This week’s episode of then & now is the first in a series examining one of the most powerful and destructive natural disasters in U.S. history, the Los Angeles wildfires. Joined by Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University Stephen Pyne, one of the country’s leading thinkers about fire, we discuss the history of urban fire to understand what is unfolding in Los Angeles—where lives, communities, histories, and large swaths of nature are being destroyed before our eyes. Informed by his wide-ranging perspective on fire management, Stephen situates the L.A. wildfires within a broader historical perspective. He describes the current era as the Pyrocene, the age of the Fire.  He suggests that while nuisance fires have decreased, we now face dire conditions worsened by factors such as climate change, land use, and the burning of fossil fuels—all of which highlight the need for a fundamental reorganization of our lives. To conclude, he stresses the importance of avoiding the conditions that cause massive destruction, especially the burning of fossil fuels, and advocates for a thoughtful reassessment of our relationship with fire that minimizes the risk of future destructive events.


Stephen Pyne is an Emeritus Professor of Life Sciences at Arizona State University.  He spent 15 seasons with the North Rim Longshots, a Grand Canyon National Park fire crew. Out of those seasons emerged a scholarly interest in the history and management of fire, with major surveys for America, Australia, Canada, Europe (including Russia), and the Earth. He has written 40 books, mostly on the history and management of wildland and rural fire, including a multi-volume fire history of the U.S. and its regions since 1960 (University of Arizona Press). 


Further Reading
Human use of fire has produced an era of uncontrolled burning: Welcome to the Pyrocene
2025 Los Angeles Fires