Wildfire

On June 30, 2013, the Yarnell Hill Fire – the deadliest U.S. wildfire in 80 years – broke out in Arizona’s Yavapai County, killing 19 Granite Mountain Hot Shot firefighters. Since then, local residents and land managers have taken steps to honor the memory of the fallen by caring for the forests...

The Roaring Lion Fire was first noticed on Sunday, July 31, 2016, near Hamilton, Montana. Hamilton is located in Ravalli County and is situated on the eastern fringe of the Bitterroot-Selway Wilderness. The fire was caused by a campfire started by teenage campers. The campfire was not completely...

Creating forests that can adapt and survive natural disturbances like wildland fires is a core mission of the USDA Forest Service. As has been recently witnessed by millions of TV viewers across the county, forests in California need to be able to bounce back following disturbances so that horrific...

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the U.S. Forest Service relies heavily on fixed wing and rotary aircraft to accomplish the agency’s mission. Employees take to the skies for forest inventory surveys, prescribed fire support, firefighting or to get to remote locations. Since 1919, aircraft has been...

It was my first prescribed burn. After weeks of training and months of anticipation, I was finally on the ground – drip torch in hand – ready to apply fire to restore the mixed pine-hardwood forests at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the Pisgah National Forest. Joining the U.S Forest Service...

Very often, the difference between saving your home in a wild fire and losing it to the flames is pretty much determined by what you do to prepare your property. The U.S. Forest Service calls it being Fire Wise. I’ve had personal experience in the importance of clearing a wide perimeter around your...

By Tom Fry, Western Conservation Director, American Forest Foundation Tom Fry is the Western Conservation Director of the American Forest Foundation (AFF). AFF and the U.S. Forest Service hold a long-standing partnership in pursuit of protecting and conserving the important forest benefits that come...

The Schultz Fire of 2010 started with an abandoned campfire. High winds blew the flames into neighboring trees and brush, igniting a wildfire that would grow to 15,000 acres of the Coconino National Forest and threaten residents near Flagstaff, Arizona. In the following days 750 homes would be...

(This post was written by George Geissler, State Forester of Oklahoma Forestry Services) Forest Action Plans represent the first-ever comprehensive assessment of America’s forest resources across all lands—public, private, rural, and urban—and offer proactive strategies that state forestry agencies...

Imagine if a hostile country sent an Unmanned Aircraft System or UAS, otherwise known as a drone, to disturb the efforts of firefighters during a catastrophic wildfire. The confusion that might ensue could cause loss of life and property as flames jump fire lines simply because resources have been...