Over the world to make of fires are destroying entire towns and regions. Circle. Like a Freight Train coming torture. Please help us. Make a farmers are different they are beyond our control they are insatiable to see what the peace else is in some pardon or clear some of the dust and sun and. Scientists and firefighters are taking up the challenge with new methods and. Its really up to humans to figure out how to rebalance everything and we can do that its a race against time to save our habitat and our lives. In the Tropical Forest scientists have discovered yet another major impact caused by extreme wildfires. In Southeast Asia africa and the amazon read that deforestation for the purpose of agriculture is responsible for an especially risky type of place fires on peat soil. In indonesia this is had terrible consequences bungling here also honcho works for the government he is investigating the signs of an illegal deforestation. Im betting that since 2000 i found nearly 500 cases. Of. That charcoal left over from the fire and that so burnt by were collecting them to prove there was indeed a fire and well analyze them to determine the impact of the fire. Indonesia produces 30 percent of the worlds palm oil as demand soars so do the fires. Here a Palm Oil Company may have used slash and burn to extend their plantation. Before planting the oil palms canals are dug to drain the moist soil. This lowers the water table by up to 30 centimeters leaving the peat dry and flammable. This burn patch is not yet another illegal far. Here and International Team of scientists is recreating the legal burns to study their consequences. We are in one where we are going to simulate. Pete burns differently than trees for a reason. Beat. With a flame. It goes on the ground itself that is burning its not there but it tastes and its actually the. Invisibly the fires burrow deep into the ground. Fires are the largest fires on earth that actually can burn away from view for very long time for weeks and months. We have seen fires. In specific locations it creates holes which are a deep hole of these appeals from. The most persistent type of fire on earth because shes. The most difficult to suppress. Even rang 3 times actually. The fires were not suppressed by these right. Back in his lab in london. Always tackling them even more treacherous aspect of the peat fires. Beat comes from. Students from. Far places. To students think they. Team is the only Research Facility on the globe dedicated wholly to the study of peat fires the. Nature restores carbon. Stored in the carbon for a long time. But it doesnt degrade it actually stays in the water it. Beat the. You could be from 100 years to a 1000 years thats a very end that was captured a long time ago. When pete smolders generations of captured carbon are released into our atmosphere all at once. As trees on biomass grow they take coming from the atmosphere and they release oxygen and then the fire is the opposite usually fire is the opposite of photosynthesis it actually releases the carbon into the atmosphere and it consumes the oxygen so the growing of a forest is the burning of a forest. And all the while the peat hardly looks like its burning at all. Only the high speed infrared camera captures the fire spreading outwards until all the bio mass has been consumed and the carbon released. The musicians from up big fire are massive. 10. 00 to 100. 00 times larger than flaming fires. So the footprint is very very large is the elephant in the room off of carbon emissions. And this footprint is about to become even larger as the fires expand to new peak rich areas of the Tropical Forest in brazil and peru. And there is another carbon bomb ready to go off. Mega fires are also attacking the boreal forest rich in peat in canada alaska scandinavia the u. K. And even siberia. In the border region was fastened on to. Reagents. The scary thing is speed limits 3 percent of the land surface but theres still a lot of carbon maybe 25 percent of Global Carbon stocks so its a fine as move into the youve got fairly high you missions area. That is leaving to Climate Change is leaving is leading to places where the soil will be warmer and drier which then will lead to the more fires which will lead to more emissions so others electorates a positive Feedback Mechanism between more peak fires means more big fires in the future. And if this increases Global Warming in general the number of wildfires will soar. Where will you go when your forests are no longer green but theyre black and gone where will you go to breathe deep and slow. Every time there is a mega fire a Community Faces the challenge of recovering from an encounter with the beast. Several years after the fire Fort Mcmurray is physically being rebuilt but homes recover faster than people. Said lets take a moment to pray for each other lets take a moment to pray for everybody who is coming to our service and father god this morning we just take a moment of lucas has left his job as a firefighter and become a pastor today that we would do it for the sake of your kingdom and for your glory i think the rate of Alcohol Consumption and the people i work with just skyrocketed myself personally to you guys excited. As you know every day on the timeline after major disasters like this you see Domestic Violence increase you see suicides increase you see Substance Abuse increase all of those things we have seen in our city all of those things are on the rise. The reason. You know. Lucas and fellow Church Members raced funds for psychological counseling for local people and firefighters. That. The scientists tell us that for our force to recover and to look like it did before the fire is over 200 years for us as a people who experienced it i dont think it will ever leave us. I emotionally and psychologically would be something that is part of us now as part of our story. Over the world unless we find new solutions more major fires like the beast will take their tribute from our communities. We have tampered with nature and created this crisis now its up to us to find out how we can save our habitat and our lives before it is too late. Crumb is a great expert on force dynamics working in switzerland. He is determined to find out which we all fire played in our forests before the age of mega fires after all fire has always been part of nature. To get started frank is headed to a former military bunker from world war 2. These hidden tunnels lead to the biggest collection of tree samples in europe. Of the nice ability to preserve different information in their rings they work as an autobiography for a tree and weakens. These are 2 samples from 2 different regions so this one here is from a very cold region and you can see very tiny rings the vegetation period is really short and the trees are growing very very slowly and here the tree rings are much bigger because the conditions are better for the tree so they have the same diameter but this tree is about 25 years old and these trees about 300 years old. Here we can see a very narrow ring in 2003 as a consequence of a very dry year. Another tree ring bears witness to a rock fall. This tree from southern switzerland shows several scars fire scars appear a fire scar here a fire a scar and here a fire scar that means the tree has survived several fire events one can really nicely see how the tree can over grow these kind of wounds that are produced by the fires. The scientists cross reference weather and climate data for an even more precise truly otto biography. And here we have an example of Ponderosa Pine from arizona with these fire scarse across the whole tree sample the last one is in 1874 than there was 150 years before so this tree has survived several fires that are recorded here this is conclusive evidence during the revolution trees learn to live with moderate fires. Fire and the trays are adept at to each other and fires are part of the forest ecosystem. But now humans have brought destructive mega fires upon the forest and upset a delicate balance. Lets find out more about how the forest copes with a moderate fire and even benefits from it. 7 years ago this landscape burned by 55000 acres in it burned in a moderate severe already in this forest is bouncing back already youve got this mountain loop and here this is the nitrogen fixer and it helps this forest to rebound it fixes atmospheric 1990 gen and then it leaks it to the neighborhood after a moderate fire colorful little helpers fill up the forest and stimulate regrowth and trees like the launch pull pine just love a good fire many species are adapted to fire but this one here is dependent upon fire to complete its life cycle its got these really cool cones every one of these cones scales is held close by a drop of resin the heat of the fire melts that resin the cones open and then the seeds can fall to the ground. A few years later you can come back and see baby seedlings the lodgepole pine failing in under the blackened trees a new forest. Here wildfires are part of a cycle of renewal. And it wouldnt have been this way if it had been a big hot mega fire you wouldnt have the seedlings you wouldnt have had the source of plant life that developed here after the fire. Fires can help our forests bounce back with new vigor. We have been thinking about wild fire for a long time in the wrong way theres no way to keep it out of the ecosystem we have to invite it back in and dance with the bass. And. Dancing with the unit me might save our lives. But for that we need to overcome our fear of fire. So new liver chris a canadian fire ecologist and firefighter has come to me to people who have a completely different relationship with far. And. Im chief marvin here here with a very 1st nations and this is the territory of live very 1st nations we have 3000 square kilometers of rock on to territory here. Fire is important it plays a large role and always has been 1st nations people my dad was my. My teacher. He lived off the land he was a trapper and a hunter he taught always boys are always made it. Explained the dangers of his not to be played with its important. That also far can be your friend he says and your enemy at the same time now sonia teaches young firefighters how many indigenous tribes in both canada and the us knew all along how to use fire as a tool paradoxically it was the indian custom of frequent light burning that it produced and maintain much of the land the white settlers were then able to find. These open grasslands grew very attractive to the white settler. People thought this was a natural thing that happened and they were really really excited but little did they know they needed to continue applying fire to the land in order to maintain and to keep a patchwork mosaic on the land. Fire as a tool was outlawed and the tradition largely forgotten only a few tribes like chief marvins after served and. We have a birds eye view living in that area just to understand and work with fire and you know. Were willing to share. Our knowledge and work with people. Sonja is updating the ancient tradition with modern science. First step preparation. In todays dense and overgrown forests a clear boundary needs to be set around the entire plot for the planned fire. Where we have black line we actually removed the fuel component of the fire triangle thought when a fire approaches a black line then the fire no mo longer can spread because the fuel has been removed from that area. So news team also adds a with line to strengthen the boundary. The great moment has come when weve completed our wet line around the outside edge weve also done black lining against the wet line and if the wind condition is right and we get wind from the west the fire will roll across here it will stop against our black line. This may look like a ping pong ball but actually its still the tassie intermingling which gets injected with glycol and make them highly flammable that happens from this machine that i have in the helicopter with me. Please the. Socalled prescribed fires or controlled burns are the modern version of a traditional burn to maintain the patchwork in the forest. They are now making a comeback as an efficient Fire Prevention tool in canada and the us. And are even being introduced in europe. Helicopters make the process faster. And less risky for the firefighters and allow them to reach difficult terrain. And. The fire just scratches the surface and is done in an hour. We light fires because that is also part of firefighting prescribed fire and keeps the land healthy. But there are areas where prescribed fires are a huge risk for instance right next to a community. John will brand is one of hundreds of millions of people all over the world who live in the socalled wild land urban interface. These dream homes after become deadly fire traps because humans and the forest share the same space. We were well aware that one day we might be fighting a fire to try and save our home. The race is on to find Viable Solutions to survive extreme wildfire in these areas example california. In december 2017 a spark from a faulty powerline ignited the parched and overgrown landscape a frequent cause of fire where humans want to live in nature with all the amenities. Spurred on by ferocious winds the fire soon grew into a mega far. Because look out the window at night as i went to bed and i could see the fire for a couple of nights in a row as a burnt closer and closer. John and his partners own cloyd decided to stay and defend their home. What i remember the most of the fire was the sound. The roar the intense it was like a Freight Train coming towards you please. Come. Here encircled by fire on at least 3 sides i took one side of the house he took the other and during the entire fire we didnt know whether the other one had survived the fire. For we made it both wrong caught in our we made it ok or says made it the donkey made it the cows made it. By studio did not make it. The fire found its way underneath the shipping containers and all of my archives all record of my life as an artist from when i was a teenager up until 2005 i have lost. As the blaze continues many more homes were lost to the flames. And the firefighters were prous until the fire raced in london towards 2 fire breaks and. One was a scar created by a big fire in 2010 which stumps the flames. Another was a fire break from the 1960 s. And. On this ridge what we can see is the vast back entry by santa barbara. And as we look to the south side of this ridge we can see the dense communities of the south coast and you get the visual here of how much area there is to burn that can impact the communities for all that. Rob and his colleagues knew that this was their only chance. We would have back fire across this ridge line the grass was cleared off with mechanical equipment and we were able to burn along this ridge using our fire to take out the feel bad in between the main fire and this ridge line when the fire arrived at the fire break the fire crews were ready and waiting the fire reduces its intensity when it burns into the fuel break the flame links are smaller its more controllable and the firefighters have places to go if things get out of control. And are burning operation was successful we stopped the fire on this ridge line. But many interface areas do not have fire breaks to protect them from mega fires. We want our cake and want to be able to eat it too its nice to get away from busy urban centers but its unrealistic to expect that those places are going to be safe from natural processes. Probably 2 thirds to 3 quarters of all new Housing Starts in the western u. S. Are being developed in very flammable and dangerous circumstances we have to come up with a more clever for polls all for how we live in these areas we cannot just keep sprawling outward because we cant keep you safe. Millions of people are at risk in zones that are becoming increasingly prone to far. Scientist at the midst of fire scientists lab has dedicated his career to finding out what really happens when a fire invades a community. Jack cohen said a whole experimental forest on far to prove that the heat of the flames is not sufficient to ignite a home. Of the view clear you see of course but not ignited while sections nicely framed by the cracked wound. Now jacks research is the basis of an experiment which revealed what really causes the ignition of a home. Very intense wildfire is producing lots of firebrands that then can cast down can shower down way ahead. Kilometers miles ahead of this intense flame from. Pine needles that have accumulated in the rain gutters to cotton fabric so your furniture the wood in the debris that we might have on it there. Those are the things that make the house vulnerable to recommission. And once a house is on fire it produces its own members sitting off a chain reaction. From the wildfire actually doesnt spread through the community the burning things in the Community End up igniting the rest of the community. But does that mean that communities burning up during wildfires is inevitable. No. Its a home. New problem rather than a while for control problem. In Southern California communities are in a race against time to apply this discovery to millions of homes. In more recent years it seems like theres fires almost we recover from one and theres another one if its not here its close enough that we worry for friends or you know the cities nearby and the only part that hasnt burned is the part directly above me. My mom is terrified that i live here she thinks i should leave because fires are so dangerous. I live in a condo its wood i know that its not landscape the way that it should be 2 2. Are you. Ready and i remember we are in a party if you so much for coming down for a. While too far specialists like amber are inspecting homes one by one to try and make them less flammable. One thing that does concern me would be the more that you have around the side of your structure what most does is it provides a receptive better a place where that ember can land and that night also one of the things that you can do is create a buffer such as rocks or sand dirt would be fine its cheap anything that just wont carry fire up against the side of your home. Look at all this peeling bark yeah definitely a spot that members like to play under. See this how theres an opening in this doorway that allows embers to get right inside your shirt sure this would be a weakness actually