How to Fight Fires in Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire

In new documentary Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire, fire has many personalities. It is an enemy too large to defeat, driving families from their homes and destroying everything in its path.

It is a simple fact of life, known by a season like taxes and awards. It is a new beginning, balancing ecosystems and inviting new life. But above all, it is a force that must be reckoned with if future destruction is to be avoided.

“We really need to take our cues from nature, from traditional methods, from technology, from science.” –David Oyelowo

Elemental surveys catastrophic damage in fire-prone areas that are becoming increasingly dangerous with climate change. Directed by Trip Jennings and narrated by award-winning actor David Oyelowo (Selma, The Water Man), the documentary follows fire departments, scientists, fire researchers, Indigenous leaders, and wildfire survivors on a quest to understand devastating fires and protect communities. Through compelling research and eye-catching footage, Jennings demonstrates that catastrophic fires are preventable if we view wildfire as more than a natural disaster. “There are things we can do,” Oyelowo says, “and that was the thing I really walked away with.”

One such disaster is the 2018 Camp Fire in California, documented in all its horror. Cell phone footage and haunting testimony from Paradise, California residents Michelle and Daniel Simmons and Darrell Wilkin establish the stakes of Elemental’s mission within the first minutes of the documentary. Jennings begins with the worst case scenario as residents comb through the rubble of their homes and tearfully recount moments that could have been their last. But this devastation is where the work starts, not where it ends.

Solutions come from a wealth of disciplines and backgrounds. Among those interviewed are Margo Robbins, executive director of the Cultural Fire Management Council on the Yurok Reservation in California; fire ecologists Dr. Alexandra Syphard and Dr. Tania Shoenagel; Dr. Jack Cohen, a retired researcher with the U.S. Fire Service’s Fire Lab; and Maya Khosla, writer and wildlife biologist. The experts featured in the film lay out the facts with careful clarity regarding both the solutions they propose and the inevitable consequences of failing to implement them. One thing is clear across each perspective: The current approach to wildfire management is doing more harm than good, but other approaches can restore balance and minimize damage.

Elemental presents the biggest enemy not as wildfire itself, but misinformation, and mismanagement of resources. Ecologists and researchers point out how modern fire management worsens wildfires and comes with multi-million dollar price tags. These practices often destroy environments by first logging and thinning forests as a preventative measure, which ultimately fails to stop or slow fires and results in carbon outputs that are actually greater than those of fires. Our modern understanding of wildfire assumes that it is always harmful, but counterintuitively, eradicating it can be more dangerous.

After viewing the hair-raising footage of Paradise residents escaping the blaze, it may seem counterintuitive to embrace fire, but Jennings thoughtfully lays out the argument. Khosla and Robbins explain how wildfire supports local ecosystems and sustains native species in two of the film’s most powerful scenes. Stunning footage of green sprouts and wildlife of all sizes moving into a scorched forest accompanies Khosla’s poetic description of how fire offers a new beginning. Meanwhile, in the Yurok Reservation, Robbins and her team teach volunteers from all over the world how to set controlled burns to foster biodiversity. A leader prays to the ancestors on behalf of the group and vows to protect and care for the earth with fire before the group sets out with torches. “Oh, I love that sound!” Robbins says joyfully as brush crackles with flame around her feet.

One of the experiments in fireproofing homes, as shown in new documentary Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire. (Photo by Sara Quinn)

But while controlled burns are beneficial, they don’t solve the problem of community destruction. Elemental also provides individuals with concrete ways to keep their homes and families safe, and simple modifications to homes and the surrounding landscape can prevent them from burning down. Oyelowo cites that focus as a key element that attracted him to the project, adding that his involvement with the documentary drove him to fire-proof his own home and encourage his neighbors to do the same: He admits he may have become “a little bit annoying” on his quest to spread the knowledge.

Oyelowo’s narration grounds the film and bridges the gaps between expert accounts and viewer understanding. Tackling a subject as formidable as catastrophic wildfires is no easy task, but Elemental manages to present the information in an informative and compelling manner, offering advice to homeowners and government officials alike. As Canada battles a historically brutal fire season and environmental conditions worsen with climate change, the message of Elemental could not be more urgent. Oyelowo says it best: “We really need to take our cues from nature, from traditional methods, from technology, from science, all of which you see in this documentary as a means of not only combating the fires, but preventing them.”

Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire is available on VOD now. More info at elementalfilm.com.