Scanning the Horizon: Reflections on the Red Sky Summit and the Future of Wildfire Technology

Fire-suppressing soundwaves emitted from your roof’s gutters. Autonomous fire suppression drones small enough to carry in the back of a pickup truck. A remote-controlled robot that munches on vegetation to reduce the risk of fire. Fire retardant made from food-grade materials. 

These were just a few of the technologies on display at the Fire Tech Showcase at the November 2025 Red Sky Summit. During the day-long Summit, more than 600 people gathered at Fort Mason in San Francisco to discuss how we can work together to develop and scale technology that supports wildfire resilience. There has been an exponential increase in attendance at the Summit since the first meeting began as a dinner just a few years ago, reflecting growing investment and interest in wildfire technology. 

Indeed, with the recent devastation of the Palisades and Altadena fires fresh in everyone’s minds, the sense of urgency at this year’s conference was palpable. Though wildfire response and resilience have been a priority for this Administration and Congress, the federal government is falling behind on its prescribed fire goals. And states are reckoning with the impacts of wildfire on insurance and energy affordability as they work to support wildfire victims in the long process of recovery.

Technology will play a key role in solving these challenges: especially, as we wrote in our response to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s recent Request for Information (RFI) on a forthcoming wildfire technology roadmap, when investments in wildfire suppression are appropriately balanced with investments in wildfire resilience. This year’s Red Sky Summit was an opportunity to further consider what the role of fire tech can and should be – and how public policy can support its development, scaling, and application. Five of my own reflections are below.  

We must innovate to lower the cost of investing in resilience in both the built and natural environments.

Many conversations about wildfire focus on improving how we manage our forests and grasslands. These are crucial discussions that have led to important investments in prescribed fire and other risk reduction methods. But fire is a natural feature of many U.S. landscapes, and so we’ll never reduce fire risk to zero. That means that in parallel we must invest in wildfire resilience – so that homes, utilities, and other built infrastructure can coexist as safely as possible. Advances in technology can help bring down the costs of these investments over time. 

As our FAS team noted in a publication on building grid resilience in the face of wildfire and extreme heat, private capital and nonprofits can play a broader role in building a more robust innovation ecosystem that lowers costs; examples include prize challenges such as Conservation X Labs’s Fire Grand Challenge and venture capital firm investments such as Convective Capital (a host and funder of the Red Sky Summit). Federal agencies can also prioritize funding innovation through testbeds, grants, and technical assistance for communities and utilities. Utility companies can invest proactively in risk reduction capabilities such as advanced mapping and analysis tools that support vegetation management or advanced early detection (e.g., wildfire detection cameras).  

Where there’s fire, there’s smoke. Which is why it’s unfortunate there’s not more smoke tech.

Wildfire smoke is estimated to cause tens of thousands of deaths every year. Unfortunately, technology focused on reducing the quantity and impact of smoke was largely absent at this year’s Red Sky Summit. But not for lack of possibility. Our recent publication provides suggestions for how innovators can be part of the solution to wildfire smoke, such as by developing personal protective equipment for wildland firefighters. Future Summits (and other efforts) should explore how the private sector can develop, test, and scale products that help individuals, nursing homes, schools, and workplaces protect themselves from smoke. At a government level, we should consider how to deploy market-shaping mechanisms that will incentivize more innovation in the space. 

Removing administrative barriers is crucial to risk reduction.

Tackling the wildfire crisis is a difficult task no matter how you slice it. But administrative barriers are making it even harder. Technology has a role to play in reducing administrative barriers, such as by streamlining permitting for prescribed fire. Earlier this year, FAS published examples of and recommendations for using technology to improve the efficiency and utility of environmental reviews. While perhaps not as obviously fire-related as a suppression drone, innovations in the software and decision-support tools we use for permitting at various levels of government can play a key role in helping to address the wildfire crisis. 

New policy must enable faster technology introduction and implementation.

Our response to the aforementioned RFI discusses additional opportunities for innovation to reduce administrative barriers to wildfire resilience. For example, Congress could provide fire agencies with Other Transaction Authority (OTA) to facilitate more streamlined procurement. Additionally, as the Environmental Policy Innovation Center has recommended, the federal government can develop “well-known entry points” to create a clearer path for technology providers interested in bringing their innovations to the public sector.

Innovators should leverage the vast body of social science to improve technology.

Social science is an underutilized source of knowledge that innovators should integrate more thoughtfully into their work. While many innovators are aware of the importance of engaging end users in technology development, innovators can and should also draw from the robust body of social science about how people and organizations make decisions before, during, and after wildfires. For instance, successful risk reduction in the built environment entails helping people see that their homes can be both beautiful and resilient (rather than pitting home values and pleasant neighborhoods against resilience). 

Looking to the Horizon

Wildfire technology has made impressive advances in the last five to ten years, thanks in part to artificial intelligence applications and major investments across sectors. But the policy, funding, and capacity uncertainties of this moment raise important questions about how best to capitalize on the momentum of these advances. FAS is committed to continue working to ensure that well-designed policies enable healthy competition in the marketplace, abundant innovation, and a future where everyone benefits from fewer red skies. 

Position on Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act

FAS supports the bipartisan Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act under review in the House, just as we supported the earlier Senate version. Rep. David Min (D-CA-47) and Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO-08) are leading the bill.

The Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act would establish regional research centers at institutions of higher education across the country to research and improve our understanding of wildland fire, develop, maintain, and operate next-generation fire and vegetation models, and create a career pathway training program.

“Extreme weather has pushed wildfires to grow in size and severity, making our current wildfire models inadequate,” says Daniel Correa, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “The Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act is a significant investment in understanding how wildland fire risks continue to evolve. It establishes a strong foundation that first responders and forest managers can rely on. We commend Congressmen David Min (D-CA-47) and Gabe Evans (R-CO-08) for their leadership investing in innovative next-generation fire and vegetation models to protect human health, ecosystems, and our communities.”

For more information contact Gil Ruiz or Jessica Blackband. 

Re: Request for Information on Technology Roadmap To Increase Wildfire Firefighting Capabilities

Re: Request for Information on Technology Roadmap To Increase Wildfire Firefighting Capabilities (Federal Register Number 2025-18121)

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to advance science and technology in the public interest. FAS has established itself as an influential convener, network builder, and thought leader on wildfire issues. 

Thank you for the opportunity to provide input to inform the Technology Roadmap To Increase Wildfire Firefighting Capabilities. We will focus this comment on the following elements that we think should be emphasized in the development of the roadmap:  

  1. Leveraging the existing body of work on wildfire technology needs and opportunities;
  2. Balancing investments in technology for suppression with investments in technology for risk reduction; 
  3. Innovating to protect wildland firefighters from the health impacts of wildfire smoke; 
  4. Providing substantive opportunities for end users of technology to give iterative input; 
  5. Ensuring that employees and first responders can make the best use of available data, including federal data, by prioritizing data standardization and interoperability; 
  6. Addressing administrative barriers to technology adoption. 

More information about each of these elements is provided below. 

Leveraging the existing body of work on wildfire technology needs and opportunities

The current wildfire management system is inadequate in the face of increasingly severe and damaging wildfires. Change is urgently needed. Acknowledging this need was the impetus behind the consensus-building work of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission as well as substantial legislative proposals that have emerged since, including the S. 1462, the Fix Our Forests Act (which FAS endorsed). In developing the roadmap, we encourage you to review the substantial body of work developed in the last several years that provides evidence-based recommendations for improving the use of technology in building wildfire resilience at various levels of government. The roadmap should clearly articulate how it will build on prior federal efforts. Examples of prior work include: 

Balancing investments in technology for suppression with investments in technology for risk reduction

Wildfire suppression is critical for protecting people, property, and livelihoods. But with wildfire suppression costs ballooning, suppression must be efficient, targeted, and used only where needed. Federal agencies should prioritize deploying suppression resources where fire presents an imminent danger to people, property, and livelihoods, such as ignitions in the wildland urban interface (WUI).  Thankfully, many of the tools needed for smart suppression (e.g., AI-powered ignition detection, satellite-enabled wildfire monitoring) already exist today. The key is to scale and deploy these tools effectively. Support for research, predictive modeling, and real-time fire data and information is also needed to enable precise, timely wildfire response and suppression. 

At the same time, we must recognize that suppression is expensive and can even be counterproductive—over-suppression today can make fires worse tomorrow. Letting wildfires burn in a responsible and controlled way where those fires present limited risk, such as deep within undeveloped forested area, is a common-sense use of resources and will build long-term wildfire resilience.

Therefore, the roadmap should provide a clear vision for how the federal workforce as well as subnational entities will be well-equipped to continue critical risk reduction work in addition to wildfire response. Federal agencies have contributed to a buildup of hazardous wildfire fuels on our landscape by prioritizing suppression for nearly a century—creating risks of catastrophic megafires that even the best tools struggle to suppress. To address this systemic problem, we must invest in preparedness and resilience alongside suppression. Proactive risk management is fiscally responsible; there is a seven-dollar return on investment for every dollar spent on fuel treatments and forest management informed by fire research. Investments in technology can support safe, more targeted prescribed burns and enable prioritization of risk reduction activities that will maximize benefits to ecosystems, recreation areas, and water supplies in addition to reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire. 

Innovating to protect wildland firefighters from health impacts of wildfire smoke

Exposure to PM2.5, a major component of wildfire smoke, has been associated with short and long term health impacts on wildland firefighters. We must do more to protect our wildland firefighters from these health impacts. Specifically, the federal government should develop or procure personal protective equipment (PPE) that is specifically designed for the unique hazards and demands of wildland firefighting. In addition to ensuring sufficient PPE, the federal government should work to better understand the risks posed by long-term exposure to wildfire smoke, communicate those risks, and protect those working alongside wildfire in the built and natural environments. Additional actions that the federal government should take to protect wildland firefighters, discussed in more detail in a recent FAS publication, include studying the long-term impacts of wildland firefighting on human health as well as developing technologies, tactics, and practices that reduce the amount of time that wildland firefighters spend at the highest levels of wildfire smoke exposure.

Providing substantive opportunities for end users of technology to give iterative input

Creating opportunities for land managers and firefighters to provide iterative feedback on the development of tools and technologies can ensure that tools and technologies developed at the federal level are as useful as possible for firefighters, land managers, and others at state and local levels, resulting in a more functional and cost-effective firefighting ecosystem. For digital products, shifting towards a product model rather than project management model can support iterative user input. Jennifer Pahlka, a Senior Fellow with FAS, has written extensively about this product model (which she calls “the art of deciding what to do”) and how to deploy it in government. Applying product management funding mechanisms and approaches in government can result in more functional digital products delivered more quickly. Resourcing, including trained user experience experts, are key to successfully deploying the product management model. 

Ensuring that employees and first responders can make the best use of available data, including federal data, by prioritizing data standardization and interoperability 

We concur with OSTP that “establishing data standardization and interoperability requirements to facilitate seamless data-sharing, and tools that will improve situational awareness for Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial governments and private stakeholders” should be a high priority for the federal government. Close coordination with other emerging federal efforts to this end, including activities undertaken by the Wildland Fire Intelligence Center proposed in S. 1462, should be a priority to prevent duplication of effort at various levels of government. Establishing data standards and interoperability requirements will also support more effective development and deployment of artificial intelligence tools for suppression, risk reduction, and recovery. 

Coordinated data systems, improved data interoperability, and enhanced data accessibility can help state and local decision-makers make the most of existing information and facilitate development of effective technology. Data managers should seek to integrate state and local data and should be accessible to non-federal partners. When working with Tribes, care should be taken to ensure data sovereignty and confidentiality where requested.

Addressing administrative barriers to technology adoption

Per the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission’s recommendation 117, agencies should work with Congress to ensure that “procurement and contracting…allow for more flexible partnerships with private industry and non-governmental partners.” See recommendation 117 of the Commission report for more information about specific mechanisms. As one example, Congress could provide relevant federal fire agencies with Other Transaction Authority (OTA) already granted to the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA). Agencies with OTA authority can enter into transactions other than procurement contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements, meaning they do not need to comply with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). As FAS staff have discussed in prior publications, OTA authorities must be leveraged “to its full statutory extent” by relevant agencies in order to have maximum benefits for technology acquisition.,

Additionally, as the Environmental Policy Innovation Center noted in a 2024 report on adopting innovation in the U.S. Forest Service, it is also crucial for federal government entities to develop “well-known entry points.” Having a designated point of contact at the relevant agency and a clear path to working with the government will support technology providers in bringing their innovations to the public sector. It can also support state and local governments in contacting relevant stakeholders in the federal government to coordinate on technology projects. 

Providing N95s for Wildland Firefighters is a Step Forward, but We Must do More to Protect Them from Smoke

Wildland firefighters manage, suppress, and prescribe fires on our nation’s public lands, protecting all of us. Yet it is becoming ever clearer that we as a nation are failing to protect them.

Tenacious reporting from the New York Times recently detailed the staggering impacts of wildfire smoke inhalation on wildland firefighters’ physical, mental, and financial health. Impacts can include respiratory distress, cardiovascular effects, and increased risk of cancer. Given what we already know about the risks posed by wildfire smoke inhalation, it’s a failure that for the last several decades, the federal government has not provided any suitable respiratory protection for wildland firefighters. 

Agencies took action last week to move towards correcting this failure. Thanks to a change to longstanding guidance issued through the National Interagency Fire Center, the Forest Service will now provide N95 masks to wildland firefighters alongside other standard equipment. Notably, N95s will also be available to federally contracted firefighters, who don’t have the same access to benefits and workers compensation as federal employees performing the same job. These changes were motivated by a House Oversight hearing that called attention to the Times’ reporting, the health and safety risks of wildland firefighting work, and the need for more robust protections.

Equipping our nation’s wildland firefighters with masks is an important acknowledgement at the highest levels of government of the occupational hazards that smoke exposure poses, and a recognition of the need to provide firefighters with more options to protect their health from wildfire smoke. 

However, N95s are being issued for voluntary use and for light duty tasks only. N95s are flammable, which is obviously problematic on the fire line. N95s may also impede breathing during the arduous task of wildland firefighting, which could decrease performance (especially as extreme heat becomes more common and as fire seasons lengthen). This means that use of N95s in wildland firefighting, while a move in the right direction, is limited. 

We must do more. Specifically, the federal government should go beyond providing N95s and invest in developing personal protective equipment (PPE) that is specifically designed for the unique hazards and demands of wildland firefighting. As noted in a previous FAS publication, the Department of Homeland Security was once funding efforts by an industry partner to develop a respirator to meet firefighters’ unique needs. The status of these efforts under the current administration is unclear, but Axios covered the work as recently as September 2024. At that time, the five-year project was still ongoing. Whether through continuation of this project or through another mechanism such as a prize challenge or grant program, the federal government should make innovating appropriate PPE for wildland firefighters a priority. 

In addition to developing sufficient PPE, the federal government should work to better  understand the risks posed by long-term exposure to wildfire smoke, communicate those risks, and protect those working alongside fire in the built and natural environments. Additional actions that the federal government should take to protect wildland firefighters include: 

Policymakers, agencies, and innovators should ensure that current and former firefighters and their representatives (including unions) are deeply and proactively engaged in developing solutions that improve their workplace conditions and quality of life.  

Demonstrating a serious commitment to improving the mental and physical health and safety of wildland firefighters is not just the right thing to do: it is also essential to hiring and maintaining sufficient staff to tackle the scale and pace of the wildfire crisis. We hope that providing N95s is just the beginning of an overhaul in how we support the tens of thousands of wildland firefighters who serve in federal agencies. 

When Fire, Extreme Heat, and an Aging Electrical Grid Intersect

Imagine: it’s the peak of summer in the Southwest, and a heat wave is surging after a spring of heavy rains. To keep cool, you crank up the air conditioning. In the distance, an aging power line sags under the strain of the heat. A spark escapes the line’s faulty insulation, landing in overgrown brush that grew during the rainy season but has died and dried up in the heat, turning to tinder. Flames erupt and before long, a wildfire is beginning to spread. The local utility, hoping to avoid additional ignitions that could spread firefighting resources too thin, shuts off power. The tactic works – firefighters are able to contain the emerging threat before it reaches your neighborhood and home – but at a cost. With people unable to keep their AC running while the power shutoff is in place, temperatures inside homes soar and dozens of people are rushed to the hospital for heat-related illness. 

This scenario is becoming less and less hypothetical as the risks of wildfire and extreme heat compound with an aging electric grid.

We are a nation powered by, well, power; modern American society has evolved around the electric grid. Yet aging U.S. electric infrastructure (the majority of which was built over 30 years ago and has received minimal upgrades since) is increasingly strained by growing cooling demand as heat waves become more frequent and widespread, as well as physically threatened by wildfires and other extreme weather events. And when the power goes out during or after extreme weather, hamstringing essential health, information, and emergency-response systems, the consequences of extreme weather become much worse. In these ways, the electric grid is a backbone of U.S. resilience to extreme weather. The grid is the place where cascading impacts of extreme weather and other effects of climate change converge – but managed appropriately, the grid can also be a robust line of defense.

Zooming in on the intersections between the grid, heat, and wildfire illustrates these broader trends while also yielding immediately actionable insights. The electric grid is a critical asset for keeping people cool during extreme heat. Yet the electric grid is also a wildfire risk because old and outdated equipment can emit sparks that catch fire in nearby vegetation or other flammable materials. Extreme heat increases energy demand on this same outdated equipment, which strains generation, transmission, and distribution systems and heightens wildfire risk. 

Addressing these challenges involves complex questions about who should pay for necessary infrastructure upgrades and who is liable for grid failures that endanger lives and property. Fortunately, there are powerful opportunities to advance co-beneficial technologies and strategies that simultaneously strengthen the grid, build resilience to extreme heat and wildfires, and bring down energy costs for consumers. 

Wildfires, Extreme Heat, and an Aging Grid: A Dangerous Combination

The electric grid poses a substantial wildfire threat for many states. In California, for example, 10% of all wildfires between 2016 and 2020 were caused by electrical power, leading to over 3.3 million acres burned. Since 2015, power lines have caused six out of California’s 20 most destructive wildfires. In 2023, the citizens of Lahaina, Maui experienced the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than 100 years when a broken power line set nearby vegetation ablaze. The following year, the largest wildfire in Texas history burned more than a million acres; after several months of investigation, the cause was determined to be a decaying utility pole that caught fire.  

Extreme heat brings the chances of wildfire ignition resulting from aging grid infrastructure to a rolling boil. Record-high temperatures drive up air conditioning (AC) use, which increases energy demand and strains the grid. Extreme heat can also cause power lines to sag and expand and transformers to overheat. In 2022, Southern California Edison power lines sagged under extreme heat conditions and came in contact with a communications line, producing sparks that ignited the dry vegetation below. The resulting wildfire near Hemet, California impacted tens of thousands of residents. 

Given the wildfire risk that grids can pose, some utilities have implemented safety mechanisms to protect the public. For example, transmission lines in some service areas shut off automatically when the presence of smoke or fire is detected nearby. Additionally, utilities may proactively shut off power when the risk of wildfire is high in order to reduce the likelihood of equipment-related ignitions that could get out of control. This is a common practice; roughly one in three wildfire-related outages from 2000 to 2024 were public safety power shutoffs (PSPS). 

While these PSPS shutoffs can reduce wildfire risk, they come at a dangerous cost when combined with high temperatures. Power shutoffs meant to prevent fire damage leave people without air conditioning, which most Americans rely on exclusively for cooling. Without AC or alternative cooling strategies, people are more vulnerable to developing heat-related illness. Power outages can also compound the heat-health risk by leaving people without refrigerated medications and electricity-dependent medical devices, and limiting communication options during medical emergencies – emergencies that are more likely to occur during extreme heat events.

Protecting Communities by Investing in a Resilient Grid 

A resilient electric grid helps communities stay safe, comfortable, and healthy in the face of extreme weather. Examples of strategies that can be used to build community resilience through grid resilience include: 

Opportunity Areas for Policy Action

Many of the measures identified above require substantial upfront investment as well as coordination across multiple levels of government. This raises an important policy question: who should be responsible for shouldering the costs of grid resilience upgrades in the face of more frequent and costly extreme weather events? 

Certain resilience measures can only be implemented by utilities who own the physical infrastructure that needs upgrading in the face of worsening hazards. Some utilities argue that they need legal protections from liability in order to remain financially viable, to be able to invest in essential infrastructure, and to continue delivering the energy that powers our lives. To this end, some utilities have advocated for liability protection legislation in multiple states that would grant them (the utilities) legal immunity or limit the damages they must pay if their infrastructure sparks a wildfire, on the condition that they follow approved wildfire mitigation plans. In return for taking mitigation actions required under these plans, utilities can seek protection from lawsuits that could expose them to billions in damages. 

However, extreme weather event victims, insurers, and trial lawyers argue that such protections shift the burden onto residents, leaving them with fewer avenues for compensation and creating perverse incentives for utilities to avoid accountability. Additionally, some utility companies are passing the costs of lawsuit payouts, as well as those of system improvements and delayed maintenance, on to ratepayers through higher electricity bills, raising affordability concerns. For example, Southern California Edison raised rates 13% in 2021 to pay for fire mitigation efforts. 

The reality is that no single entity can bear the full cost of making the grid resilient to compounding extreme weather risks, as these are shared risks with shared stakes. Utilities, as noted, have a critical role to play: they own and operate the infrastructure, and they must invest in resilience while keeping energy affordable. But making upgrades and investments at the scale needed to reduce overall risk to the grid and communities in a multi-hazard environment requires a cross-sectoral, multi-pronged approach. The following section identifies the key stakeholders that must partner with electric utilities to build a more resilient grid, outlines their current roles and responsibilities, and suggests opportunity areas for action in this evolving landscape. 

Congress

Roles and Responsibilities. Congress plays a key role in supporting subnational utility work. For example, Congress supports grid resilience through funding programs like the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Wildfire Electric Grid Resilience Program from Sandia National Laboratory. Congress also appropriates funds to executive branch agencies for the development of foundational federal data and tools, as well as the technical assistance needed for better anticipation and response to compounding risks. Agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) produce high-resolution extreme weather projections that can help utilities and subnational governments assess risk. 

Opportunity Areas. Understanding where extreme heat and wildfire are likely to co-occur in the future under various scenarios is essential for supporting proper planning. Where possible, Congress can support modeling and research efforts that provide this information more cost-effectively than subnational efforts and develop technical assistance to help communities plan for these compounding hazards. Congress can also authorize and appropriate funding for test beds and prize challenges that support innovation in multi-hazard grid resilience. 

National and International Regulatory Bodies

Roles and Responsibilities. Regulatory bodies such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) play vital roles in advancing grid resilience and reliability efforts and standards. NERC develops reliability standards for the electricity sector and FERC enforces them. 

Opportunity Areas. Since both FERC and NERC play a role in ensuring the reliability of the electric grid, they should expand their extreme weather reliability standards to include risks when extreme heat and wildfires occur in the same region. FERC and NERC can work together to build on existing and proposed efforts to develop standards related to extreme heat and wildfires that support utilities and grid operators in prioritizing multi-hazard resilience in their planning. In late 2024, NERC finalized standards aimed at improving transmission system planning for extreme heat and extreme cold events. 

Additionally, NERC can track how utilities are addressing the risks of wildfires and heat waves as part of its grid reliability monitoring efforts and can include these efforts in its seasonal assessments. 

State Legislatures and Public Utility Commissions (PUCs)

Roles and Responsibilities. State legislatures and public utility commissions play an important role in regulating state electricity markets which positions them to incentivize and support resilience. In general, they are responsible for ensuring that their customers receive appropriate services and that rate increases are justified, while ensuring that the utility can recover its costs and reward investors. In most states, the legislature provides the foundation for PUCs to build their underlying statute-informed regulations. 

Opportunity Areas. State legislatures can direct utilities and PUCs to prioritize wildfire and extreme heat mitigation through statute and can authorize funding mechanisms – such as cost-recovery provisions or risk-sharing models – that enable utilities to invest in resilience. Some advocates have called for the creation of a voluntary program that incentivizes utilities to take certain mitigation actions by rewarding them with access to an “insurance-like backstop mechanism.” PUCs, in turn, can evaluate and approve utility proposals aligned with these policy goals, including pilot programs that implement grid measures with co-benefits for wildfire and extreme heat resilience.

Investors and Innovators

Roles and Responsibilities: Investors and innovators can provide other types of funding mechanisms to help the aforementioned stakeholders fund their initiatives or provide research services to improve them, especially at the extreme heat and wildfire nexus.

Opportunity Areas. Given the high upfront costs of many existing risk reduction tools, innovation is key to driving down the overall cost of multi-hazard resilience. Private capital and nonprofits can play a broader role in building a more robust innovation ecosystem. For example, Conservation X Labs’s Fire Grand Challenge is offering more than $1 million in prizes and support for wildfire innovation in collaboration with Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, Esri, and Planet. One of the 12 finalists advancing to field testing is Witching Hour, which is testing a robotic system that installs low-cost insulation onto power lines to reduce fire risk. Future programs modeled on this and other prize challenge efforts can reward innovations that support resilience under both extreme heat and high fire risk. 

Looking Ahead: Preparing for Compounding Heat and Wildfire Hazards

A comprehensive approach to upgrading the grid, grid operations, and emergency management protocols driven by the federal government, state governments, utilities, and private sector actors is the most impactful way forward. Lives, economic wellbeing, and property are all costs of inaction.

While grid infrastructure interventions are critical, other measures can also provide important backstops and reduce overall risk that deserve further exploration and integration into an extreme heat and wildfire preparedness and response strategy. For example, alternative cooling strategies that do not rely on air conditioning can reduce grid load – which in turn reduces wildfire risk – and ensure that people are not left sweltering in the heat during public safety power shutoffs. These strategies include passive cooling measures like reflective surfaces, natural ventilation, shading, and insulation. At the same time, prescribed fire and other risk reduction measures in the wildland urban interface can reduce the likelihood that fires that do start are destructive to life or property. 

With strategic investment, cross-sector coordination, and long-term planning, it is possible to reduce risks and protect vulnerable communities. We can build a future where power lines no longer spark disaster and homes stay safe and connected — no matter the weather.

From Washington to the Woods: On-The-Ground Lessons for Wildfire Policy

Every day, I work on policy solutions to help end the severe wildfire crisis in North America. But that means I spend most of my time buried in my computer screen, poring over legislation and statistics—not in the field seeing the reality of the wildfire crisis unfold. There is a general disconnect between the DC wildfire policy bubble and those tackling wildfire on the ground in our public lands.

Just as we at the Federation of American Scientists strive to connect science and public policy, the folks at Safewoods strive to bridge the gap between what is being discussed in Washington and the reality of what it takes to implement wildfire resilience projects.

In mid-June, I joined a group of close to two dozen subject matter experts, retired and current wildland firefighters, philanthropic partners, and Congressional staffers representing states and districts from across the country for a stint at Safewoods. We gathered at the Safewoods site just outside of Darby, Montana, for three days to better understand the complexities of on-the-ground forest management – with the goal of incorporating those insights into our day jobs.

Wildfires are a natural feature of the forests around Darby, which historically experienced fire every 5 to 10 years. However, after nearly a century of misguided policies that placed outsized focus on fire suppression, the landscape has become choked with dead wood, shrubs, and other vegetation that can fuel natural fires into catastrophic ones.

Arriving and walking through the Safewoods grounds, I could immediately see the difference between that land and the untreated lands just outside the Safewoods property. The Safewoods team is returning good fire to the ecosystem by thinning or removing fuels that have built up. This creates space for beneficial fire to spread without becoming dangerous. Treated areas are easy to spot: there are trees of differing sizes and species, with plenty of space to grow. Enough light reaches the forest floor to nurture saplings, but not so much that the soil dries out.

Over the course of the three days, my colleagues and I learned from the Safewoods team about what it takes to do this restoration work, and how forest restoration complements other wildfire resilience practices. Mark Adams, Wildland Community Risk Reduction Specialist for the Flagstaff Fire Department, underscored the importance of home-hardening and scaling community risk reduction. Kelly Martin, the retired Chief of Fire & Aviation for Yosemite National Park, discussed how wildfire resilience yields co-benefits like improved water quality and increased fish populations.

A highlight of the trip was a hands-on forest management briefing and fuels management activity. After gearing up in long sleeves, pants, protective gloves and goggles, and our Safewoods-branded hard hats and vests, we set out into the Bitterroot National Forest, where U.S. Forest Service staff briefed us on how to build a small waste-biomass pile made up of the sticks, small logs, pine needles, and other waste material already pre-cut as part of an ongoing selective thinning project. Forest Service crews work to build these piles during the summer, then safely burn them in the fall or winter. Collecting and burning this excess vegetation restores forest health by promoting diverse tree species and density. Thinning and pile burning also lowers fire intensity and gets rid of fuel ladders that channel fire from the fire-resilient forest floor to the fragile canopy – making it safer to return regular fire to the landscape via prescribed or cultural burning. 

Safewoods attendees receive a briefing from U.S. Forest Service staff on carrying out a selective forest-thinning project in Montana’s Bitterroot National Forest.

Our team worked for around two hours. The vegetation we were collecting felt light at first, but not long after getting started, I was sweating more than I do on my standard DC runs. At the end, as I joined others in catching my breath and downing water, we excitedly asked our Forest Service guides how many acres we cleared. They generously pegged us at about a half acre, causing us all to erupt in laughter about how little we’d actually done. But alongside the laughter we also acknowledged the sobering reality that restoring our nation’s forests is hard. Millions of acres of public land face high wildfire risk, but only a small percentage of those acres are receiving the labor- and time-intensive fuel-reduction treatments they need. The ultimate impact of our two hours in Bitterroot was not the half acre that we were able to clear, but rather the deeper appreciation we gained of the magnitude of the wildfire crisis, the hard yet necessary policy conversations we have to have around scalable solutions, and the resources we need to commit to build a fire-resilient nation. 

FAS Wildfire Policy Specialist James Campbell clears hazardous fuels from the forest landscape as part of a hands-on experience at Safewoods.

Safewoods also fosters critical relationships across different groups of people working on wildfire. Smartphones are indispensable in DC, but lack of cell service at Safewoods meant that I was able to engage deeply with my colleagues in ways that are increasingly rare. No one was distracted by work emails or the latest breaking news; rather, we leaned into connecting around a shared sense of purpose. We sat around the fire hearing the crackle of the wood and laughing as each of us got our turn getting smoked out when the breeze shifted. We spent hours getting to know each other over meals and drinks and sharing why we work on fire. Some of us were always called to the outdoors, destined to be a forest manager or wildland firefighter; others (myself included) were too accustomed to city living for such adventure but nonetheless wanted to use their skills to protect our precious forests and the communities in and around them. No matter the reason, we came to learn about each other on a deeper level. We built trust that I know will pay off when it comes to navigating policy negotiations and executing cross-sectoral resilience initiatives down the line.

The communities and landscapes that have been devastated by megafires and the many more in high-risk areas do not have time to wait – they need meaningful solutions now. Confronting this crisis requires decision-makers to understand the lived realities of wildfire risk and resilience, and to work together across party lines. Safewoods helps make both possible.

Position on President Trump’s Executive Order “Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response”

President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) “Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response” is the latest of several significant federal policy efforts aimed at tackling the wildfire crisis. Other recent efforts include the passage of the Fix Our Forest Act in the House and introduction of a bipartisan negotiated companion in the Senate; an Executive Order on expanding timber production;  and the recently signed Aerial Firefighting Advancement Act of 2025.

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) focuses on embedding science, data, and technology into government to support communities in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from wildfires. We are encouraged that the Administration and Congress are recognizing the severity of the wildfire crisis and elevating it as a national priority. Yet the devil is in the details when it comes to making real-world progress.

“Wildfires are burning faster and hotter than ever before, destroying communities and ecosystems and producing vast amounts of harmful smoke and debris,” said Dr. Hannah Safford, Associate Director of Climate and Environment at FAS. “As wildfires increasingly impact cities like Los Angeles and states beyond the western U.S., smart federal leadership on this issue is needed.”  

FAS applauds several elements of President Trump’s EO. For instance, the EO correctly recognizes that wildfire technology and prescribed fire are powerful tools for reducing risk and strengthening wildfire resilience. FAS is also glad to see the Administration promote interagency coordination; emphasize the importance of state, local, and Tribal leadership; and recognize the intersection of wildfire resilience and other sectors, such as the grid and our bioeconomy.

“However,” said Jessica Blackband, Senior Manager of Climate and Environment at FAS, “the Executive Order also contains elements that do not seem feasible against a backdrop of enacted and proposed cuts to federal wildfire staff, programs, and funding.”

For example, President Trump’s FY2026 budget proposes significant cuts to federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that provide critical data, forecasting tools, and other technical capabilities needed for wildfire preparedness and response (Section 3 of the EO). Workforce shortages in the U.S. Forest Service and partner agencies are raising alarm about readiness for extreme wildfires as well as capacity to carry out risk-reduction projects, including prescribed fires (Sec. 4(a)), safely and successfully. And erosion of federal technical expertise will likely make it difficult for agencies to revise wildfire-related rules (Secs. 4 and 5) in ways that are evidence-based and appropriately balance other health, economic, and environmental priorities.  

FAS also has concerns about timelines and processes established in the EO. For example, section 2 gives agencies just 90 days to “consolidate their wildland fire programs to achieve the most efficient and effective use” of resources. This timeline coincides with wildfire season, when agencies are already stretched thin. Moreover, proposals and consensus recommendations for improving wildfire governance are available, including the final report of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. It is unclear how the EO will build on this substantial work.

Finally, FAS believes that the EO overemphasizes deregulation as a strategy for tackling the wildfire crisis. While there may be regulatory barriers or bureaucratic processes that could be streamlined or improved in the interest of wildfire resilience, other opportunities for progress are more potent. FAS recommends that future directives and policies provide greater support for science that improves our understanding of how wildfires impact people and places; technical assistance to support states and localities in wildfire planning; investments to reduce wildfire risk; development of metrics that make it easier to assess and track wildfire resilience; and approaches for ensuring transparent, responsible spending on wildfire. 

“Tackling the wildfire crisis will require an integrated national approach that is grounded in evidence, carefully executed, and appropriately resourced,” said James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist at FAS. “The Administration should work closely with Congress and the wildfire community in implementing this EO and any complementary policies.”

FAS stands ready to help advance constructive plans and proposals that further wildfire resilience. Our team is working to build a more fire-resilient nation through policy development and analysis, fellowships, and issue education. We look forward to continuing to engage with the Administration, Congress, and state, local, and nongovernmental leaders to this end.

The Federation of American Scientists Joins Coalition to Prepare for and Prevent Wildfires

The destruction and ill health caused by wildfires requires scientific and technological expertise as part of a cohesive social and environmental plan

Washington, D.C. – May 7, 2025 – With wildfire risk increasing and the potential for destruction along with it continues to grow nationwide, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) today joins with other organizations to launch a new coalition, Partners in Wildfire Prevention. The coalition is committed to reducing the adverse effects of wildfires through prevention and preparedness.

“Wildfires are a national crisis – but they’re one we have the capacity to address,” said Dr. Jedidah Isler, Chief Science Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “There’s a particularly powerful opportunity to harness the power of science and technology for smarter, more effective wildfire management. The Federation of American Scientists is proud to join with first responders, labor organizations, business leaders, wildfire preparedness organizations, and community interest groups through the Wildfire Prevention Coalition to advance actionable, evidence-based policy solutions that will make our communities, and our country, more prepared to handle the growing wildfire threat.”

Wildfire Prevention Coalition Aims

The Wildfire Prevention Coalition has four primary goals: elevating safety and prevention; deploying risk-mitigating technology infrastructure; providing prompt access to claims compensation; and implementing a balanced liability framework. Together, partner organizations in the coalition will work to support one or more of these goals. 

“FAS, and our partners in the Wildfire Prevention Coalition, see this as a pivotal time to take action given the​​ absence of a national, strategic plan to address the wildfire threat. We have been working in wildfire for several years, convening with a range of experts. We have produced an extensive library of policy memos for policymakers to evaluate and champion,” says Dr. Hannah Safford, Associate Director of Climate and Environment at FAS. “All of these memos are actionable ideas rooted in evidence-based solutions.”

Coalition partners include public safety, labor, and business sector groups, along with wildfire preparedness and community interest groups.

“To prepare for and prevent catastrophic wildfires, we must utilize and invest in cutting-edge science and technology. FAS is excited to bring our vital perspective to Partners in Wildfire Prevention, which recognizes the need for investment in advanced modeling, data, and technology focused squarely on prevention. The policy decisions made today should leverage innovation to ensure communities are prepared for wildfires in a changing landscape,” says James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist at FAS.

FAS Wildfire Policy Work

FAS continues to work with scientists and subject matter experts to develop policy recommendations impacting physical landscapes and communities, public health and infrastructure, data and technology, and the workforce. Ongoing wildfire policy work can be found at the FAS website, here: https://fas.org/initiative/wildland-fire/.

ABOUT FAS

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) works to advance progress on a broad suite of contemporary issues where science, technology, and innovation policy can deliver transformative impact, and seeks to ensure that scientific and technical expertise have a seat at the policymaking table. Established in 1945 by scientists in response to the atomic bomb, FAS continues to bring scientific rigor and analysis to address contemporary challenges. More information about FAS work at fas.org. Wildfire work can be found at: https://fas.org/initiative/wildland-fire/

Position on the Senate Companion of The Fix Our Forests Act

The Federation of American Scientists supports the Senate version of the Fix Our Forests Act.

Uncontrolled wildfire is an intensifying national crisis. Just this year, wildfires have devastated communities around Los Angeles and affected states in all parts of the country, from Florida to Texas and Oklahoma to the Carolinas. To tackle this crisis, the House of Representatives in January passed H.R. 471, the Fix Our Forests Act, with large bipartisan margins. FAS applauds Senators Curtis, Hickenlooper, Padilla, and Sheehy for coming together to build on H.R. 471, resulting in an even stronger version of this legislation now introduced as a companion bill in the Senate.

“As FAS continues to emphasize, failing to address the root causes of devastating wildfires is a policy choice. And  it’s a choice we can no longer afford,” said Daniel Correa, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “Swift passage of the Fix Our Forests Act in the Senate would put us on track to better manage the entire wildfire lifecycle of prevention, suppression, and recovery, including through smart and systematic use of science and technology for decision support.”

FAS championed important provisions of the Fix Our Forests Act, ensuring that both the House and Senate versions of this legislation include essential, evidence-based reforms to improve fuel management and facilitate rapid uptake of innovative approaches to fire management. FAS particularly supports Sec. 102, which would create the Wildfire Intelligence Center – a hub to coordinate wildfire management across federal agencies and embed science, technology, and real-time data into decision making.

Other key provisions include:

“The science is clear: tackling the wildfire crisis requires better forest management, increasing the use of prescribed fire, and investing in and deploying the next generation of wildfire technologies. The Fix Our Forests Act will get this urgently needed work done. Now is the time for the Senate to build on the bipartisan leadership demonstrated by the sponsors and pass this bill,” said James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist at the Federation of American Scientists.

Position on the Re-Introduction of the Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act of 2025

The Federation of American Scientists strongly supports the Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act of 2025.

The Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act would combat firefighter shortages by establishing a new Middle Fire Leaders Academy and grant programs to train and hire more firefighters and retain expert wildland firefighters with increased benefits and better working conditions. The bill would establish the Joint Office of the Fire Environment Center to improve fire response time with updated technology like developing risk maps and establishing. Lastly, it would address the public health crisis caused by wildfire smoke by establishing a nationwide real-time air quality monitoring and alert system.

“As the wildfire crisis continues to grow in size and severity, our solutions must be ambitious to meet the moment. The Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission developed 148 non-partisan policy recommendations to tackle this crisis and the Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act is a bold and bipartisan package that incorporates a number of the Commission’s recommendations.” said Daniel Correa, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “Rep. Harder, Rep. Franklin and Rep. Neguse have put forth a multi-pronged innovative approach to tackle the wildfire crisis. In particular, the creation of the Fire Environment Center is a game changer for land and fuels management, community risk reduction, fire management and response.”

For more information contact James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist, at jcampbell@fas.org.

Position on the Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act of 2025

The Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act would establish regional research centers at institutions of higher education across the country to research and improve our understanding of wildland fire, develop, maintain, and operate next-generation fire and vegetation models, and create a career pathway training program.

“Extreme weather has pushed wildfires to grow in size and severity, making our current wildfire models inadequate. The Regional Leadership in Wildland Fire Research Act is a significant investment in understanding how wildland fire risks continue to evolve, and establishes a strong foundation that first responders and forest managers can rely on,” said Daniel Correa, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “We commend Senator Luján, Senator Sullivan, Senator Padilla, and Senator Sheehy for their leadership to champion and invest in innovative next-generation fire and vegetation models to protect human health, ecosystems, and our communities.”

For more information contact James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist, at jcampbell@fas.org.

Position on the Re-Introduction of H.R. 471 – The Fix Our Forests Act

3/5/2025 Update: FAS issues letter of support for the Fix Our Forests Act ahead of Subcommittee Hearing. Read full letter here.

The Federation of American Scientists supports H.R. 471, the re-introduction of the Fix Our Forests Act. In the wake of the ongoing and devastating Los Angeles wildfires, we urge the House of Representatives to swiftly pass this bill on strong bipartisan margins much like they did in September 2024. 

“Failing to address the root causes of devastating wildfires is a policy choice. As the crisis in Los Angeles shows, it’s a choice we can no longer afford,” said Daniel Correa, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of American Scientists. “The Fix Our Forests Act takes important steps to confront these disasters. FAS particularly supports the creation of the Fireshed Center, which would provide first responders with science-backed decision-support tools, and serve as a nerve center to embed and deploy critical technology across the entire wildfire lifecycle of prevention, suppression, and recovery.” 

FAS championed important provisions of the Fix our Forests Act,  such as essential reforms needed to improve fuel management as well as support for cutting edge-innovations in science and technology. These provisions include: 

“The science is clear: tackling the wildfire crisis means better forest management, including increased use of beneficial fire and new technologies to scale fuels reduction. The Fix Our Forests Act will get this work done by establishing the Fireshed Center and through other smart provisions. FAS urges Congress to take bipartisan action now and pass this bill.” said James Campbell, Wildfire Policy Specialist at the Federation of American Scientists.