NFPA Journal - November/December 2019 - 28

Wildfire by Michele Steinberg

THE VIEW
FROM NFPA'S
WILDFIRE DIVISION

Beyond Blame
FINALLY, MAINSTREAM MEDIA OUTLETS ARE COVERING WILDFIRE ISSUES
WITH DEPTH AND NUANCE. HOW DID IT HAPPEN AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

ver the years, I've learned

on a five-month investigation that deterto temper my already low
mined that one in 12 homes in California
expectations for how the
is at very high risk for wildfire, and that
mainstream news media
homes built to California wildfire safety
will cover the aftermath
codes survived wildfire at a rate three
of a major wildfire. Too often, they tend
times higher than homes not built to
to follow a predictable script: A barrage of
those codes. The media even produced
simplistic and reactionary articles seek to
new digital resources for homeowners
assign blame for the disaster while repeatand residents, including interactive
ing the false mantra that the fire was
maps and wildfire tools that calcu"unprecedented" and "unlikely." Importlated home and evacuation risk factors
ant societal and policy factors that led to
for certain geographic areas. The San
the tragedy are almost always ignored.
Francisco Chronicle assigned a reporter
The event is soon forgotten, and in no time
full-time to the wildfire beat.
Journalists are
the hordes of reporters who swooped in to
These efforts have brought the percover the fire have moved on to the next
sonal stories of survivors and victims to
holding up a mirror
crisis of the moment. Sound familiar?
life in new ways, extending our collecthat is forcing all of
As a longtime wildfire safety advocate,
tive attention from what is usually a blip
us to reflect upon our
my hope for something different-a news
in the 24-hour news cycle to an ongoing
individual pieces of
media that covers our nation's wildfire
national conversation. Increasingly, that
the wildfire problem.
problem with depth and sophistication-
conversation is not a blame game, but a
was a dream I never thought would come
nuanced discussion involving property
true. The past two years, however, have
rights, land management, environmenoffered indications that I could be wrong.
tal health, public safety, and more.
I noticed the first glimmers of something new shortly after
It's hard to say what has caused this dramatic shift in covthe 2017 Tubbs Fire in California. The reporters who called to erage-from passive acceptance to channeled outrage-that
interview me asked questions that didn't have to do with who I've observed in media outlets over the last year. Perhaps
was to blame-they asked for details on home preparedness we'll look back on California's devastating wildfires in back-toand protection advice, and they wanted to understand the back years as the cultural tipping point. Whatever the reason,
science behind how wildfires ignite homes and commercial though, I believe that this higher level of coverage will have
structures.
profound effects as we move forward. These journalists are
After the deaths of 85 people in the Camp Fire last year, holding up a mirror that forces all of us to reflect upon-and
I realized that something really had changed. Not only were hopefully to own and address-our individual pieces of the
reporters asking different kinds of questions, they were dig- wildfire problem. It raises the demands for accountability of
ging into the thorny and confounding details of wildfire elected officials, utility companies, insurers, developers, and
disasters and investing resources to tell stories in ways I have residents themselves. As a result, it seems that we are finally
not witnessed in 20 years of work in wildfire safety.
beginning to see public recognition that the wildfire problem,
The Arizona Republic and USA Today ran a report that ana- while complex and difficult, can be solved with action, and
lyzed nearly 5,000 communities in 11 Western states and found that we must begin now before the next fire starts. Let's hope
that more than 500 of them faced risks similar to the town of the trend continues.
Paradise, California, which was destroyed in the Camp Fire.
Journalists from an assortment of outlets worked together MICHELE STEINBERG is director of the wildfire division at NFPA.

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MICHAEL HOEWELER

NFPA Journal - November/December 2019

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