Fault Lines examines the true costs of combatting wildfires in the US.
The United States now spends as much as $2bn a year on wildfire suppression. Fire seasons are becoming longer and more severe than ever before, increasing the threat to property and lives, and straining the federal budget.
By mid-season, there have already been 38,000 wildfires and the US Forest Service diverted $600m from other programms to fight them. Some say it is a war on wildfires that we cannot win. Fire intensity and the costs to American taxpayers are spinning out of control.
Several factors bring us to this pinnacle: Climate change has intensified droughts and brought higher than average temperatures. Decades of misguided fire management policies have left many forests primed for larger, more intense fires.
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