Science for wildfire and safety: Health and safety
A firefighter on the 2020 August Complex Fire in Northern California.
Safety is a top priority in the Forest Service; every firefighter should come home safely. Wildland firefighters are exposed to unique hazards that can result in injury or death as well as long-term health risks from smoke. Forest Service Research understands how important it is to continuously evaluate safety needs and update research and technology accordingly.
On a wildfire, safety zones are the difference between life and death. Agency scientists developed the Safe Separation Distance Evaluator to help wildland fire managers evaluate potential safety zones. The Wildfire Safety Evaluator app will soon be available to help firefighters calculate safety zones on the ground in real time ―even in areas without cellular service.
The Fire Weather Alert System app warns on-the-ground wildland firefighters of approaching dangerous weather conditions and provides easy access to fire-relevant weather information. This app monitors weather forecasts, remote automatic weather stations, radar, lightning reports, and more to alert firefighters when high winds, low relative humidity, thunderstorms, and Red Flag Warnings will put them in danger.
At the Missoula Fire Lab in Montana, scientists are working to understand the details behind fire whirls and other dangerous fire conditions. Here, a group of students views a simulated fire whirl.
Wind drives much of wildland fire behavior, and WindNinja delivers high-resolution wind predictions at small scales within seconds to fire managers, fire behavior analysts, and firefighters making decisions on the ground. To prevent accidents at smokejumper landing sites, the developers of WindNinja are currently beta-testing a new app for identifying turbulent air conditions near the ground.
Fire phenomena, like fire tornadoes and concentric double fire whirls, can lead to deadly outcomes on the fireline. Future predictions of fire weather events and the conditions that lead to them are vital for firefighter safety. Our scientists are tracking these extreme fire weather events and working to understand the mechanisms and conditions that lead to their occurrence.
Other Forest Service science focuses on lessons learned from serious incidents or firefighter health and culture. The Innovation and Organizational Learning unit helps the agency learn from and respond to serious incidents. For example, the unit spearheaded award-winning focus groups addressing wildland fire and COVID-19 issues. These groups facilitated rapid adaptive management and communications between agency leaders and field-going fire staff.
A firefighter receiving a wellness check during the 2020 fire season.
The wildland fire focus group helped spur the 2022 Wildland Fire Metareview, a 10-year review of accidents and incidents in fire management within the Forest Service. Through this process the agency learned that sleep deprivation is a dangerous condition firefighters regularly endure and that many firefighters work long shifts and seek overtime to make ends meet. Authors concluded that investment and innovation are key to reducing injuries.
Agency scientists have reviewed research on entrapments―situations where firefighters are caught in life-threatening positions―and suggest we need to better study how these often-fatal situations arise.
Forest Service scientists have found that nighttime fire weather in the western United States is changing and resulting in wildfires that stay active overnight. Firefighters used to count on cooler nighttime temperatures and rising humidity to slow wildfires, giving them a critical window for containment. Better understanding of nighttime fire behavior improves forecasts, firefighter safety, and management strategies.
