 12,300 structures destroyed. It’s a similar picture to Australia’s catastrophic 2019-2020 bushfire season, which resulted in 33 deaths and more than 3,000 homes burned. In each case, a landscape transformed through thousands of years of Indigenous fire agriculture has proven deadly to a modern society more averse to burning vegetation.