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.

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Using the Power of Data to Mitigate Wildfire Risk: Welcome to IFTDSS
A wildland firefighter monitors a prescribed fire in Florida. Photo by NPS.
7/18/2022
As climate change propels more extreme fire activity, a powerful tool called IFTDSS is putting the power of data into the hands of fire and fuel specialists, enabling them to prioritize fuel treatments to better mitigate the risk from wildfires to communities and landscapes.
A New Study Gives Federal Wildland Firefighters an Opportunity to Inform the Development of Health and Wellbeing Programs
A firefighter works on a prescribed fire at sunset in southern Florida. Photo by NPS.
7/14/2022
This summer, federal wildland firefighters with the Interior and Agriculture departments are invited to participate in a rigorous scientific study of firefighter health and wellbeing, including occupational hazards and mental health impacts. This study by the CDC National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and UC Berkley will enable wildland fire agencies to hear directly from the firefighters impacted by the growing demands of more frequent, severe wildland fires.
Advancing Technology to Support Wildland Fire Mitigation and Response
Firefighters on the Vader Fire connect with essential mobile applications with FirstNet broadband.
7/13/2022
From hand-held devices to satellites, technology is essential to effectively respond to and mitigate the threat of wildland fires. The Wildland Fire Information and Technology Program is advancing the development and deployment of the tools wildfire personnel depend upon.
In the News: Lower Your Home’s Fire Risk (and Insurance) With These Steps (www.bloomberg.com)
Aerial view of burned homes after the Almeda Fire in Oregon. Photo by Ahturner through Adobe Stock.
7/11/2022
Homeowners in the U.S. got new guidance to help them defend against increasingly frequent wildfires and associated rising insurance premiums.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Members to Wildfire Commission (doi.gov)
Night time scene of flames on a forest floor during a fire
7/7/2022
The Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Homeland Security are announcing the selection of members to the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission.
Investing in More Robust Mental Health Support for Wildland Firefighters
A hotshot crew member contemplates a burned forest at the Caldor Fire. By Joe Bradshaw, BLM.
6/30/2022
Wildland firefighters work in arduous, stressful environments that can take a significant toll on mental health. With support from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Interior and Agriculture departments have begun work to establish a program to recognize and address the mental health needs for federal wildland firefighters.
A Project to Improve Sage-grouse Habitat in Idaho is also Reducing Wildfire Risk
Greater sage-grouse in a field at dawn. Photo by Steve Fairbairn, USFWS.
6/23/2022
A robust collaboration among federal, state, and local agencies in Idaho is working toward shared conservation stewardship of sagebrush habitat on 1.67 million acres. This project is not only creating a more resilient landscape, promoting plant diversity, and benefiting species like sage-grouse, it is also reducing the risk of severe wildfires. And the work is accelerating with additional funding provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Provide $103 Million for Wildfire Mitigation and Resilience (doi.gov)
A Wildland firefighter sprays water out of a hose
6/17/2022
Secretary Deb Haaland announced the allocation of $103 million for wildfire risk reduction efforts throughout the country.
Web Reads: Trailblazers: Women in Fire (www.nature.org)
NPS national fire planner Melissa Forder.
6/14/2022
Female fire professionals are blazing new career trails while harnessing the power of fire to restore forests. Women comprise a mere 10 percent of the national wildland fire workforce. The annual Women-in-Fire Training Exchange (WTREX), most recently held this spring in Virginia, is helping to expand career and leadership opportunities.
In the News: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Benefits of Prescribed Fires (whchronicle.com)
A prescribed fire in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park helps protect homes. Photo by NPS.
6/9/2022
On this episode of PBS's White House Chronicle, Llewellyn King discusses the biodiversity and ecosystem benefits of prescribed fires with Morgan Varner, Director of Research at Tall Timbers, a Florida-based fire ecology group, and Kevin Hiers, Acting Deputy Wildland Fire Program Coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey and Director of Fire Science Applications at Tall Timbers.
Director’s Report: Expanding Multijurisdictional Efforts to Mitigate Wildfire Risk
Smokejumpers and plane at the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho. Photo by Neal Herbert, DOI.
6/6/2022
Over the past decade, the Interior Department has invested more than $2 billion to implement fuel treatments that reduce the risk to communities and ecosystems from wildfires before they start and to conduct post-fire rehabilitation to set landscapes back on the path to recovery. Moving forward, we will significantly expand these activities while the work of our partners to restore healthy fire regimes strengthens and extends these mitigation efforts across boundaries.
dotGov Notes: The Office of Wildland Fire Quarterly Bulletin (content.govdelivery.com)
Newsletter subscribe screen on a laptop and cell phone on a desk with a cup of coffee.
6/6/2022
The spring 2022 edition of the Office of Wildland Fire's quarterly newsletter discusses the President's proposal for increased wildland fire management funding in 2023, a streamlined occupational illness claims process for wildland firefighters, Interior's five-year plan to address wildfire risk, and more.
Post-Fire Recovery Efforts Help Restore Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge
A 2019 fire at Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge.
5/31/2022
In May, we celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Known for their lush, tropical, humid climate, the Hawaiian Islands typically do not conjure images of wildfires, but wildfires do occur on the islands. After the 2019 Central Maui Fire burned 10,000 acres, including a portion of the Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, the U.S. Fish and Wildfire Service has been helping the area recover and establish a drought- and fire-resistant corridor.
In the News: Is Your House at Risk of a Wildfire? This Online Tool Could Tell You (www.npr.org)
Homes burned in the 2020 Almeda Fire, Oregon. Photo by Ahturner through Adobe Stock.
5/16/2022
Even with thousands of homes destroyed by wildfires every year, most people who move receive little or no information about the risk they're taking on. Now, a nonprofit research group is releasing a first-of-its-kind tool for homeowners. It shows more than 30 million homes in the lower 48 states (20 percent of houses) have a measurable risk of being hit with a wildfire, and 1.5 million properties have a greater than 26 percent chance of burning over the next 30 years.
As Wildfire Smoke Increases, Some Populations are at Greater Risk
Smoke rises from the South Moccasin Fire in Montana. Photo by Lauren Kokinda, BLM
5/6/2022
As we recognize National Air Quality Awareness Week, we explore why some populations are at greater risk than others from wildfire smoke emissions and how federal agencies are striving to close that gap.

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