“People in that situation can be triggered by a similar situation and can think about what happened, and it can be very devastating,” he said. “People have flashbacks; people can have nightmares. They can become very distressed. “It’s really difficult to deal with.”
For those people, Epstein said, therapy can be effective.
But for those feeling a lower degree of anxiety, Epstein offered some coping strategies ahead of another summer, or what we now call, fire season.
Exercise. Quality sleep. Deep breathing. Establish connections with others. All of those things help in times of heightened anxiety, she said.
And this: You might consider hanging up the phone. Keep an eye on fire and air quality news and alerts, sure, but don’t get obsessed.
“The ideal is to strike a balance,” Epstein said. “Make sure you have information to know what the facts are in the best way possible.”
Do your best to be realistic, he said. With information, with your feelings, with your reactions.
Catastrophizing is a real thing.
“Reflect on the thoughts you have about what’s happening and try to evaluate how accurate those thoughts are, because a lot of times what happens is we get triggered by something and our thoughts become exaggerated,” he said. “And that’s not unusual.”
If you feel like you’re out of control, turn to mental health practices like exercise, deep breathing, connection, and quality sleep as much as possible.
And there is no better time than the present to incorporate these practices into daily life, he said.
“Doing it a little ahead of time will make it easier if you’re really in the moment,” he said. “You’ll be able to walk right into it.”
Northern California heads into this summer season with conditions for significant fire potential at normal and below normal levels, according to the Wildfire Forecasting and Threat Intelligence Integration Center. This is due to higher rainfall last winter and a heavy snow cover that has kept fuels wetter.
That’s the good news.
The trickiest part is that lighter fuels, like grasses, thrived in the winter conditions and grew.
Many years of difficulties
Containment of the Point Fire reached 80% by Saturday morning, having burned more than 1,200 acres (845 hectares) and destroyed 10 structures, including three homes.
But temperatures were expected to rise over the weekend. Increased anxiety? Check.
But if this makes anyone feel better—and let’s face it, we’re trying to find ways to feel better heading into a fire season that started off in pretty scary ways—it’s this: Most fires are started by behavior. human, according to firefighters.
Which means if we are smart, we can stay safe.
“What reassures people is that 95% of fires are caused by humans, so if we do our part by being cautious and careful when we are in wild areas and driving our vehicles,” the chances of them occurring fires decline dramatically, said Ben Nicholls, Cal Fire incident commander at Point Fire.
Therefore, it is important to maintain a clean and obstacle-free space around the structures of houses and buildings, and prevent fuel from accumulating on the property.
In the meantime, Epstein reiterates that we need to give ourselves and others grace, as certain triggers are sure to increase as our days become hotter and drier.
“The combination of fires and smoke from distant fires, followed by the pandemic, has made things really difficult for our community,” he said. “It’s been a lot of years of hardship, and I think for everyone, that’s really hard in different ways for different people.”
After what we went through in 2017, and again in 2019, and again in 2020, I am grateful for the relative calm of the last three years.
That sentiment was evident last week with what looked like an ominous start to summer.
You can contact staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or [email protected]. On Instagram @kerry.benefield.
