Zombie Fires: The Resurgence of Blazes that Refuse to Die

Wildfires that first responders thought had died but then came roaring back to life have become increasingly common in California, sparking scrutiny of how firefighters put out these infernos. The phenomenon, known as "holdover fires," has been linked to embers and smoldering debris that can reignite hours or even days later, fueled by strong winds and dry conditions. Experts say climate change has made megafires more common, making it harder to completely extinguish blazes.

Key Takeaways:

• The 1991 Tunnel fire in California, which destroyed nearly 3,500 homes and killed 25 people, was a holdover fire that restarted after firefighters thought it had died.
• The 2023 fire in Maui, which killed at least 102 people, was sparked by embers from a fire near a power pole that reignited.
• The 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in New Mexico was partially traced to embers under a heap of leftover debris from a controlled "pile burn."
• Firefighting experts say that smoldering fires in certain natural materials, such as decaying roots and peat bogs, can go undetected for months and then rekindled by a windstorm.
• New technology is being developed to detect and combat holdover fires, including thermal imaging cameras and autonomous helicopters.
• The Los Angeles Fire Department has come under scrutiny for allegedly failing to thoroughly extinguish a fire on New Year's Day, which was later linked to the Palisades fire that killed 12 people.

Statistics:

• 3,500 homes destroyed in the Tunnel fire in 1991
• 102 people killed in the 2023 Maui fire
• 341,471 acres burned in the 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire
• 20 years maximum sentence for then-29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, charged with causing the Palisades fire through his alleged arson
• 12 people killed in the Palisades fire
• 6,800 structures, most of them homes, leveled in the Palisades fire
• 25 people killed in the Tunnel fire
• 39 years of service for Mark Hoffman, a retired Oakland fire lieutenant
• 100-mile wind gusts that can reignite smoldering embers

Sources:

• The New York Times article "Los Angeles Fire Officials Say Holdover Fires, Those Zombies of the Wild, Are Their Worst Nightmare"
• Interview with David Calkin, a fire management expert
• Interview with James Urban, an assistant professor of fire protection engineering
• Interview with Ronnie Villanueva, interim fire chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department
• Interview with Kenny Cooper, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
• California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reports on wildfires
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reports on fire safety and prevention