The Overlooked Factor in Wildfires and its Cost to Insurance Companies and Buyers.

Former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt says that while climate change has contributed to the longer fire season, poor forest management practices, such as leaving old growth and brush, have also played a significant role in catastrophic wildfires. Smoke from wildfires in Canada has traveled as far as South Carolina, causing air quality in New York City and Washington, D.C. to drop to record lows. Bernhardt suggests better collaboration between government and private forest owners to create firebreaks and better timber management to reduce overall forest density. He also recommends shifting firefighters from seasonal employees to year-round so they could spend more time using controlled burns or other methods to decrease fuel load.