Last month, authors Michael Beasley and Timothy Ingalsbee, Ph.D., of the national nonprofit Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology (FUSEE) published part one of a three part guide intended to assist the public, conservation groups and reporters in monitoring wildfires and fire suppression activities on public lands.
Click here to read part one of the three-part FireWatch Guide.
The FireWatch Guide Part One outlines web-based resources for interested parties to learn in real-time the locations of fires, where they might spread and what fire suppression resources have been dispatched to manage the incident. The guide details step-by-step instructions to navigate each online source, thus guiding individuals to the latest information and eliminating a reliance on news media or agency press releases for updates.
FireWatch Guides Part Two and Part Three have not yet been released. Part Two will teach how to access hardcopy suppression reports and analyze their contents to understand suppression activities at recent past fires. Part Three will guide citizens through the process of communicating and collaborating with agency officials and fire managers to build a mutually-beneficial relationship prior to a local fire incident.
In the authors’ words, the three-part Fire Watch Guide will “educate and empower people to become citizen ‘fire watchers’ providing vital citizen input and public oversight to the agencies to help wildland firefighters do their jobs more safely, ethically and ecologically.”
To read FireWatch Part One: A Guide to Online Wildfire Information Gathering, click here.
To visit FUSEE’s website, click here.
