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Stephen Pyne Guest

Stephen Pyne

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Arizona State University

Stephen Pyne is a professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University, specializing in environmental history and the history of fire. He is the author of many books on wildfires, including Tending Fire: Coping with America's Wildland Fires, Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire, Between Two Fires: A Fire History of Contemporary America and California: A Fire Survey. From 1967-1985 he worked as a summer firefighter in the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone National Parks.

FROM Stephen Pyne

Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Lessons learned from the 1961 Bel-Air fire Today’s blaze in Bel-Air is not the first to ravage that community. The 1961 Bel-Air fire helped cities rewrite the way they handle fires.

7 MIN, 2 SEC Dec 06, 2017

First the inferno, Now the clean-up. What then?

First the inferno, Now the clean-up. What then? The blazes in Northern California are being called "firestorms," "hurricanes" and "blizzards of flame." They've been compared to a "blowtorch." In a state where wildfires are hardly uncommon, experts say civilian casualties and property loss are "historic" — like "nothing [they've] ever seen." The death toll is at least 42; some 3000 homes were destroyed; 213,000 acres have been turned into charred wastelands. Survivors are warned that debris is too toxic to allow digging for beloved possessions; smoke and ashes are causing health problems for miles around. What caused the fires? Why did they spread? Can the next ones be prevented?

33 MIN, 19 SEC Oct 19, 2017

High temperatures, high winds fuel fires in southwest states

High temperatures, high winds fuel fires in southwest states Large wildfires are raging in eight states in the continental western United States. The southwest has seen a prolonged and severe heat wave that has affected that region since the middle of June. Last week, Phoenix registered three record highs, with temperatures in some parts of Nevada and California reaching 120 degrees. Stephen Pyne, a professor in the school of life sciences at Arizona State University, specializing in environmental history and the history of fire itself, says the fires are not in the historic range, but the variety of fires and response to them is remarkable.

6 MIN, 31 SEC Jun 30, 2017

Fighting Mega-Fires

Fighting Mega-Fires More than 100 years after the federal government declared war on wildfire, wildfire is winning. The US Forest Service reports there are 40 large fires currently burning, from Florida to California, with 564 contained so far this year. They are "bigger, fiercer and costlier to put out [than they've ever been]… and there is no end in sight." Ten years ago, the National Forest Service spent $307 million on fire suppression. Last year, the bill was $1.37 billion. Private contracting for firefighters and their equipment can turn potential disasters into bonanzas for local communities. Does firefighting itself create future problems? Would preventative management save big money? What are the roles of politics and the media?

37 MIN, 29 SEC Jul 30, 2008

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