Wildland Fire News

A selection of news releases and stories related to wildland fire management. For details about ongoing wildfires, visit the National Interagency Fire Center.

A patch of bright green corn lilies glow in the sunlight amid an otherwise barren forest floor and blackened trees stretching toward a blue sky. The lilies indicate the presence of shallow groundwater in a post-fire monitoring plot in the Mendocino Nation

A Research Project Aims to Improve Forest Resiliency to Future Wildfires

A patch of bright green corn lilies glow in the sunlight amid an otherwise barren forest floor and blackened trees stretching toward a blue sky. The lilies indicate the presence of shallow groundwater in a post-fire monitoring plot in the Mendocino National Forest after a large wildfire. Photo by Ryan P. Mikulovsky, USFS.

BY MORRIS C. JOHNSON, KAREN DANTE-WOOD

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A wildland firefighter with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service helps private landowners adjacent to the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge set a prescribed fire to manage vegetation and reduce the risk of an extreme wildfire. He holds a drip to

Improving Wildfire Risk Reduction through Ecosystem Mapping

A wildland firefighter with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service helps private landowners adjacent to the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge set a prescribed fire to manage vegetation and reduce the risk of an extreme wildfire. He holds a drip torch over dry waist-high grass interspersed with trees. Flames rise form the grass just behind him and a heat haze shimmers through the air. Photo by Jeff Adams, USFWS.

BY MIKE DUNIWAY, KAREN DANTE-WOOD

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The Summit Trail Fire.

In the News: To Find and Fight Fires (express.adobe.com)

Hundreds of wildland fires burned more than 3 million acres in over 580 blazes across Alaska in 2022, the fifth largest area burned since 1990. How do fire managers track and monitor these fires while dispatching and protecting firefighters? The answer, in part, is satellites.
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Two wildland firefighters from the Snake River Hotshots Crew stand on a small rise overlooking flames burning in tall, dried grass. Black smoke rises from the flames. The fire and smoke fade to the left, and snow-covered peaks are visible in the distance.

Director’s Report: A Historic Down Payment on the Future

Two wildland firefighters from the Snake River Hotshots Crew stand on a small rise overlooking flames burning in tall, dried grass. Black smoke rises from the flames. The fire and smoke fade to the left, and snow-covered peaks are visible in the distance. Photo by Austin Catlin, BLM.

BY JEFF RUPERT

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A three-day fire behavior analysis for the 2022 Moose Fire in Idaho. The analysis was completed in the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) using LANDFIRE products. This fire behavior simulation helped with decisions by evaluating fire spread.

Welcome to LANDFIRE, Where Consistent Data has Improved Fire Modeling

A three-day, near-term fire behavior analysis for the Moose Fire in Idaho in July 2022. The analysis was completed in the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) using LANDFIRE products. This fire behavior simulation helped with management decisions by evaluating fire spread potential. The light-gray diamond shows the point of origin of the fire within the large, shaded section showing the area burned. The shaded colors (green, yellow, tan, etc.) displayed on top of the topographic map are the surface fire behavior fuel models (as mapped by LANDFIRE).

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Reclamation’s National Wildland Fire Management Program Coordinator Laura Harger (right) with the Regional Wildland Fire Management Program Coordinators John Hutchings and Kendra Fallon. They visited Whiskeytown Reservoir, a Reclamation reservoir within W

Addressing the Threat of Wildfires to Water Supplies: Meet Laura Harger

Reclamation’s National Wildland Fire Management Program Coordinator Laura Harger (right) with the Regional Wildland Fire Management Program Coordinators John Hutchings and Kendra Fallon. They visited Whiskeytown Reservoir, a Reclamation reservoir within Whiskeytown National Recreation Area near Redding, California, which was impacted by the 2018 Carr Fire. Photo courtesy of Laura Harger.

BY LAURA HARGER and ERIN MCDUFF

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