Kicks off california speak fire season but historic number of through the state. Blazed more than 3 million acres have burned in 2020. Surpassing the previous record, set in 2018. Nearly 15,000 firefightersare battling 28 major blazes across they have alclaimed at least 12 lives. But amid the destruction comes opportunity, ided by science, San Jose State University has just inaugurated a new wildre research center. The largest on the nation. The scientists span a range of disciplines from meteorology, to ecology to a social science. They are pioneering new tools and techniques to better study, predict, and adapt to living with wildfires. Joining me now by skype cl craients, the director of the wildfire Interdisciplinary Research center, and a professor of meteorology at san jose state unoiersity. Alsong us from san jose is Amanda Stossel with. Assistant professor of wildfire management at the center, llo to you both. Hello. Hi. Craig, lets start with you, you look at the skies this week and thoughthings like we are on mars, its the end of times. Or even blade runner. Whatid you think a fire meteorologist, who has a much more nuanced view of whats going on. When you look at those oranges skies, not just in terms of the weather but in termof our new wildfire normal here in california. The first thing i thought was thats a lot of smoke. I think most people in Northern California had not seen this much smoke er. So, that is pretty scary and daunting. Ma to e think that this could be the future of our next so, it was pretty apocalyptic. Thats the word that seems that was used over and over again thispast week. This new center is your brainchild, you created it because you saw a really specific and critical need in our knowledge for wildfire information. What are some of the unknowns that you are hoping to answer. Well, with this team of interdisciplinary scientists, across the field of wildfire, we hope to better understand fire behavior, extreme fire behavi, how changing fire weather conditions can lead to severe fires. And, what policies and at social aspects we can adapt to and make modifications to the environment. Ving so, there is a lot of different aspects that we want to tackle with the center. For ex ple, we wato get High Resolution modeling for what it weather forecasting. Using new observational tools and computing resources. Its pretty exciting in terms the science,at we hope t. To cond i want to get some of those tools in a moment but lets bring amanda in here. Yo re a social scientist and you basically study Human Interaction in wildfire. What are some of thareas that you are particularly eager to dive into in this new center. Look at how lifornia is er to adapting to fire in different places. So, within each of these big fire sta are going to be little individual communities and their histories culture and capacities. Arn from the stories and help them better adapt to the situations. There has been a national cohesive, wildfire Management Strategy that was put into place in 2014. By the obama administration. Under that, there were s,three prone to make the landscape more resilient, another is to improve our response to wildfires, and the thiris where you work. It is in the adaptation of our communities, to wildfire. What sort of adaptations are working best . So, there are number of adtations, you can take in some of the best ones you can do for protecting priv ae proper your home, is reducing flynn implantable vegetation. Install sprinklers, decrease the abilitof fires start inside of communiies. There are basically a lot of ed fire wise. This program basically outlines of things you can do as an individual or community. While you are saying there is a lot that are starting to do there is obviously a long way to go. Would you be able to y a percentage term, how much have we done, how far do we still have to go . That is really challenging question because as craig was telling us and ng are se the fires are changing over time. They e becoming moreextreme. So the tools we have right now, for adapting to fire, are what we learn from previous fire seasons. So as we move forward, every community that is adapting right now nthas to ue to adapt. Craig, what are thareas that your center in san jose, that you are pioneering, is understanding fire of weather . What is fire weather . How can our understanding of it help prevent the dehastation we seen over the past several years . Well, fire weather is simply drdefined as hot, windy weather, which is very common in california. But, whats happening is its getting warmer, and is getting drier. So thats affecting e fuels. The things that are bu the trees, the shrubs the grasses. And so, if that continues, the drying and the warming, the fires get more intense. So when they get more intense the buyers can create their ow weather. So, we dont have a good handler on how those esses work. How do the fires get so big, how do they create firestorms. So, understanding those, requires new technology, such as monitoring, these systems are not monitored very well. Weioneered the use of mobile assets like radars, to beer observe these phenomenons. With that, we can model it with state of the science what we ll coupled fire atmosphere models. We can better understand and edict these type of extreme fire behaviors. And expect in the coming decades. There could be that fire warning like a synonymy warning, whh would helppeople evacuating get out sooner than they are now. Well, we pretty much have that wi the red flag warning, which is being threvamped by National Weather service. That does work, but its kind of rnke a g, its not like an evacuation. We dont do evacuations until we have it ignition. And we know thconditions are going to be requiring an evacuation in the community. So, i think better understanding the conditions in the future, will allow us to better handle ctsocietal im that we can expect as well. Amanda, since 2009 there has been a strategy of evacuation first. We are seeing that in oregon now. We have 500,000 people who arte being evacbecause they are in danger of a fire. How well is the evacuation strategy working out . Do people willingly leaveir homes . Yeah, there is a lot of research looking at evacuation, lot of people want to be informed, they want an official at we saw with the campfire, we saw a lot of fires that are fastmoving. Those orders dont come sometimes in time for people to leave. And have a sa evacuation. Without meeting a firegetting into an accident. Need to start thinking about what happens when we cant evacuate. Things like preparing our homes, community areas, shters in place. How do we decrease the ndrisk arur homes, maybe we need to have Fire Equipment on site. There are otr approaches that can help us deal with this. But, evacuation is the safest option. Get out early, that is the best way to go. Craig, can the technology that youre using at the center, help predict and prevent ldres . Well, some of the modeling tools can help predict it. And make the predictions were accurate. But, preventing, no. Prevention has to do with really, society. Nine out of 10 fires are caused by humans. So, whetheits a power grid failure, or a campfire, that is humancaused. So, those could preventable. The forecasting tools, arent really used for the human aspect, its the really used to understand the behavior of the phenomenon fire. So, as those get better, we will better understand how fast the fire will be moving, and certain conditions. What can we as residents do to adapt living with fires . Well, like amanda has pointed out, being fire wise. Addressing the communities about safety, and managing the landscape around communities. So, thats why we have brought this team together, we have experts li amanda, to help us derive policies that could helph communities infuture. Amanda, could you talk to us about how you see policy ange needing happen, what do state and federal officials really need to change in order for us to have a better futu . K i ththat the way we are going to end up addressing the cooperation and collaboration. I like to think of fire like a watershed, fire moves across the landscapes, theynt really adhere to boundaries. I think we need to be enpsling partnersfor reducing fire risk across private and public interfaces. There is a lot of room to move forward. Craig, what gives you hope about living with this new landscape in the future . And fighting fires in the future . Well, i think theres going to t be a of improvements in technology for Fire Suppression for example, using drones, to map fires more accurately. To poteially enhance Fire Suppression activities. So, i think technolo only going to help. We have seen a big increase in a situational of awareness. With the wildfire camera system we can see plume dynamics. Some fire behavior aspects. With the new modeling tools, and satellite products we will be able to monitor the phenomenon much better than we have in the past. So, i thk in e future thats really going to play a big role in not only the research community, but also for the community in general. Or the public, leto be to have a situational awareness. Amanda, what about for you, these fires are burning more at intensely easier, gives you hope . What gives me hope is that communities and people are al resient, society can adapt, a lot of cohaunities are ng Success Stories moving d. Forw i think that we are well wiuippedto deal these issues, there is a lot of existing science and knowledge out there. I think a lot arof people be interested in using it. We do have ways to progress forward. You had also mentioned in a conversation we had earlier, that fire can be a healing force. Can you diveinto that . Yeah, so, one of the bi things we are seeing in california, with our fires right now, is that we have 100 years of fire from really good Fire Suppression, largely excluded indigenous cultural e burning, so this room now for putting good fire back on the landscape. Fire is a healing foe that a lot of ecosystems in california need to survive. I think thats something we can do, moving forward. Outside of fire season, having more fire on the ground. Professor clements, and professor amanda, from san unjo statersity, thank you both. Thank you. To learn how best to prepe for a wildfire and what to include in an evacuation supply kit, visit ready for wildfire. Org. There are roughly 170 covid 19 vaccine candidating developed around the globe right now. According to the wod health organization, there has been talkmif a vaccine out as early as october. President trumps operation warp speengis aimi to create and distribute 300 million doses starting in january, 2021. This week, a prominent tria with Pharmaceutical Company astrazeneca was put on hold after a person in their vaccine trial became ill. A vaccine is needed for a full economic recovery. But, will people be willing to a take aine when concerns abound that is being rushed out for political gain before the november president ial election. Wh gets access toa vaccine, if its found to be safe and effective. Joining me now by sky palo alto, is dr. Maldonado, a professor of pediatrics, an Infectious Disease y epidemiologist. 20skype from San Francisco is dr. Peter chen hahn. A professor of medicine and infectious sease specialist. Thank you bothfor joininus. You have worked in Vaccine Development for two decades, would you describe to us the work that you and your colleagues are going to be doing with covidvaccine trials at stanford . Yes, currently, we are planned to start to vaccine trials, one, the jansenvaccine in midseptember, and the noble baxa vaccine idinctober. In perhaps a third e ccine candidin november. Again, thats all assuming that things go smoothly and continue to go well. But currently we are scheduled to begin enrolling several hundred patients. Peter, you have been working in covid19 response through treating patients and also sting their peace, li convalescent plasma, and remdesivir. I would like to get to nce scof some of the vaccines, how are the candidates expected to work . Essentially they work by trainingthe immune systemto recognize the foreign virus. You can also train them to recognize bacteria. We train thisminian they go in and zoom off, thand stop passes than pathogen before it sets up shop. Yvonne, how difficult are perience of having done this for several decades . Well, different vaccine trials, every single one is different. It depends on the interest of la the poon and who youre aiming the mat. I primarily do trials in children. Obviously, at this time, the u. S. Really e emphasis going to be on adults, especially adults over 65. I imagine its not going to be hard to identify peopwho want to be in the trial. The key is going to be to find enough diversity in the people we represent all of the people in the u. S. Especially those at risk. There was news this week a thrazeneca has paused its phase three trial, after a participant became sick newith ological symptoms. Im curious about the protocols of tensing on huand the process of Vaccine Development. Could you walk us through that . Well, most vaccine trials will include whats called the data safety monitoring board, that is a very, independent group of people who monitor the especially the statistical monitoring to make sure the data is statistically powered to make a definitivelu coon about whether a vaccine works or not. But the main issue always, with any vaccine product, is safety. You want to guarantee there is safety involved, and that is toreally the top job. Ake sure that safety is the primary aim of any trial that is being done. Is it surprising that someone fell ill . Well, you know, you are enrolling thousands of patients here, so, given the background, of events that may happen to anybody, you can pick a random sample of people, its not going its t surprising ther was an impact. There is always almostrssome adevents, and thats the Placebo Group is to really make sure, not just the rson who gets the vaccine versus a placebo, had a better response to prevention of the disease. But also, primarily to make sure that the safety is the same in both groups. Ceos of leading Drug Companies ok an unusual turn in that they will make sure that ey put safety before speeding conducting covid19 why was that necessarw for them to come d . Well, its pretty unprecedented that a ceo of a Vaccine Company would tell people that there will be a vaccine unless they are is safety or enough daddy data regarding this we have companies reassuring the public in that way. Butts a little bit different, theres a long legacy right now of the fdncand emer its not that this is cong out of nowhere. S there recently guidance to the Health Authorities of every state is sang that we should prepare infrastructure to support a vaccine by the end of october. Or november 1st, two days before the election. So i think people are just afraid of premature release before its ready. Yvonne, will you become double taking the vaccine when i would be comfortable taking a vaccine that i think is safe e,and effectiv absolutely. What does that mean . Im not going to walk into, i want to know what im getting first. And that is the key,ou will hear about this ler. We need transparency about data. Thats what i want to see. If we get the data and i feel like the data is out there and it looks good then i will get it. What about you . Wi you take the vaccine . I sha if its transparent and i can see the data. I would be out there getting a vaccine. You know, its tough for people because both of you have a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge and you can read all the data and understame what its. But fothe average person when the vaccine comes out, theyre not going to have those resources, so what do you advise people to when a vaccine comes out, do you advise people to go ahead and take it . Yeah, absolutely. I think cdc really focused on getting a pic player, not only are there issues and access, insurance, private care physician, to center that is th distributinge vaccines, but there has been centuries of mistrust because ofearly experiences with Clinical Research. I was on the radio the other dad an africanamerican man called in and said theres no way hes going to get the vacce, or give his family the vaccine because tuskegee, i think that really hit home to me. That idea vethat we a lot to undo before we reachic paar communities of color. Yvonne, even if a safe and effective vaccine is soon developed, does that mean the virus is going to go away, will it still remain with us . We dont really know the answer to that question, but i think judging from what we know about the current coronavirus is and there are seven human fo coronavirus is, which cause normal colds, and have been around with for a long time. I can tell you that those viruses return and reiite people overand over again. So, there is some evidence of immunity, but it doesnt last very long. So the question will whether these vaccines will be able to produce not only high level immunity, but durable immunity. Even if the immunity lasts a few months, perhaps you could ge revaccinated every year, or two years. Like you do with the flu. The final issue then, is whether or not the vaccines will prevent an individual from getting sickbut not from getting infected. So the person might be able to be healthy, but they could actually transmit the disease to others. So, we towill need learn a lot about that once the vaccine trials are up and running. And we get more tedata. The bay area has been taking a leading role when it comes to developing a vaine. Much of this is because of our history as an epicenter of activism, and innovation in treating hiv and aids. Could you talk us through the position that the bay area has right now . And being a leader this way question mark thats a great question, i think, from the early days of etsy and hiv, we built up this infrastructure of not only taking care of our mos vulnerable patients at all times, and having an opendoor policy. Ngbut, by creathe infrastructure to support Clinical Research around investigational drugs. And, as you pointed out, providing the activism, to mak suat the people who need it the most will get it. It came as no surprise that with vaccines studies we were well situation situated to study these. Ucsf and dr. Yvonne maldonado with stanford university. Thank you both so much for joining us. You can find more co our rage at kqed. Org newsroom. I am priya clemens, you can find us on facebook and instagram, from all of us at kqed, thanks for watching, good night. Robert what the president knew and when he knew it. I wanted to always play it robert the president tells bob woodward that he knew the coronavirus was deadly and airborne in february. And sparks a firestorm. Its disgusting. Hes waving a white flag. He didnt d a damn thing. Think about it. It is the lates explosive book in this Campaign Season and comes amid a new whistleblower pay the price . Next. Announcer this is waweington. Funding is provided when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your min with fidelity weah management a dedicated advor