Eric Young The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) (TNS) As Colorado Springs's population and construction needs continue to grow, so does the risk of wildfires throughout the city and region. With this threat in mind, the Colorado Springs Fire Department has partnered...
U.S. Prisoners Work Firefighting and Other Dangerous Jobs. But What Happens If They Are Hurt or Killed?
By MARGIE MASON and ROBIN McDOWELL Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Blas Sanchez was nearing the end of a 20-year stretch in an Arizona prison when he was leased out to work at Hickman’s Family Farms, which sells eggs that have ended up in the supply chains of huge...
Evacuees: Understanding the Other Side of the Fence
By Chad Costa This job is fantastic, and I wouldn’t want to do anything else. Being able to help during someone’s worst day runs deep in all first responders’ blood. However, the past few years have put us all through the wringer. Having been involved with the...
Lessons Learned from Line-of-Duty Deaths in the Wildland
By THOMAS W. AURNHAMMER After moving from New Mexico to Colorado, I must admit that I had a lot to learn about fighting fire in the wildland. I was used to having resources in my former fire department such as water and somewhat adequate staffing. Providing fire...
Wildland Refresher Training: Don’t Just Go Through the Motions
By Todd McNeal I am confident that most of you reading this would agree that we are in an era of fire years, not fire seasons. Wildland fires are now more numerous, destructive, prolonged, and impactful than at any point in our nation’s history. We have a plethora of...
Defensible Space: Are We Doing Our Job?
By Seth Barker Most fire districts that reside in the wildland urban interface (WUI) are in danger of a catastrophic loss from wildland fire. The lack of defensible space around homes could lead to millions of dollars in property losses and potential civilian...
How to Protect Houses from Ignition from Wildfires
By Vyto Babrauskas How do houses burn down? There are two main ways: from an internal ignition source and from an external ignition source. Building codes focus primarily on protecting houses from internal ignition sources, but wildfires—forest fires, vegetation...
Smokey Bear Could Grace Next Custom WA License Plate
Nov. 20—TACOMA — Washingtonians will be able to show their appreciation for forests — and the people who protect them — if a new custom license plate is approved, according to an announcement from state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz. The plate, depicting...
First Woman Smokejumper Tells Her Story
Steven Mayer The Bakersfield Californian (TNS) Oct. 28—The physical training was rigorous, fighting fires in remote wilderness was dangerous, and jumping out of perfectly good airplanes in the vicinity of burning forest and brush fires may have been a tad crazy. But...
Human Factors in the Wildland Urban Interface
By Thomas W. Aurnhammer Although safety is always a major concern in structural and wildland firefighting, the wildland community took a unique approach to the subject and started examining the human dimensions of wildland firefighting. The emphasis was on the people,...
New Service Allows Wildfires in WV to Be Tracked Online
Charles Boothe - Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va. Apr. 14—A new service by the West Virginia Division of Forestry will allow residents to access a website to find and keep up with any forest fires across the state. Gov. Jim Justice made the announcement during his...
The West’s Forests Increasingly Struggle to Recover From Wildfires – Altering How Fires Burn Could Boost Their Chances
Kimberley Davis United States Forest Service Guidelines on use of articles from The Conversation can be found at http://bit.ly/TCUSinfo or contact us-republish@theconversation.com. Images, graphics and shortened text may also be available from The Conversation. (The...