Wildfire Suppression : Virginia Department of Forestry

Tag Archive: Wildfire Suppression

The Quaker Run Fire from a Wildland Firefighter’s POV

January 5, 2024 - By Joe Rossetti, DOF Hardwood Initiative Coordinator – The Quaker Run Fire in Madison County garnered a great deal of attention, and rightly so. A fire this large, at nearly 4,000 acres, rarely occurs in Virginia. Suppressing this fire proved particularly challenging because, on top of the usual fall fire seasonal weather conditions like low humidity and gusty winds, the region was experiencing a persistent drought. It also occurred on... Read More

Tales from the Fireline

September 7, 2022 - Contributors: Delaney Beattie, DOF Riparian Buffer Specialist- James River Buffer Program; Chad Briggs, DOF Forest Technician; Jack Colyer, DOF Forest Technician; Bill Perry, DOF Area Forester; Travis Tindell, DOF Area Forester; compiled by Ellen Powell, DOF Conservation Education Coordinator While Virginians enjoyed a fairly normal summer, the national news told of wildfires raging in other parts of the country. Virginia Department of Forestry personnel often provide fire suppression assistance to other states,... Read More

National Wildfire Deployments: A POV

September 2, 2022 - By Kinner Ingram, DOF Rappahannock Senior Area Forester As a forester for the Virginia Department of Forestry, our phones go off at all times of the day (and night), and we generally never know who it is, unless it’s a weekend or evening. While calls during work hours are generally coworkers or landowners, calls outside of work hours generally lead to some kind of fire response. Those are the calls... Read More

Goshen Wildfire Shines a Spotlight on Cooperation

May 4, 2021 - April 30 is the last day of Virginia’s spring fire season, and it typically goes out like a lamb. Not this year. DOF personnel were on high alert all day last Friday, after the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning, meaning low humidity and high winds would create conditions ripe for wildfires. In fact, on Friday and Saturday, DOF personnel responded to eighteen fires which burned more than... Read More

Field Notes: Fire Season is Coming – Be Prepared!

February 11, 2021 - By Heather Tuck, DOF Eastern Region Fire Specialist Happy February! As we move into this month, my mind, along with many others at Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF), turns to preparing for the upcoming spring fire season. It may not look like it outside (there are five inches of glorious snow outside my window right now), but we are quickly approaching fire season in Virginia. As a fire program specialist,... Read More

Field Notes: Teamwork on the Fan Mountain Fire

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

Field Notes: It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s A Drone!

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

Wildland Firefighter Week of Remembrance

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

Field Notes: WTREX: Newly Discovered Dinosaur, Latest Workout Craze or Something Better?

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

Field Notes: Virginia Wildland Fire Academy 2018

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

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