fire prevention

Fire leaders held a demonstration to show what happens when a home is built with wildfire-conscious materials, something more homeowners and builders are considering as wildfires become more intense.

The helibase is the result of increased funding for firefighting resources in 2024. It will house two helicopters and up to 12 employees.

So-called process based restoration (PBR) has a number of ecological benefits. But it can make ecosystems more resilient to wildfires when they come, and better able to recover in their wake.

AI technology expands in the Mountain West to reduce wildfires

The team, led by a Boise State University civil engineering researcher, looked at half a million wildfire starts, and hundreds of attributes about them. Beyond the obvious weather variables like wind speed, temperature and humidity, they also considered human factors like density of development.

Going into the state budget session, a group of lawmakers backed projects to support fisheries and manage species like cheatgrass throughout the state. But actually funding some of them is a bit uncertain.

A group of mostly Western U.S. Senators is demanding answers on why the U.S. Forest Service has fallen behind on efforts to reduce hazardous wildfire fuels. The 12 senators – all Democrats – are from Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and other wildfire-impacted states.

Wyoming lawmakers wonder if more fuel management on ranches will help in the face of high insurance costs.

The American West has seen the number of structures lost in wildfires more than triple in recent decades. But new research shows that home hardening measures can significantly increase a home’s chances of survivability during a wildfire.

When conditions allow for it to be done safely, research strongly suggests that land managers should let some fires burn to reduce the risk of catastrophic blazes. But making that decision can be complicated. A new study highlights ways to incentivize that often difficult call.