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International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire

International Journal of Wildland Fire

International Journal of Wildland Fire

International Journal of Wildland Fire publishes articles on basic and applied aspects of wildland fire science including, but not confined to, ecological impact, modelling fire and its effects, and management of fire. Read more about the journalMore

Editors-in-Chief: Stefan Doerr and Martin Girardin

Publishing Model: Open Access

Download our Journal Metrics (PDF, 719KB)

Latest

These articles are the latest published in the journal. International Journal of Wildland Fire is published under a continuous publication model. More information is available on our Continuous Publication page.

Published online 28 June 2025

WF24126Investigating the dynamic behaviour of merging fire fronts

Alexander I. Filkov 0000-0001-5927-9083, Brendan Holyland, Brett Cirulis, Khalid Moinuddin, Duncan Sutherland, Jason Sharples 0000-0002-7816-6989, James Hilton 0000-0003-3676-0880, Craig B. Clements and Trent D. Penman 0000-0002-5203-9818
 

This experimental study investigates the behaviour of merging fire fronts during controlled burns in Australia. Results showed that forward junction fires spread significantly faster than linear fires and can lead to more dynamic fire behaviours, highlighting the need for further research to improve fire behaviour models and safety measures.

Published online 27 June 2025

WF25039Interactions of fire and forest structure in a relict mesic forest of north Africa

Peter Z. Fulé 0000-0002-8469-0621, Lahcen Taiqui 0000-0002-2553-8611 and Derak Mchich
 

We dated fire events and measured forest structure in the highly biodiverse Talassemtane National Park in Morocco. Surface fires tended to recur at <25-year intervals in PinusAbiesQuercus forests. Fire regime was associated with old trees and open forest structure.

Published online 23 June 2025

WF24222Fuelling future fires: predicting variation in fuel hazard and availability across an environmental gradient

Sarah C. McColl-Gausden 0000-0001-7807-8367, Lauren T. Bennett, Hamish Clarke and Trent D. Penman 0000-0002-5203-9818
 

Fuel is a key driver of wildfire patterns but the impacts of changing climate on fuel hazard and availability to burn is often poorly understood. This study uses six future climate models to predict the shifts in landscape fuel patterns across an environmental gradient.

This article belongs to the collection: Fire Behaviour and Fuels Conference.

Published online 18 June 2025

WF24210Comparing biomass consumption estimated from point cloud data versus long-wave infrared imagery during prescribed growing season burns in pine woodlands of the southeastern United States

Benjamin C. Bright 0000-0002-8363-0803, Andrew T. Hudak, Nuria Sánchez-López, E. Louise Loudermilk, Christie M. Hawley, Eric Rowell, Joseph J. O’Brien, Steven A. Flanagan 0000-0001-5172-3530, Kevin Robertson, Akira Kato, Chad Hoffman, David R. Weise 0000-0002-9671-7203 and J. Kevin Hiers
 

We demonstrate a new method for combining terrestrial and airborne laser scanning data to estimate fuel consumed by fire and compare how lasers and long-wave infrared imagery estimate consumption. We find that these remote sensing techniques provide comparable consumption estimates and that most fuel consumption occurs on the forest floor.

This article belongs to the collection: Multi-scale measurements in support of improved fire, fuel, and smoke models of landscape-level wildland fires.

Published online 13 June 2025

WF24221Canopy and surface fuels measurement using terrestrial lidar single-scan approach in the Mogollon Highlands of Arizona

Johnathan T. Tenny 0009-0001-3402-3038, Temuulen Tsagaan Sankey, Seth M. Munson, Andrew J. Sánchez Meador and Scott J. Goetz
 

Novel techniques were developed to quickly measure canopy fuel and surface fuel across a range of environmental conditions using a ground-based remote sensing technology. These techniques provide precise, repeatable fuel estimates while minimizing model training requirements.

Published online 13 June 2025

WF24184Between a rock and a hot place: do surface shelters facilitate survivable conditions for small vertebrates during prescribed fire?

Shawn Scott, Brett A Goodman, Joan Gibbs and Sophie Petit
 

Prescribed burning in eucalypt woodlands exposes skinks to lethal temperatures, which are partially remediated by rock and log shelters. Ambient and maximum temperatures were positively associated, and high ambient temperatures increased duration of lethal temperatures. Assessing shelter availability for small vertebrates before prescribed burning should be a conservation priority.

Published online 13 June 2025

WF25022Linking human activities to wildfires in Tsavo Conservation Area: a social-ecological study

Naftal G. Kariuki, David O. Chiawo 0000-0001-7118-6285, Eunice W. Kairu, Jemimah A. Simbauni and Amos C. Muthiuru 0000-0002-3367-2562
 

This study explores the association between human activities and wildfire occurrences in the Tsavo Conservation Area. Statistical methods (ANOVA, chi-square and Kendall’s tests), were applied for data analysis. Chyulu Hill National Park experienced the highest frequency of wildfires, and eleven human activities were pinpointed as contributing factors.

This research provides a deeper understanding of the activities and hazards associated with severe injuries to wildland firefighters in the United States. Injuries associated with aviation activities result in particularly severe outcomes. Fire complexity was not associated with differences in severity outcomes.

Published online 11 June 2025

WF24174Decadal scale fire dynamics in savannas and forests of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India

Pradyumna Rajashekar, Aparna Krishnan, Varun Varma 0000-0002-0289-6125, Jayashree Ratnam 0000-0002-6568-8374, Mahesh Sankaran 0000-0002-1661-6542 and Caroline E. R. Lehmann 0000-0002-6825-124X
 

Climate, vegetation type and human activity collectively shape fire regimes in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Western Ghats, India. Across this landscape, savannas burn more frequently and over larger areas than forests. Overall, fire activity is largely determined by rainfall in dry periods, but by human activity in wet periods.

This article belongs to the collection: Savanna burning.

The findings show that two nearby firebrands in tandem arrangement under wind conditions can have a significant cooperative ignition effect on the fuel bed. A semi-empirical correlation for the ignition delay time of the fuel bed based on the energy balance concept is in good agreement with the experimental data.

Published online 30 May 2025

WF24079Remotely sensed vegetation phenology drives large fire spread in northwestern Europe

Tomás Quiñones 0009-0006-8821-1364, Cathelijne Stoof 0000-0002-0198-9215, Fiona Newman-Thacker, Adrián Jiménez, Fernando Bezares, Joaquín Ramírez and Adrián Cardil
 

High greenness is related to low spread rates, and fires spreading in the growing season showed a drastic reduction in spread. High risk related to common fire weather ratings was associated with low ROS.

Collaboration is often needed in complex emergencies like wildfires, but diverse interests can also cause conflict. This study examines how differences tied to organizational roles affected collaboration during 15 US wildfires. Findings highlight when these differences matter most and offer ideas for improving cooperation in complex disaster settings.

Published online 26 May 2025

WF24163Mobile radar provides insights into hydrologic responses in burn areas

Jonathan J. Gourley 0000-0001-7363-3755, Yagmur Derin, Pierre-Emmanuel Kirstetter, John W. Fulton, Laura A. Hempel and Braden White
 

Experimental instruments were placed in a burnt area and captured rainfall and extreme hydrologic responses, which is a challenging endeavor with conventional observing networks. Rainfall estimation from a mobile weather radar was shown to be as accurate as rain gauges, with the ability to resolve spatial rainfall fields.

This article belongs to the collection: Establishing Directions in Postfire Debris-Flow Science.

Published online 26 May 2025

WF25021Review of thermal behaviour of firebrands and their role in fuel bed and structure ignition

Osman Eissa, Alexander I. Filkov 0000-0001-5927-9083 and Maryam Ghodrat 0000-0003-4009-5262
 

This article provides a comprehensive review of firebrands’ thermal behaviour, their interaction with natural fuels and structures and their role in spotting. It analyses parameters such as temperature and heat flux, explores key influencing factors, identifies knowledge gaps and proposes future research directions for enhanced wildfire mitigation.

Published online 21 May 2025

WF24062Linking fire radiative power to land cover, fire history, and environmental setting in Alaska, 2003–2022

Jessica J. Walker 0000-0002-3225-0317, Rachel A. Loehman, Britt W. Smith and Christopher E. Soulard
 

This study investigated how fire intensity (fire radiative power, FRP) relates to vegetation type and environment in Alaska, USA. Fire intensity varied significantly by plant functional group, with forests generally higher than tundra or peatland. Fire history was less important than location and topography for determining FRP across all groups.

Just Accepted

These articles have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication. They are still in production and have not been edited, so may differ from the final published form.

Most Read

The Most Read ranking is based on the number of downloads in the last 60 days from papers published on the CSIRO PUBLISHING website within the last 12 months. Usage statistics are updated daily.

  1. The impacts of fire use in the Brazilian Amazon: a bibliometric analysis

    International Journal of Wildland Fire 34 (4)
    Amanda Kesley Cardozo Cancio, Mayerly Alexandra Guerrero-Moreno 0000-0002-6767-2966, Everton Cruz da Silva, Fernando Abreu Oliveira, Karina Dias-Silva, James Ferreira Moura Jr, Thiago Almeida Vieira, Lenize Batista Calvão, Leandro Juen, José Max Barbosa Oliveira-Junior

Collections

Collections are a curation of articles relevant to a topical research area

As demonstrated in Australian savannas, reducing carbon emissions through active fire management can generate tradable carbon credits providing income and employment opportunities for Indigenous and remote communities, and support biodiversity conservation. The success of this management approach has led to suggestions that it can be extended to other continents, for notable example in southern Africa and South America. This special issue of the International Journal of Wildland Fire aims to explore the status of technical challenges, opportunities and potential livelihood and ecological benefits, associated with applying market-based fire management approaches in severely fire-impacted tropical savanna systems.

Last Updated: 28 Feb 2025

This Special Collection on “Fire and Climate” showcases papers from and inspired by the eponymous conferences hosted by the International Association of Wildland Fire. The collection explores the way that climate change is affecting wildfire around the world – and the ways that changes in societal, legal, and political climate changes interact with these geophysical processes.

Guest Editor
Eric B. Kenedy (York University, Canada)

Last Updated: 15 Oct 2024

This Collection in International Journal of Wildland Fire presents a series of papers that describe the development of the Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS). This new system was conceived following a review of existing Australian fire danger rating systems and associated danger categories in 2014. It was implemented in 2022 and has since been modified to improve performance, accuracy, and public-facing requirements.

Guest Editor
Paulo Fernandez (Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal)

Last Updated: 04 Jul 2024

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of International Journal of Wildland Fire (IJWF), the official journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF), we have put together this Collection that includes a selection of review papers published in IJWF over the past 12 years, a compilation that highlights the wide range of disciplines in wildland fire research. In line with our commitment to diversity, authors and co-authors come from at least seven countries, and the corresponding authors on six of the 15 papers are female. We invite you to explore the full breadth of topics included in this Collection.

Collection Editors
Susan G. Conard, Stefan Doerr, and Jenny Foster

Last Updated: 27 May 2021

To celebrate 25 years of publication of International Journal of Wildland Fire, we present this Collection that includes some of the most-cited Research Papers we have published over the years. This Collection includes two papers from each five-year period, starting in 1991. One of these is the paper from each period that has received the most citations to date. To highlight the geographic scope of IJWF publications, the second paper is the most-cited paper where the lead author is from a different country than the highest-cited one.

Last Updated: 05 Dec 2016

This Collection of International Journal of Wildland Fire covers the theme of Atmospheric Research, and was launched to coincide with the 2016 International Smoke Symposium (Long Beach, California) and the AGU Fall Meeting (San Francisco, California). This collection showcases a diverse array of topics from a variety of geographical areas, including methods for tracking, modelling and inventory, social implications, climate implications, current and future research needs, and practical field management techniques for smoke.

Last Updated: 27 Oct 2016

Committee on Publication Ethics

Call for Papers

We are seeking contributions for the following Special Issues. More information

IJWF Content Free to IAWF Members

All non-OA journal content published prior to 2024 can be accessed by IAWF members through the IAWF Members-Only site.

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