wildfires

After being shut down “indefinitely” at the start of April, the registration portal of the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer is operational again. The registry is considered by many to be one of the largest and most promising efforts to further understand cancer risks among firefighters, including wildland firefighters.

Federal forecasters are warning that the fire season could be very active across broad swaths of our region this July and August.

In recent months, the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and the Federal Insurance Office have each released detailed data on insurance premiums, non-renewals and other key metrics. The advocacy groups Public Citizen and The Revolving Door Project brought that data to life with interactive maps.

New research shows that job growth in our region has been faster in areas with serious wildfire danger, a trend that raises the prospect of serious economic fallout from major blazes.

Drought this spring has increased significantly across our region, with some states already hitting the highest levels.

Nearly every member of the Vedauwoo Volunteer Fire Department resigned over the recent firing of their chief. The area is still being served by another nearby department.

The move comes in the wake of massive Trump administration layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services, the parent agency of the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which runs the program.

Much of southern Arizona and New Mexico are expected to see above average potential for wildfire in April.

The percentage of adults in the West who say they’ve been personally affected by an extreme weather event, including wildfires and high heat, jumped 13% in the last two years.

Wyoming has already seen 103 wildfires and 2,600 acres burned this year. That’s about double the number of fires by this time last year, but only 15% of the acreage burned.