(originally posted in 2007)

The International Journal of Wildland Fire (IJWF), the official scientific publication of the International Association of Wildland Fire, continues to improve its “Impact Factor”. The Impact Factor is a measure of the frequency with which the average article in a journal has been cited in a particular year or period. The calcuation for the last three years shows that the Impact Factor for the IJWF is now 1.81, which makes it fourth-ranked in a pool of 36 Forestry journals.

The IJWF has the highest Immediacy Index, which is the average number of times that an article published in a specific year is cited over the course of that same year. The success of the Journal is leading to the number of annual issues increasing from four to six in 2007. This is the result of excellent papers being submitted, as well as the great work by Editor in Chief Dr. Mike Flannigan, the associate editors, and the Editorial Advisory Committee chaired by Domingos Xavier Viegas.

Do you need some gift ideas for a firefighter in your life? Would you like to help support your IAWF at the same time? Here are some suggestions.

• How about a BOOK about wildland fire?
• Or a Kestrel weather instrument, compact binoculars, compass, LED headlamp, a small but powerful flashlight, or a GPS unit. (Go to our BOOK page and click on “Gifts for Firefighters”. (The books and gifts above are purchased through Amazon.com. The IAWF receives a small amount for each item. You pay nothing extra; it will be the same price as purchasing the item directly from their web site.)
• Or, something with the IAWF LOGO , such as a holiday ornament, mug, cap, hoodie sweatshirt, t-shirt, or golf shirt.
• Or, give an IAWF membership. We will send you an IAWF Membership Certificate with the giftee’’s name. To arrange this, call our office at 888-440-4293 (toll-free in North America) or 605-890-2348.

(originally posted in 2007)

Philip N. Omi, in a 2005 book he wrote titled “Forest Fires: A Reference Handbook”, identifies 23 individuals who have influenced fire policy and knowledge. Of the 12 “Significant Individual Contributors” that are still alive, 7 of them are current members of the International Association of Wildland Fire.

For more information about the book, click HERE to go to our Wildland Fire Books page. The book is in the “Fire History” category.

(originally posted in March, 2006)

At the Fire Behavior and Fuels conference in Portland, Oregon March 27-30, an excellent painting of a fire scene was raffled off. The winner was Lee Smith from Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. The proceeds of the raffle was $1,100, which was matched by the IAWF. A total of $2,200 was presented to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. The WFF has a photo and a short article about the raffle at THEIR WEB SITE. In 2005 at the Wildland Fire Safety Summit in Missoula, the IAWF matched a pass-the-hard-hat collection for the WFF.

(originally posted March, 2006)

The International Association of Wildland Fire has prepared a list, by date of the year, of some of the more famous, or infamous, wildland fires around the world over the last 150 years. It is not intended to be a complete list of every fatality fire.

There are several purposes of doing the research and compiling this list by calendar date. It is hoped that individuals and organizations involved in fire, especially wildland fire, will mark these dates on a calendar, or refer to the IAWF’s Wildland Fire Event Calendar at www.iawfonline.org.

By having these wildland fires on a calendar, the lessons learned from even a 130 year old fire will be less likely to be forgotten. An unforgotten lesson learned may save the life of a current or future firefighter. The .pdf file of the list can be found here. The data has been gathered from many different sources, and the IAWF assumes no responsibility for its accuracy.

(originally posted in March, 2006)

During the 1st Fire Behavior and Fuels conference in Portland in March, 2006, the IAWF presented the first Ember Award for excellence in wildland fire science posthumously to Dr. Frank Albini, who was a fire behavior scientist at the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab. The purpose of the Ember Award is to acknowledge sustained achievement in wildland fire science.

The name “ember” was chosen to reflect the fact that research and science often move slowly, and their benefits or impacts may not be apparent for years or more.

Dr. Pat Andrews accepts the award for Dr. Frank Albini from Dr. Bret Butler.

Members of the wildland fire community can now plot their location on a map, upload a photo, and include a short message. Click on Frapper! and see where other wildland fire professionals and enthusiasts are located. It only maps your city, not your specific address, in order to protect your privacy. This is open to anyone with a significant interest in wildland fire, not just IAWF members.

Does your credit card have a picture of an air tanker? Why not? The International Association of Wildland Fire has entered into an agreement with MNBA America Bank to offer the Platinum Plus credit card, a no annual fee MasterCard. Since the IAWF receives a few cents with every transaction, using the card supports the organization and its mission, while keeping our membership costs down. The card has a picture of an air tanker, wildland firefighters, and the IAWF logo. Want to learn more? Information on the card is available in this PDF document.

(originally posted in April, 2005)

IAWF Wildland Fire Safety Award and the Paul Gleason Lead by Example Award were presented to Dr. Ted Putnam at the IAWF Wildland Fire Safety Summit; “The Human Factors Workshop 10 - Years Later” held in Missoula, Montana (April 26-28, 2005).

The International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) inaugurated the IAWF Wildland Fire Safety Award in 1997 at the first Wildland Fire Safety Summit in Rossland, British Columbia. The IAWF presents this award to a deserving individual selected from nominees submitted from the country hosting the annual conference which has rotated between Canada, Australia, Europe and the United States. The nominees are reviewed and voted upon by a committee comprised of previous IAWF Wildland Fire Safety Award recipients and a member of the IAWF board who chairs the committee. The award is given to someone in the wildland firefighting community who has made a significant contribution to wildland firefighter safety, either directly on the fireline; or indirectly through management, cultural changes, or through wildland fire research. IAWF received a record number of well-deserving nominees this year, with a strong diversity of fire backgrounds.

This years Wildland Fire Safety Award recipient cuts across all of those lines. He has been previously described as a that has been able to view wildland fire safety from the aspect of several different disciplines bringing a unique point of view not always readily seen or accepted by others. The International Association of Wildland Fire presented this years Wildland Fire Safety Award to Dr. Ted Putnam at the conference banquet.

The previous day at the Safety Summit Dr. Putnam also received the Paul Gleason Lead by Example Award. This award was created by the Wildland Fire Leadership Development Committee under the National Wildfire Coordinating Group in honor of Paul Gleason, a wildland firefighter whose career spanned several decades before his death from cancer in 2003. This award was developed to recognize individuals who lead by example and for demonstrating leadership traits during or in support of wildland fire operations.

Paul Gleason was also the 2nd recipient of the IAWF Wildland Fire Safety Award in 1998. Dr. Putnam has demonstrated a long-term passion for wildland firefighter safety. Ted started learning about fire protection initially with structural firefighting training in the military and then later gained a background in both wildland fire operations and research while with the US Forest Service. He started his wildland fire career with 3 years as a district crew firefighter on the Clearwater National Forest (Idaho) in Region 1.

This was followed by 11 seasons as a smokejumper, 3 of which were as a Supervisory Smokejumper. Ted earned his PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Montana, and combined this with his wildland fire experience began working for the fire technology and development wing of the US Forest Service at the Missoula Technology and Development Center (MTDC). Over a period of 25 years in US Forest Service R&D Ted made a number of significant contributions to personal protective equipment for wildland firefighters, publishing widely including articles in Wildfire magazine and the International Journal of Wildland Fire.

During the 1980s and 1990s he was actively involved in many wildland firefighter fatality investigations including the 1990 Dude Fire in Arizona and the 1994 South Canyon Fire in Colorado. Ted retired from the US Forest Service in 1998. Ted is known as a person who could think outside the box when it came to wildland firefighter safety. His personal beliefs and convictions have influenced our appreciation for the importance of human factors in wildland firefighter safety and he was instrumental in organizing the original Wildland Firefighters Human Factors Workshop in June 1995. Although now retired, he still remains active in speaking and writing about wildland firefighter safety. The IAWF congratulates Dr. Putnam for receiving both of these significant awards for leadership in the wildland fire community.

IAWF Wildland Fire Safety Award recipients include:

• 1997 Chuck Hartley, Battalion Chief: Mt. Baldy District, Angles National Forest, United States Forest Service (retired); presented in Rossland, British Columbia, Canada
• 1998Paul A. Gleason, USFS, Hazardous Fuels Program Manager, Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, Redfeather Ranger District, United States Forest Service; presented in Winthrop, Washington, USA
• 1999 R. H. (Harry) Luke, Pioneering Australian Bushfire Researcher and co-author of ìBushfires in Australia;î presented in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
• 2000 Alan Beaver, Planning and Science Supervisor, Yukon Fire Management, Whitehorse, Yukon; presented in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 2001 Dick Rothermel, Project Leader, Fire Behavior Research Work Unit, Intermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory, United States Forest Service (retired); presented in Missoula, Montana, USA
• 2003Martin (Marty) E. Alexander, Senior Fire Behavior Research Officer, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forestry Service, Northern Forestry Centre; presented in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2005 Ted Putnam, Fire Equipment Specialist, Missoula Technology and Development Center, United States Forest Service (retired); presented in Missoula, Montana, USA.