WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD News) — The U.S. Forest Service says new technology is helping crews respond more quickly when wildfires ignite.
Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz told a House Agriculture subcommittee the agency is prioritizing aggressive initial attacks on wildfires.
“We know that keeping fire small protects firefighters, protects communities and also saves funding. Every fire has a full suppression strategy. Every fire that we look at, some of those use direct attack methods, and some use indirect attack methods. It’s based on weather conditions. It’s based on topography. We look at the safety of the firefighters. We look at the communities impacted. All of those go into those tactical decisions that are being made.”
Schultz added the Forest Service is also using satellites, LiDAR and camera networks to detect smoke more quickly, helping crews respond faster to protect land.
“I will show you that every fire has a full suppression strategy. We have many cameras now across California that are not just on Forest Service sites, but on private sites, state-owned sites. That information goes in the public domain. When smoke is detected, that information goes immediately to dispatch, which enables us, the Forest Service or other firefighting agencies, to dispatch.”
Schultz said the agency will continue expanding technology that supports faster wildfire detection and response.
