by Thomas Reiner, Quartz Mountain Commentary, ©2025
(Jun. 17, 2025) — The American West is no longer endless spans of unused prairies and forests. It has grown to become home to millions of Americans where prairies have been tilled into farmlands, and forests have been largely cut down to provide wood to build those homes. The remaining forests have taken notice and look to Nature for a response. Think of the Ents in “The Lord of the Rings” who slowly realized the extent of their destruction and took revenge.
Nature is coming. Some Western states react like ostriches sticking their heads in the ground while other states roll up their sleeves and work to protect both humans and trees. The largest ostrich is California where Enlightened EnvironmentalistsTM scream to save snails or something. Their mantra is to save the trees by doing absolutely nothing, never realizing that Nature is always doing something. Forests, old and new, always grow, and nature understands that the health of the forest demands that the detritus be occasionally removed by fire. California ignores this law of nature, causing larger forest fires growing in frequency, size and destruction. In 2008, the Humboldt Fire destroyed most of the town of Paradise and 32 people died, some burnt alive in their cars attempting to escape. The voters in California failed to learn the lesson that forest management protects both people and trees. In 2018, the Camp Fire became California’s worst forest fire. According to the Wiki article, “The Camp Fire caused 85 fatalities, displaced more than 50,000 people, and destroyed more than 18,000 structures, causing an estimated US$16.5 billion in damage.” This was mostly preventable but blocked by politicians.
Across the Colorado River from California lies Arizona, which values its citizens as well as its environment. There is a mistaken notion that Arizona consists of nothing but cactus and rattlesnakes. However, Arizona contains huge forests, home to humans and hundreds of wild animal species including bear, deer, mountain lions, javelinas, eagles and turkeys. Humans in Arizona are not turkeys like their California counterparts.
Arizonans know the danger of wildfires, especially in communities around Prescott, whose existence was threatened by the Indian Fire in 2002. The world knows of the Granite Mountain Hotshots where 19 firefighters perished in a wildfire in 2013 and were memorialized in the 2017 film, ”Only the Brave.” Every Arizona mountain town shares similar concerns.
Fires will occur either naturally or smaller ones through human intervention. Arizona takes action against this eternal threat. Controlled, prescribed forest burns remove the flammable material on the forest floor. Because Crown Fires occur when trees grow too densely together, trees are thinned, which reduces the threat while increasing the health of the forest. It is better to smell the smoke from a controlled burn than to experience the loss of one’s home and possibly life in a conflagration through ignorance and inaction.
These measures are not enough. Homeowners and citizens need to participate in order to reduce the threat of fire. This is accomplished by the establishment of Firewise Communities throughout Arizona, where local residents band together to clear their property of fire danger and the fire department or other professionals can inspect their property to make recommendations. A Firewise Community is a legal entity which can receive grants to protect that community at large.
Firewise also is an engine for ingenuity and invention. The Cathedral Pines Firewise Community lies at the edge of the Indian fire only to see a growing forest threat on their boundary amidst Prescott’s 30-year drought. One of their inventions is to construct a line of water sprinklers along the boundary of the community which can be controlled by fire suppression teams. Another invention was conceived and built on a resident’s property. Water sprinklers are installed on trees 8-10 feet above the ground to create a mist to battle an oncoming fire. The sprinklers can be supplied by either city water or on property 2,500-gallon water tanks which have captured the meager rainfall throughout the year. The mist of the sprinklers dramatically decreases the humidity on the property, extinguishing burning embers which ignite homes or cause ladder fires, which climb trees to ignite crown fires. This was demonstrated on a sunny 85-degree day where one could feel the dryness of the heat dramatically decrease in minutes. This saves lives and properties.
There is never a guarantee that fire danger can be completely eliminated. Ask the insurance companies that are canceling some home policies in Arizona but more like a cancellation avalanche in California due to their inaction. Prescott almost burnt to the ground in 1900. Prescott remembers and has learned its lesson. Calamity can easily reoccur without the actions of state and local government as well as the participation of citizens. Arizonans are taking action. We must learn to coexist with the Ents or eventually suffer the consequences.