Air quality levels are forecast to drop to unhealthy levels across the U.S. Midwest and Northeast on Tuesday as smoke from Canadian wildfires intensifies.
AirNow’s Fire and Smoke Map showed the regions blanketed in yellow due to the drifting smoke. Winds from the northwest are pushing smoke into the region, with National Weather Service forecasters predicting the region’s worst air quality between the afternoon and overnight hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
“This smoke may reach the ground in some areas, leading to potentially unhealthy air quality for several days,” Weather Channel meteorologists reported Tuesday. “Prolonged exposure to dense smoke can increase the risk of chronic lung issues and increase inflammation that could lead to heart attacks and strokes.”
Thick smoke from Canadian wildfires descends across the U.S. East Coast, 14 July 2026. CIRA Satellite Library
Despite the wide-ranging smoke impacts, the Canadian wildfire season is on the calmer side compared with recent years. The Government of Canada’s national wildland fire summary listed 3,385 fires that have burned 1.81 million hectares as of Tuesday afternoon, far below the 5-year burned-hectare average of 3.83 million hectares and the 10-year average of 2.26 million hectares.
Officials recently upgraded Canada’s National Preparedness Level to Level 4, indicating significant wildland fire behavior in multiple jurisdictions and high demand for wildland fire resources. Agency Preparedness Levels differ region by region, the highest of which is Quebec at Level 4, followed by the Northwest Territories, Manitoba, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador at Level 3.
In early July 2026, several wildland fires burned in the Sahtu Region of Canada’s Northwest Territories near Great Bear Lake. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of some of the larger fires on July 8. Even as copious sea ice remains in the Amundsen Gulf, smoke clouds the sky so thickly that it obscures the land beneath from view. Image: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
In an era of climate volatility, sprawling urban development, and rising societal pressures, wildfires in the United Kingdom have evolved from seasonal phenomena into persistent national threats.
No longer confined to distant wildernesses, wildfires pose real and recurring dangers to communities, economies, and ecosystems.
During the July 2022 heatwave, multiple wildfires occurred across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. In 2022 – for the first time – the UK capital London was significantly hit by a wildfire season that included the destruction of 18 houses in the suburb town of Wennington.
In the summer of 2025, there were more than 700 recorded wildfire incidents in England and Wales that burned between 29,000 and 35,000 hectares of moorland, forest, and grassland (which is equivalent to the metropolitan area of Washington D.C), putting a huge strain on fire and rescue services. Comparatively, there were half this number in 2023 and 2024 respectively, primarily due to wet summers, however both 2023 and 2024 recorded approximately 150 more fires than 2022.
In the UK, wildfires are not forensically investigated.
Despite growing in scale and severity the UK’s fire investigation communities’ understanding of the root causes of most wildland fires remains limited, guided primarily by international literature and a lack of scientific rigor given the nuanced complexities that come with wildfire investigation. Wildfire incident record data suggests that causation is split equally between accident or negligence and deliberate ignition, with the latter potentially underreported due to the lack of investigations. This data represents not only unintentional ignitions from human activity but also intentional acts ranging from vandalism and thrill-seeking to ideological motivations. Humans are not merely victims of wildfire – they are often instigators.
The 2023 Wildfire Investigation Project Report provides a framework for determining cause and origin but also considers issues such as pyro-terrorism.
Reframing the cause: beyond climate alone
My secondment to the UK Forestry Commission – a UK government department responsible for the management of woodlands and forests – from the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, reinforced what years of my research to better understand wildfire suggested: the assumed causes of wildfire are often speculative, unproven or incomplete. The tendency to focus solely on climate or accidental human behaviors does little to inform effective prevention or policy.
Instead, the narrow focus diverts attention from the complex reality, including the underappreciated frequency and impact of deliberate ignition.
Wildfire research has also explored the concept of pyro-terrorism – arson-induced wildfires as potential tools of political violence or sabotage. Although pyro-terrorism is statistically less common than other causes of unplanned wildfire, the threat is recognized in academic literature due to its potential to disrupt infrastructure, economies, and public morale with minimal resources. In the Russia-Ukraine conflict there have been reports of wildfires – caused by drones – being used as a tactic of modern day warfare. In this sense, wildfire investigation is not only an environmental and public safety necessity but also a national security concern.
The UK’s emerging response: from security to resilience
Historically, the UK lacked formal mechanisms for consistent wildfire investigation, relying instead on fragmented data and assumptions. This began to change in early 2023, during my secondment to the Forestry Commission, with the development of a UK-specific wildfire investigation framework. Drawing inspiration from international best practices, including the U.S. National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s (NWCG) F110 and F120 programs, a bespoke model was proposed in the April 2023 Wildfire Investigation Report, tailored to the UK’s landscape, urban interfaces, and operational context. (Search April 2023 Wildfire Investigation Report + Rhodri Jones.)
The framework emphasizes that investigating wildfires is not just about identifying ignition points but also about disrupting cycles of destruction before they begin, understanding fire mechanics, analyzing the psychology of arsonists, and evaluating the socio-economic drivers of landscape mismanagement. The framework also considers the strategic motivations behind deliberate ignition, ensuring that even low-probability threats such as pyro-terrorism are not ignored.
The framework and proposed training are under development but have been endorsed by the National Fire Chiefs Council, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, the Forestry Commission, the Home Office, and Natural England, the government’s advisor for the natural environment. Given that the 2025 wildfires demonstrated a tangible national threat, the concept of wildfire investigation will hopefully evolve from a development program into a full-fledged project, supported by an array of stakeholders. The framework’s message is clear: without structured, evidence-led investigation, wildfire prevention efforts risk being reactive, inefficient, and misdirected.
Why investigation matters now more than ever
Wildfire investigation goes far beyond the mechanics of fire; it encompasses human behavior, socio-economic factors, and psychological drivers, equipping authorities to anticipate incidents, understand trends, and prevent recurrence. In the UK context, where deliberate and accidental ignitions occur in roughly equal measure, the ability to distinguish motives and patterns is essential for effective policy, resource allocation, and community safety.
International experience demonstrates the value of such approaches. In Australia, for example, arson prevention programs in primary schools that aim to reduce the number of bushfires ignited in parks near schools on Friday afternoons have had a positive impact in addressing the socio-behavioral causes of wildfire. The UK can similarly benefit from adopting evidence-led strategies and structured investigative frameworks.
Moving forward: an urgent call to action
In the UK, the 21st century demands a new paradigm for understanding wildland fire. Climate change is critical, but it does not act alone. Wildfire is also a function of politics, culture, infrastructure, psychology, and deliberate human action. The UK must invest in specialized wildfire investigative capacity, develop formal training programs, promote international knowledge exchange, and embed wildfire cause analysis into national resilience planning; this will support government departments and partner organizations in preventing, protecting against, responding to and recovering from wildfires that are increasingly becoming part of the UK’s annual risk cycle, many of which are influenced by anthropogenic factors.
Most importantly, wildfires must be treated not only as environmental disasters but as events that can involve deliberate human intent.
Rhodri Jones is a fire sector professional with 18 years operational, fire safety, investigative and project management experience gained within the UK and international fire and rescue services. He now works as a government scientist for the UK civil service in the Health & Safety Executive as the technical team lead for fire safety. Jones has been pioneering the concept of wildfire investigation in the UK and in 2023 produced a wildfire investigation report for the UK Forestry Commission, which examines the UK causes of wildfires and how the UK can improve its wildfire investigation capability.
Twelve people have died with many others injured or unaccounted for in wildfires in Almeria, southern Spain, as extreme heat continues across much of Europe.
Details of the tragedy are still emerging, with the wildfire still active and authorities piecing together reports from areas worst affected.
Witnesses reported that the fire may have started after a powerline fell, igniting dry vegetation before spreading rapidly through surrounding woodland but authorities have not yet officially confirmed the cause. Road closures and evacuations are in place.
Fire fighters are also battling major fires in France, Portugal, Greece and elsewhere.
The Andalusia region of the Almeria fire has baked in 40C (104F) degree heat in recent days in the third heatwave of the early northern European summer. May and June both produced extensive heatwaves across the continent, leaving much of the area without any significant rain.
Earlier, the European Commission began to mobilise assistance through its EU Civil Protection Mechanism, where member states can call for support.
France activated it on 5 July. The European Commission mobilised 4 rescEU airplanes from Sweden and Cyprus.. Portugal activated the mechanism on 3 July. 118 firefighters and 45 vehicles from Spain arrived on site a few hours after the activation and 3 rescEU firefighting aircrafts from Italy and Spain were deployed.
For the 2026 European season, the Commission has deployed a record number of firefighters to combat wildfires. 777 firefighters from 14 European countries are already, or soon will be, strategically pre-positioned in high-risk areas across Cyprus, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal. In parallel, 22 firefighting airplanes and 5 helicopters from the EU fleet are ready to support countries at need.
Very extreme conditions dominate a large area of western and central Europe, with the heaviest concentration across France, Spain and northern Portugal, the Alpine arc extending into northern Italy, the south of the UK and southeast Ireland.
Extreme conditions extend into southern Portugal and southern and central Spain, parts of the British Isles, and the western Balkans.
Very high danger covers the remaining parts of the UK and central Ireland, southern Scandinavia, and parts of Türkiye.
High to moderate danger is foreacst for scattered areas across central-eastern Europe and further into Türkiye. Eastern Europe, northern Scandinavia, and Russia remain at low fire danger.
Fire Danger Forecast 8-15 July 2026Weather forecast for week 13 to 19 July 2026, from European Forest Fires Information System. The strongest warm anomaly remains visible over western and central Europe and is most intense across France and the areas bordering the Alps, extending into the British Isles and Spain. Southern Scandinavia and parts of northern Africa face moderate positive anomalies. A cold anomaly sits over Portugal and eastern Europe, with additional cold patches over the Middle East.
Despite the current wildfire intensity, this season has not started as badly as 2025 for Europe, albeit the worst year on record for wildfire. So far, 155,569 hectares have been burnt, compared to 228.098 hectares at the same time last year.
1057 large fires have been detected – less than the 1182 of last year but well above the long term average of 476 fires.
The Babylon Fire burning in southeast Utah crossed a critical threshold on Tuesday, with firefighters still working to contain it.
The fire has burned over 102,000 acres in the Manti-Lasal National Forest and sits at 21% containment as of Thursday morning, according to crews on the fireline. It’s the first Utah wildfire to cross the 100,000 acres burned figure in 8 years, when the Pole Creek Fire burned around 102,000 acres after merging with the Bald Mountain Fire in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in 2018.
Upcoming weather conditions pose risks of fire expansion, particularly in the fire’s northeast corner, crews said in their Thursday update. Dry air, excessive heat and winds reaching up to 24 mph are leading crews to anticipate high-momentum runs in the heavily fuel-driven incident.
Numerous residents in San Juan County were put under a SET evacuation order on Thursday ahead of the fire’s possible expansion.
“Now is the time to gather important documents, medications, and essential items, fuel your vehicle, and make a plan for your family, pets, and livestock,” county officials said during a Thursday conference. “We also encourage you to contact family or friends now to see if you can stay with them should your area move to GO Status. If you do not have family or friends to stay with, don’t worry—a temporary shelter location will be identified and announced if a GO evacuation becomes necessary.”
Crews increased overall containment of the fire from 11% Wednesday night to 21% Thursday morning as firefighters continue preparing fire lines overnight.
Crews are also fighting a near-100,000-acre fire in the Fishlake National Forest. The Cottonwood Fire has burned over 96,000 acres and is on track to become the costliest fire in state history after it burned down 150 structures, including portions of Eagle Point Resort, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox told local news outlet KSL.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this false-color image of fresh burn scars in Utah on July 4. In this type of image, open land is tan, vegetation looks green, water appears dark blue, clouds look white and snow or smoke may take on an electric blue tint. Multiple fresh burn scars—the area left damaged after a fire—are colored brick red.
From the top, moving counter clockwise, the scars were left by the Iron Fire, the Cherry Fire, the Cottonwood Fire, and the Babylon Fire. Several smaller burn scars can be seen scattered in the vegetation, especially northeast of the Cottonwood Fire.
The following is a photo essay chronicling my travels to Latin America from November 2024 through February 2025.
I work a seasonal job in wildfire; generally, this is in the months of February through October in the Northern Hemisphere.
In the off season, while some lock into their skis and patrol the local hill or undertake rites of passage on their respective journeys to self-discovery through recreational foreign adventures, I kept one foot in the black.
The winter of 2024-25 was particularly fruitful, with an organic unfolding of fire opportunities in Latin America that kept me busy until I stepped back into my regular position in Smithers, British Columbia, as a wildfire assistant – an officer role – for the Cassiar Zone, the furthest northwest region of the province, its borders abutting Yukon and Alaska.
My venture south began in Mexico, where I participated in the first Latin American WTREX (Women in Fire Prescribed Fire Training Exchange). I later went to Costa Rica for a couple of training events for local wildland firefighters. I ended the trip witnessing the tail end of a historic fire that threatened the town of El Bolsón, Argentina.
In 2023, largely due to my intermediate proficiency in Spanish, I was tasked as liaison to a contingent of 100 Costa Rican firefighters deployed to British Columbia and various single resource fireline roles in conjunction with Mexican Unit Crews. That experience and growing frequency of inter-agency resource sharing emphasized the benefits of better understanding fuel, terrain, and operations in Canada’s visiting partner countries, not to mention continuing to improve my Spanish.
These trips were of a personal nature, not funded nor representing my employer.
Mexico’s WTREX
November 4-15, 2024 | Jalisco, Mexico
Nancy Gonzalez and Ceci Portillo, Mexico, at the 2024 WTREX burn at Jalisco. Photo: Sylvie Fojtik.
Women-in-fire Prescribed Fire Training Exchange is under the same auspices as TREX, typically a two-week event combining in-class and field portions related to prescribed burning and forming collaborative experiential training around good fire. TREXs are managed under the arm of Fire Networks, largely coordinated by staff from The Nature Conservancy, Watershed Research and Training Center, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources and United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, now taking on international reach with events across the globe.
This was the first WTREX delivery in Latin America with more than 35 participants from 11 countries, spearheaded by Yesica Garcia, based in Jalisco and inspired by her participation in the 2023 South Africa WTREX. Garcia was the incident commander whilst being, impressively, eight months pregnant.
Lenya Quinn-Davidson, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Fire Network and lead on Fire Network’s WTREX, attended the first half. We had technical officers from Mexico, Spain, Chile, the United States, and Ecuador; operational staff from Portugal, Costa Rica, Argentina, and Honduras; and a high official from Peru working on establishing his country’s wildfire management program.
The primary base for the event was Agua Brava training centre, near Guadalajara; during my stay I found out it was the defining training grounds for a visionary, longstanding partnership between the Mexican state of Jalisco and Canadian province of Alberta. In the mid 2000s, Jalisco firefighters were embedded in Alberta’s provincial fire crews for the duration of the season; some were further trained in operational single resource roles. Several of these participants now undertake critical agency representation (AREP) roles while on deployments to Canada with high proficiency in English and a deep understanding of Canadian fire operations. The program was paired down to a regular resource sharing agreement around mid 2010s.
1st SINAC Women’s Wildland Firefighter Camp
January 16-19, 2025
Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve, Costa Rica
I was invited as speaker and instructor to Costa Rica’s first women-devoted firefighting camp. In a rare occurrence, the camp was held over three days in one of Costa Rica’s national reserves closed to public. The event was funded by the Canadian embassy through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives.
The nation’s is mostly characterized by surface fires as the predominant deciduous stands drop their leaves by summer’s heat. Some introduced coniferous stands do exist.
Costa Rica is building a growing contingent of skilled select individuals across several agencies; many are being trained specifically for the prerequisites necessary for Canadian deployments, some having as many as three back-to-back seasons in Canada’s boreal under their belts.
There are a select few wildfire trained personnel among the structural firefighters in Costa Rica.
The country’s administrative body responsible for conservation areas, SINAC (Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación), has crews comprising regular park staff and local volunteers, both generally responding within their designated jurisdictions.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC) made a reconnaissance visit to Costa Rica in 2019 and a memorandum of understanding and operations plan were signed on Oct. 19, 2021, with SINAC.
The third main player in the wildland sector in Costa Rica, the engine behind the dispatch and organizing of the deployments, is an NGO closely tied to SINAC called Pro Parques, nimbly able to mobilize finances and resources rapidly.
A joint effort between Carolina Orozco, a SINAC officer and member of the first contingent to Canada in 2023, and Pro Parques executive director Rocío Echeverri, helped to spearhead this first women-specific fire training event.
Maria Luisa Alfaro explaining basic fireline operations. Photo: Sylvie Fojtik
It was an honour to also be in the presence of Costa Rica’s Luisa Alfaro, a powerhouse I had the fortune to meet. For decades, Alfaro has been a lead consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in emergency management in Latin America; she started a mission 24 years ago to knock on every country’s governing office to establish the incident command system (ICS) Latin America wide. A 2017 post by USAID celebrated Luisa’s contributions and boasted about the more than 20,000 firefighters trained by Luisa!
Ade Brica Volunteer Brigade
NWCG S-190 – Intro to fire behaviour
January 25, 2025 | Tamarindo, Costa Rica
With a week off between events, Renee Jack, one of the instructors at the SINAC women’s camp rounded up an opportunity for a volunteer fire brigade – led by the fierce born and bred local, Natalia García – to experience a day of basic fire certification. I supported García’s instructional minimally and largely captured photos for her reporting needs. I first met Nati at the WTREX in Mexico, earlier in November, and again during the women’s camp – another example of the immeasurable benefits of these international events.
Renee Jack, a USFS fire program specialist, conducting an exam with a local fire brigade, which gathers every Saturday to train and develop local projects such as strategic fuel breaks near Tamarindo, Costa Rica. Photo: Sylvie Fojtik
Renee is a fire program specialist for United States Forest Service international program; her gentle poise reflects her multi-decade career in fire from smokejumper to high-level operational roles, through to the international realm of training and emergency response.
Nati’s father established ADE Brica to address a gap in response coverage in the community and, notably, an area more prone to fires, as the northwest finds itself drier than the rest of Costa Rica. Impressively, most Saturdays are dedicated to the local volunteer brigades; some days were spent cutting and digging a fire break for the community of Tamarindo or training, like on that one January weekend.
Historic WUI Wildfire “Confluencia” 3’892ha
February 14-24, 2025 | El Bolsón, Argentina
On Jan. 30, 2025, a historic fire ignited north of El Bolsón, taking a nine-kilometre run west through the neighbouring community, burning more than 1000 hectares the first day. Despite united efforts among farm landowners with slip tanks, structural engines, and wildland firefighters, the fire advanced for the next 72 hours, resulting in one fatality, 200 structures lost and 900 people evacuated. SPLIF, Rio Negro’s provincial wildfire agency, coordinated mutual-aid response.
After two days without sleep, navigating airports and red-eye flights, I arrived in El Bolsón. With no time to spare, by morning, I was immediately integrated into a local squad, finally getting a chance to join the fireline with friends I made the previous year, learning their techniques, fuel types, and fire behaviour, and attempting to infuse some fresh energy to an already exhausted crew.
The Confluencia fire was on the heels of several multi-thousand-hectare fires that had been burning in and around neighbouring provinces. By the time I arrived on Feb.13, the flashy pressing flames had abated due to some favourable weather and many outside agencies had begun to disperse. Significant work remained in buttoning up the perimeter of Bolsón’s almost 4000-hectare fire.
For some, this fire had meant 23 days straight on this fire alone (some had been supporting neighbouring fire incidents and were quickly diverted to defend Bolsón), not to mention several 20- to 30-hour shifts at its inception. In addition to agency fire crews, various military entities and structural fire crews mobilized from across the country.
Argentina has a robust wildfire management program at three levels of administration with a framework established for both prevention and suppression at each agency level.
In the early 2000s, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) – now dissolved and part of Global Affairs Canada – funded a multi-year program to bolster Argentina’s wildfire management program, primarily in prevention. Canada’s fire weather indices (FWI) was adopted.
The senior officer at the local base recalls two Hercules landing from British Columbia filled with suppression equipment. Imprints of this 25-year-old collaboration are still present in the people I met, and equipment found on the fireline.
I crossed paths with a Canadian faller who recalled the time a group of Argentinians came to shadow his crew while he was a supervisor for BC’s Trailblazer Unit Crew. The BC hallmark Mark 3 pump red toolboxes can still be found in Argentina’s national park inventory and on the line.
Some anecdotes point to the introduction of Douglas fir in the 1950s in the province of Chubut, but a more concerted national push for the introduction of lodgepole pine, Ponderosa pine and Monterey pine occurred in the 1970s with associated subsidies in an ironic effort to build an effective logging industry under the auspices of saving the native species.
These conifers proved to be far more aggressive, exhibiting more impressive growth than in their local habitat. Far more alarming is the trees’ immediate dense colonization post fire, exacerbating the situation. The confluence of changing climactic conditions (drought and increased frequency of lightning) and loaded landscape-scale invasive pines is forming a dire situation in Patagonia, requiring an aggressive adaptation to the devastating ecological impacts and increased wildfire urban interface threats.
WTREX Quijota
April 13-24, 2026 | Castilla-La-Mancha, Spain
María Ángeles Romero and Gloria Sánchez López (see photo below) lived a transformative experience as participants of the Mexican WTREX and dedicated the last 1.5 years organizing the inaugural Spanish WTREX: WTREX Quijota, in the arid landscape dotted with wind mills that inspired Cervantes’ classic novel Don Quixote.
Fifteen countries were represented (Spain, Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, Canada, the United States, Peru, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, Honduras and Guatemala) in an immersive two-week event filled with workshops, presentations, multiple prescribed burns of pine-oak forests, and cultural visits from vineyards to cheese makers.
Spain was a perfect backdrop with its widely established prescribed burn and prevention programs in addition to suppression, international emergency response reach, and leader in technical innovations. The presence of local experts smoothly facilitated both the training and burn operations.
The WTREX model transcends a typical sanitized public confluence to break barriers and build a stronger, more intimate team of diverse individuals, boosting confidence and flow of insights and learnables. The impacts are continuous and immeasurable in a world with expanding need for international collaboration.
Silvie Fojtik
Born to Czech parents in Switzerland, Silvie Fojtik’s family emigrated to Canada when she was two years old. Thus began her eclectic, diverse exposure and multidisciplinary life into arts, sciences, engineering and outdoor adventure. The latest explorations coalesced into a trajectory in wildfires, starting in 2017, bouncing between contracting companies, provincial and National Park fire crews and currently for BC Wildfire Services. When Covid restrictions prevented furthering her scuba diving certifications she invested her savings into her first mirrorless digital camera system instead. This unearthed a deeply seated, buried passion for the creative arts.
Congratulations to the inaugural winners of the International Journal of Wildland Fire Student Paper Prize! This new award celebrates outstanding student research that advanced wildland fire science in the Journal in 2025. 🔥🌲
The Best Student Paper joint winners are:
Kendra Fallon, a National Fire Ecologist at US Wildland Fire Service in Boise Idaho, for “A novel methodology to assess fuel treatment effectiveness: application to California’s forests”, 61% of treated areas modified fire behavior, with wildland fire/fuel removal treatments most effective. 🔗 doi.org/10.1071/WF24220
Kendra explains her paper: “Motivated by the needs of wildland fire practitioners, this research developed a novel methodology for evaluating fuel treatment effectiveness… I sought to produce research that bridged the gap between current operational challenges and applied fire science.”
Kendra Fallon, Best Student Paper 2025 Joint Winner, International Journal of Wildland FireDouglas Radford, Best Student Paper 2025 Joint Winner, International Journal of Wildland Fire
Douglas Radford, post-doc researcher at the Adelaide University, for “Optimising fuel treatment plans to reduce burn probability: the importance of navigating context, priorities and trade-offs”. 🔗 doi.org/10.1071/WF25080
Douglas says: “My PhD project aimed to improve decision-support for land and fire management agencies… I continue to learn and am honoured with this award from the IJWF. Further research will make this work more reflective of the multi-dimensional nature of fire its roles and the values of our communities.”
The awards were judged by the Editors in Chief, on behalf of CSIRO Publishing and the International Association of Wildland Fire.
These papers show the next generation of fire scientists is already shaping how we plan and manage fuel treatments under a changing climate.
Read the latest issue of Wildfire magazine – the magazine of the International Association of Wildland Fire.
This edition has features such as the status of fire investigations in the UK, a Canadian firefighter’s off‑season journey of learning, and an update on China’s wildfire prevention efforts.
Plug regular columns on Thoughts on Leadership and the President’s Desk.
Check out the products and services from our valued advertisers – their links and QR codes make it easy to learn more.
Wildfire is published for the greater global wildland fire community and for members of the International Association of Wildland Fire. The magazine serves as a storytelling and network building platform, exemplifying our role as a unique supporter and unifier of fire professionals across the globe.
Widespread extreme heat and critically dry vegetation nationwide prompted experts to issue multiple fuels and fire behavior advisories throughout the July 4 weekend. Forecasters don’t expect relief anytime soon.
The National Interagency Fire Center has two active advisories, which are only issued during extreme circumstances that pose elevated threats to firefighters or public safety, for vast areas of the country, including:
One of the fires burning in the advisory area, the Snyder Mesa Fire, has burned over 30,000 acres and caused the deaths of three wildland firefighters earlier this week. It currently sits at 65% containment as of Friday, but wildfire officials said there’s an elevated risk of the fire breaching containment due to observed extreme fire spread, critically dry fuels, and drought-stressed brush and trees.
“Fuel conditions across the Geographic Area are significantly drier and more volatile than normal for late-June,” the NIFC’s advisory said. “Prolonged heat, low humidity, and steady winds have rapidly dried out live and dead fuels, especially native grasses, trees/brush, and 1000-hour fuels. In most of Colorado and a good part of Southern Wyoming, moisture levels are nearing or exceeding historic lows, triggering fire behavior seen only during the driest and most severe fire seasons.”
Apart from the risk of fireworks igniting wildfires, forecasters also warned about elevated fire risk due to strong gusts in the Greater Four Corners region and isolated dry thunderstorms developing in both Wyoming and portions of New Mexico and Texas. A warming trend in the western U.S. also sets up high fire probability, along with record-high temperatures throughout the East Coast.
