tinder

In the lead-up to the Palisades and Eaton fires this month, the intense dryness kept vegetation tinder dry — a recipe for disaster when combined with strong Santa Ana winds and an ignition.

On the other hand, when the sponge dries out, it has even more capacity to suck up moisture from the soil and plants below, parching the landscape and turning it into tinder.

Firefighters have been unable to quell multiple blazes across the region around LA, which are spreading because of very strong winds and an increase in dry vegetation, acting as tinder.

It’s easy to see how all this becomes a crucible; a crushing personal weight and tinder for political unrest and infighting as we strive to stabilize and move forward.

For more than 10,000 years, the Lumbee, like many Indigenous peoples, used controlled burns to promote healthy ecosystems and clear brush and tinder.