One year in: reflections on the wildland fire science journal

By Martin Girardin

In his editorial in International Journal of Wildland Fire, Co-Editor-in-Chief Martin Girardin shares some of the challenges facing the journal, celebrates the achievements and offers thoughts on where he believes both the field of wildland fire science and this publication are heading. And there is global call for new Associate Editors in new fields of wildfire science.

It has now been a year since I stepped into the role of co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Wildland Fire (IJWF). As summer sets in and the day-to-day demands of my government position ease, I find myself with a moment to reflect on this transformative experience.

Journal context and legacy

The IJWF stands as a cornerstone of wildland fire research – a not-for-profit society scientific journal covering all aspects of wildland fire science and management. Published under the stewardship of the International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF), a non-profit organisation dedicated to facilitating communication and providing leadership for the wildland fire community worldwide, the journal has served as the premier venue for fire science discourse for over three decades.

Since its founding in 1992, IJWF has continuously grown and evolved under the distinguished guidance of three exceptional Editors-in-Chief. Mike Flannigan, my former PhD co-advisor, served throughout 2002–2008, establishing the journals reputation for rigorous peer review and broad scientific scope. He was succeeded by Stefan Doerr and Sue Conard, who served as co-Editors-in-Chief and worked together to strengthen the journals international reach and interdisciplinary approach, providing remarkable stability and growth to the publication. Most recently, Sue continued in the role from 2009 until her well-deserved retirement in the summer of 2024, at which point I was nominated to succeed her as co-Editor-in-Chief.

My connection to IJWF extends well beyond this past year. Having served as an Associate Editor since 2006, I was already deeply familiar with the journals culture, standards and the dedicated community of researchers, practitioners and stakeholders who contribute to its success. This long-standing involvement provided invaluable preparation for the transition to the Editor-in-Chief role, though nothing could have fully prepared me for the breadth and complexity of the challenges ahead.

A year in numbers: growing impact and reach

Taking over an Editor-in-Chief role inevitably comes with its challenges, and the past 12 months have been both demanding and deeply rewarding. Over this period, IJWF has received 216 submissions from 33 countries, a testament to both the international scope of our readership and the increasingly global nature of wildland fire science. We published 119 articles last year, each representing months of dedicated work by our authors and the rigorous review process maintained by our Associate Editors, editorial board members and peer reviewers.

The numbers alone tell a compelling story of growth and engagement. Over the last six months, we have observed a notable acceleration in manuscript submissions, reflecting the mounting global attention on fire-prone ecosystems in the context of climate change. The expansion in research activity we observe at IJWF mirrors broader trends in the field. Contemporary submissions span traditional fire ecology and behaviour studies, cutting-edge modeling innovations, community resilience and social impact assessments, fire management strategies and emerging interdisciplinary research that bridges natural and social sciences.

Climate change has thrust wildland fire into the global spotlight, transforming it from a specialised area of study into a critical component of environmental science, public policy and societal resilience planning. As wildfire activity intensifies across many regions worldwide – from the Mediterranean basin to the boreal forests of Canada, from the chaparral of California to the eucalyptus forests of Australia – research efforts have expanded dramatically. The breadth of topics reflects not only the maturation of fire science as a discipline but also the urgent need for comprehensive, evidence-based solutions to increasingly complex fire management challenges. This transformation brings both opportunities and responsibilities for our journal and the broader fire science community.

Navigating editorial challenges in a rapidly evolving field

While this growth is encouraging, it has also presented us with a complex set of challenges that require thoughtful adaptation and strategic planning.

Our editorial team is composed of experienced Associate Editors, many of whom are senior researchers and generalists with deep disciplinary knowledge across the breadth of fire science. This foundation has served us exceptionally well over the years, providing the expertise needed to evaluate diverse submissions and maintain our standards of scientific rigour. However, the pace of technical innovation in our field is accelerating at an unprecedented rate.

New modeling frameworks, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven data synthesis, advanced remote sensing techniques and sophisticated computational approaches are emerging faster than most researchers – let alone editors – can fully absorb and evaluate. Machine learning applications in fire prediction, high-resolution satellite-based fire detection systems and complex coupled climate-fire models represent just a few examples of the increasing technical sophistication of submissions. Ensuring robust peer review for such specialised topics while maintaining our commitment to accessibility and broad relevance poses a significant challenge.

In parallel, emerging research priorities increasingly reflect the complexity of fire-climate-vegetation interactions. The field is evolving beyond traditional fire weather indices to encompass compound events, long-term system thresholds and diverse knowledge systems. This includes critical advances in understanding fire-drought synergies, paleo-informed reconstructions of reference conditions and climate attribution of extremes – as well as a growing recognition of Indigenous fire stewardship and traditional ecological knowledge.

While there is strong confidence that fire weather will intensify with ongoing climate change, the direction and magnitude of vegetation responses – especially under various management interventions – remain far more uncertain. Understanding the impacts of silvicultural strategies such as fuel treatments, species selection and the assisted migration of genetically differentiated, drought-adapted populations is central to forecasting future fire regimes. These vegetation dynamics will ultimately shape the spatial and temporal patterns of biomass burning across near- and long-term horizons. These developments are not only expanding the scope of wildland fire science, but also challenging us to integrate across disciplines in ways that support more holistic and actionable understanding.

Renewing and diversifying editorial leadership

Compounding this challenge, several of our long-serving Associate Editors have recently concluded their terms, taking with them decades of experience and institutional knowledge. While we celebrate their many contributions to the journal and the field, this transition presents an opportunity and an imperative for renewal to further enrich our editorial board – aligning its composition with the evolving frontiers of fire science and the diversity of our global readership.

To that end, as a community journal, we’re always looking to expand the experience, breadth of scope and diversity of our editorial board. We want our editorial board to reflect the diversity of our audience, providing unique perspectives and coverage in niche topics. We encourage applications from researchers with broad methodological expertise, including early-career scientists who bring fresh perspectives, quantitative modelers with cutting-edge technical skills and interdisciplinary researchers working at the intersections of ecology, climate science, data science and social research.

This strategic renewal will support our continued ability to engage with the rapidly expanding scope of wildland fire science, while ensuring that we maintain the rigorous standards and broad accessibility that define IJWF.

One of our ongoing editorial challenges involves maintaining an appropriate balance between encouraging methodological innovation and ensuring practical applicability. While we actively welcome innovation – particularly in fire modeling, process-based ecological approaches and machine learning applications – we require that all manuscripts remain grounded in scientific rigour and demonstrate clear implications for fire management, policy development or a fundamental understanding of fire processes.

As the field matures, the need for synthesis and methodological review papers is also becoming more pronounced. These articles can consolidate knowledge across disciplines, highlight research gaps and provide much-needed guidance for future work. This balance is crucial because the real-world impact of our published research remains a core tenet of IJWF. Our readers include not only academic researchers but also fire managers, policymakers and practitioners who depend on our publications to inform critical decisions affecting communities and ecosystems worldwide.

A shared responsibility

As wildland fire science continues to evolve, I remain optimistic about the direction of both wildland fire science and IJWF. This not-for-profit society journal thrives because of its community. I am deeply grateful to our Associate Editors, editorial board members and reviewers for their expertise and generosity. Their dedication ensures that IJWF continues to publish thoroughly peer-reviewed research that advances both scientific understanding and practical fire management.

Martin P. Girardin

Co-Editor-in-Chief, IJWF

Research Scientist

Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada

Girardin Martin P. (2025) One year in: reflections from the IJWF Co-Editor-in-Chief. International Journal of Wildland Fire 34, WF25151. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF25151

Wildfire Commission seeks ideas for science, money, workforce

Got a priority or idea when it comes to the work that firefighters and fire managers do, the science that informs the work, or the money and processes that pay for it all? The Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission is looking for your recommendations.

The three topics open from March 2-22 are gathering input for commission recommendations on Science, Data and Technology; Appropriations; and Workforce.

The commission’s “Opportunities for Engagement” page explains the process, with eight recommendation topics already recruited and concluded.

Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission header 2023-Feb
Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission

This month marks the final stage of the engagement process as the commission and its committees work to meet a Fall 2023 timeline for a report to the U.S. Congress, as stipulated in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The legislation created the commission, which is charged with developing two reports to Congress – one on aerial firefighting released in February and another scheduled for release in Fall 2023 – to collectively develop “a comprehensive set of recommendations to address the nation’s wildfire crisis,” as noted in a Department of Interior media release.

Grassroots WIldland Firefighters shared a call for recommendations in their  Stakeholder Update: “Currently the commission is taking on issues associated with OUR WORKFORCE. Such issues include recommendations related to compensation, recruitment and retention, staffing structures, and meeting the challenge of meeting workforce capacity (including support structures such as housing, health, and wellbeing).”

And they offered both encouragement and coaching: “It doesn’t matter if you have a small observation to share or a large well-researched manifesto ready for daylight. This is our time to be heard by the whole Commission. We urge you to PLEASE provide your submissions and make sure your colleagues do the same.”

The commission survey form reminds respondents to focus on issues and processes may be resolved by way of legislative process under the purview of Congress. And they too offer encouragement: “If you have multiple recommendations, please complete the form as many times as needed.”

Link to Submit Recommendation

Wildfire news, September 22, 2008

San Diego helicopters cleared for night flying

From the La Jolla Light:

Cal Fire and the city of San Diego inked an agreement today clearing the city’s two emergency-services helicopters to fight fires at night in the 1.1 million local acres served by the state agency.

The agreement, signed by Cal Fire Chief Howard Windsor and San Diego Fire Chief Tracy Jarman at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, exempts the SDFRD aircraft – Copter 1 and Copter 2 – from a regulation that had prohibited their use in firefighting operations on land under state jurisdiction.

City air crews have been taking part for years in fire-suppression and search-and-rescue efforts across the county, often after dark. Under the new agreement, they will be available to do the same in Cal Fire’s service areas, which encompass much of eastern San Diego County, from the U.S.-Mexico border to the Riverside County line, according to Cal Fire Capt. Nick Schuler.

The locales in question include such wildfire-vulnerable communities as Julian, Ramona, Santa Ysabel, Warner Springs and Valley Center. The vast expanses of Cleveland National Forest, however, remain off-limits for the municipal helicopters, Schuler said.

The city air crews are able to fight fires at night through the use of state-of-the-art night-vision equipment that requires special training and certification, SDFRD spokesman Maurice Luque said. The same kind of technology allows military pilots to fly sorties after dark in war zones, he said.

The new city-state arrangement is “just another option, another tool to be used in the event of fires breaking or night or at dusk,” Luque said.

HERE is a link to a video about night flying.

Mobile dip tanks for helicopters and engines

A company in California has developed mobile water tanks that can be used to refill helicopters buckets or helicopters with snorkle-filled tanks. Large dip tanks have been around for a while, but most of them use plastic or fabric to hold the water, and they can take a while to set up, take down, or transport. These tanks are mounted on wheels and can be operational in minutes.
The 7,500 gallon “mobile reservoir” can be elevated about 20 feet with the push of a button so that it can gravity-flow water into engines. The “heli-troff” can hold 6,400 gallons and has a swimming pool light inside to make it more convenient for night flying helicopters.

The tanks have been on contract with Cal Fire since 2005, but oddly have not been used at all this year, in spite of the Siege of ’08. The company’s web site is HERE, but be warned, you’ll need eye protection to view it. It’s a little overwhelming and cluttered.

Ikhana Resumes Fire Mission Flights

NASA’s Autonomous Modular Scanner mounted on the Ikhana remotely piloted aircraft captured this thermal-infrared imagery during two passes over the Hidden wildfire during a flight over the southern Sierras about 30 miles northeast of Visalia in Central California on Sept. 19, 2008. This false-color, three-dimensional image shows unburned vegetation in green, smoke and bare areas in bluish-white and fire hot spots in yellow and red, overlaid on a Google Earth Digital Globe terrain image.

Click on the photo above to see a larger version.

From NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center
Wildfire Today covered the Ikhana previously HERE.
Wireless sensor network to use electricity from trees to detect fires
 
Researchers at MIT will soon test a network of sensors in a forest that will detect temperature, humidity, and the presence of a fire. Ultimately four sensors per acre would be installed. These sensor networks have been proposed before, including one that involves mobile firefighting robots, but the difficult part is replacing batteries in remote locations. The MIT researchers claim they have developed a method for harvesting electricity from trees, yes, from trees, enough to keep batteries charged.

The system produces enough electricity to allow the temperature and humidity sensors to wirelessly transmit signals four times a day, or immediately if there’s a fire. Each signal hops from one sensor to another, until it reaches an existing weather station that beams the data by satellite to a forestry command center in Boise, Idaho.

Colorado: lawmakers consider requiring counties to have wildfire preparedness plans

A committee of state legislators studying the wildfire threat in Colorado is proposing a requirement that all counties have wildfire preparedness plans and is looking to put $50 million over five years into wildfire mitigation efforts.
The money would be used to reduce forest fire risk not only on state and private land but also on federal land, an arrangement that state Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, called “unprecedented.”
“We will really be able to make significant dents into the problem that exists and the public safety challenges that exist,” Kopp said.
The committee, which wrapped up its work this month, also is proposing bills providing incentives for people to become volunteer firefighters and for businesses to harvest trees killed by bark beetles. The panel plans to introduce the bills early next year when the legislature starts its work again.
However, the committee declined to give its support to a proposal that would have created special building code requirements for homes and subdivisions being built in the “wildland-urban interface” zone, the area most at risk for a catastrophic wildfire and where more than 300,000 homes already exist in Colorado.
A number of mountain communities already
have wildfire plans, said
Andy Karsian, a legislative liaison with Colorado Counties Inc. The bill that the committee is proposing not only would provide standards and guidelines for those plans, but it also would ensure those local plans are coordinated.
“This is a good opportunity to solidify all those plans under one umbrella on the county level,” Karsian said.
Terry McCann, a regional spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, said the agency also supports the committee’s efforts.
Demonstration of fire clearance, using matches
Demonstration fire slope clearanceEverybody at some point has played with matches. Mike Dannenberg of the Bureau of Land Management, a fire suppression supervisor in Montana and the Dakotas, puts on a presentation about residential fire preparedness that involves hundreds of them. The article at wvmetronews.com has more details as well as a series of photos. Here is an excerpt.
“I liken it to building in a flood plane,” said Dannenberg. “If you thin around your house, if you reduce the fuel load, if you build out of materials that are not combustible a lot of times it will protect your home.”
[…]
Dannenberg has created a demonstration model to show the intensity of a canopy fire. He loads a pegboard with hundreds of match sticks. Each match represents a highly combustible evergreen tree. A road snakes through the middle of the model forest. The upper corner of the board features a homestead with a house, garage, and various outbuildings. The scene is created to the specs recommended by the BLM. Each building is covered with a metal roof and the yard space has only sparse and wide spaced trees.
Dannenberg tilts the board to replicate the speed of a fire moving up the slope of a hill or mountain. He lights a single match at the far end of the pegboard and at the foot of the simulated hill. The fire spreads rapidly, but stops short of the home–leaving it untouched. It’s an effective demonstration that Dannenberg says plays itself out every summer in the western United States.
Professor Awarded NSF Grant to Study Global Warming Effects
The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant of $378,616 to Eastern Kentucky University to examine the potential impact of climate change on fires and the ecology of forests in northwestern Asia and compare that to recent research suggesting climate change has altered fire regimes in the western U.S.
“Collaborative Research: Fire, Climate and Forest History in Mongolia,” is directed by Dr. Neil Pederson, assistant professor in EKU’s Department of Biological Sciences, in collaboration with Dr. Amy Hessl of West Virginia University, Dr. Peter Brown of Rocky Mountain Tree Ring Research in Fort Collins, Colo., and Dr. Baatarbileg Nachin, head of the Department of Forestry at the National University of Mongolia. An additional $191,138 was awarded to WVU on behalf of Hessl, bringing the NSF grant total for the project to $569,754.
“This project will examine relationships between wildfire and climate over the past four-plus centuries, from the steppes of the Gobi to the taiga forests of northern Mongolia,” said Pederson. “Mongolia’s landscape, land-use history and recent history of rapid climate change make it an ideal test case for an examination of the relationship between wildfire and climate.”
The study will increase understanding of how wildfires affect forests within the context of climate change, past, present and future. It will also complement a growing global-scale database on fire, climate, and forest histories that will assess the potential impacts of climate change on wildfires.