wildfire risk

National

Trying to stay safe in a wildfire? There's an app that can help

4:56pm September 25, 2024

Watch Duty, a free app for tracking wildfires, has taken off in the Western U.S. as more of the region experiences destructive wildfires and the overwhelming task of staying informed.

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A year after Maui’s deadly fires, the hills are still filled with flammable grass

5:00am August 07, 2024

by Lauren Sommer

After extreme fires last year that claimed 102 lives, Maui is trying to tackle the invasive grasses that pose a big wildfire risk. That could mean restoring the land to what it once was.

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Rich Snyder, who retired as the fire marshal of Sierra Madre, Calif., now works for Allied Disaster Defense, a California company that hardens homes against wildfire. One strategy is covering air vents with ember-blocking mesh.

Preparing homes for wildfires is big business that's only getting started

5:00am September 15, 2023

by Alina Selyukh

Climate change, technological leaps, panicked insurers, the shifting sense of responsibility: All are powering the still-nascent, but fast-growing industry of preparing homes for wildfires.

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The fire department in Glendale, Calif., has been hiring Fire Grazers Inc. to help reduce the city's wildfire risk.

In California, wildfires are prevented by crews of unlikely firefighters: goats

4:27pm August 11, 2023

by Vanessa Romo

The four-legged creatures with digestive tracts of steel make easy work of consuming vegetation that typically fuels wildfires.

A red flag fire warning sign as seen in October 2013 in Pasadena, Calif.

Seeing a red flag warning in your weather app? Here's what to do

12:33pm April 14, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

Red flag warnings mean an increased risk of wildfires in the next 12 to 24 hours, so fire safety is extra important. How do they differ from fire weather watches? And what precautions should you take?

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, right, answers a reporters question after touring fire ravaged Paradise, Calif. with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, center. The pair advocated more aggressive forest management policies to mitigate damage from future wi

Fast-Tracking Logging On Federal Lands May Not Lessen Wildfire Risk

5:36pm November 28, 2018

by Kirk Siegler

The current version of the Farm Bill includes House-backed provisions that would streamline logging projects on federal land. The administration argues logging could mitigate wildfire risk.

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