Stewards Magazine

In early 2023, wildfires were raging in Chile. In about a month, the country, which has suffered from a megadrought since 2010, saw more than 1,100,000 acres burn, destroying hundreds of homes and farms and killing 24 people. It’s not unlike what the U.S. has experienced with more frequency in recent years, particularly in the western part of the country. In fact, University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) Associate Professor Paige Fischer says that when it comes to how climate change is impacting wildfires, the U.S. West and Chile have quite a bit in common. 

For Fischer, whose research has mostly focused on the Western U.S., this parallel was intriguing, so she decided to spend some of her sabbatical in Chile looking at the emerging wildfire issues. Funded by the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, Fischer spent three months at the Southern University of Chile collaborating with the Center for Fire and Resilience of Social-Ecological Systems (FireSES). While there, she gave talks, conducted exploratory investigations and co-taught a class she also teaches at SEAS. 

“The situation in Chile is complicated, and I wanted to have the opportunity to offer insights from the U.S. experience as they figure out how to adapt to wildfire risk,” says Fischer. “In general, wildfires in Chile are human-caused, so I hope to provide greater insight and bring the Chilean case into the global discussion about the wildfire problem.” 

Fischer says that FireSES has similar goals as the Kathy and Steve Berman Western Forest and Fire Initiative at SEAS, which she leads. Both groups are studying the landscape conditions that can fuel wildfires and ways that people can change how they live to make landscapes less flammable. 

“One of the major issues that has exacerbated the situation in Chile is the planting of highly flammable non-native plant species—mainly pines and eucalyptus—in the last 50 years or so,” says Fischer. “There’s a substantial export market for the wood from these plantations. The problem is that now the plantations are drying out and becoming very flammable. So, in some ways, Chile is creating its own hazard by cultivating these flammable tree species.” Since the plantations are owned by national and international corporations, there is very little communities can do to reduce the risk that surrounds them, Fischer adds. 

Fischer says that in Chile and across the globe, there needs to be an understanding of these conditions in addition to the complex systems that increase wildfire risk. “It’s an environmental disaster in Chile. Whole communities have been decimated by fires, so you can drive for an hour through a single burn and it will be completely charred as far as the eye can see. 

“I hope that my work, alongside my colleagues in Chile, can influence change on the ground and help Chile and its communities better adapt to the changing environment to prevent future fires. We are aiming to identify critical points for policymakers so the burden isn’t entirely on communities to mitigate these issues, because it shouldn’t be.”