USDA Forest Service’s Post

🚒🔥 Wildfire Safety Alert! 🌲💨 As wildfire season intensifies, it's crucial to stay informed and prepared. Geotab's public safety guru, Nathalie Crewes, offers essential tips on how to keep yourself and your loved ones safe during these unpredictable times. This guide covers everything from emergency planning to real-time tracking to help you navigate wildfire risks effectively.

Provincial Situation Report from BC Wildfire Service July 24th, 2024 at 12:23pm ------------------------------------------------------------------ Today's weather is providing a needed respite in many parts of our province. Yesterday's rain in the north is moving into the centre part of our province with cooler temperatures down closer to seasonal norms. The exception is in the southeast, which continues to be warm and dry and winds persisting across the south today. By Thursday, we will be seeing the coolest temperatures in over a month across B.C. The current weather will provide an opportunity for our crews to make progress on incidents across the province. Over the last seven days, we have been able to declare over 238 fires out and over 124 fires are under control.  Skimmers and helicopters will continue to support response efforts and will be using local water sources. In the interest of crew and public safety, the public is urged to keep well away from areas where airtankers or helicopters are operating. All boaters are required to dock immediately if aircraft are operating on the lake as any obstruction to approach, filling and departures will cause the mission to be aborted.  Many fires are impacting communities across the province. Find all current and official information during emergency at EmergencyInfoBC. We urge people to obey local authorities' evacuation orders and pay heed to evacuation alerts. As wildfires continue to ignite across the province, preparing your property has never been more important. To guide your efforts, look no further than the FireSmart Begins at Home Guide. Review this guide to reduce potential impacts to your home from wildfires. Visit PreparedBC to learn more about how you can prepare for an emergency. 

Last week was “Wildfire Preparedness Week” Great to hear of the accomplishments for a pro active approach to the unprecedented global wildfire crisis. Yes there are ways to address this issue, however the longer communities, businesses and administrations procrastinate on making decisions to implement said projects could prove to be detrimental. Fire season (now fire years) have already begun in many states outside of California. And there has been some incidents in the state. Will we have a significant fire season in CA, time will tell… The real question is to all of our communities and elected officials who represent them will you be prepared. I will again post this video of what wildland fires are capable of and what first responders are up against. The time for reform was five years ago, yet we are still struggling to move the needle to adapt to our surroundings. We can move the needle but we need legitimate allocation of funding and cost share, collaboration and grit amongst stakeholders alike. Let’s get to work…

Preparedness levels are established locally, geographically and nationally to There are a number of factors which exist at this preparedness level that have the potential to impact firefighter safety: Most or all levels of the fire management organization are operating at maximum capacity or even in crisis mode. The incident support system is maxed out. Resources needed to accomplish incident objectives are unavailable. Fatigue is impacting individuals at all levels of the organization. There is a sustained high operational tempo. We must be mindful that these conditions reduce our margin for error. The decisions we make have the potential to further reduce that margin, or to increase our capacity to cope with uncertainty. https://lnkd.in/gnBxR68c

The more you know! This should be an interesting episode O.P. Almaraz .

Governor Greg Abbott today announced that he has deployed state firefighting resources across the state as wildfire threats increase throughout Texas. “Texas stands ready to support local officials and communities throughout our great state as the threat of wildfire activity increases in the coming days,” said Governor Abbott. “Texas is deploying more than 200 personnel including firefighters and support staff, as well as tactical resources like fire engines, all-terrain vehicles, and bulldozers to provide on-the-ground assistance. Due to dry vegetation and high temperatures, Texans are urged to limit any activities that may cause a spark and to take all necessary precautions to keep their families and their loved ones safe. I thank the Texas Division of Emergency Management and local emergency management personnel for their diligence to prepare for wildfires in the northern and western regions of our state.” According to the Texas A&M Forest Service, wildfire activity is expected to increase in the northern and western regions of the state due to dry vegetation subjected to multiple days of triple digit temperatures. The Texas A&M Forest Service has raised the Wildland Fire Preparedness Level to Level 2 due to an increase in current and expected wildfire activity across the state. Over the past week, more than 35 wildfires have burned more than 3,000 acres across Texas. Read the full text on our blog. #AvfoilNews #TexasWildfires #FirefightingResources #WildfirePreparedness #GovernorAbbott #EmergencyResponse #TexasAandMForestService #TexasNationalGuard #TDEM #AbileneAirTankerBase #WildfireSuppression #StatewideCoordination #WildfireSafety #FireSeason #AerialFirefighting #TexasNews #PublicSafety #TexasEmergencyResponse #DisasterPreparedness

FEMA is pleased to announce that registration is open for the Technical Assistance Workshop “When Minutes Matter: Alert and Warning for Wildfires.” Wildfires are increasing and reaching areas that do not have previous experience with this hazard. This TA Workshop brings together emergency managers at the state and local level who will share their experiences of alerting the public during wildfire events and managing evacuation and shelter-in-place operations. The TA Workshop is suitable for public sector warning authority officials including emergency managers, public information officers, social media coordinators, and public outreach coordinators. Participants will learn about the unique challenges wildfires pose to their alert programs; discuss real-world case studies; contribute to peer-to-peer learning; and identify key takeaways for improving alert and warning messaging practices. The TA Workshop also includes breakout group discussion sessions to encourage group sharing and peer-peer learning.    Please see the attached flyer for more information. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]   Day 1 Workshop: April 2, Noon - 5 pm ET (9 am – 2 pm PT) Day 2 Workshop: April 9, Noon - 5 pm ET (9 am – 2 pm PT) Day 3 Workshop: April 10, Noon - 5 pm ET (9 am – 2 pm PT)   Registration Link: Wildfire Alerts and Warnings TA Workshop Once your registration is approved, you will receive calendar invites from [email protected] with the Zoom information. We will send one calendar invite for the first day (April 2) and a separate invite for the following two days (April 9 & 10). Thank you for your commitment to improving critical life-saving messages to keep the public out of harm’s way. The list of speakers from local emergency management, state and federal agencies, and hazard experts and researchers is below.

You've been listening to the news, one of your projects is now within wildfire territory... How would you react? 🤔 AB has announced they’re gearing up with a 10-day head start to the wildfire season, seeking funds for 100+ firefighters, requirement of new burning permits and proactive fire bans. 🚒 After a record-setting 2023 for catastrophic losses, it's crucial for businesses and individuals to have an emergency response plan, no matter what the emergency is. What's yours? Consider two tips for your field employees to stay safe: - Create a Field Protocol! Develop a safety protocol for fieldwork during wildfire season. Educate employees on evacuation plans, meeting points, and communication strategies. Practice makes perfect – conduct regular safety drills for a prepared team! 🚀👷♂️ - Gear Up with Emergency Kits! Give field employees emergency kits containing water, snacks, first aid supplies, a flashlight, and a communication device. Keep these kits easily accessible during fieldwork. 🎒🔦 Prepared teams mean resilient outcomes! Your employees will thank you for it. #riskmanagement #insurance #disastermanagement #crisismanagement

Every month, we like to feature a member in our network that represents hard work in a certain topic area. This month, we're pleased to highlight member Neil Chapman, Wildfire Captain for the Flagstaff Fire Department, who also served on the federal Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. His contributions to our network and to the larger world of fire are incredible. A bit more about Neil, in his own words: “2024 will be my 20th year working in fire management. For 15 years I worked on local implementation and internal fire policy for The Nature Conservancy in Illinois and Arizona. For the last 5 years, I have had the privilege of managing wildfire risk reduction efforts as a Wildfire Captain for the Flagstaff Fire Department. I am responsible for wildfire preparedness, prevention, and mitigation for both the City of Flagstaff and Summit Fire and Medical District, along with managing the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project and representing the City of Flagstaff in the Four Forest Restoration Initiative. The constant theme for success within both organizations is effective partnerships and collaboration across boundaries. The City of Flagstaff is surrounded by the Coconino National Forest and Arizona State Lands. Reducing wildfire risk means effective coordination with local, state and federal partners. In 2022, I was selected to represent municipal government on the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. This appointment provided a unique opportunity to communicate wildfire risk reduction challenges and solutions for communities and landscapes. The Commission’s consensus-based process has created a powerful narrative that will drive community fire adaptation efforts for generations. There are seven themes that can summarize the work of the Commission – Urgent New Approaches, Proactive Action, Enabling Beneficial Fire, Workforce, Modernized Tools for Decision Making, Investing in Resilience, and the one theme I believe is most impactful, shared decision making via Effective Collaboration. Community wildfire resilience is a ship that no one person, or one organization, can pilot alone.“

🔥 Are you practicing fire safety? Give this post a thumbs up if you think practicing fire safety is important! 👍🏼 Protecting our communities starts with us. May is National Wildfire Awareness Month, reminding us of our responsibility to practice fire safety. Whether you're in a wildfire-prone area or not, small actions can make a big difference. ❓ Did you know, humans cause an average of 80% of all wildland fires on BLM public lands? Let's change that and help reduce putting firefighters and communities at risk. Here are some key steps to Plan, Prepare, and Prevent: 🔥 Plan for wildfire 🔥 Prepare your home 🔥 Prevent wildfires Learn more about how YOU can make a difference in wildfire prevention: https://lnkd.in/gvKY-CRK. #WildfireAwarenessMonth #FirePrevention #EMSFire #CommunitySafety