Terrorists in the Woods
Ever since Sept. 11, 2001, much of the world's focus has been on the issue of terrorism. The tragic deaths of thousands of Americans in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., coupled with hundreds of deaths in Spain and Bali at the hands of terrorists, has led to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the expenditure of billions of dollars (that's billions with a capital “B”) to improve security and reduce the risks from terrorists and their weapons of mass destruction.
The massive increases in the federal budget for protection from terrorism mostly have been sent to police and structural fire departments. But what about the threat of terrorist-caused wildland fires in our forests, community watersheds and wildland-urban interface? Who's worried about that threat, what are they doing about it, and how much is being spent to fund the efforts to prevent it?
The history of fire as a tool of warfare is well-documented: Native Americans used fire against their enemies, both other tribes and the expanding Europeans; the Aboriginal people of Australia used fire to discourage the incursion of the British settlers onto their island. In World War II, the Japanese launched “fire balloons” against the western United States. While largely unsuccessful, they started a few fires and killed six people in Oregon. The Palestinians in the latter half of the 20th century used fire to try to destroy Israel's carefully planted pine plantations.
Now, as more and more folks are moving into the wildland-urban interface, the danger of fire as a weapon is even greater. Even under the best of circumstances — when a single ignition occurs under critical fire conditions — hundreds and thousands of citizens are threatened with entrapment, injury or death from rapidly spreading fires. Imagine if a small band of determined terrorists, with only some basic fire weather knowledge and fire behavior training, decided to set multiple ignitions in some of our most vulnerable areas, like heavily populated valley bottoms with limited egress/access and a heavy, dry fuel loading at the peak of the burning period?
There are many such areas around the world: in the foothills of Andalusia in Spain; outside of Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; and in numerous areas of the United States from Florida to the Pine Barrens of New York to the foothills surrounding Los Angeles. Even my own hometown of Missoula, Mont., has areas that fit all the above criteria, and is surely at risk under the wrong combination of weather conditions and a committed terrorist with fire on the brain. And any of us who have traveled to areas like Red Bird, Ky., in the fall when the “woods-burners” are out in force have an appreciation of “domestic terrorism” at work.
The real question that lingers for fire managers at risk from terrorists is what are you planning to do to prevent terrorist-ignited wildfires intended to destroy resources, kill innocent civilians and disrupt normal life? Are you prepared to deal with multiple terrorist-ignited wildfires under the worst possible conditions?
Legislators in the countries that are being targeted by terrorists: What are you going to do to ensure that the wildland fire agencies in your areas are trained, equipped and financed to address these threats?
The clock is ticking, and it's probably a matter of when rather than if such events will occur. Where do we go from here?
International Assn. of Wildland Fire
P.O. Box 261
Hot Springs, S.D.
57747-0261
ph: 605-890-2348
fax: 206-600-5113
iawf@iawfonline.org
To join the IAWF, visit www.iawfonline.org
Send them to:
Wildfire Magazine
330 N. Wabash Ave.
Suite 2300
Chicago, Ill. 60611
Attn: Lisa Allegretti lallegretti@primediabusiness.com
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