I put myself through Stanford as a BLM fire fighter (Bureau of Land Management, not the new acronym) working summers. I have seen eucalyptus go up like torches--thirty seconds from the deep piles of bark tinder at the base to the crown. I have seen them explode like bombs as the oils inside vaporize and light. I have seen forests of them alight, creating thermals with mushroom clouds spewing burning embers thousands of feet away.
I have also been on conifer fires and rangeland fires, and nothing compares to a eucalyptus fire.
Portugal, like California, embraced eucalyptus but paid a severe price.
https://www.politico.eu/article/portugal...er-forest/
Australia has had horrendous eucalyptus fires during recent drought years after making the same mistakes that we have--too much fire suppression for too long, creating gargantuan tinder boxes. Eucalyptus, like lodgepole pine, are adapted to fire to stay in balance. Regular burning is natural. Gargantuan trees are not. Eucalyptus groves belong in areas where regular burning is possible. They do not belong anywhere near residential homes or universities.
https://www.livescience.com/40583-austra...fires.html
I have also been on conifer fires and rangeland fires, and nothing compares to a eucalyptus fire.
Portugal, like California, embraced eucalyptus but paid a severe price.
https://www.politico.eu/article/portugal...er-forest/
Australia has had horrendous eucalyptus fires during recent drought years after making the same mistakes that we have--too much fire suppression for too long, creating gargantuan tinder boxes. Eucalyptus, like lodgepole pine, are adapted to fire to stay in balance. Regular burning is natural. Gargantuan trees are not. Eucalyptus groves belong in areas where regular burning is possible. They do not belong anywhere near residential homes or universities.
https://www.livescience.com/40583-austra...fires.html