Of all the classical elements, fire is perhaps the most misunderstood. While its reputation as a force of destruction may be well deserved, it is also a force of regeneration. In forests and grasslands, fire gives life even as it takes it, waking up dormant fire-dependent seeds, replenishing soil nutrients and opening up space for new growth to take root. In recent decades, forest scientists have come to realize that most forest types historically burned at regular intervals. Fire, they have learned, is not only a natural part of a typical forest ecosystem, it’s essential to its good health.
That’s a huge departure from the way forest experts looked at wildfire in the 20th century. For 100 years or so, forest managers viewed forest fires the same way people viewed house fires: as hellish horrors to stamp out. And that’s largely because of a single, catastrophic event during the summer of 1910.
