SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For 22 years, Jamie Edson has enjoyed the natural beauty surrounding her 3.8 acres of property in the Sierra Foothills near Colfax.
“I love the oak. I love the deciduousness of the trees up here,” Edson said.
Being surrounded by the beautiful flora has taken a toll on Edson’s mental health, because she sits in a high wildfire risk area and has experienced some close calls, causing the threat of wildfires to become pervasive.
“The anxiety I feel kinda all the time here. I’m not comfortable here anymore, I really am not,” Edson said. “But my house is not ready to sell, and until my house is ready to sell, I have to deal with what I have to deal with.”
Edson said it’s a topic she has spoken to her therapist about numerous times.
“She [her therapist] asks me to educate myself as much as possible to have a concrete plan, have the ‘go bag’ thing going on,” she said.
Edson and her husband have undertaken a number of wildfire mitigation efforts she said around the property. As well, she said she has easy assemble folding boxes for family heirlooms ready and bought a convertible to easily put items in, in case of an evacuation.
About 20 miles northwest of Edson, Ron Gray said it’s also by practicing wildfire mitigation, such as installing a metal roof, thinning trees and burning leaf litter. He’s able to keep his stress levels down when it comes to wildfire anxiety.
“I think I’d have a lot more stress if we didn’t do the fuels treatment, fuels reduction treatment,” Gray said. “To help protect not just our home, our house, but also the forest property that we’re stewards of.”
By hosting workshops and meetings at his property on topics such as pile burning and prescribed burns for his neighbors and the community, Gray said it helps everyone feel better prepared and educated.
“We all compare notes on different techniques we may be doing [to mitigate wildfire risk] to make our property safer,” Gray said.
These types of actions are very important in helping reduce wildfire anxiety said the Red Cross’s disaster mental health lead for the Gold Country region, Phylis Anderson. An issue, Anderson said, many are still getting used to.
“It’s not something we grew up with and it seems to be almost a constant,” Anderson said. “So, it’s very much on everybody’s mind.”
Relaxing, Anderson said, is something she regularly talks to people about experiencing wildfire anxiety.
“Everybody has their own way to relax,” Anderson said. “Anything you do that has some repetition to it can really help. Like I’m an avid knitter. That’s very calming. For some people, it might be playing music.”
Anderson also suggests for those with wildfire anxiety don’t constantly look at coverage of wildfires even if you’re in one, certainly stay informed, but don’t engross yourself nonstop.
Edson said even with all the wildfire mitigation she and her husband have done, they hope to move soon for mental health reasons and also because of the size of the property becoming too much.
“We might stay in the county, but we’re at 3.8 acres. We have to be at one acre or less. This is just way beyond what we can manage,” she said.
Until then, Edson said she’ll try to concentrate on what she has done to be wildfire prepared, so she’s not as wildfire anxious.