September 11, 2019
Smoke from a summer wildfire is more than just an eye-stinging plume of nuisance. It’s a poison to the lungs and hearts of the people who breathe it in and a dense blanket that hampers firefighting operations. There’s an atmospheric feedback loop, says University of Utah atmospheric scientist Adam Kochanski, that can lock smoke in […]
April 3, 2019
Have you ever been running on a sidewalk making pretty good time, then hit a hill and slowed way down? If so, you’ve experienced how slope affects travel rates. For most of us, understanding how slope steepness impacts our speed is a matter of fitness. For others, such as wildland firefighters retreating from the fire […]
September 25, 2017
Every year, tens of thousands of wildland firefighters risk their lives to save timber, forests and property from destruction. Before battling the flames, they identify areas to where they can retreat, and designate the best escape routes to get from the fire line to these safety zones. Currently, firefighters make these decisions on the ground, […]