As devastating as the Lick Fire appears on the surface – 50,000 acres of a state park burned, $11 million spent containing the blaze – there is a silver lining to be found in the blackened remains of the blaze.
Wildlife experts say that fire is an important part of nature’s cycle for wild lands. Because of this fire, excessive undergrowth was thinned allowing sunlight to penetrate more deeply, plants were fertilized with nitrogen-rich ash, and the wild land of Henry W. Coe State Park will be rejuvenated as a result.
Most animals were able to escape the fire, and when they return they will find a bounty of fresh new growth to feast upon next spring.
Because this fire was far away from human populations, it was a relatively low-risk event for most of us in South County who only had to smell the blaze and suffer through the darkened skies.
However, we salute the firefighters who did the high-risk work of getting to the remote site, cutting fire lines and dropping flame retardant to contain this blaze.
They did their work well and they should be proud.
The Lick Fire does point out an important land-management issue: The cost and risk of fighting fires versus the cost and risk of preventively thinning wild lands.
Especially in the areas where wild lands border urbanized areas, we think it’s worthwhile to consider putting more resources into thinning the growth in wild lands to prevent deadly fires like the one that burned the Oakland Hills in 1991, killing 25, injuring 150, damaging thousands of homes, and causing economic damage estimated at over a billion dollars.
The Lick Fire was “lucky” in many regards. Let’s leverage that luck by turning it into a lesson about the importance of good land-management practices where wild lands and suburbia intersect.
