MTSU Legends in Forensic Science hosted physical anthropologist Eric Bartelink in the Student Union Ballroom on Oct. 29 to discuss the process of recovering and identifying wildfire victims.
An associate professor in the anthropology department at the University of California, Chico, Bartelink has utilized his knowledge in anthropology for wildfire recovery since 2006. During his time working, he faced issues with local search and rescue teams, as well as government agencies.
While Bartelink touched on multiple fires he dealt with, he did a deep dive into only two of them: the Lahaina wildfires and Paradise wildfires.
The Lahaina Fires
On Aug. 8, 2023, a wildfire started in Lahaina, Hawaii, destroying more than 2,000 structures and killing 102 people.
FEMA called Bartelink’s team to assist, but not until the middle of their recovery operation.
FEMA, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is a section of the United States Department of Homeland Security responsible for providing aid in disasters on U.S. soil.
Searchers misidentified bones, improperly handled evidence or failed to report identifying factors, which led to a more difficult recovery effort, Bartelink said.
Even though FEMA asked the team to work, local teams did not have trust in the foreign anthropologists, Bartelink said. The distrust led to local teams re-examining bones that the visiting anthropologists had already deemed as non-human, causing the search to take longer than necessary.
At the sites, local groups employed cadaver dogs, which were trained to find dead bodies, but not burned remains.
“They trusted their dogs more than they trusted us,” Bartelink said. “A dog would alert, we would get called out to a site, we would say that’s an animal bone, they would say thank you, then they would call another dog in to see if the dog alerted again, and if the dog alerted again, they would call a different anthropologist.”
The team of anthropologists also faced disputes with FEMA while working on the Lahaina, Hawaii wildfires.
FEMA officials responding to the Lahaini fires asked the team of anthropologists to leave, citing they had everything under control, Bartelink said. However, it was clear to the team that FEMA needed their assistance.
“The importance of developing a relationship early with the folks in charge and trying to demonstrate the expertise we have as forensic anthropologists,” said an MTSU associate professor in attendance, Megan Moore. “We might get pushback from different organizations.”
FEMA chronically ignores disenfranchised groups such as racial minorities, people in rural and tribal areas and the lower class, an NPR investigation found.
The city of Lahaina has a poverty rate of 12.86%, which is above the national average.
The Paradise Fires
Bartenlink also discussed a 2018 wildfire that ignited in Paradise, California, around 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 8. As winds picked up, the fire spread over 150,000 acres, destroying over 18,000 structures and killing 85 people.
A team of 74 people worked for 21 days in shifts to recover and identify bodies in an effort to provide closure to families and dignity to the dead, Bartelink said.
There was so much rubble to go through that they did not have enough anthropologists to complete the task quickly. Eventually, 800 people volunteered from every available sheriff and coroner’s office in California to aid the effort, Bartelink said.
Bartelink and his team taught the reinforcements how to search for burned remains, enabling them to sort through the debris more efficiently.
“We had to tell them and show them what burned bone looked like. We had to actually bring burn bone exemplars, have them handle it, see it,” Bartelink said.
Bartelink said he hopes that people will realize that anthropology is useful and can help agencies in recovery and identification.
“We are hoping people start paying attention to this and realize that it’s a protocol that will work and it’s effective,” Bartelink said.
To contact the news editor, email [email protected].
For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, and follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines and on X and Instagram at @mtsusidelines. Also, sign up for our weekly newsletter here.
