Good Fire

On a dry February morning, I watched a CAL FIRE crew set a redwood forest on fire on purpose. The 25-acre prescribed burn at San Vicente Redwoods, a forest still recovering from being clear-cut a century ago, had waited more than a year for the right mix of wind, humidity, and moisture. When conditions lined up, the crew moved fast, walking drip torches across the forest floor and holding the flames back from the canopy with hoses. The fire burned low and slow into the night, clearing out fuel, feeding the soil, and waking up the seed bank. I came away seeing fire as more than a destroyer.

Story, photos, and video made for Peninsula Open Space Trust.