…Due to climate change, fires are now hotter, bigger, and more devastating, especially in California. To stave off the worst damage, should the focus be on putting out existing fires or preventing them in the first place?  “The Washburn Fire is a great example of how long-term efforts at using fire as a tool … can provide real benefits. There’s a grove of giant sequoia that were potentially threatened by this fire. But for the last 50 years or so, the park has been really actively managing fuels in the sequoia grove,” explains Michael Wara, director of the climate and energy program at Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment. He continues, “They’re using prescribed fire, so that firefighters are able to really stay in the grove, protect the trees. They don’t need to take elaborate measures to do that, like wrapping the trunks in foil blankets. ”