Webinar
Webinar recording.
There is a compelling business case for additional investment in enhanced data acquisition and analysis to better assess the safety and effectiveness of wildfire management. As a result of long-standing data gaps, fire management organizations cannot recreate what happened during fire operations, leading to persistent challenges in: (1) demonstrating the nature and magnitude of suppression investments, (2) assessing what did and didn’t work, (3) improving future effectiveness based on what was learned, and (4) understanding and preventing firefighter injuries and deaths. Credible analysis of the safety and effectiveness of wildfire management requires a clearer understanding of strategic, tactical, and operational objectives. Further required is information on firefighting resource location and use at high-resolution spatial and temporal scales. To facilitate timely analysis, the relevant data need to be archived, digital, accessible, and searchable. In December 2021, RMRS entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with a private company, Ignis Technologies, interested in capturing and availing better real-time data and analytics around wildland firefighting response and resource use. We agreed on common goals of (1) enhancing situational awareness with cutting-edge technology and (2) amassing historically elusive data needed to advance research into suppression effectiveness and performance measurement in wildland fire management. This agreement provides a vehicle for greater collaboration with the interagency fire data community. We are currently working with interagency representatives of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group and Wildland Fire Information Technology to ensure that the data captured through our collaborative efforts are incorporated into the Interagency Data Management Environment (IDME), which is a modern architecture that enables governed, self-service analytics across wildland fire.
Webinar recording.
Topic: Wildfire Smoke and Human Health – The Knowns and the Unknowns
Presenter: Sarah Henderson
How does wildfire smoke affect our health? Learn about what’s in wildfire smoke, the impacts on health, the evidence gaps, and effective health protection strategies. Presented by Dr. Sarah Henderson, Scientific Director of Environmental Health Services at BCCDC and of the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health (NCCEH), and Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia School of Population & Public Health.
Topic: Smoke Forecast Models – Making Informed Decisions
Presenter: Brian Wiens
Explore smoke forecast models with Brian Wiens, to increase your understanding of how they work and discover how to utilize these models to make informed decisions about your health.
In 2024, there were five Thursdays in February. To celebrate this rare event, the Fire Lab is hosting a series of five seminars that highlight new tools and research for managers. The “February Five” will occur during our regularly scheduled seminar series timeslot – Thursdays at 11am Mountain Time. Please join us on Teams. Select the titles below for connection information and to view recordings after the event.
FastFuels and QUIC-Fire: 3D fuel and fire modeling systems supporting prescribed fire
Feb 1, 2024: Russell Parsons, Research Ecologist
The Fire Weather Alert System
Feb 8, 2024: Jason Forthofer, Research Mechanical Engineer; Natalie Wagenbrenner, Research Meteorologist
Estimating forest characteristics such as carbon and tree growth over space and time using TreeMap, FIADB, and FVS
Feb 15, 2024: Karin Riley, Research Ecologist and John Shaw, Forest Inventory and Analysis
Behave7 Fire Modeling System: A Long Time Coming
Feb 22, 2024: Faith Ann Heinsch, Physical Scientist; LaWen Hollingsworth, Fire Behavior Specialist; Greg Dillon, Director, Fire Modeling Institute
Wildfire risk and mitigation opportunities in the US sagebrush biome
Feb 29, 2024: Karen Short, Research Ecologist
Webinar recording.
In this LANDFIRE Office Hour, USFS Ecologist Sarah Anderson discusses the behind the scenes operations of the Terrestrial Condition Assessment (TCA). She explains the model design and indicators that drive the TCA assessment results. She also discusses the role of management activities in the calculation of TCA key performance indicators.
Find Sarah’s Office Hour from 2023 here: https://youtu.be/Kf0P3cAq1rs
Webinar recording.
Introduction – Vicky Erickson
An updated approach to generalized seed transfer strategies – Elizabeth Milano
Managing for genetic resistance to white pine blister rust – Anna Schoettle
Restoring ash: Breeding for resistance to the emerald ash borer – Jennifer Koch
Facilitator: Cherie Fisher
Webinar recording.
The complex interactions between atmospheric and fire-induced winds are a persistent obstacle to accurately predicting wildfire front behavior. There are a multitude of wildfire spread models, with one primary distinction being the level of fire-atmosphere coupling in each. Coupling of fire-induced winds and ambient winds in numerical models is carried out through linking the heat and mass fluxes from the wildfire with the surface energy fluxes in the atmospheric model. The challenge in this coupling is increased with the introduction of heterogenous surface conditions, e.g., terrain, canopies, buildings. To better understand the dynamic coupling of fire-induced winds and atmospheric winds at microscales, the fast-response wildfire model QES-Fire was used to study the effects of fire-induced winds near structures, and the relative importance of the momentum deficits caused by canopies and structures on fire-induced winds.
Webinar recording.
Topic: Firefighter Exposures and Efficacy of Interventions
Presenter: Paul White
Delve into the unique health exposures faced by firefighters and learn about the current state of research on the effectiveness of interventions to mitigate exposure. Paul White will share valuable insights into improving occupational safety and health outcomes for firefighters.
Webinar recording.
Topic: Resiliency and Residual in Mission Critical Roles
Join Preston Cline as he discusses the importance of protecting your mental health and building resilience when working in mission critical roles, especially during challenging situations like wildland fires.
Webinar recording.
Land management-focused panel discussion hosted by the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station.
Join us for a live virtual panel session with social scientists and communicators in a conversation about public perceptions and social acceptance associated with Wildfire Crisis planning and implementation. This facilitated panel discussion will be guided by your questions.
Webinar registration.
In this 90-minute webinar, Sara Clark will provide an overview of prescribed fire liability in state law, including definitions of liability and how state laws defining liability interact with certified burn manager programs, tribal sovereignty and cultural burning, and prescribed fire insurance. Sara will provide examples from California and a selection of other states that have defined prescribed fire liability in state law, including an overview of the California Prescribed Fire Claims Fund Pilot that began operating in 2023. This webinar is intended for those who are new to the issue of prescribed fire liability or those more experienced who would like an overview of the subject, especially anyone about to engage on similar policy initiatives in their state or jurisdiction.
Sara Clark is a partner at the public interest law firm Shute, Mihaly, & Weinberger LLP based in San Francisco, California. Sara has worked extensively on prescribed fire liability, including an instrumental role in passage of California’s legislation defining gross negligence for suppression costs and establishment of the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund Pilot.