Wildfires Are About People

Brian Edwards-Tiekert writes an in-depth explainer on wildfires in California, why the redwoods will probably be OK, and why California's problems are much more about people than trees.

From the perspective of a redwood grove, a fire is not terribly threatening: the trees have an arsenal of defenses: high levels of tannin, a natural fire retardant; bark that is thick (up to one foot!) and insulates living cambium; a towering canopy, which keeps foliage mostly clear of flames; and if the flames do reach it, epicormic (dormant) buds, poised to send new branches sprouting from the trunk.

Photo: CalFIRE