Wildland Fire Research

The interaction between smoke and air pollution creates a public health challenge. Fuels treatments proposed for National Forests are intended to reduce fuel accumulations and wildfire frequency and severity, as well as to protect property located in the wild land-urban interface. However, prescribed fires produce gases and aerosols that have instantaneous and long-term effects on air quality. If fuels treatment are not conducted, however, then wild land fires become more severe and frequent causing worse public health and wellfare effects. A better understanding of air pollution and smoke interactions is needed in order to protect the public health and allow for socially and ecologically acceptable use of fire as a management tool. Wildland Fires and Air Pollution offers such an understanding and examines innovative wide-scale monitoring efforts (field and remotely sensed), and development of models predicting spatial and temporal distribution of air pollution and smoke resulting from forests fires and other sources. Collaborative effort of an international team of scientists High quality of invited chapters Full colour

An overview of recent advances in the quantitative modeling of wildland fire based on fluid dynamics, including a discussion of the mathematical and dynamical principles. Providing a state-of-the-art survey, it is a useful reference for scientists, researchers, and graduate students interested in fire behavior from a range of fields.

Although ecosystems, humans, and fire have coexisted for millennia, changes in geology, ecology, hydrology, and climate as well as sociocultural, regulatory, and economic factors have converged to make wildland fire management exceptionally challenging for U.S. federal, state, and local authorities. Given the mounting, unsustainable costs and difficulty translating existing wildland fire science into policy, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine organized a 1-day workshop to focus on how a century of wildland fire research can contribute to improving wildland fire management. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Presents key social science findings from three National Fire Plan-sponsored research projects. Articles highlight information of likely interest to individuals working to decrease wildfire hazards on both private and public lands. Three general topic areas are addressed: (1) public views and acceptance of fuels management, (2) working with homeowners and communities, and (3) tools that can help us understand social issues.

In March and April of 2003, over 250 managers, researchers, and other participants gathered for a series of workshops at Oregon State University, the University of Arizona, and Colorado State University, near the largest wildfires of 2002. In response to the need for better understanding of large fires, the Wildland Fire Workshops were designed to create an atmosphere for quality interactions between managers and researchers and to accomplish the following objectives: (1) create a prioritized list of recommendations for future wildland fire research; (2) identify the characteristics of effective partnerships; (3) identify types of effective information, tools, and processes; and (4) evaluate the workshops as a potential blueprint for similar workshops in other regions. Through a series of professionally facilitated workshops, participants worked toward speaking with one voice about many key issues. Although differences emerged among individuals, disciplines, and geographic locations, many common themes emerged. Participants suggested that research should be framed in the larger picture of fire ecology and ecosystem restoration, be interdisciplinary, be attentive to the effects of fire at different scales over the landscape and through time, and be focused on social issues. Effective partnerships occur when direct interaction takes place between people at multiple stages, adequate time is allowed for partnership building, partners are rewarded and held accountable for their roles, and when dedicated individuals are identified and cultivated. Participants identified effective information, tools, and processes as those that are adequately and consistently funded, user-friendly, interactive between people at multiple levels, and often championed by key, dedicated individuals. A survey of participants at the final meeting in Colorado revealed that the workshops did in fact create an atmosphere for positive interactions between managers and researchers, and that with some refinements, similar workshops could be carried out in other regions with productive results.

The wildland fire community has spent the past decade trying to understand and account for the role of human factors in wildland fire organizations. Social research that is relevant to managing fire organizations can be found in disciplines such as social psychology, management, and communication. However, such research has been published primarily for scientific and business audiences, and much of the fire community has not been exposed to it. Here, we have compiled and organized knowledge from a variety of social science disciplines so that it can be used to improve organizational practices related to firefighter and public safety, to assess the effectiveness of safety campaigns, and to improve firefighter safety trainings. This annotated reading list summarizes approximately 270 books, articles, and online resources that address scientific and management concepts helpful for understanding the human side of fire management. The first section, Human Factors and Firefighting, introduces readers to key workshops and writings that led to the recognition that human factors are prime ingredients of firefighter safety. The second section, Foundations for Understanding Organizations, consists of social science research that provides a foundation for understanding organizational dynamics. This section includes readings on decision making and sensemaking, organizational culture, identification and identity, leadership and change, organizational learning, and teams and crews. The third section, Understanding Organizations in High Risk Contexts, explores organizations that deal regularly with risk, uncertainty and crisis. This section includes readings on risk and uncertainty, high reliability organizing, and crisis communication. The publication concludes with Internet resources available for those interested in the management of fire organizations.