More great news for smoke modeling: VSmoke-Web is back online! After going offline in early June, the VSmoke-Web application has returned to the Georgia Forestry Commission website.
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The Simple Smoke Screening Tool is Back!
The Simple Smoke Screening Tool is back! The Southern Fire Exchange previously hosted this tool on our website but we lost the ability to run it following our website migration in March 2020. Thanks to the Florida Forest Service, this easy to use smoke plotting tool has a new home and host on the Florida Forest Service “Fire Tools and Downloads” webpage. The Florida Forest Service is hosting this tool as a resource for prescribed burners across the U.S. so be sure to join us in sharing your appreciation!
Simple Smoke Screening Tool is an easy to use online tool for plotting a potential smoke impact area using a set of basic input parameters (location, area burned, wind direction, fuel type and ignition method). The Simple Smoke Screening Tool is similar to the manual protractor method for screening smoke impacts. The Simple Smoke Screening Tool was originally developed by the Southern High Resolution Modeling Consortium and hosted by Southern Regional Extension Forestry at the University of Georgia. Around 2015 it was upgraded to include a .kml output and hosted by the Southern Fire Exchange. Starting in July 2020 it has been hosted by the Florida Forest Service.
Continue ReadingPrescribed Fire 101 Webinar Recording Available
The recording of our June 2020 “Prescribed Fire 101” webinar with Dr. Kevin Robertson is now available on the Southern Fire Exchange YouTube Channel. This one-hour webinar provides a brief review of the basic reasons for using prescribed fire as well as some of the techniques and tools that go along with the practice.
Continue ReadingSFE Prescribed Fire in Piedmont Hardwoods Webinar Recording
The SFE-NC Prescribed Fire Council Prescribed Fire in Piedmont Hardwoods webinar is now available on the SFE YouTube Channel. Sharon Bischoff, Mountain Region Biologist with North Carolina State Parks, Dr. Chris Moorman, Professor and Coordinator of the Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Program at North Carolina State University, and Dr. Dan Dey, Research Forester for the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station discuss the history, wildlife impacts, and silviculture of prescribed fire in Piedmont hardwood systems.
Continue Reading2021 Prescribed Fire Training Center Sessions and Workshops
The Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center (PFTC) based in Tallahassee, Florida has announced their 2021 season sessions and workshops. Every year from January through June, PFTC hosts 20-day prescribed fire practical training experiences that work on task books and increase the knowledge and experience of fire professionals. PFTC participants from from across the country (and world) and represent a wide range of professional backgrounds and organizations. For more information check out the 2021 flier.
Continue ReadingPartner Webinar: Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Prescribed Burning Atlas
Host: Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC
Presenters: Naomi Stephens (NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service), Prof Ross Bradstock (University of Wollongong), Dr Hamish Clarke (University of Wollongong and Western Sydney University)
Abstract:
A website specifically designed for fire and land managers, the Prescribed Burning Atlas is a tool to inform prescribed burning strategies and tailor them to outcomes that will best reduce the risk in a target area within available budgets. Backed by eight years of CRC research incorporating thousands of fire simulations, the Atlas compares the level of risk reduction achieved from different combinations of prescribed burning techniques and compares the costs of different mitigation options and their effect on reducing the likelihood of life loss, property loss and environmental values, as well as the effects of climate change on prescribed burning effectiveness. This webinar will provide you with the full details and a guided tour of the Prescribed Burning Atlas, explaining how the website can support organisations to make the best decisions about where and how to undertake prescribed burning for different areas across New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland.
Additional information about the webinar can be found here.
Continue ReadingJob: Americorps TNC Prescribed Fire Position
Multiple Locations
From Lenya Quin-Davidson:
Continue ReadingLast year Jeremy Bailey created an Americorps position focused on prescribed fire, and it was awesome, so he’s doing it again. It is a volunteer position, but it receives a monthly living stipend of ~$1400, plus lodging when in travel status. The actual work would be several 1 to 2 month-long assignments on prescribed fire crews in NM, AR, NE and CA. Feel free to share with other folks who would be a good fit for this kind of opportunity.
Link: Search “Americorps Prescribed Fire Member 48803” https://careers.nature.org/psp/tnccareers/APPLICANT/APPL/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_APP_SCHJOB.GBL?Page=HRS_APP_SCHJOB&Action=U&FOCUS=Applicant&SiteId=1
Job: Florida Avon Park Wildland Support Module Crew Member
Avon Park, Florida
The Avon Park Wildland Support Module (WSM) is currently advertising a crew member position. This position will be based out of the Avon Park Air Force Range (Avon Park, FL), but will be part of the crew responsible for prescribed burning/wildfire response on Air Force lands across peninsular Florida including Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, MacDill Air Force Base and Homestead Air Reserve Base. Our new crew member will also support the USAF Wildland Fire Branch in fire activities across the nation, as needed. This is a great opportunity for someone interested in gaining experience in a high-tempo, interagency, constantly changing environment. https://jobs.colostate.edu/postings/78071
For questions contact: Sam Ashbaugh ([email protected])
Assistant Module Leader – Avon Park WSM
Air Force Wildland Fire Branch East Region, AFCEC
29 South Blvd, Avon Park FL
Late May US EPA Smoke Science Research Webinars
Two interesting US EPA research webinars will take place Wednesday, May 20th and Thursday, May 28th presenting new research on smoke data visualization and the health effects of smoke / PM2.5 . Members of the fire management and fire research communities of the Southeast may be particularly interested in these two webinars given the importance of smoke management for Southeastern prescribed fire programs.
EPA Tools and Resources Webinar: Wildland Fire Community Engagement and Data Visualization Tools
Wednesday 05/20/2020 3:00PM to 4:00PM EDT
Summary
“This presentation will highlight two wildland fire smoke and health projects. Smoke Sense is a crowdsourcing, citizen science app which engages the public to broaden awareness of wildland fire smoke locally as well as health protective measures and behaviors. This presentation will share findings from the past two wildfire seasons including community engagement and data visualization tools. The Smoke Ready Communities project offers a model and framework to help communities improve their response. It supports collaboration and capacity building and also fosters preparedness and response to wildfire smoke episodes. This presentation will share a solutions-driven approach for helping reduce the public health burden of smoke intrusion at the community level. Participants will learn about how these projects can integrate a community capacity lens with resources specifically related to wildland fire smoke, air quality and health.”
Air Quality and Healthy Hearts: Progress and Remaining Challenges Webinar
Thursday 05/28/2020 2:00PM to 3:30PM EDT
Summary
“This webinar provides an overview of newly published research by EPA scientists and their colleagues that helps fill key knowledge gaps. The findings, published in leading scientific journals, offer new insights into the progress made to protect at-risk individuals with chronic health problems. The research also identifies remaining environmental health challenges, such as determining risks faced from sustained exposure to elevated PM2.5 from wildfire smoke, which is being observed due to more frequent and larger wildland fires in the United States.”
Additional information about this webinar can be found here.
Continue ReadingNew CDC FAQ for Wildland Firefighters
The CDC has recently (May 11th) released a new list of Wildland Firefighters COVID19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) to provide information for wildland firefighters and natural resource management program leaders. Click. Read. Share and discuss with your team.
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