 "Photo: Preston Drake-Hillyard")
 "Photo: Preston Drake-Hillyard")
 "Photo: Preston Drake-Hillyard")
 "Photo: Preston Drake-Hillyard")
 "Photo: Preston Drake-Hillyard")
 "Photo: Preston Drake-Hillyard")
You smell it as soon as you walk into the Natural Resources building: that familiar campfire smell. What you’re experiencing is HSU’s fire lab. Students come here to start fires.
The fire lab is an opportunity for students to learn about wildfires in a hands-on environment and provide fire science research for agencies throughout the nation. It’s a rare resource: only three universities in the U.S. have fire labs.
J. Morgan Varner III is an associate professor of wildland fire science. He oversees the fire lab, and he’s visibly excited by his work. “Most research is mundane stuff” he says, eyebrows raised. “We get to burn stuff.”
At first glance, the lab is nothing special. It’s a medium-sized classroom with 24 seats. The fire table is a piece of steel tabletop with a low-tech, hand-drawn ruler rising vertically off of it. Varner lowers an enormous ventilation hood. Smoke is sucked out of the building, allowing indoor burns.
Varner starts a burn. He lays down cotton strings soaked in an accelerant and casually tosses a handful of Washoe Pine needles on top. He lights the ends of the string with a standard barbecue lighter. The pile of duff quickly ignites.
As the pile burns, Varner points out the height of the flames. This simple datum is the core of the fire lab’s work. It shows the energy contained in wildfire fuel- leaves, pine needles, sticks and logs - and how it burns. The way different fuels burn is key to the prevention of wildfires. Flame patterns, color and the ash and residue left behind all add to the understanding of how fuels burn. Temperature is crucial. The goal is to see how hot fires get and how much plants can withstand.
The high-tech portion of the lab is the $60,000 thermal infrared camera. Varner grins as he demonstrates the way the camera can detect temperatures in the fire and the artistic images it produces. The camera is useful in the lab but also in the field. Infrared cameras can see through smoke, which is a major hindrance in wildfires. The camera has its limitations, though: it can only be in one place at a time. For multi-acre wildfires, researchers use indicator paints to determine the heat of a fire after it has passed through an area. The research camera would be ideal, Varner jokes, “If President Richmond could get me a jet-pack.”
Despite the high price tag of the infrared camera, Varner says the insular nature of the fire lab keeps it safe from much of the current budget crisis. Interest in the lab is growing in the forestry department. Many students volunteer at the lab, keeping staffing costs down. The rarity of the lab means that scientists around the nation send samples of fuel for the lab to test. As payment for collecting samples, the lab shares its results. It’s a collaborative experience.
Matt Cocking is getting his Masters Degree in forestry and fire ecology. He is currently working on one of the fire lab’s many research projects: studying the effects of 2008’s devastating fire season on California Black Oaks in the Klamath Mountains. Another research project indicates that climate change is causing wildfires at higher elevations. Another looks at post-fire erosion surrounding Lake Tahoe, something that could affect the lake’s color.
“Our parents made huge mistakes in how they approached fire,” Varner says. In the past, the focus of fire science was prevention. Only recently people began to understand the benefits of wildfires. Crucial to forest ecology, regular fires are necessary to keep fires small when they inevitably begin. In preventing fires for so many generations, forests now have huge amounts of deposited fuel that make fires burn faster, longer and bigger.
Wildfires are an increasingly difficult threat, especially in California. Modern fire science is a tricky balancing act between preventing property damage, saving lives, keeping forests healthy and allowing fires to work beneficially.
Trees are crucial in fire studies because of their economic and ecological importance. Aesthetic issues, like keeping Lake Tahoe blue, are also fighting for relevance in fire science.
Varner laments the lack of field opportunities provided by the school. Fears of liability from the state prevent the forestry department from carrying out field studies in fire season. Some students take on summer internships involving wildfires. Varner expresses excitement and jealousy about the stories that students bring back from their experiences. He feels the learning process would be best if he could share it with them.
Soils major Katia Keston has heard great things about Varner’s program. She says almost everyone she knows in the forestry department is emphasizing in fire ecology. “There’s tons of wildland fire jobs.”
The fire lab is a valuable resource in the expanding field of fire ecology. For students, it’s a perfect entry into a career in fire science. Above all, it stokes passion in everyone involved.
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