Wildfires have been among the most talked about natural disasters in the United States over the last decade, the West in particular. Dramatic and deadly, hard to predict, and even harder to manage wildfires and the resulting smoke are a major threat to millions of people around the world. We have teamed up with the undisputed wildfire experts, the Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA), to tackle one of the key tools needed in the fight to protect health and safety (as well as our homes and businesses)–information.

Together we have begun exploring how real-time and predictive wildfire and smoke data can be used to overcome the challenges our collective communities face. To that end, we pooled our expertise to bring you the latest AWxClimate Impact Program proof of concept project: Wildfire and Smoke Evolution Mapping.

Earlier this week Western Fire Chiefs Association Interim Deputy Director Chief Bob Horton joined his colleague Chief Brian Fennessy (Orange County Fire Authority), AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Paul Pastelok, and Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Boris Quennehen from Plume Labs to discuss the risks ahead, and how Fire Expert interpretation of real-time and forecast data can help us overcome these challenges.

Stay tuned for more news on our collaboration with the WFCA as we dig deeper into our collective communities and expertise.