In anticipation of his 70th Birthday, the mechanical Smokey Bear that welcomes visitors to the U.S. Forest Service headquarters building in Washington, D.C., is going in to have his fur checked, his motor fine-tuned and will undergo a thorough cleaning.
This year, firefighters will be armed with an updated tool to help them battle wildfires with more detailed information. The instrument, known as the “Autonomous Modular Sensor,” or AMS, can help the Forest Service detect wildfires and conduct post-burn assessments.
Wildfires in the U.S. will be at least twice as destructive by 2050, burning around 20 million acres nationwide each year, according to a federal report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Scientists found regions such as western Colorado — which already experienced its most destructive wildfire in history last summer — will face an even greater risk. Those regions are expected to face up to a five-fold increase in acres burned by 2050.
This week land access to Biscayne National Park was closed off because of a wildfire that burned just outside its boundaries along its access road. Florida has been battling various wildfires recently and this is just one of the many closures that has taken place.
Amid ongoing drought and another dry winter, New Mexico has realized that conditions are in place for a potentially difficult fire season. In an attempt to build up its wildland fire fighting ability, New Mexico announced a new pilot program that will hire and train 40 military veterans as wildland firefighters. These veterans will be placed on four fire crews that will be available for assignment on wildfires statewide.
Join the International Association of Fire Chiefs on Thursday, April 18 at 11 am ET, as they present Lessons from the Waldo Canyon Fire to consider how the city’s wildland fire safety programs could be applied in your community.
The NASF Forest Fire Protection Committee continually surveys all states to determine progress in identifying communities at risk and developing Community Wildfire Protection Plans. This report provides a national snapshot of wildland fire risk, preparedness and capacity.
