California Layered Diaster: Wildfires, Coronavirus, and Climate Change

The impacts of California's historically large wildfires are complicated by the coronavirus and climate change, resulting in a layered disaster of epic proportions. 

Official tolls from California's 2020 fire season report 1.2 acres burned, and nearly 1,200 buildings destroyed. This is one of the worst fire seasons in recent years; in 2019, 56,000 acres were burned. The fires threaten homes and businesses, but due to their extent, are also burning in ecosystems where fires are not typically seen, such as Joshua tree, redwood, and coniferous forests. The fires are exacerbated by a dry winter; usually California sees 75% of its precipitation from December - February, but this February the state was nearly dry. Droughts and dry weather are correlated with an increase in burned acres, as this interactive website from UC Berkeley School of Information shows. 

Combined with COVID-19, the effects are far-reaching, impacting tourism, schools, sheltering, and even the firefighting workforce. 

Tourism

Businesses in tourist areas like Napa are affected by smoke and at risk of fire but are still staying open, hoping to capture businesses from any tourists brave enough to travel. The 1,000 year old trees in the redwood forests have natural defenses against fire, but the buildings and infrastructure that support visitors to parks have been deeply damaged.

Schools

Schools in Northern California are struggling to start the year in the midst of the Coronavirus and wildfires, with some schools pushing back their virtual first days. To complicate matters even more, one of the ways to ensure that fires do not spread is to cut electrical power to areas that are in danger, as the San Diego Union Tribune reports.This prevents new fires being started from downed power lines, but prevents students (and their parents who may be working from home) from accessing the internet. 

Shelter

For people who must leave their homes, shelters set up in schools or public buildings are not able to operate a full capacity, due to social distance recommendations. And moving elderly people into these public shelters exposes a vulnerable population to bad air quality as well as the virus. Alternatively, sheltering with friends or family can put hosts at risk. 

Firefighter Workforce 

Firefighters are being called from as far away as Australia to help fight fires in California. Cal Fire, the state's main agency, has deployed 13,700 firefighters and is clamoring for more. In years past, this workforce would have added nearly 3,400 inmates from California prisons to fire fighting crews. Yet, due to early release for prisoners due to coronavirus the inmate firefighting force is down by 2,000. 

Layered Disasters

Coronavirus has been adding layers of complexity to disasters from storms in the Southeast to fires in the West. On Thursday, August 27, IEDC will be hosting a webinar entitled "Economic Recovery for Dual Disasters: Preparing for Hurricane Season During COVID-19"