Interview with Kira Hoffman in The New York Times
How Indigenous Techniques Saved a Community From Wildfire
A movement to fight wildfires by making forests more resilient and, in some cases, deliberately setting blazes is gaining ground in Canada. Fire prevention zones can help slow approaching blazes so that people can escape, and can also enable firefighters to gain control over some areas. Interest in the creation of these zones has increased recently, especially in Indigenous communities which are most affected by wildfires.
“When you think about how wildfire seasons are playing out, if we invested more into the proactive, then we would need less of that reactive wildfire response. We’re not going to see probably the effects of a lot of this mitigation and treatment for 10 or 20 years. But that’s when we’re really going to need it.”
– Kira Hoffman