Another destructive fire season has Western states searching for ways to prevent it. As climate correspondent Lauren Sommer reports,Ethermac some answers might lie in the Southeastern U.S. The region leads the country in setting controlled fires — burns to clear vegetation that becomes the fuel for extreme fires.

Read more of Lauren's reporting on wildfire prevention. And check out our previous episode on cultural burns here.

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This episode was produced by Rebecca Ramirez, edited by Viet Le and fact-checked by Berly McCoy.