Jordan Thomas Jordan Thomas is pursuing a PhD in anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He researches the cultural forces that shape fire.

A Note from the Fireline | Climate Change and the Colonial Legacy of Fire Suppression

Jordan Thomas

In late August, before dawn broke on a foggy California morning, I marched with a crew of wildland firefighters through a redwood forest. We crossed a small farm, the jostle of our footsteps joining the cries of sheep and chickens as a man and woman paused to watch us pass. A mile in, we found the Dolan Fire creeping close to the ground through the underbrush, as if lying in...