Today is the beginning of the fifteenth year of Wildfire Today. Since I wrote that first article it has been a fun, interesting, and occasionaly a challenging journey. As this new year begins I am thankful for our readers (many of whom have been with us since the beginning), visitors who leave thoughtful comments or submit tips, and our sponsors who make it possible to keep the doors open.
Six months after that initial article, @WildfireToday was born on Twitter June 2, 2008. Five years later we spun off Fire Aviation.
Stick with us for year number fifteen!
Hi Bill,
I read WFT almost every day and you keep me up-to-date not only during the fire season with your great 3-D maps on the important fires, but throughout the year. I have also enjoyed the coverage you provide on current research projects, fire weather, reports of accidents and near misses, firefighter health, legislative coverage and discussion of firefighter pay. Keep up the great work.
Congratulations Bill!
I know many look to this site at the start of a search for information as well as for staying up to date on current issues. Me included. I can not imagine how many projects have been influenced by information first seen here. Your sites have a direct impact on fire operations, training, fire prevention, land management, equipment development and legislation. Thanks for a job well done.
Thanks everybody, for the kind words. We couldn’t do it without you!
Congratulations, Bill. You should be proud of your contributions to the wildland fire community. I’ve connected many people to Wildfire Today. As a new generation of folks opine about wildland fire, with or without knowledge and/or experience, it is refreshing to know that your publication exists.
CONGRATULATIONS Dr. Gabbert! You initiated and maintained a thoughtful, accurate, professionally produced fire news site, and it’s just grown better all the time. I’ve often told people it’s the most reliable and up-to-date fire news source on the interwebs, and your readers are solidly confident that info, reporting, and analysis by you is as good as it gets. Get some birthday cake or something!
Seriously high fives!
When I began my Forest Service career in 1976, on the Doublehead RD, Modoc NF, Tulelake, California (R.5) as a “jr. forester”, I witnessed the fire troops complaining about no OT. They called the Modoc “the asbestos forest”.
That label began to change in 1977 with Scarface. Then the Cougar. And then the Twin. I witnessed extreme fire behavior on the Twin, at 2:00 AM, that I had only read about.
It proved to be a team effort but in the mid-80s, the district began to treat all precommercial thinning slash with mechanical snip.chip.remove.
Expensive? Yep but in the decades since those treatments, wildfires have simply “walked” through these areas with little to no damage to the crop trees.
Let’s get back to selling timber, collecting KV (Knutson.Vandenburg) funds in order to enhance forest longterm health.
Congratulations and thank you for all your work. I especially like your 3-D maps that help visualize fires and the terrain challenges involved.
I believe I have been “with you” for twelve years making hundreds of comments in that time. With five decades in the wildfire profession, there was never an article you wrote that wasn’t point-on. Incredible! This is not just my feelings but most of my colleagues who have hundreds of years of experience as wildland fire fighters. You are a FIRE SCHOLAR, thanks.
Congratulations!! You have established a great site, and continue to provide outstanding information regarding all facets of wildland fire. Thank you very much for your dedication and continued commitment!!
Thanks, I really enjoy this news service, and have learned a lot.
Well done.
Your insights needed more than ever s as I sit 1/4 mile from the fires edge in Louisville Colorado
A great THANK YOU to Bill and the Wildfire Today team!! You all provide an invaluable service to the industry and do so EVERY DAY!!! Congrats on making the 15 year milestone!!! We appreciate all that you do!
Congrats, Bill. Keep up the good work.
Congratulations, Bill!! Thank you for your contributions! It’s very helpful to me in my work at The Smokey Wire.
Bill, “Wildfire Today” has become a must-read for those of us involved in wildland fire. Thanks for continuing to make such a great contribution to the fire and incident management community.
Thank you for this most interesting blog/website. I’m a layperson involved with the Coalition of Firewise Communities in Nevada County, California, but I often see news and information here that I pass along to our Steering Committee. Your work is much appreciated.
Congratulations, Bill, and thank you so much for your continued support of the wildland community. Cheers to the next 15 years!
Thanks ever so much for your contributions to the global wildland fire community Bill!
Take care, Marty
Congratulations Bill. Work well done ?
Congratulations Bill! Thanks for all your good work.
Bill, I very much enjoy the information that you pass on to us. After 27 years with the Forest Service and BLM in fire I keep in touch with it all by your information.