NJ Department of Environmental Protection’s Post

Today, DEEP is lifting the statewide burn ban for our state parks, forests, and wildlife management areas—an encouraging milestone as we transition back to a more typical fall fire season. This comes after weeks of unprecedented wildfire activity and a remarkable coordinated response to protect our state. 🔥 227 fires reported since October 21 🔥 Hundreds of responders from 6 states and 2 Canadian provinces 🔥 Aggressive and proactive strategies that limited fires to hundreds of acres, not thousands Connecticut’s wildfire defense centered on embedding DEEP and DEMHS personnel and mutual aid crews with local fire departments to ensure rapid decision-making and resource deployment. This approach, combined with partnerships through the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Compact and the Connecticut Army National Guard showcased the power of collaboration in safeguarding residents, businesses, and natural resources. While the rain has helped reduce the immediate fire risk, we remain vigilant. Connecticut’s fall fire season continues, and we urge everyone to follow local fire safety guidance and stay prepared. We are deeply grateful to the DEEP staff from across the agency who stepped up during this historic wildfire season, demonstrating unparalleled dedication and professionalism. Thank you to DEMHS, local fire departments, and our regional, national, and international partners for their teamwork and tireless efforts. Together, we protected Connecticut’s communities, wildlands, and resources during an unprecedented challenge. #ConnecticutStrong #FireSafety #EmergencyResponse #WildfireManagement

🔥🌲 A recent article sheds light on the escalating wildfire crisis sweeping across the United States in 2024. With over 1.7 million acres of land already consumed in the first three months, surpassing last year's tally, the nation grapples with the devastating aftermath of uncontained blazes. From historic infernos in Texas to recent outbreaks in Virginia, the article encapsulates the magnitude of the situation and forecasts future challenges amidst recruitment hurdles.🔥🌲 #wildfire #ceoinsights #emergencymanagement #businesscontinuity #businessresilience

All-season more frequent tenser wildfires have unfortunately become the norm. Seven of the eight largest wildfires in California history have burned since 2019. This requires a change in approach. Safety in wildfires is not just an emergency response question, and it cannot be an afterthought. We need to build fire resilience into how we envision, design, construct, and maintain our communities. Efforts to manage wildfires before they impinge on communities are important, but not enough. Where there is a high hazard, communities should be designed for when, not if, wildfires get to the community. Emergency response and evacuation is one of the factors that has to inform and be inform by the design of our communities. The location of a community, and construction type, spacing, and types of vegetation around houses have a significant impact on what happens once the wildfire arrives. Access to adequate and alternative means of evacuation is key to emergency response, allowing for safe evacuation and quick fire service response. Design of the water system is key to not only the emergency response, but also long-term safety of the water systems and hence the viability of a community. And for individual critical facilities such as schools and hospitals, designing for fire safety for a fire coming from inside (the usual hazard) and from outside (wildfires) requires a holistic look at how the facility and all of its systems should work together in these scenarios. Having more resilient communities requires active engagement by all stakeholders and working to create comprehensive solutions. There is a lot of work ahead, but the problem is not going away. We have to start working on the solution. #wildfireresilinece #wildfires Thornton Tomasetti https://lnkd.in/ewDW8ga5

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is accepting applications for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program to assist at-risk communities, including tribes and Alaska Native Corporations, with planning for and mitigating wildfire risks... ...individual grants of up to $250,000 can be used to develop and update community wildfire protection plans, while individual grants of up to $10 million can be used for wildfire resilience projects that implement community wildfire protection plans." - USDA Forest Service To attend webinars, apply, and learn more, head to: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gN_isQur #wildfirerisk #wildfireprotection #wildfiregrant

#NationalFireNews: May 28, 2024: Currently nine large fires have burned 37,502 acres in five states. Arizona has three, Florida and New Mexico have two and California and Colorado each have one. Two complex incident management teams are assigned to the #Blue2Fire and #IndiosFire in New Mexico. About 1,600 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents across the nation. For #FireYear2024, 15,366 wildfires have burned 1,911,995 acres. This continues to be below the 10-year average of 21,388 wildfires and almost double the average acres burned of 1,025,236. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gTj5mZB 📸 Photo from InciWeb of a Roosevelt Interagency Hotshot on the #SpruceCreekFire on USDA Forest Service - San Juan National Forest.

The Park Fire in California, the largest this year, has scorched over 562 square miles, triggering air quality alerts and evacuations. Nearly 4,000 firefighters are battling this unprecedented blaze, which draws comparisons to the devastating 2018 Camp Fire. While cooler temperatures have helped increase containment to 12%, the danger remains high with "red flag" warnings in several regions. Join the discussion on the impact and response to these wildfires. How can we better prepare and support affected communities? https://lnkd.in/eb-q_UEp #WildfireSafety #ParkFire #ClimateChange #Firefighters #StaySafe 4o

EMERGENCY Preparedness‼️ The wildfire tragedies we’re all witnessing in California reminds us that everyone of us should be prepared for emergency situations. When time is of the essence, the list below is what you must have prepared to take and also scanned and uploaded to your phone! More info in slideshow: They strike fast and with little if any warning. (*Please add to the list & share…) How to Prepare for and Survive a WILDFIRE #wildfire #emergency #Wildfires #LifeHacks #california https://lnkd.in/eNewqsXr

So far in 2024, 29,547 wildfires have burned 5,224,060 acres in the United States (US). This is about one million acres above the 10-year average number of acres burned, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). As wildfires continue to threaten communities across the country, it is imperative that individuals are equipped with the knowledge and resources to stay safe. In the event of a wildfire, Ready.gov recommends staying up-to-date with information from local officials and being prepared to act fast. To learn more about wildfire safety, see below and visit: https://lnkd.in/gFKai3ZM #emergencymanagement #wildfires #preparedness

Think I have shared this every year around this time. As the summer begins to heat up unfortunately seems as though the wildfire activity heats up as well (pardon the pun;) Useful to track where a wildfire is in comparison to your home or your insured's home. #californiawildfire #wildfire #californiahomeownersinsurance

Hospitals and California wildfires: What to know Three active wildfires started in Los Angeles County on Jan. 7, burning across thousands of acres and spurring tens of thousands of evacuations. Here are four things to know about the wildfires and their effects on hospitals in the city. https://lnkd.in/enAYkKuD