Climate Corner: Living in the Line of Fire

It’s a cool, overcast day in Eugene, Oregon. I’m here for a family wedding reception and I’m not thinking about how the reception might need umbrellas, but rather about how this brisk weather and potential rain is a godsend for the nearly 100,000-acre megafire — known as the Cram Fire — burning in central Oregon. For reference, that is approximately 156 square miles — the city of Aspen is 3.66 square miles. So the Cram Fire is almost 20% of the size of Pitkin County.

What are the ramifications of a wildfire of this size?They clearly have destructive consequences, but I’ve always heard that wildfires can play a positive role in land regeneration. In our warming world, are wildfires changing? And what does that mean for humanity and nature?

I sought answers from an expert in this field, Jim Genung, the husband of a friend who has been a forest firefighter for 28 seasons (years) and is now working as a wildfire consultant. I asked Jim what got him into this profession and his eyes smiled and sparkled as he described the high adventure, the hard work, the star-filled nights, and the respect for the power of fire.

Natural fires, usually sparked by lightning, have been burning since the beginning of time. Because human populations are growing, and in turn we are building almost everywhere, our fragile relationships with nature and fires are suffering. Not too long ago, the idea of a small wildfire wouldn’t create fear and panic, but would be seen as natural forest management.

This romantic version of a small, non-threatening natural occurrence has dramatically changed. As human development spreads, fires now threaten our homes, our businesses, and sometimes even our lives.

Fire crews battle the 2025 Pacific Palisades Fire, an unprecedented out-of-season blaze that tore through developed areas — a stark example of how climate change is fueling longer, more destructive fire seasons and reshaping the relationship between humans and nature. Photo courtesy of CAL Fire.

And climate change has had a decisive impact on wildfires. By increasing global greenhouse gases and average global temperatures, we’ve extended droughts, raised temperatures, and intensified the differences in air density, causing dramatic issues with wind. This has also led to exceedingly drier soils and much more combustible materials.

Fire seasons are without question starting earlier and ending later. Bigger fires are becoming more common. Megafires that previously were once generational are now happening almost every year. SNOTEL (snow telemetry modeling) sites are showing faster spring-snow runoff, probably caused by things like elevated spring temperatures and the dust covering the snow that we’ve seen blow in from neighboring states.

According to Jim, huge megafires, like the Cram fire in Oregon, are incredibly grueling. Even when the fire is controlled, the smoke lingers on, sometimes for months or until the seasons change and the snow finally falls. Every year, he and others dedicated to this work are seeing new phenomena, such as massive swirling columns of fire known as “fire tornadoes”. But Jim still believes that we don’t need to be gripped by the fear of fire. He says we need to find the middle path and learn how to live with, yet manage, the magical and powerful tool of wildfires.

My main takeaway from this fascinating conversation was about balance. Nature and our planet’s climate systems are seeking balance. Humans can learn to live within natural balances, and we must. Our mission should not be to conquer our planet, but to live in harmony with her.