What could we do ahead of time in a certain place, to prevent devastating wildfires? USDA’s latest FireMap tool could be the answer. It uses Google Earth as a starting technology, then overlays that with different data related to fires.
Terry Cosby the Acting Chief of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service says, “We can go back and look at imagery and see where we’ve had these bars, and maybe the potential there is pretty low for the fire. We can go and look at where there’s a lot of understory in some of these areas where there could be a potential fire.”
FireMap can track fires in progress. Currently, it is operating in 9 southeastern states. Cosby says, eventually, “there’s gonna be expanded across the rest of the United States.
You can learn more about the FireMap at NRCS.USDA.GOV.
Source: USDA
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