Students in the advanced reporting class at BYU came together during Spring Term 2008 to work on a set of stories revisiting the Milford Flat Fire of July 2007. Our class of five, led by professor Kevin Stoker, associate chair of the Department of Communications, spent two months researching the fire, visiting the affected areas, interviewing first-hand sources and writing in-depth stories, narrative-style stories. One thing we learned while writing the three-day series is that life moves on.
The people of southern Utah have come to expect wildfires year after year. The fire is as much a part of southern Utah life as earthquakes are in California and volcanoes are in Hawaii. Not a single person we talked to during the two months we researched our stories said they wanted to move away.
The daughter of one of the families interviewed packs up her things as soon as she sees smoke in the air because she knows she's going on a vacation to see family. The fire is of little concern to her, even if her parents are technically evacuating. They live in southern Utah because they like the solitude.
I'm not certain I'd really want to live in a place that was regularly threatened by fires that could burn away my livelihood in a matter of hours just for the solitude. But there's no doubt southern Utah holds an appeal for many people.
Consistently during our interviews, people spoke of blessings and miracles in the midst of disaster. Perhaps that's something that slightly separates southern Utah from places in California, Arizona and Florida, which are also regularly affected by large wildfires, displacing people and destroying ranches and farms.
Regardless of the reasons people live in these places, they're not leaving. To most of them, it seems, wildfires create temporary moments of stress instead of lifelong tragedies. But there is a trend in the media to capture the sensational aspects of these events rather than the real stories of people who live in the area.
During the Milford Flat Fire, a reporter from one Salt Lake City broadcast news source drove up to one rancher was interviewed as he was herding his cattle into a green pasture, trying to protect them from the imminent danger. The reporter distracted him just long enough for him to lose half his herd to the blazes, but the reporter got a good story.
Today, one headline reads "Smoky air leaves Californians straining to breathe." While California prepares for another fierce fire season and reporters prepare for more sensational stories, the people directly affected by these fires are living their lives. There is definitely some anticipation of fire, but nothing life-changing is going to happen.
In writing our stories, we tried to focus on the individuals in southern Utah instead of the numbers. I expected to find more sensation and tragedy than I found. Instead I saw normal people living normal lives.
It might take me by surprise, but the people of southern Utah wouldn't blink twice if there was a fire tomorrow.
Joshua Flake is the news editor and metro editor at The Daily Universe. He was also in the advanced reporting class that worked on the Milford Flat Fire Series.
Copyright Brigham Young University 3 Jul 2008
