Pacific Northwest Research Station

Fire Tools and Databases

Fire Behavior and Effects

In managing wildfires, managers must make decisions in the face of great uncertainty and complexity. PNW researchers are working on models and tools to assist managers in these decisions. This includes developing better predictions of local fire weather, more accurately predicting fire behavior and smoke dispersal, and providing information and decision tools to fight fires cost effectively and safely. Better predictions mean more cost-effective decisions about deployment of firefighting resources and increased firefighter safety. Key tools are

BlueSky

BlueSkyRAINS (interactive Web site for assessing smoke impacts)

Consume 3.0 (software)

Consumer Guide: Tools to Manage Vegetation and Fuels

Fire Emission Production Simulator (software with calculator)

Fire Forecast Models (static Web site)

Fuel Characteristic Classification System (software with database)

Natural Fuels Photo Series

Smoke and Fire Weather (interactive Web site to access high-resolution prediction of fire weather, fire danger, and dry lightning)

Ventilation Climate Information System (interactive Web site)

Improved Programs for Hazardous Fuels Reduction

One important way to reduce fire risk to communities and fire damage to ecosystems is to reduce the buildup of brush, small trees, and other fine fuels that may feed high-intensity fire. Research on hazardous fuels reduction is helping managers set priorities and balance the complex tradeoffs between benefits of an expanded fuel reduction program and the possible environmental, ecological, and social consequences of mechanical treatments and prescribed burning treatments. Key tools are

Fire Emission Tradeoff Model

Forest Inventory and Analysis Biomass Summarization System

Fuel Characteristic Classification System

• Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS) Fire Potentials
• Mapping Fuels at Multiple Scales: Landscape Application of the Fuel Characteristic Classification System

Guide to Fuel Treaments in Dry Forests of the Western United States: Assessing Forest Structure and Fire Hazard

Mapping Regional Fuels and Vegetation with the Gradient Nearest Neighbor Method and Software

My Fuel Treatment Planner (PDF - 348 Kb)

State and Transition Landscape Models - VDDT and TELSA