In California, Controlled Fires Can Save Homes. Why Aren’t More Happening?

Experts say these intentional burns reduce the risk of wildfires and more should be done. But real barriers remain.

A few days after the Park fire tore through Cohasset, a small forest community in Northern California, in late July, Dallas Koller drove out to inspect the damage.

He passed destroyed buildings, trees charred to black matchsticks and smoke rising from smoldering vegetation. But amid the destruction, there was a heartening sight: The homes at the four properties where Mr. Koller, volunteers from Butte County and a few fire professionals had intentionally set blazes to burn excess vegetation had survived.

Mr. Koller, 34, said there was no way to know for sure if the intentional burns, which occurred periodically in the years before the fire, including two in March, had made the difference. “But prescribed fire was part of that puzzle,” he said.

Federal and state agencies, as well as other groups that work with them, including private citizens and businesses, are setting fires that burn the dry grasses, small trees and other vegetation that could otherwise fuel an intense wildfire. Research has shown that these burns reduce wildfire risk, potentially saving lives and property.

While the state is increasing its use of beneficial fire, as the method is called, officials and experts alike say it is far from enough to meet the threat posed by catastrophic wildfires.