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The Efficacy of Red Flag Warnings in Mitigating Human-Caused Wildfires across the Western United States

Year of Publication
2024
Publication Type

Red flag warnings (RFWs) are issued by the U.S. National Weather Service to alert fire and emergency response agencies of weather conditions that are conducive to extreme wildfire growth. Distinct from most weather warnings that aim to reduce exposure to anticipated hazards, RFWs may also mitigate hazards by reducing the occurrence of new ignitions.

Exploring the use of satellite Earth observation active wildland fire hotspot data via open access web platforms

Year of Publication
2024
Publication Type

Globally, managing wildland fire is increasing in complexity. Satellite Earth Observation (EO) data, specifically active fire ‘hotspot’ data, is often used to inform wildland fire management. This study explores hotspot data usage via web traffic data (‘user counts’) for the FIRMS, GWIS and EFFIS web portals between September 2019 and April 2023.

Pathways for sustainable coexistence with wildfires

Year of Publication
2024
Publication Type

Sustainable coexistence with wildfire requires overcoming vicious cycles that trap socio-ecological systems in maladaptive states. A carefully coordinated programme of innovation, education and governance, the ‘wildfire adaptation triad’, is essential for escaping maladaptation across national, community and individual scales.

Metals in Wildfire Suppressants

Year of Publication
2024
Publication Type

Frequent and severe wildfires have led to increased application of fire suppression products (long-term fire retardants, water enhancers, and Class A foams) in the American West. While fire suppressing products used on wildfires must be approved by theU.S.

SCIENCEx Fire: Fuels, Smoke and Post-Fire in the West - 2025 Panel Discussion Series

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The USDA Forest Service Research and Development is proud to host a series of SCIENCEx Fire panel discussions intended for fire, fuels and land managers on topics associated with the Wildfire Crisis Strategy and beyond. The SCIENCEx Fire panel discussions will provide big picture and synthetic looks at the current state of knowledge and management considerations for each topic.

Mental Health and Traumatic Occupational Exposure in Wildland Fire Dispatchers

Year of Publication
2024
Publication Type

Wildland fire dispatchers play a key role in wildland fire management and response organization; however, to date, wildland fire studies have largely focused on the physical hazards and, to a lesser extent, mental health hazards of wildland firefighting operational personnel, and dispatcher studies have primarily focused on 911 and police dispatchers.

Road fragment edges enhance wildfire incidence and intensity, while suppressing global burned area

Year of Publication
2024
Publication Type

Landscape fragmentation is statistically correlated with both increases and decreases in wildfire burned area (BA). These different directions-of-impact are not mechanistically understood. Here, road density, a land fragmentation proxy, is implemented in a CMIP6 coupled land-fire model, to represent fragmentation edge effects on fire-relevant environmental variables.