Scientists have found another alarming pattern in wildfires. Around the world, the conditions that brew massive blazes are...syncing up?
The extreme heat, high winds, and severe dry conditions that produce towering, fast-moving flames that advance by the acre are not just becoming more common; new research shows that these factors are increasingly arising in multiple regions at the same time, creating the conditions for simultaneous wildfires around the world.
The increasing threat from wildfires is also taxing for firefighters, who are not just facing more dangers to their lives and limbs, but also to their mental health. Field said the study shows that everyone should start preparing for the threat of simultaneous severe fire.
It’s clear then that we can’t simply rely on firefighting to cope with this problem.
Firefighters wore gear containing “forever chemicals.” The Forest Service knew and stayed silent for years.
According to multiple wildland firefighters and government officials familiar with contracting and purchasing, the Forest Service never told rank-and-file wildland firefighters that their pants might contain PFAS.
Wildfire urgency unites Congress. The ‘Fix Our Forests’ Act does not.
“There are some good things in FOFA,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), noting provisions that would deploy new wildfire monitoring tools. But he warned the legislation reflects misplaced priorities and lacks “real funding solutions” to back up lawmakers’ stated commitments to fire resilience.
Democrats also voiced frustration with Republicans for holding repeated hearings on FOFA while declining to examine how the Trump administration is reshaping, and in some cases hollowing out, federal agencies tasked with managing public lands and fighting fires.
Letting Drago Bravo Fire burn made future Grand Canyon wildfires less likely, writer says
President Donald Trump’s appointee to lead the Forest Service has argued that wildfires should instead be suppressed as quickly as possible.
But controlled burns have wide-ranging environmental benefits, and science journalist M.R. O’Connor says the potential positive impacts of Dragon Bravo shouldn’t be ignored.
O’Connor is the author of the book “Ignition: Lighting Fires in a Burning World.” She says periodic wildfires are necessary for the rejuvenation of the forest ecosystem. Among other things, it returns nutrients to the soil and opens up the tree canopy to encourage biodiversity.
The U.S. Wildland Fire Service has officially launched; but Congress has decided not to fund it
Hicks’ organization is concerned that the USWFS will focus too heavily on wildfire suppression, as opposed to mitigation policies like prescribed fire. Many researchers and officials say that there is an extraordinary deficit of low- and moderate-intensity fires on Western landscapes. More than a century of aggressive fire suppression has allowed for the buildup of fuels, which the Forest Service itself has acknowledged as a contributor “to what is now a full-blown wildfire and forest health crisis.”
“This is going in the opposite direction of getting fire back on the landscape,” Hicks said of the new agency. “And really divorces suppressing fires from natural resource management.”
Interior’s new Fire Service could siphon off thousands of BLM staff
"There are definitely concerns on this change because fire crews are used to help with work in the field like clearing trails or repairing fences when there is down time and no one is sure if that practice will be able to continue."
The ambitious consolidation of fire employees could set up friction with some members of Congress, who recently denied an effort by the Trump administration to create a wildfire agency at Interior to take over fire management from the U.S. Forest Service, which is under the Agriculture Department. Congress instead ordered the Interior Department to study the concept.
Interior launches consolidated U.S. Wildland Fire Service
It appears the new agency is suppression-focused, Steve Ellis, a western Oregon resident who chairs the National Association of Forest Service Retirees, told Capital Press.
“While consolidating agencies might appear to be more efficient for fixing the catastrophic wildfire problem, successful wildland fire management involves much more than suppression,” he said. “The critical linkage between fire suppression and land management, including fuels reduction and prescribed fire, must be maintained.”
Trump administration stands up consolidated federal firefighting agency over bipartisan congressional reservations
The Trump administration has taken the first steps in standing up its new, consolidated federal firefighting agency, despite Congress declining to fund it and voicing bipartisan reservations about the plan.
‘Wildland Fire Service’ stalled pending further study
The U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled plans for the formation of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service in September, with the goal of having the Service operational by the end of January. The formation of the new Service followed an executive order issued by President Donald Trump demanding the Service’s establishment.
Those efforts may never come to fruition after both Democratic and Republican lawmakers blocked that order and opted to maintain the current wildland firefighting structure in their new funding bills. The bill package continues funding allocations for wildland firefighting services to the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior.
Safeguarding fire-prone homes is a collective action problem
“It’s a community issue,” Ms. Berry, the Tahoe Fund chief executive, said. “If one house on the block doesn’t clean up their act, it doesn’t matter what the rest of the community does.”
Wildland firefighters open to respirator use, UCLA study finds
Wildland firefighters are willing to wear respirators and other protective breathing equipment despite concerns the devices could hinder their ability to fight fires safely, according to new research from UCLA.
As evidence of Idaho homeowners insurance crisis mounts, so does bipartisan concern
In a 2024 paper, she and her coauthors argued that it is rapid fire growth that matters most when it comes to risks to homes and neighborhoods.
“The modern era of megafires is often defined based on wildfire size, but it should be defined based on how fast fires grow and their consequent societal impacts,” the October 2024 Science publication opens. “Speed fundamentally dictates the deadly and destructive impact of megafires, rendering the prevailing paradigm that defines them by size inadequate.”
‘It’s Just Us’: The Firefighter, His Son and a Treacherous Choice
Over time, he noticed how inconsistent the directives were. One day, his crew might be told to clean up everything 10 feet into a burned area; another day, 100. Sometimes the supervisors sent them back to the same patch again and again, stirring up more ash. “It was like, ‘We’ve been here five times — there’s nothing left,’” he said.
He figured these were at least safer assignments, farther from flames. In fact, mop-up is among the most carcinogenic work on a fire.
U.S. Will Pay $450,000 to Wildfire Fighters With Cancer
“The reality is that they are being exposed to stuff that puts them at greater risk to save us,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, who sponsored the bill alongside Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota.
The legislation, which passed as part of a larger military spending bill, requires that some 20 smoke-related cancers be automatically treated as line-of-duty injuries or deaths. The aid includes a one-time tax-free payment of $448,575 and four years of financial support for the firefighter’s children or spouse to pursue higher education. Families who have lost loved ones within the last six years will be eligible to file for benefits retroactively.
US firefighter detained on the job speaks out after deportation: ‘I feel betrayed’
Border patrol arrested José Bertin Cruz-Estrada while he was battling a wildfire in Washington. He is now in Mexico, separated from his family in Oregon
12 hours in the smoke
Wildfire fighters nationwide are getting sick and dying at young ages, The New York Times has reported. The federal government acknowledges that the job is linked to lung disease, heart damage and more than a dozen kinds of cancer.
But the U.S. Forest Service, which employs thousands of firefighters, has for decades ignored recommendations from its own scientists to monitor the conditions at the fire line and limit shifts when the air becomes unsafe.
Some Oregon wildfire mitigation projects stalled by government shutdown
Terry Fairbanks, executive director of Southern Oregon Forest Restoration Collaborative, said Forest Service payments have been held up but are eventually being processed. "Delays, definitely. But a total stone wall — no," she said.
Dustin Rymph, coordinator with the Southern Willamette Forest Collaborative, said contractors are currently doing fuels reduction work in the area. Pile burning, although briefly delayed, is also moving forward.
"There definitely was some lost momentum during a really important burn window," Rymph.
Bolivia Burning: Inside a Latin American Ecocide
Documentary film exposes the role of colonisers and agribusiness in causing massive forest fires
Painting with fire: How indigenous practices can help protect forests
As wildfires intensify and pose a growing risk in the American West, tribal leaders and community members are bringing fire back to their forests to save them.
Costly and deadly wildfires really are on the rise, new research finds
Fire is a natural and beneficial part of many ecosystems. But climate change can make fire seasons longer, hotter and drier. On top of that, humans have been artificially suppressing wildfire for decades, which creates more fuel for fires, and moving deeper into fire-prone areas.