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Living with Fire

Fire - Before
Fire - During
Fire - After
Fire - Resources

Living with Fire is a challenge in the Sierra Nevada. We live in a fire-adapted ecosystem where wildfires used to burn naturally every 8 to 35 years depending on elevation. Since we started suppressing wildfire over a hundred years ago, Sierra Nevada forests and woodlands have gotten overly dense with vegetation creating fires that move more quickly and kill many more trees than before. Residents of the Sierra must learn to live with fire by living in fire resistant homes with defensible space, and by promoting community-wide fuel breaks and landscape-wide forest restoration with fuels reductions to reduce the risk of wildfire.

 

Web Resources

Cooperative Extension Fire Advisors

Current science-based information about fire across California.  Find important resources about recovering, preparing, and current fire conditions prepared by UC scientists.

California Fire Science Consortium

California Fire Science Consortium

Fire science exchange network providing research briefs and information available to a broad audience. Visit their website to check out webinars, research briefs, or “ask an expert” with fire science questions.

UC Berkeley Center for Fire Research and Outreach

UC Berkeley Fire Research Center

Emerging research and tools on wildfire in California. The center also facilitates working groups on fire research and management with state and federal partners.

Northern California Prescribed Fire Council

NorCal Prescribed Fire Council

A collaborative group of prescribed fire practitioners, researchers, tribes, land managers, and others working together to increase the responsible use of prescribed fire in the region. Meetings are held twice a year, and hosts frequent prescribed fire training exchanges throughout Northern California. 

Residents and landowners can work with local Fire Safe Councils to prepare and recover from wildfire

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