Skip to main content
Author(s):
Erin J. Belval, Karen C. Short, Crystal S. Stonesifer, David E. Calkin
Year Published:
Compiler(s):
Editor(s):

Cataloging Information

Hot Topic(s):
Topic(s):
Fire Policy & Law
Management Approaches
Ecosystem(s):

NRFSN number: 24467
FEIS number:
FRAMES RCS number:
TTRS number:
Record updated:

A severe outbreak of wildfire across the US Pacific Coast during August 2020 led to persistent fire activity through the end of summer. In late September, Fire Weather Outlooks predicted higher than usual fire activity into the winter in parts of California, with concomitant elevated fire danger in the Southeastern US. To help inform the regional and national allocation of firefighting personnel and equipment, we developed visualizations of resource use during recent late season, high-demand analogs. Our visualizations provided an overview of the crew, engine, dozer, aerial resource, and incident management team usage by geographic area. While these visualizations afforded information that managers needed to support their decisions regarding resource allocation, they also revealed a potentially significant gap between resource demand and late-season availability that is only likely to increase over time due to lengthening fire seasons. This gap highlights the need for the increased assessment of suppression resource acquisition and allocation systems that, to date, have been poorly studied.

Citation

Belval, Erin J.; Short, Karen C.; Stonesifer, Crystal S.; Calkin, David E. 2022. A historical perspective to inform strategic planning for 2020 end-of-year wildland fire response efforts. Fire. 5: 35. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5020035

Access this Document

Treesearch

publication access with no paywall

Check to see if this document is available for free in the USDA Forest Service Treesearch collection of publications. The collection includes peer reviewed publications in scientific journals, books, conference proceedings, and reports produced by Forest Service employees, as well as science synthesis publications and other products from Forest Service Research Stations.