Guide · Fire season
Forest fire season preparedness: a checklist for divisions and ranges.
The season review is easier when the season starts with maps, contacts and crews already in one place.
Maps and layers
- Divisions, ranges, beats and protected areas mapped.
- Forest cover and fuel-heavy areas marked.
- Settlements and wildlife corridors near the forest edge marked.
- Fire-weather stations and watch towers located.
People and assets
- Range and beat contacts current, including night contacts.
- Crews assigned by area, with tankers, blowers and vehicles listed.
- One reporting channel for rangers, tested before the season.
Rules
- How incidents are ranked, written down.
- Acknowledgement targets for every incident.
- Who dispatches, and who escalates.
- What evidence closes an incident: photos, track, containment confirmed.
During and after the season
- Brief daily from the ranked queue.
- Record patrols with GPS tracks and photos.
- Keep the season report current instead of rebuilding it.
- Replay the worst fires and fix one thing each time.
See also what a forest fire control room needs.
How ForestWatch does it
ForestWatch is a fire-season control room for forest departments. Protected-area maps, forest cover, satellite hotspots, watch-tower reports and fire-weather stations sit on one screen. Each detection carries the fire-weather index for its station, wind and fuel load, and the queue is ranked by spread risk, settlements and wildlife corridors in the path, and how long the incident has waited. Rangers send photos and voice notes on WhatsApp; the photo’s GPS places the incident, a confirmation question is asked, the nearest crew, tanker or blower is assigned and the ranger gets the ETA and safety guidance. Patrols carry GPS tracks and photos, every fire can be replayed from first detection to containment, and the season report on incidents, response times, hectares and patrol coverage stays current.
Questions
How should a forest division prepare for fire season?
Map ranges, protected areas, fuel, settlements and corridors; update contacts; assign crews and assets; set one ranger reporting channel; write ranking and escalation rules; and plan a daily briefing.
What records should be kept during fire season?
Incidents, response times, hectares affected and patrol tracks with photos, kept current through the season.
See it on your own data. ForestWatch — Every hotspot, ranked by risk. Book a 30-minute working session with an engineer.