The efficacy of Red Flag Warnings in mitigating human-caused wildfires

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The efficacy of Red Flag Warnings in mitigating human-caused wildfires

In our efforts to predict fire danger, we coupled CAL FIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) FRAP (Fire and Resource Assessment Program) fire data with hourly climate data from four stations, and with regional indices of SAW wind speed, and with seasonal drought data from the Palmer Drought Severity Index. We found that different tools work better for SAW fires versus non-SAW fires.

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Climate and weather drivers in southern California Santa Ana Wind and non-Santa Wind fires

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Climate and weather drivers in southern California Santa Ana Wind and non-Santa Wind fires

In our efforts to predict fire danger, we coupled CAL FIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) FRAP (Fire and Resource Assessment Program) fire data with hourly climate data from four stations, and with regional indices of SAW wind speed, and with seasonal drought data from the Palmer Drought Severity Index. We found that different tools work better for SAW fires versus non-SAW fires.

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Heading fires consume more fuels than backing fires

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Heading fires consume more fuels than backing fires

Researchers from Michigan State University and the USFS Fire Behavior Assessment Team used 15 years of immediate pre- and post-fire fuel and wildfire behavior data to identify the role of fire advancement mode and pre-fire environmental drivers (e.g., topography, fire weather, and fuel loadings) on fuel consumption and fire effects in California mixed-conifer forests.

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What Makes Wildfires Destructive in California? Study Points to Distance to Human Development and Fire Weather.

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What Makes Wildfires Destructive in California? Study Points to Distance to Human Development and Fire Weather.

A new paper by USGS and partners investigated why some California wildfires are destructive and others are not.

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The effects of prolonged drought on vegetation dieback and megafires in southern California chaparral: Research Brief

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The effects of prolonged drought on vegetation dieback and megafires in southern California chaparral: Research Brief

In a new study, USGS scientists and partners have found extensive drought-caused dieback in Southern California shrublands that subsequently burned in large wildfires.

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Weather Impacts on Fire Thresholds: A Recipe for Big Fire: Research Brief

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Weather Impacts on Fire Thresholds: A Recipe for Big Fire: Research Brief

In this important concept paper, Pausas and Keeley (2021) outline the mechanistic flow of complex drivers of wildfire for fire prone ecosystems. In brief, with ignitions, fuel continuity, and drought saturation points simultaneously lowered by the right weather, wildfire will be triggered.

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Live Fuel Moisture Varies among Chaparral Species : Research Brief

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Live Fuel Moisture Varies among Chaparral Species : Research Brief

The authors show how live fuel moisture content in chaparral shrub species is highly variable. This brief offers new recommendations on how to best use live fuel moisture content as a measure of fire risk.

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Understanding Spatial Controls of Mixed-Severity Fire: Research Brief

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Understanding Spatial Controls of Mixed-Severity Fire: Research Brief

Understanding the relative importance of biological and environmental characteristics conducive to a moderate severity wildfire can help managers predict outcomes to better guide when and where fires can safely be managed.

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Synthesis of Knowledge of Extreme Fire Behavior: Volume I for Fire Managers General Technical Report

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Abstract: The objective of this project is to synthesize existing (extreme fire behavior) EFB knowledge in a way that connects the weather, fuel, and topographic factors that contribute to development of EFB. This synthesis will focus on the state of the science, but will also consider how that science is currently presented to the fire management community, including incident commanders, fire behavior analysts, incident meteorologists, National Weather Service office forecasters, and firefighters. It will seek to clearly delineate the known, the unknown, and areas of research with the greatest potential impact on firefighter protection.
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Prescribed fire and season of burning influence levels of direct and beetle-caused tree mortality: Research Brief

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This study investigated the effect of burn season on direct and indirect tree mortality in mechanically thinned ponderosa and Jeffrey pine stands in California’s Tahoe National Forest. 

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The Built Environment Is More Influential Than Fuel Breaks in Exposure to Wind-Driven Chaparral Fire: USGS Research Brief

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A Bayesian Network model was used to evaluate the relative importance of fuel and fuel treatments compared to weather and variables of the built and natural environment on wildfire risk at the wildland-urban interface (WUI) in San Diego County. 
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Social Constraints to Mitigation in a WUI Community: Research Brief

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The author examines social perceptions of risk of home ignition in the community of Forest Ranch, which is located in the Sierra-Cascade foothills near Chico in Butte County.

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Resource Objective Wildfires Benefit Forests: Research Brief

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A 2015 study by Meyer showed that the natural range of variation (NRV) concept and key fire severity indicators could be used to quantitatively evaluate the landscape-scale effects of large wildfires managed for resource objectives.
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The 2007 Southern California Wildfires: Lessons in Complexity: USGS Research Brief

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Observations from the 2007 wildfire season in southern California led to several important implications for managing fire risk under these extreme environmental and social conditions.
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Structure, fuels and fire behavior in Sierran riparian and upland forest: past and present: Research Brief

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Authors of this paper present quantitative information on the differences in stand structure, fuel loading,  and fire behavior in current and reconstructed riparian and upland areas in the Sierra Nevada.
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Seasonal variations in fuel moisture from thinning: Research Brief

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The  objective  of  this  study  was  to investigate  the   influence  of  thinning  treatments  on  fuel  moisture and determine  whether  or  not  moisture patterns   differ by  treatment  in mixed conifer  stands  in   northern  California.
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