Articles on Wildfire management

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Fires are increasing in high mountain areas that rarely burned in the past. John McColgan, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service

Fire danger in the high mountains is intensifying: That’s bad news for humans, treacherous for the environment

Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University

Fires here can affect meltwater timing and water quality, worsen erosion that triggers mudslides, and much more, as two scientists explain.
The fire risk goes beyond rising temperatures and dry conditions. Samuel Corum / AFP via Getty Images

Western wildfires destroyed 246% more homes and buildings over the past decade – fire scientists explain what’s changing

Philip Higuera, University of Montana; Jennifer Balch, University of Colorado Boulder; Maxwell Cook, University of Colorado Boulder, and Natasha Stavros, University of Colorado Boulder

More homes are burning in wildfires in nearly every Western state. The reason? Humans.
Forest thinning and prescribed burns leave less fuel to burn. Escaflowne via Getty Images

New federal wildfire plan is ambitious – but the Forest Service needs more money and people to fight the growing risks

Ryan E. Tompkins, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Susan Kocher, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources

After another devastating wildfire year in the West, the Biden administration has a plan to ramp up forest thinning and prescribed burns. Two foresters explain why these projects are so important.
Tools for a prescribed burn conducted in the Sierra Nevada in November 2019. Susan Kocher

Moving beyond America’s war on wildfire: 4 ways to avoid future megafires

Susan Kocher, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Ryan E. Tompkins, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Two forest researchers whose own communities were threatened by fires in 2021 explain how historic policies left forests at high risk of megafires.
Before satellites, fire crews watched for smoke from fire towers across the national forests. K. D. Swan, U.S. Forest Service

Big fires demand a big response: How 1910’s Big Burn can help us think smarter about fighting wildfires and living with fire

William Deverell, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and Elizabeth A. Logan, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

The US has learned that it cannot suppress its way to a healthy relationship with fire in the West. That strategy failed, even before climate change proved it to be no strategy at all.
Not all fires are disastrous. For many ecosystems, fire plays a key role in boosting biodiversity. (BLM Oregon and Washington)

How Indigenous burning practices can help curb the biodiversity crisis

Sara Wickham, University of Waterloo; Andrew Trant, University of Waterloo; Emma Davis, University of Waterloo, and Kira Hoffman, University of British Columbia

Large and out-of-control wildfires can seriously damage ecosystems, but Indigenous fire practices can keep ecosystems healthy and resilient, and even increase biodiversity.
The Cedar Creek Fire burns in Washington’s Methow Valley in late July 2021. Jessica Kelley

How years of fighting every wildfire helped fuel the Western megafires of today

Susan J. Prichard, University of Washington; Keala Hagmann, University of Washington, and Paul Hessburg, United States Forest Service

More than 40 fire scientists and forest ecologists in the US and Canada teamed up to investigate why wildfires are getting more extreme. Climate change is part of the problem, but there’s more.
Wildfires not only trigger evacuations, they limit the possible escape routes. (BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, TranBC/flickr)

We can’t predict the next wildfire disaster – but we can plan for it

Jen Beverly, University of Alberta

Efforts to predict wildfire risk and to prioritize mitigation efforts aren’t enough. We must prepare for fire disasters wherever possible and decide what we’ll do when they happen.
Satellites can quickly detect and monitor wildfires from space, like this 2017 fire that encroached on Ventura, California. NASA Earth Observatory/Joshua Stevens

Bringing tech innovation to wildfires: 4 recommendations for smarter firefighting as megafires menace the US

Natasha Stavros, University of Colorado Boulder

Satellites can already spot a new fire within minutes, but the information they beam back to Earth isn’t getting to everyone who needs it or used as well as it could be.
Wildfire smoke rises near Prince Albert, Sask., in May 2021, where a fast-moving wildfire led local officials to declare a state of emergency. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kayle Neis

How wildfires affect climate change — and vice versa

Carly Phillips, University of Victoria

Recent wildfire seasons have been worsened by climate change. But wildfires also lead to additional climate warming when they release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
An airtanker drops retardant to help stop the spread of the 2015 Eyrie Fire in the foothills of Boise, Idaho, which was ignited by sparks from construction equipment. Austin Catlin, BLM/Flickr

Humans ignite almost every wildfire that threatens homes

Nathan Mietkiewicz, National Ecological Observatory Network and Jennifer Balch, University of Colorado Boulder

Wildfires aren’t always wild. Many of the most expensive and damaging fires happen in suburban areas, and nearly all blazes in these zones are started by humans.
When faced with a wildfire, responders must act quickly and decisively to save lives. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

Making life‑or‑death decisions is very hard – here’s how we’ve taught people to do it better

Laurence Alison, University of Liverpool and Neil Shortland, UMass Lowell

Emergency responders and military personnel need to think creatively – even imaginatively – to save lives under pressure. Analyzing the Grenfell Tower Fire in London reveals useful lessons.
Smoke from wildfires in Siberia drifts east toward Canada and the U.S. on July 30, 2019. NASA

Huge wildfires in the Arctic and far North send a planetary warning

Nancy Fresco, University of Alaska Fairbanks

A researcher based in Fairbanks, Alaska, links 2019’s record-breaking wildfires in far northern regions of the world to climate change, and describes what it’s like as zones near her city burn.
A wildfire rips through the forest near Fort McMurray on Highway 63 in May 2016. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

How to fight wildfires and climate change with wetlands

Mike Waddington, McMaster University and Sophie Wilkinson, McMaster University

As unlikely as it may sound, a new approach for fighting the destruction of wildfires in Canada’s boreal region may lie in wetlands packed with soaking layers of peat and topped with living moss.

Related Topics

  1. California
  2. Climate change
  3. Colorado
  4. Cultural burning
  5. Fire
  6. Forests
  7. Indigenous fire
  8. US West
  9. US wildfires
  10. Wildfires

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