Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) is an index that translates into plant stress. The darker the color in these illustrations, the more stressed the vegetation is. The more stressed, the more available to burn. While these levels vary from day to day, overall VPD levels have been on the rise in recent years.
Getting Our Heads Around the New Fire Environment
by Dana Skelly These days, there is hardly a wildland firefighter that hasn't said or heard "I've never seen anything like that before." We know that wildfires and the fire environment are more extreme each year. Thinking about a shift from a fire season to a fire year is yesterday's news. Retired Cal Fire Chief…Read more Getting Our Heads Around the New Fire Environment
Leadership Trickles Down
The character you sense in a team can be a direct reflection of the leader’s personality. Understanding that is one way to frame how to adjust your style – model behavior you want to see – to improve the performance of your team.
Don’t Eat Before Your Crew: Exploring Servant Leadership
In wildland fire, like a lot of other specialized fields, we can be tribal. We tend not to trust you if you haven’t done x, y or z in your career. The fact is, you will never have a career long enough to check everyone’s different boxes for x, y or z.