March 13, 2020 - On March 9, a wildfire was reported in southern Albemarle County — DOF and local partner agency Albemarle Fire Rescue responded to the scene. By March 11, suppression efforts had contained 75% of the fire but more than 320 acres had burned. The crews continued suppression operations into the early evening and performed mop-up and spot checks in the following days. As of March 12, the fire was 100% contained.... Read More
August 16, 2019 - by DOF Forest Health Specialist Katlin Mooneyham The Virginia Department of Forestry is taking forest management to new heights! The agency has recently purchased three drones and certified three drone pilots (with three more taking the test soon!) thanks to a U.S.D.A. Forest Service Landscape Scale Restoration grant. The use of drones in forestry is a newer field and DOF is investigating exactly how we can use these tools in... Read More
July 1, 2019 - by DOF Wildfire Prevention Program Manager Fred Turck June 30 through July 6 provides an opportunity for those who manage and battle wildland fires to remember, reflect and learn from the tragic incidents that have taken the lives of wildland firefighters. This week invites us to examine the past and lessen the likelihood that such tragedies will recur in the future. We will never have zero wildfires; however, we can... Read More
May 8, 2019 - by Area Forester Sarah Parmelee What is TREX? TREX is a prescribed fire training (TR) exchange (EX) held by the Nature Conservancy as part of their North American Fire Initiative. WTREX is a training exchange, for women. These two-week events bring fire practitioners together to share experience and get training. Ideally, those two weeks feature a lot of fire. This will give attendees the opportunity to apply learned techniques and... Read More
October 12, 2018 - by Area Forester Lisa Deaton Wind Damage Last night was not a good night for sleeping in southeastern Virginia. The storms rolled through after dark, so we could only wonder what all the thumps and bumps meant. When I woke up this morning, I found a clump of three trees that had blown down in the woods next to our garden. On the bright side, I guess the frogs will... Read More
June 13, 2018 - by Fred Turck Prevention – Program Manager- Emergency Response Branch The Virginia Wildland Fire Academy 2018 is now just a memory for more than 320 folks. Students, instructors and staff put in many hours of work in the classroom and field to better prepare themselves and those they were instructing to be safer and more effective emergency responders. Smokey Bear knows all too well that we cannot prevent every wildfire... Read More
May 23, 2018 - The 2018 National Smokey Bear Awards were recently announced and Fred Turck (wildfire prevention program manager), along with other prevention specialists from the Mid-Atlantic Forest Fire Compact, were awarded the highest honor, the Gold Smokey. This award program is sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters and the Ad Council. Since 1957 this prestigious award program has recognized organizations and individuals for outstanding service of at least... Read More
April 18, 2018 - A very long siege of wildfire activity, which shows no signs of coming to an end, is taking its toll on firefighting resources in Texas and Oklahoma. Hundreds of thousands of acres have burned, homes have been lost and there have been several injuries and fatalities over the last several weeks. Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) Chief of Operations Ed Zimmer said, “Our friends in the Southwest are on their... Read More
April 11, 2018 - In response to weather forecasts for Thursday, April 12, the Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) urges people to help prevent wildfires by postponing open-air fires until conditions improve. The combination of strong winds, increased temperatures and low humidity will create extremely dangerous fire weather conditions Thursday. Fire Weather Watches have already been posted by the National Weather Service (NWS) covering northern and western Virginia for Thursday afternoon. Temperatures are expected... Read More
April 11, 2018 - by DOF Forester Sarah Long On March 2, most of Virginia experienced a prolonged period of high intensity winds at speeds of nearly 70 MPH. This was a long day for all volunteer and career first responders, beginning for some at 5 a.m. and not ending until well after dark. The Virginia Department of Forestry was very active during that day. This is my second spring fire season and I... Read More
